Philly Leader

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki's Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here and subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

There had been speculation over the past few weeks that the Phillies would try to land Luis Robert Jr., Cody Bellinger, or even Jazz Chisholm Jr. to boost their outfield. However, none of those players ever seemed likely.

It appeared more probable that the Phillies would acquire someone to platoon in left field with Brandon Marsh or perhaps do a bit more. The Phillies believe they found that player on Friday when they traded right-hander Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache to the Orioles for Austin Hays.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski discussed Hays and upcoming plans before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline:

Why Hays?

“Well, we’ve liked Hays for a few years. We’ve actually tried to acquire him the last two trading Deadlines and have been asked for much more than we’ve wanted to give. He’s a good hitter. I know he hasn’t played all that much this year. He’s gotten squeezed out in playing time with the amount of good young outfielders that they have. A lot of them left-handed hitting, but [the O’s have] a lot of good young players there, so hasn’t had as much playing time. When we’ve seen him, we’ve liked him. He can hit. He’s a gamer. He can play left field well, and we’re looking for a bit better at-bats from the right side, and he fits it.”

Will he play left field?

“Yes. Now [manager] Rob Thomson will make out the lineup. You can ask him. But we think [Hays] can hit left-handed and right-handed pitching. He’s done that in the past. He started in the All-Star Game last year. He’s got pretty good ability from our perspective. Now, Topper will make that lineup out, but we don’t think he’s just in a position where he has to be platooned by any means.”

How quickly did the deal come together?

“We had talked a couple weeks ago about just the generality of it. But perhaps this year maybe even more than most at this time, a few days beforehand, [we] really have a total pulse of what everybody is looking for... So as we got a better pulse of everybody, it seemed like something to revisit... I reached out to [Orioles GM] Mike [Elias] yesterday... They had some discussion internally themselves overnight and said, ‘Get back to me first thing this morning.’”

Does trading Domínguez change what you do in the bullpen in terms of numbers?

“Well, I can't say it changes dramatically... We're bringing [Michael] Rucker back today... He's now healthy for us... That's something we'll continue to pursue.”

When teams call to ask about your top prospects, what do you tell those teams?

“I don't think I would tell you what I tell teams.”

Is the outfield set now?

“I think so... If we ended now and this was our outfield going forward, we feel good about it.”

When did you identify outfield as a need?

“It's a situation where…we were a little bit susceptible to left-handed pitching… So for us…you want to get as many guys as you can who hit that left-handed pitching…[Kyle] Schwarber and [Bryce] Harper…are still more feared when they're facing right-handed...[Brandon] Marsh has not hit left-handed pitching…”

Do you need to acquire a closer?

“I don't think that's been the way we've used our bullpen… I'd see somebody who can pitch innings late in a game that are important innings for us…”

How would you characterize your trade talks?

“Ongoing.”

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