What the Harrison Bader Trade Means for the Phillies Outfield

The Philadelphia Phillies added outfielder Harrison Bader from the Minnesota Twins in a deal that involved a pair of minor league prospects, outfielder Hendry Mendez and pitcher Geremy Villoria.

Phillies Trade for Gold Glove Outfielder Harrison Bader

Bader has won a Gold Glove playing center field, but has spent most of the 2024 season playing left field with Byron Buxton patrolling center field in Minnesota.

So where will Bader play in Philadelphia, and what will his role be with the Phillies?

Phillies president of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski addressed that on Thursday night, saying, "he's going to play a lot. I'm not sure if he is going to play every single day or not."

How Bader Fits Into the Phillies’ Outfield Plans

Dombrowski stated that he thinks Bader can play both left and center field, which will make it interesting to see how the team uses him.

Could Justin Crawford Be Next?

They could use Bader in center field and move Brandon Marsh to left field to platoon with Otto Kemp, which would force Max Kepler out of a role. They could use Bader in a platoon in left field with Marsh, which could open the door for prospect Justin Crawford.

"We think he's ready to play at the big league level, Dombrowski acknowledged. If we do bring him up, he needs to play a lot.  I'm not sure we're in a position to do that at this point today.  He is not someone we would hesitate to bring up if we decided it was the right thing to do."

Crawford, who is having an outstanding season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, is hitting .325 with a .411 on-base percentage with 33 stolen bases in 83 games.

If the team calls up Crawford, Dombrowski said he would have to play a lot, which means he could play center full-time with Bader and Marsh platooning in left field.

Either way, it would appear that Johan Rojas' playing time could be cut into with either Bader getting the right-handed at-bats in center field, which is currently the role Rojas is occupying, or Crawford taking over the spot full-time.

Is the team significantly better with the addition of Bader?  Not really, but they have improved in some capacity; we just aren't really sure where.   Bader would seem to be an upgrade over Kepler and Rojas, if he plays left, a Bader/Marsh platoon is better than a Kepler/Kemp platoon.  If he plays center, it's better than a Marsh/Rojas platoon.

The Phillies are back in action this weekend at home against the Detroit Tigers, with the Saturday and Sunday games on 97.3 ESPN.