Phillies add former All-Star Austin Hays in Trade with Baltimore

The Phillies landed a right-handed outfield bat on Friday before the MLB trade deadline.

The Phillies acquired outfielder Austin Hays from the Baltimore Orioles for right-handed pitcher Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache, the team announced on Friday.

It’s been a down year overall for Hays in 2024 after he started for the American League in the All-Star game last season.

Hays is hitting .255 with three home runs and 14 RBI this season. However, right-handed hitter has had success against left-handed pitching, in 72 plate appearances against lefties, Hays is slashing .328/.394/.500 with an .894 OPS.

The deal sends Domínguez, 29, who has appeared in 230 games for the Phillies over parts of six seasons to Baltimore.  He was a key figure during the Phillies run to the World Series in 2022 but has struggled with consistency since. Overall he has posted a 3.55 ERA in 220.2 innings pitched.

The team has also pulled the plug on Pache, who never got going offensivley since being acquired from Oakland last season, hitting just hit .202 in 50 games for the Phillies this season.

They hope Hays can be part of the answer for an ailing outfield offense, and get back to his 2023 numbers where he slashed .275/.325/.444 with a .769 OPS and 54 extra-base hits (36 2B, 2 3B, 16 HR) last season.

He set career highs in runs (76), hits (143), doubles, extra-base hits, multi-hit games (40), walks (38) and stolen bases (5). Defensively, he had 6 Defensive Runs Saved in left field which ranked fourth among all American League left fielders in 2023.