Should Phillies Acquire A Veteran Hitter To Improve The Offense?

Since May 16th the Phillies are just 9-12 heading into action Friday night and the offense is struggling, only averaging 3.29 Runs Scored Per Game over the last 21 games.  Only four players this season have posted an On-Base Percentage of at least .360: Cesar Hernandez (.370), Rhys Hoskins (.363), Odubel Herrera (.368), and Dylan Cozens (.364).  With a 32-28 record, the Phillies are currently three games out of first place in the NL East and also three games back in the NL Wild Card standings.

USA Today Baseball Writer Steve Gardner joined Josh Hennig on Friday discussing if the Phillies need to acquire a veteran hitter to improve their lineup ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline:

“If they have designs on making the postseason then I would imagine that the Phillies will need to go out and get another (Hitter).  We’ve already seen some minor trades (like) John Jay going to the Diamondbacks – There’s a lot of talk of where Manny Machado’s going to end up and maybe the Phillies could get him; I don’t know if the Phillies make that big of a splash (at the Trade Deadline) but they definitely need another bat in there….Phillies really need Rhys Hoskins to be what he was last year and that would help some of the (hitting) issues once he comes off the Disabled List.  But I think they’ll definitely, if they have designs on (reaching) the postseason, they’ll need to go out and get somebody.”

Checkout what Gardner had to say about the Manny Machado to Philadelphia rumors, if Cole Hamels would be an option for the Phillies to trade for, perspective on the 2018 New York Yankees, and more