JUST IN: Phillies confirm to make major outfield decisions following Harrison Bader trade

There will be more clarity regarding the Phillies’ outfield situation after the trade deadline on Friday. Dave Dombrowski deliberately kept the team’s outfield plans unclear when speaking to the media following the acquisition of right-handed hitting outfielder Harrison Bader from the Minnesota Twins. Bader, a strong defender in center field and having a standout season offensively, is expected to play “a lot,” according to Dombrowski.

Bader has started 62 games in left field and 27 in center for the Twins this year. The key difference for the Phillies is that they don’t have Byron Buxton on the roster, which clears the way for Bader to play center field.

There will be more clarity on the Phillies’ post-trade deadline outfield situation come Friday.
Dave Dombrowski purposefully kept the club’s outfield plans vague when talking with reporters after acquiring the right-handed hitting outfielder Harrison Bader from the Minnesota Twins. Bader, a plus defender in center field in the middle of a career year at the plate, will play “a lot,” per Dombrowski.

Bader has made 62 starts in left and 27 starts in center for the Twins this year. The difference is that the Phillies do not have Byron Buxton on the roster to block him from making starts in center.

“He’s played well this year offensively and defensively,” Dombrowski said about Bader. “He’s hit the ball with some pop. We think he helps us. I’m not sure which way he is going to go on a regular basis, if he’s going to play every single day or not.”

Rob Thomson will make the lineup, but Dombrowski gets the final call on which outfielders remain on the roster. The front office has until early Friday afternoon to decide, if they haven’t already.

The Phillies can go in many different directions. Bader can be added to the 26-man roster, with either Weston Wilson or Johan Rojas, two players with minor league options remaining, sent down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley as the corresponding move. Out of Wilson or Rojas, the one who sticks could platoon with Brandon Marsh in left field.

Dombrowski complimented Marsh’s at-bats in recent weeks. The 27-year-old is batting .409 with two home runs in his last seven games. It would be surprising to see Marsh lose significant playing time with the addition of Bader.

“All of a sudden, you see Brandon Marsh hit a couple home runs the last couple of days,” Dombrowski said. “We think he can drive the ball more than he has in the past. He’s starting to do that.”

Max Kepler’s situation is less certain. Dombrowski mentioned that Kepler is the team’s left fielder “at this time,” but that could change.

Kepler, who signed a one-year, \$10 million contract with the Phillies in December, got off to a strong start in April, but has struggled since. Since May 1, he’s hitting just .181 with eight home runs and a .610 OPS, making regular playing time in August seem unlikely.

The bigger question is whether the Phillies will cut him from the roster entirely or keep him as a bench option, where he could fill in during injuries. Kepler could also stay on the roster until third baseman Alec Bohm returns from the injured list. Bohm, who’s recovering from a cracked rib, could return by mid-August. The Phillies have typically preferred maintaining roster depth and sending players with options to the minors. The decision may come down to whether they feel players like Johan Rojas or Dalton Guthrie are a better fit for the roster than Kepler.

Kepler’s future could also be tied to top outfield prospect Justin Crawford. The Phillies have stated that they’re comfortable with Crawford, who’s hitting .325 in Triple-A, making the jump to the majors. However, they haven’t called him up yet. Dombrowski indicated on July 21 that they want to see how things unfold with the big league roster before making a decision about Crawford.

With Bader now in Philadelphia, it raises the question of whether there’s a clear path for Crawford to get regular at-bats. The Phillies could potentially create a platoon with Brandon Marsh and Bader in left and center field, with Crawford also getting some playing time. But if the plan is for Bader to play regularly, it’s hard to see him as a platoon player, particularly against just left-handed pitchers. The Phillies likely want Crawford to have more of an everyday role, should he get called up.

“No decisions have been made,” Dombrowski said. “We think (Crawford) is ready to play at the big league level. We could bring him up. If we do bring him up, he needs to play a lot. I’m not sure that we’re in a position to do that at this point today, but he’s not somebody we would hesitate to bring up if we decided that was the right thing to do.

“He, like (Andrew) Painter, like a lot of those youngsters, they can use more development time. It will never hurt them. When they’re going to get here, they’re going to have to make some adjustments. But he’s also in a position where he’s ready to do that when called upon.”

The IronPigs have a doubleheader on Friday in Worcester beginning at 4:05 p.m. following a rain out on Thursday. Alarm bells could be ringing if Crawford is not batting leadoff and playing either left or center field in game one for Lehigh Valley.

Either way, the outfield — and the lineup as a whole — has improved with the addition of Bader. He does not have the at-bats to qualify, but if he did, his .778 OPS would rank third among Phillies regulars ahead of Trea Turner (.774) and Nick Castellanos (.738). He has a .779 OPS against righties and a .774 OPS against lefties.

Bader was available to the Phillies in free agency, but the club never seriously considered signing him. Kepler was signed in December. Bader inked a deal with Minnesota in February.

He is now the best outfielder on the active roster. His 2.0 FanGraphs WAR is nearly a win above Marsh (1.1). Rojas (0.5), Kepler (0.1) and Castellanos (-0.2) are just above or below replacement level.

Bader had a career OPS below .700 prior to the 2025 season.

“The way we fit at the particular time, and the year (Bader) was coming off of, we just were not aggressive on that front at that time, really is what it came down to,” Dombrowski said. “We liked him as a player.”

“Tip our cap to him. He’s played better than we would have projected him to play.”