The Philadelphia Phillies made their fair share of trade deadline deals to help bolster the ball club for the stretch run. The moves altered the landscape to some extent in terms of the Phillies’ starting lineup as well as the bullpen situation.
As a result, let’s take a look at three Phillies players who will likely see less playing time going forward and two other Phillies players who will benefit from the fallout from the deadline and actually get some valuable time on the field.
3 Phillies who will see less playing time after trade deadline, 2 who will see more
Johan Rojas will see less playing time
Entering the 2024 season, many were wondering if Johan Rojas could secure a starting job on a potent Phillies roster. Despite constantly displaying Gold Glove-caliber defense in the outfield, Rojas still had a suspect bat that perhaps wasn’t quite major-league ready yet.
That certainly held true during the early parts of the season. Rojas struggled out of the gate by registering just one hit and two runs scored in his first eight games. Since then, he has picked up his game a bit more, as he now sports a .238 batting average and .572 OPS with 23 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 82 games played. However, with only eight extra-base hits all season and a greater than 5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, his performance at the plate still leaves a lot to be desired.
With Austin Hays coming to Philadelphia at the trade deadline to be an everyday outfielder, the Phillies have no choice but to cut back the playing time of the least productive outfielder. According to Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia, manager Rob Thomson said that Rojas would see his playing time cut.
Because of his elite defense, he’ll still get the odd start here and there. But Rojas will likely be most effective now as a late-inning defensive replacement and/or pinch-runner — taking over the role left by the departed Cristian Pache.
