The trade deadline came and went last week with the Phillies making two trades with the Minnesota Twins. The Phillies acquired prized closer Jhoan Duran and outfielder Harrison Bader, giving them another option in centerfield. The addition of Duran is a huge boost to a struggling bullpen and gives the Phillies a dominant closer for the first time in the Bryce Harper era.
A True Closer
I am 23 years old, and within my lifetime, the Phillies have had two true closers, Brad Lidge and Jonathan Papelbon; that’s it. The Phillies have constantly lacked the presence of a dominant closer in the last few seasons. The addition of Jhoan Duran not only gives them that dominant presence, but an unmatched entrance that is going to rock Citizens Bank Park in October.
In last week’s article, I talked about Duran being my number one target for the Phillies. The Phillies gave up their top catching prospect, Eduardo Tait, and top pitching prospect Mick Abel, who we saw make his MLB debut earlier this season. A trade that is costly due to Tait being a top catching prospect with a strong arm and a ton of power already for an 18-year-old, and Mick Abel being a young arm with elite stuff. However, the addition of Duran gives the Phillies a top closer in the game who has a 1.93 ERA on the season. They have Duran under team control for another 2 1/2 years, hence the high price for the closer. He made his Phillies debut in the first game of the Tigers series on Friday night, and the entrance was electric.
The Phillies had the same intro music mix and a similar light show to the one Duran had in Minnesota. For Duran’s first time at The Bank, the crowd loved it, and I can only imagine it will gain more popularity over the rest of the season. The entrance is going to be insane in October. Duran’s electric entrance was longer than the actual bottom of the 9th inning. 4 pitches, 3 outs, 1 save. Duran picks up the save, and the Phillies completed a comeback win over the Detroit Tigers 5-4. Duran picked up his second save with the Phillies on Sunday night in a 2-0 win over the Tigers.
Bader In, Rojas Out
The Phillies made a second trade with the Twins for outfielder Harrison Bader for Double-A outfielder Hendry Mendez and pitcher Geremy Villoria. Bader is hitting .257 on the season with 12 homers and a .777 OPS. The Phillies not only added an outfielder who can play defense, but one who can also hit lefties well. Bader has playoff experience and has shown up in big moments, so I expect him to come through in clutch situations down the stretch.
The addition of Bader resulted in Johan Rojas being optioned to Triple-A, with rumors swirling that top prospect CF Justin Crawford could be up as soon as August 15th. That’s the target date so the Phillies don’t burn an entire year of service time for the young CF. With the addition of Crawford and Bader, I think the outfield is in much better shape than before the deadline.
August Is Upon Us
The Phillies lost 2/3 in Chicago to the White Sox to close out the month of July. They opened up August against the Detroit Tigers at home, adding Ed Wade and Jimmy Rollins to the Phillies Wall Of Fame on Friday night. They took 2/3 against the Tigers, putting them back in first place in the NL East, a 1/2 game above the New York Mets (63-49).
The Phillies start a three-game series at home against the Baltimore Orioles (51-61) with an off day on Thursday. They hit the road for a three-game weekend series against the Texas Rangers (58-54). That will close out a seven-series stretch against American League teams for the Phillies dating back to the Angels series after the All-Star break.
Weekly prediction: Phillies sweep a series and Bader hits his first homer as a Phillie.
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