The Philadelphia Phillies have a right-handed power problem, and four days before Monday's trade deadline, they still have a couple of options to fix it.
Philadelphia's right-handed hitters combined are slashing .220/.279/.359 with a .638 OPS this season according to BaseballReference. The simplest fix is external: adding a much-needed right-handed outfield bat via trade, as the Phillies have already been connected to the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Alex Call. The more drastic option is internal, shifting Bryce Harper back to the outfield to open first base.
Harper first shifted to first base in 2023 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the Phillies have stuck with that arrangement since. Sliding him back to right field, where he won a Gold Glove in 2021, would open first base and widen the pool of bats Philadelphia could realistically pursue, whether by trade or free agency.
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The kind of player who could fit that reinforcement path has recently been added back on the Phillies' radar. The Phillies front office checked in on Call before last year's deadline with real interest in acquiring him before the Dodgers landed him instead, according to Katie Woo and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
A year later, Call is back on the trade market, this time as a name the Dodgers may be willing to move as both Teoscar and Kiké Hernandez are back in the lineup healthy, making Call's bat expendable in Los Angeles.
Whether Philadelphia views a player like Call as a real fit or simply one among several, the larger point stands: the right-handed production gap isn't going away on its own before Monday. The Phillies have to decide whether the fix comes from outside the organization or from moving a 33-year-old former MVP back to a position he hasn't played regularly in three years.
