Philadelphia Phillies Trade Deadline Acknow still has to prove the team is right

The Philadelphia Phillies have one of the best records in MLB, but some of their players are still struggling for playing time late in the season.

Outfielder Austin Hays, a last-minute addition to the Phillies roster from the Baltimore Orioles, is one of those players fighting for a role. The team still needs him to break out and prove they made him their top offensive asset.

Although Philadelphia were consistently mentioned as favorites to land some of the biggest names before the trade deadline, they opted for Hays instead.

When MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki named the player on the Phillies roster who has the most to prove late in the season, he named Hays.

The 28-year-old slugger wasn’t much worse than he was with the Orioles, but he was still worse. That’s not a good sign for an already average player.

He had a couple of solid seasons as an outfielder before making his first All-Star team last year. Expectations were as high as ever, but he came out of the gates playing just fine.

The Florida native has hit 38 home runs over the past three seasons. He’s not an overwhelming power hitter, but he definitely has pop to his bat. In 82 games this year, he’s hit just four. That’s a huge dropoff and probably why Baltimore felt good about cutting him.

Since being traded to Philadelphia, Hays has slashed .254/.275/.373 with one home run and five RBI.

The role he was expected to play was against left-handed pitchers. This season, he destroyed lefties, slashing .350/.402/.538 against them. However, when he played against righties, he was on the exact opposite end.

But rather than being used solely to play against his strengths, he has become a near-everyday player in left field for the Phillies since returning from injury.

Philadelphia’s starting outfield at the plate is Hays in left, Brandon Marsh in center and Nick Castellanos in right. Johan Rojas and Weston Wilson also appear occasionally.

Going from a deadline addition with some situational upside to a regular starter will come with its own set of expectations. Hays will need to improve his numbers against right-handed pitchers to make the team look smart about its approach to the deadline.

He will be in control of the team next year, so if he can turn things around, it will look good for the upcoming season as well.