Continuing around the Phillies’ roster and looking for ways to change things up, we focus on a place that is starting come under more and more scrutiny: the infield.
How to improve the Phillies: Catcher
Parting ways with several key members of organizations past in Alec Bohm and infield coach Bobby Dickerson, there will be some new people manning new spots. It’s going to be interesting how it unfolds, starting with who will be in charge of making sure they are improving defensively and ending with who will actually be putting their cleats on the Citizens Bank Park dirt.
Who they have
You know the players by now. Bryce Harper is presumably moving back to first base following his midseason outfield jaunt, Bryson Stott likely takes back his spot at second base and Trea Turner is….well, he’s there. He is capable of playing shortstop, but there is much scuttlebutt about his changing positions. The best spot for him is probably in the outfield, but as Dave Dombrowski has already stated, he’s the starting shortstop.
That means they need a third baseman.
And maybe someone to play as the backup to all three non first base spots if they don’t want to pay Edmundo Sosa what he is probably going to want in free agency.
It’s maybe more of a needy spot that the Phillies have holes at than maybe one might think of at first glance. Stott has shown that he can handle third base if needed, so maybe they can grab a second baseman instead.
In the minors, there is the looming shadow of Aidan Miller and how his timeline changes the equations around the infield. Multiple questions need to be answered before they decide his ultimate fate.
- Is he healthy?
- What position does he play?
- Does he ultimately supplant Turner in 2027?
The answers to these questions are likely to determine what the team does to figure out which players are going to be playing the infield next season.
Free agent options
Things are bleak. Free agent options are few and far between where it comes to adding a player that will have a good sized impact on the team. After all, adding impact is the most important thing a team could do in free agency. However, the players that are available don’t exactly scream “impact” when considering them. These three are probably the ones that offer the most potential to provide the things the Phillies need in their lineup and on the dirt.
Jazz Chisholm, Jr. – Imagine Chisholm on the Phillies for a moment. Forget about the fanbase and how they would probably love him, but with the roster as it is. They welcomed Luis Arraez this past trade deadline, even if it looked weird when a player showed actual emotion on the field after getting a big hit. Adding Chisholm to this lineup would be taking that emotion and amping up by 20, but at least he can back it up with actual talent on the field. It was a down year for him, “only” hitting 19 home runs and posting a 98 wRC+, the first time that number has been under 100 since 2021, numbers that still make him an upgrade over some of what the Phillies had last year. He’s still a solid glove at second base, probably his best position right now. He has posted walk rates above 10% each of the past two seasons, so his would be a solid bat to add to the lineup. Does it matter that it would be coming from the left handed side? Maybe. Maybe they want to add someone that balances the lineup a bit, also taking into consideration the platoon splits Chisholm has. But there really is no denying that if they wanted to make a splash in free agency, adding Chisholm to this lineup would do so.
Mauricio Dubon – Dubon is a player that has a lot of qualities that the Phillies could use. He can play shortstop at least capably if the need should arise, he can be pushed to the outfield if need be and won’t embarrass himself at the plate. The biggest issue is that using that term “embarrass” might be a bit strong. His best season just happened with the Braves this past year, where he hit 12 home runs, drove in 73 runs and stole ten bases to boot. The RBI total is probably a bit of an illusion thanks to being in a better than average lineup. But everything else, the stuff that teams actually look at these days? Yeah, it wasn’t good. A gander at his Baseball Savant page reveals a lot of blue in places where a team wouldn’t want to invest in. He doesn’t hit the ball hard, doesn’t walk much and doesn’t have much batted ball luck. A career year led to a 99 wRC+. Is that what the team would want to hand a starting spot to? So long as they weren’t making him start regularly at a spot, instead scooting around to different positions to give players a breather, it makes some sense.
Teruaki Sato – The term “infielder” is probably loosely applied to Sato, who is looked as more of an outfielder. We’ll talk more about him once we get to the outfield portion of this series.
Now, if we’re talking about options the team has that could be in more of a backup role, things can expand a bit more.
Jorge Mateo – A capable defender at the six, Mateo is another that is going to command, at best, a minor league deal. The team could use someone like this though. Not truly on the major league roster per se, but adding a player like Mateo to Lehigh Valley can help create at least some depth with a particular role carved out for him should his services be needed at the big league level. Those services aren’t really of the “hitting” variety, but more of a “he won’t embarrass himself if needed for a week or two” kind.
Kike Hernandez – Looking for someone that can play just about anywhere? Hernandez could be your guy. Again, not much with the bat (he hasn’t posted a wRC+ over 100 since 2021), he can use his versatility to help boost a bench that didn’t have much there beyond what could Edmundo Sosa do for them lately. He’d like also be a lot cheaper than Sosa.
Gleyber Torres – This is where things get at least mildly interesting. Adding Torres is not really adding any kind of a power bat. Long thought of as someone that could be that as he was coming up as a prospect, Torres has settled into more of a “gets on base a lot” type of hitter that does offer at least sneaky power. Planting him at second base and shifting Stott to the hot corner might be of some interest to the Phillies. Torres’ 13.6% walk rate would look a lot better in a lineup that really did have some issues getting on base towards the end of the season. He’s no great shakes defensively, but he’s also not a butcher. Torres is probably going to lose his job to the younger, cheaper Hao Yu-Lee in Detroit, so he’ll be looking for someone else to latch on to. So long as he’s not expected to be an integral part of an offense, there are worse ways to give out a one-year deal.
J.P Crawford – Could you imagine if baseball life for Crawford came full circle?
Trade options
The trade market becomes slightly more open, only because there might be some options teams are not interested in either because they are making a bit too much money and/or they have a prospect coming up at their position that the team would rather see getting the playing time. These are mostly leaps, but some options could include:
Otto Lopez/Xavier Edwards – The Marlins are smart and know when to sell players on the trade market. They took Edward Cabrera’s good stuff and team control, sold high and ended up with a solid core piece in Owen Cassie. Cabrera barely made starts with the Cubs and is probably a reliever. So when rumors started that they were shopping both Lopez and Edwards, maybe there should be a pause that they are trying to sell high. For the Phillies, maybe they should be buying high. In the case of Lopez, he has turned himself into a high contact, low strikeout hit machine that also plays a great defense. He’s entering arbitration for the first time and should command a solid trade package, but he’d be exactly what this lineup needs. Is he a a 115 wRC+, .305/.349/.437 hitter? Probably not. That line was driven by a .335 BABIP, so maybe he stalls out a bit. But he also showed some of those same chops the years before. Maybe the asking price would be a bit too high, but they should absolutely be picking up the phone and inquiring. With Edwards, he’s a definite step below Lopez, but offers much the same package. Maybe not as much power, maybe not the same amount of defense, but still an upgrade over what the team had, especially if they feel confident in moving Stott to third base full time.
Davis Schneider – Eastern High School is in Voorhees, NJ, about 15 minutes from Citizens Bank Park. Schneider grew up going there and has made himself into a major leaguer despite not really being all that great at doing major league things. He got famous during last season’s World Series for being a bench player that was abnormally productive, but 2026 saw him crash down to Earth, posting a wRC+ of 84. He’s 28 years old and can play in a few different spots, plus he’s right handed, all things that this Phillies team could use. Other than, you know, the whole not a great hitter thing.
Max Schuemann – Another versatile player, Schuemann has a solid batting eye and a little pop in his bat. He doesn’t make a lot of contact, which is kind of a problem for a lineup that has enough of that “skill” already, but he probably could be had on the cheap if the team was looking to deepen its bench a bit more.
Ke’Bryan Hayes – How much do you like a project? Hayes might be the worst hitter in the game right now, but he’s also an incredible defender. The team has a stated effort to be better at defense. If we can assume that Hayes has nowhere to go but up with the bat, maybe this would be a buy really low option for the team? Particularly if you consider they are about to undergo an overhaul of their instructional hitting department after letting Kevin Long go. Like I said, how much do you like a project?
Predicted outcome
There are four spots for this infield that need to have players. Two of them will be filled by Harper and Stott, the third presumably by Turner (somehow, somewhere). That means a fourth spot is going to have to have someone come in and set things straight.
That answer is probably Aidan Miller.
The runway has been set by the team for Miller to win a job in spring training. He came back at the end of 2026 to get some at bats, has been playing well in Arizona to try and make up for lost time and has been giving interviews touting his health. Should he show the same health spring training and be productive against major league caliber arms during that time period, it’s likely the team opens with him at an infield spot. That spot might be third base if Turner is playing well at shortstop, it might be at shortstop if Turner is struggling. Yet that feels like the most likely outcome here. Maybe signing someone like Torres on a one-year deal to give Miller a little more time in the minors isn’t the worst idea to have. Teams probably aren’t going to be knocking down the doors to get him onto their roster. But splurging on a big time free agent like Chisholm or emptying the farm to acquire Otto Lopez isn’t the most prudent usage of resources they have available to them.
Let’s see how Miller does and go from there.
