The Philadelphia Phillies made a big splash on trade deadline day, picking up three-time batting champion Luis Arraez from the San Francisco Giants.
For anyone who follows baseball closely, Arraez is basically known as one of the toughest hitters to strike out in the entire league. This season alone, he’s hitting .324, which is one of the best marks in all of MLB, and he barely ever strikes out. The Phillies also got relief pitcher Caleb Kilian as part of the same trade, while the Giants picked up two young pitching prospects in return.
To make room for Arraez, the Phillies are shuffling their infield around a bit. Second baseman Bryson Stott is expected to shift over to third base, Alec Bohm is moving to first, and Bryce Harper, their star player, has reportedly agreed to move to right field to make everything fit together.
This is actually Arraez’s fifth team in just five years, which says a lot about how much teams value his bat, even if he moves around a lot. He’s set to become a free agent after this season, so the Phillies are clearly hoping his hot bat can help them make a serious playoff push this year.
(Sources: ESPN, MLB.com, CBS Sports)
