Philadelphia Phillies Make Surprising Late-Season Trade

The Philadelphia Phillies are heading into the stretch run playing some of their best baseball of the season, and with September call-ups now in play, the Phillies have the opportunity to bring in some reinforcements.

Tommy Pham seemed like a natural player to promote. Philadelphia acquired him back in June and placed him in Triple-A, where he has been managing a .772 OPS over 189 plate appearances. At the very least, he would represent a nice, veteran bat with playoff experience.

But we won't get to see Pham take the field for the Phillies this year, as they just traded him to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for cash considerations.

Evidently, Philadelphia felt comfortable with Bryan De La Cruz and Derek Hill (whom Philadelphia ironically acquired from the White Sox earlier in the year) in the outfield. Based on the way they have been hitting, you can understand that.

But you kind of get the feeling the Phils may have missed an opportunity to add another proven bat to their bench here.

Pham was relatively productive as recently as last season with the Pittsburgh Pirates when he slashed .245/.330/.370 with 10 home runs and 52 RBI. He owns a lifetime .764 OPS and is a terrific postseason hitter, boasting a career .823 OPS with six homers and 12 RBI across 37 playoff games.

Is the 38-year-old the same player anymore? Obviously not, and the Phillies clearly felt they didn't stand to benefit by promoting him. But now he'll head to Chicago — where he also spent 70 games in 2024 — where he could potentially be of some assistance.

Philadelphia's offense has been performing considerably better over the last month, which was much-needed after a horrendous first several months of the campaign.

The Phillies acquired Luis Arraez at the MLB trade deadline, and recently, players like Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm have been swinging the bat well.

Philadelphia would still surely like to get more from Trea Turner, and it would be nice to see Kyle Schwarber become more consistent.

If those things happen, the Phillies could become very dangerous. The question is whether or not their ancillary pieces — like De La Cruz and Edmundo Sosa — will continue to be productive.