Because the Phillies look to place some last touches on a proficient roster, Philadelphia is “keeping track of” Jake McCarthy as doable outfield assist, USA At present’s Bob Nightengale writes. Such a commerce would naturally rely upon whether or not or not the Diamondbacks are nonetheless within the playoff race by the deadline, and even when not, Arizona would nonetheless be hesitant about shifting an outfielder who’s managed by means of the 2028 season.
McCarthy has been been often talked about in commerce rumors up to now, even when his inventory has ebbed and flowed over his first two full MLB seasons. McCarthy completed fourth in NL Rookie of the 12 months voting in 2022 and was subsequently a much-discussed determine that offseason because the D’Backs appeared to promote from their surplus of left-handed hitting outfielders. (Daulton Varsho ended up being the outfielder moved within the December 2022 commerce that introduced Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to the desert.)
Nevertheless, McCarthy ran right into a sophomore droop final 12 months, hitting .243/.318/.326 over 312 plate appearances, and he was demoted to Triple-A, earlier than an indirect harm then sidelined him for the Diamondbacks’ playoff run. As per a report from Nightengale in February, Arizona provided the White Sox both McCarthy or Dominic Fletcher in a commerce for pitching prospect Cristian Mena this previous winter, with Chicago opting to take Fletcher.
If McCarthy’s Diamondbacks tenure actually was that near coming to an finish, he has achieved effectively in his second act with the membership. McCarthy hit his third homer of the season in Sunday’s recreation towards the Padres and entered the day’s motion hitting .268/.354/.370 over his first 160 PA. Sunday’s house run was a rarity for a participant who hasn’t proven a lot energy and whose barrel and hard-hit ball charges are each mediocre — McCarthy’s 22.5% hard-hit ball fee ranks solely within the second percentile of all batters.
A .327 BABIP has accounted for an excellent chunk of McCarthy’s success, however his glorious pace has additionally been a profit in turning a few of these balls in play into additional hits. His strikeout and stroll charges are each above common, and on the defensive aspect, McCarthy has been roughly common to barely beneath common with no consideration fielder. The D’Backs have deployed McCarthy in left and middle subject every so often, however he has largely been utilized in a proper subject platoon with the right-handed hitting Randal Grichuk. Oddly, McCarthy has hit southpaws significantly better than he has right-handed pitchers this season, with a .917 OPS in 32 PA towards lefties and a .674 OPS in 128 towards righties.
Between his years of management, his age (27 subsequent month) and his previous draft pedigree because the thirty ninth total decide in 2018, McCarthy can be removed from a rental piece for the Phillies for any workforce seeking to pry the outfielder away from Arizona. The Phils’ acquisition of Brandon Marsh from the Angels on the 2022 commerce deadline might be a comp right here, as that deal additionally noticed Philadelphia land a left-handed hitting outfielder with some previous prospect enchantment who hadn’t fairly gotten all of it collectively on the MLB degree. That one-for-one deal noticed the Phillies land Marsh for Logan O’Hoppe, one other well-regarded younger participant who was blocked at catcher by J.T. Realmuto, so the Phils and Angels mutually addressed one another’s wants for outfield and catching assist.
Marsh has gone on to turn out to be a strong common within the Philadelphia outfield, this season performing because the robust aspect of a left-field platoon with Whit Merrifield. Marsh is at the moment on the 10-day injured checklist with a hamstring harm that isn’t thought-about too critical, so within the occasion that McCarthy was acquired, the Phillies would doubtless view him as a left-handed hitting complement to Johan Rojas in middle subject and even Nick Castellanos in proper subject.
Rojas hasn’t hit in any respect this season, and his once-impressive middle subject glove has been a lot nearer to common. Castellanos’ defensive limitations are well-known, however the greater concern has been his bat, as Castellanos is hitting .215/.275/.360 with 9 homers over 269 PA. The veteran is on tempo for the second negative-fWAR season in his three years with Philadelphia, which isn’t an important signal contemplating that Castellanos remains to be owed $40M over the remaining two years of his five-year, $100M contract.
The shortage of manufacturing from Castellanos or Rojas hasn’t a lot slowed the Phillies down of their run to the NL’s greatest file, however the outfield does stand out as a pure space to handle as one of many membership’s comparatively few weak hyperlinks. Buying a rental participant on the deadline could be a extra logical thought for the Phils given how Castellanos will nonetheless be within the combine for the subsequent two years, and buying and selling for a shorter-term outfielder would come at a a lot lesser prospect value than McCarthy’s price ticket.
Since solely 4 Nationwide League groups are above the .500 mark, the Diamondbacks are nonetheless simply outdoors the wild card image regardless of their unimpressive 30-35 file. There may be nonetheless loads of time for the reigning NL champions to show issues round, and the D’Backs must be fairly decidedly out of the working on the deadline for the entrance workplace to show to promoting, contemplating that the workforce has invested closely in making an attempt to stay a high contender.
Even when Arizona does promote, impending free brokers and veteran gamers determine to be the workforce’s first choices for commerce candidates earlier than getting round to contemplating shifting controllable gamers like McCarthy. Even when it’s true that the D’Backs have been prepared to take Mena (not a highly-touted pitching prospect) for McCarthy final winter, Arizona could be able to demand extra in return for McCarthy now, given his improved numbers and a few additional leverage the Diamondbacks may maintain in purchasing him to needy contenders come July 30.
