Philadelphia Phillies focus on playoff push after acquiring Wilson Ramos

Even though the Philadelphia Phillies didn’t land Bryce Harper, acquiring Wilson Ramos was still a solid addition.

Unlike previous seasons, the Philadelphia Phillies approached Tuesday’s trade deadline with the mindset of considering players that would give them a better chance of earning one of the playoff spots in the National League.

When it comes to the biggest surprises from the 2018 season so far, the Phillies sitting on top of the NL East at the moment certainly ranks near the top of the list since the team hasn’t put together a winning season since 2011.

If anything, this Philadelphia team was expected to go through at least a year or two of rebuilding while adjusting to the new managing style of Gabe Kapler, which obviously hasn’t been the case.

Not even the key signings of big-name players this offseason in Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta made it seem like the Phillies would look this good, but here they are heading into the final two months of the regular season with a legitimate chance to make the playoffs.

Heading into Tuesday, was linked to numerous players ranging from Bryce Harper (which would have been a long shot) and Andrew McCutchen. As fans know, neither of these players ended up coming on board, but Philadelphia did make a solid move to improve at the catcher position by acquiring Wilson Ramos from the Tampa Bay Rays.

In comparison to other catchers like Andrew Knapp and Jorge Alfaro, there’s no question that Ramos is an upgrade not just for his skills as a hitter, but as a defender as well. Unfortunately, this was one of those kind of moves that Philadelphia made in which they will have to be a little extra patient since the newly acquired catcher is still recovering from a hamstring injury.

Only time will tell when it comes to whether the Phillies are still in the playoff hunt by then since a lot can change in a month, but assuming they are, the presence of Ramos could put this roster in a lot better shape.

Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox was the perfect example of how much of an issue defense has been at times for Philadelphia, and once Ramos is healthy enough to return, hopefully is presence will help improve this area.

For now, the Phillies just need to be a little extra patient while Ramos continues to recover, but on a positive note, at least the team was able to pull off some sort of key move before the deadline, even if it wasn’t someone like Harper or McCutchen.