Phillies: 3 details about recently called up center fielder, Travis Jankowski

Another roster move could be on the way.

As much as I may have just hyped him up, don’t get me wrong, Jankowski is nothing more than a band-aid when it comes to the Phillies outfield problems. The depth was bad before and after Quinn’s season ended, and it’ll continue to be below average before further moves are made.

Odubel Herrera likely isn’t being viewed as a longterm solution out in center, McCutchen is on his last legs, Joyce is a DFA candidate at the moment, and Mickey Moniak needs further time to developt.

Jankowski can hold things down for a week or two as the Phillies continue to piece together what they want to do around the trade deadline, but further moves could easily be on the way as the front office looks to start building a more competitive outfield in 2020.

Veteran outfielder Jorge Bonifacio was signed to a minor league deal earlier this month, and while he can’t play center field, he could offer a better bat off the bench than the likes of Joyce. It’s worth mentioning that Jankowski is a lefty, so now all three of the Phillies outfield bench bats are left-handed. Replacing Joyce with a righty in Bonificacio would make sense on paper.

Additionally, Adam Haseley has retuned to the Phillies organization and has begun a ramp-up process down in single-A. Whenever he is ready to start playing professional ball again, he’s another outfielder you would expect to be on the major league roster.

Outside of that, trades and further minor league additions could be on the horizon. The current free agent market is rather barren at the moment, so if Dave Dombrowski really wants to upgrade the team’s outfield depth here in 2021, some sort of substantial trade arrangement would likely be the only way to.

In the meantime, Jankowski is going to get a run as the team’s primary backup center fielder. Let’s see what he can do with it.