Philadelphia Phillies: 4 trades to make after the Bryce Harper injury
By Tim Boyle
Philadelphia Phillies trade candidate to help replace Bryce Harper: Andrew Benintendi.
If Happ isn’t anything like Harper, Andrew Benintendi must be his near-opposite. Benintendi has never hit for all that much power nor has he found his home run stroke in 2022 with the Kansas City Royals. However, Benintendi has been hitting for a high average all year and posting good OBP numbers. Those are attributes the Phillies could use in their lineup during Harper’s absence.
Much like Happ, the Phillies could trade for him and find themselves a candidate to bat first in the lineup. It’s something they neglected to do over the years, settling for more untraditional guys like Kyle Schwarber to get first ups regularly.
Benintendi is a free agent after this season so the Royals have a definite need to trade him. A left-handed hitter who won a Gold Glove as a left fielder last year, he’d be a candidate for the Phillies to plug into center field in a perfect situation where Harper comes back and is able to play defense in right field.
Despite the good year he’s having, Benintendi shouldn’t be considered out of the price range. But because there is no control of him beyond this year and he’s not a perfect fit for them in free agency over the winter, the Phillies will have to do more than add him for this to make sense.