BALTIMORE — Are rain delays becoming synonymous with Phillies trade deadline time?
Just a year ago, Dave Dombrowski and the front office landed Twins star closer Jhoan Duran during a long rain delay in Chicago.
There was no deal made Sunday in Baltimore during a 139-minute delay at Camden Yards. But the Phillies did move closer to Monday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline with an 8-0, rain-shortened win, which included a second delay, over the Orioles.
And this is another evaluation point in a long baseball season.
The Phillies re-evaluated the state of the team after the first 28 games, when they relieved Rob Thomson of his managerial duties. They even re-evaluated Andrew Painter and sent him to the minors in the middle of June.
Now, days after bringing Painter back, they have reached another checkpoint.
So did anything become more clear in the rubber match against Baltimore?
DE LA CRUZ … AGAIN
It is hard to imagine the Phillies will not pursue a bat before the deadline, but they may have found something useful by giving Bryan De La Cruz a chance with the big-league club.
There have been early flashes from rookies Felix Reyes and Gabriel Rincones Jr., but neither has sustained that initial success.
De La Cruz is not a rookie. He debuted in 2021. And the 29-year-old has stayed hot through his first 22 plate appearances with the Phillies.
He gave them an early lift Sunday. Orioles starter Kyle Bradish looked sharp out of the gate, but De La Cruz crushed a hanging breaking ball to right-center through the rain for his second homer with the club, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead. He later added a sacrifice fly to stretch the lead to seven.
He is now batting .450 with a 1.225 OPS since joining the Phillies, providing their best early stretch from a right-handed hitting outfielder since Harrison Bader last September.
Don Mattingly managed De La Cruz in Miami and has seen this version before.
“De La Cruz has been good,” Mattingly said. “He’s just solid. He’s been that guy, parts of his career, that’s been really good.”
He’s taken advantage of the opportunity against both lefties and righties — but he’s not focused on how he’s impacted the club’s deadline conversations.
“I can’t control what the team wants to do or doesn’t want to do,” De La Cruz said. “What I can control is what I do, and that’s something I’ll be focused on, just what I have to do every day to contribute to this team.”
If the Phillies are unable to add the kind of bat they want before Monday’s deadline, De La Cruz has at least given them something to think about.
WHEELER LOOKS BACK
Zack Wheeler did not look like himself in his last start in Miami, when his velocity dipped and raised some natural concern.
He is 36 years old and coming off a serious injury. Even after looking dominant for most of the season, anything that looks off with Wheeler is worth monitoring.
Sunday offered a bit of reassurance.
His four-seamer averaged just a tick below his season average of 94.8 mph, and Mattingly saw what he wanted before the rain ended Wheeler’s day after two innings.
“It was the right Wheeler,” Mattingly said. “His fastball’s back. Sharp. Breaking ball was good.”
Wheeler was trying to work quickly once the weather became a factor, hoping to get through five innings before the rain arrived. It did not happen.
“It is what it is,” Wheeler said. “I was trying to work quick and at least get five, but it just wasn’t that way.”
The bigger development was how he felt.
“Felt good,” Wheeler said. “Felt better than the other day. I went into a cage and threw a bunch more, kind of make it more like a start, rather than just a long-type bullpen. Get some more work in and be ready to go for the next one.”
After Wheeler exited, the Phillies pieced together the rest.
Kyle Backhus threw a scoreless inning. Tim Mayza gave them two more. By the end of the series, Phillies pitching had held Baltimore scoreless over the final 15 innings.
That mattered, especially with the bullpen forced into an odd day.
“You try to cover seven innings, you lose another guy,” Mattingly said. “At the end of the day, it worked out.”
AN ENCOURAGING DAY
Since the All-Star break, Brandon Marsh, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber have all been scuffling.
The trio entered Sunday with a combined .182/.283/.329 slash line and a .612 OPS across 166 plate appearances. Like earlier in the season, the Phillies’ offense was too reliant on that group to drive the day.
On Sunday, Marsh and Harper looked more like themselves.
Marsh drove a pitch to the warning track in the second inning before lining a single in the third to continue a Phillies rally.
Harper followed an inning later with his 23rd homer of the season. It also came off a lefty, ending a career-long 136-plate appearance stretch without a homer against a southpaw. His previous one came April 21 at Wrigley Field against Cubs lefty Riley Martin.
Up 4-0 in the fifth, Bryce Harper smokes his 23rd home run of the season!
Harper did not make it sound complicated.
“Just swinging at strikes,” Harper said. “That’s a big thing.”
It was one swing, but it was a good sign for a hitter who has long handled same-sided pitching.
Mattingly does not worry much about Harper’s ability to work through a stretch like this.
“He’s not a panicker,” Mattingly said. “He’s not like, ‘I lost it all of a sudden.’ That’s not going to happen.”
CRAW KEEPS GOING
When the Phillies’ deadline needs come up, an outfield bat is almost always part of the conversation.
That can gloss over what Justin Crawford has done lately.
On Sunday, the rookie center fielder added two more hits, including an RBI double. He has hit safely in six of his past seven games.
Since June 14, Crawford is batting .321, 14th in the majors among hitters with at least 100 plate appearances over that span and just four points behind Colorado’s T.J. Rumfield for the highest average by a qualified rookie hitter.
He was batting .227 over his first 64 games before that stretch.
He has also hit .350 against left-handed pitching in that span, albeit in only 22 plate appearances. He was at .143 against lefties before that.
Could more opportunities against southpaws be coming?
The deadline could dictate part of that answer, but Crawford’s in-season adjustment has been one of the better developments for the Phillies’ offense.
“He’s swinging the bat,” Mattingly said. “He’s been swinging it for a while. It seems like he’s been making changes, so to see some balls fall has been good.”
COLE’S HARD TRUTH: DEADLINE AHEAD
The Phillies head home Monday for a four-game series against the Nationals.
They also return home with the trade deadline staring at them.
Their needs remain clear: another starter, at least one reliever and another bat. The order can shift depending on the day, the market and what other contenders do. But with the Dodgers landing back-to-back Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal from Detroit on Saturday night, the Phillies need to make sure they are built to compete with the best teams in the National League.
The roster as currently constructed does not feel sufficient against teams like the Brewers or Dodgers.
The Phillies are top-heavy. The middle of the roster has been getting better, but there still needs to be more around the stars.
The loss of Brad Keller was a turning point in how the bullpen has looked lately. A reliable late-inning reliever, whether it is a major name or a steadier bridge arm, should be the top need.
Duran is important. But his impact drops when the Phillies cannot consistently get him the ball with a lead in the ninth.
After being swept in Miami, the Phillies needed a series win in Baltimore.
They got one.
Now they wait for the deadline.
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