Harper: Phils 'need some help' for offense as Trade Deadline approaches

MIAMI -- Don Mattingly is trying to squeeze anything he can from an outfield that has been one of the franchise’s least productive in 143 years.

But he can only do so much.

Phillies outfielders entered Tuesday with a combined .658 OPS, which ranked 29th in baseball. It was the sixth-lowest mark by a Phillies outfield in franchise history, and the lowest since 1942. So Mattingly on Tuesday started Bryan De La Cruz in right field against Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara, putting left-handed-hitting rookie Gabriel Rincones Jr. on the bench. Rincones had been starting against righties, but he has hit .169 with 26 strikeouts in 77 at-bats against them.

“Rico’s been given a decent runway against right-handed pitching,” Mattingly said before the Phillies’ 1-0 loss at loanDepot park. “It hasn't been as good as we'd like. De La’s been getting his hits, and I know he’s going to be solid in the outfield and all that. So I don't feel like it's going to be worse than what we're seeing.”

De La Cruz’s two-out single in the fifth inning broke up Alcantara’s no-hitter. He hit a two-out double in the seventh. But it was hardly a moral victory. The Phils have scored one or zero runs in six of their first 11 games since the All-Star break. They are 3-8.

“I think we ran into some really good pitching,” Bryce Harper said. “Some buzzsaws, actually.”

But the Phillies will face good pitching in the fall, too.

Can they beat it in October?

“I think we need some help,” Harper said. “But you know, I think we've proved pretty much all year we've done a pretty good job. But anytime you can get some help in here and reinforcements, I think it helps.”

Harper said the Phillies need bats and arms, which everybody knows and is exactly what the front office is pursuing before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline. A new outfielder seems to be the most obvious upgrade. They’re looking at everybody, but potential outfielders include the Royals’ Lane Thomas and Starling Marte, the Blue Jays’ Daulton Varsho and the Giants’ Heliot Ramos.

Is Harper confident the Phillies can land everything they need?

“I don't know,” he said. “We'll see. I mean, that's a Dave [Dombrowski] question. So we'll see.”

Dombrowski has spoken recently only to The Athletic and Tuesday night to Gregg Murphy on the Phillies’ radio pregame show. He indicated he expects most activity to happen shortly before the Deadline.

“I read this morning that there's 22 clubs within 4 1/2 games of a postseason spot,” Dombrowski told Murphy. “I talked to one club today that says, ‘Well, we're not so sure that we're going to move people. We've gotten within 4 1/2 games now, so we're going to wait even a few more days.’”

The Phillies have a farm system that ranks among the bottom third in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and evaluators from other organizations. Internally, the Phillies dispute this. They believe if they package the right talent, they should be able to make trades.

“I've never been in a position where I haven't had players to make a trade,” Dombrowski told Murphy. “Never. When I've had the strongest Minor League system, which was in Montreal, or I've had systems that haven't been regarded as being as strong, never had that issue.

“It's sometimes just a matter of who you will be willing to give up for what quality of player. So that's what you always have to weigh in your own mind. And we have plenty of good players. Now, if you start stacking up some vs. some other organizations, and you're lining up … let's say you're talking about the best player out on the market, and you're offering three players and they're offering three players. Maybe they have three better players to offer than you do, but it isn't that you don't have the players to offer.”

Besides a bat, the Phillies need a starter and a late-inning reliever.

It will be interesting to see how much they can pull off.

“You're always wide open to being in a position to improve your club, however you can,” Dombrowski said. “I think that you need to be open-minded. But you know, with a club like ours, you're pretty well solidified in many different positions. So you're really not looking to normally shake up your club at this time of the year. You’re looking to add to where you feel your weaknesses are.”