It was reported last month that the Phillies are looking for a righty-swinging platoon bat to add to their outfield mix. Today, Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic report that Randal Grichuk is one specific name they are showing interest in.
The Phillies are likely to have a regular outfield of Adolis García in right, Justin Crawford in center and Brandon Marsh in left. Nick Castellanos is still on the roster but reporting throughout the winter has indicated the Phils are planning to move on from him before the season starts. That could be via a trade but he won’t have a ton of value due to his declining performance and $20MM left on the final year of his contract. If they can’t work out a trade in the coming weeks, he may just be released.
With the García/Crawford/Marsh trio, adding a righty-swinging complement makes a lot of sense, as Marsh and Crawford both swing from the left side. Marsh has a career .213/.278/.303 line and 61 wRC+ against southpaws, so it’s logical to shield him from those matchups as much as possible.
Crawford hasn’t even made his major league debut yet, but the Phils seem determined to give him a shot at taking the center field job this year. In the minors, his exposure to lefties has been limited. He only stepped to the plate 61 times against them in 2024 and just 91 times last year. His 2024 line was a fairly lackluster .263/.295/.439. He shot that up to .376/.411/.518 in 2025 but with a big spike in batting average on balls in play.
It’s hard to read much into the data with Crawford, since we’re talking about a small number of minor league events with no big league experience. Generally speaking, he’s a low-power contact-based hitter. He’s never hit more than nine home runs in a minor league season, as his production generally comes from putting the ball in play and using his speed. Time will tell how that approach translates against major league pitchers. Having a righty bat on hand to platoon with Marsh makes plenty of sense and perhaps Crawford as well, depending on how the latter fares in his first exposure to big league arms.
Grichuk fits the profile, as he swings from the right side and has been utilized as a lefty masher in recent years. He signed a $2MM deal with the Diamondbacks going into 2024 and provided excellent return on that modest investment. He was sent to the plate 279 times and slashed .291/.348/.528 for a 139 wRC+. That included a .319/.386/.528 line and 152 wRC+ against lefties.
Despite that solid season, Grichuk’s earning power didn’t improve greatly. He returned to the Snakes for 2025 with a $5MM guarantee. He wasn’t able to produce in quite the same way, as he slashed .228/.273/.401 for the year, getting flipped to the Royals at the deadline. His numbers were better against lefties last year but still not great, as he hit .227/.273/.430 for an 89 wRC+ in the split.
Obviously, the Phillies would be hoping for more of the 2024 version of Grichuk if they were to sign him. As an interesting sidenote, Grichuk and Castellanos actually have somewhat comparable profiles right now. Castellanos also didn’t have a great 2025 season but hit .269/.324/.506 against lefties in 2024, production that translated to a 124 wRC+. Each player is going into his age-34 season.
Perhaps it speaks to the poor relationship between Castellanos and manager Rob Thomson, who have publicly clashed a few times, that the Phils are seemingly plotting to get rid of Castellanos and replace him with a comparable player while potentially eating millions of dollars in the process. Castellanos was benched in June for some kind of inappropriate comment made to the skipper, per ESPN. Castellanos also publicly criticized Thomson for his communication skills. The Phils signed Thomson to an extension last month.
Grichuk is clearly superior in the field, however. Castellanos has never been a great defender. From 2018 to the present, he has been credited with minus-82 Defensive Runs Saved and minus-75 Outs Above Average. Those are the worst figures of any player in the majors for that span, regardless of position.
Grichuk, meanwhile, has been a strong defender in his career. His numbers have slipped to below average as he has pushed into his mid-30s but not by too much. Grichuk only has two center field innings since the start of 2024, which may work against him providing cover for Crawford in center. But Marsh is still arguably a viable center fielder, so it could still be possible to make the fit work.
Even if the Phillies don’t line up with Grichuk specifically, they will have other options to consider. Miguel Andujar, Austin Hays, Tommy Pham and Austin Slater are some other righty-swinging free agents who are available, none of whom should break the bank. Old friend Harrison Bader is out there but he might have enough juice to get a full-time job, as opposed to a short-side platoon role.
The Phils are one of the top-spending teams in the league but there have been some indications things are getting tight after their big deal to re-sign Kyle Schwarber. In addition to a platoon outfielder, they need to bring back J.T. Realmuto or do something else to replace him behind the plate.
The Phils opened last year with a payroll of $284MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. They are projected for $265MM next year, according to RosterResource. At the start of the offseason, MLBTR predicted Realmuto for a $30MM deal over two years. Between Realmuto and a platoon outfielder, the Phils would likely end up in the same range, though it’s still possible the offseason goes in some different directions. The Phils have reportedly explored the catching trade market, indicating a reunion with Realmuto isn’t guaranteed. They were also connected to Bo Bichette a few days ago, so perhaps there’s some chance of a big plot twist in the final weeks of the offseason.
Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Would be good platoon.
I remember Grichuk being really pesky when Toronto played the Yanks some years ago.
As a Jays fan I recall him being allergic to getting on base and chasing sliders low and away. Was decent defensively.
He would go on a hot streak, announcers would talk about a change of approach, and then it turned out the same.
.298 career OBP for a corner OF aint gonna cut it.
Hence the platoon comment. Hard to throw sliders low and away to opposite handed hitters.
Dude was drafted before Trout.
Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh
That outfield is less then adequate.
Id take a shot at bringing back Bader, over signing Grichuk. Grichuk would be a good back up option, but bader would shore up the defense more as an elite defender when healthy. Can play all three outfield positions. Gives the manager more options and flexibility over Grichuk who’s pretty much a corner outfielder these days and has slipped a few notches defensively.
I agree with you 100%.
Spend the money and sure up the outfield with Bader.
Give Crawford a shot and back him up with a Grichuk, Castro or Hays. If Crawford isn’t ready then you have a few options to include one of the guys I named, or Marsh. If Crawford is ready the real deal and it’s his time then a Bader/Marsh combo can only help. I’d love them to trade Bohm, and sign Bichette.
😐
Stop it DD. Its crawfords time.
He would spell Marsh against lefties. Crawford will get every chance to play everyday.
Messages have been mixed and the leash isn’t long. I think crawfords the favorite for Roy if the jobs not taken from him.
Better none as the player drafted before Michael Nelson Trout
The answer is Bader in center, Crawford in left and Marsh as a fourth outfielder and lh pinch hitter.
The Phils are thinking about getting rid of Castellanos, a .272 lifetime hitter, and paying most of his $20 million salary to the team he is traded to, and at the same time, spending a few million more on Grichuck, who hit .228 last season. The Phils state that they are currently losing money each season and are already over the 2026 luxury tax threshold, even without resigning Realmuto or Suarez. The Phils would be much better off keeping Castellanos at least until the trade deadline. He may have a great 2026 season, due in part to his becoming a free agent at the end of the season. Does anyone really believe the Phils are losing money each season?
There’s more to Casty leaving then meets the eye. That on top of his career low 88+ OPS+ last year. He’s arguably the worst defensive OF in MLB. He’s a horrible baserunner as well. So when he started popping off on Thomson he sealed his own doom. And as Heels On The Field mentioned the Phillies are fine financially.
@onthebucks Any reason in particular that for Castellanos u provided career avg opposed to Grichuk where u used last yrs? Are you perhaps trying to further skew your narrative??
Ruben Amaro Jr. has been saying the Phillies have been losing money. I think he’s mostly credible but I still don’t see how it’s true
Ruben ruined the Phillies when he was GM. Nice guy but I hold a grudge. He literally sold the farm and allowed the team to regress every year after 2008. And he had probably one of the best starting rotations ever! So unless he wants to tell me stories about being Mike Schmidt’s bat boy or his time playing on the 93 Phillies, I’m not listening.
@liberty They got better each year following 08. What did not happen was catching break after break in the playoffs. They avoided playing the best teams in NL and AL(Cubs and Angels). Instead facing Brewers and a Dodgers team before a WS against the Rays in 08.
This is not to take anything in any way from what they accomplished. Winning the WS is not easy to do or even winning in the Playoffs in general. In 2008 they caught break after break going through Playoffs, the ensuing years they were a far more dominant team as a whole.
I hear you but I watched them every game and saw the moves that were made to allow them to compete with the Cards, Giants and Dodgers of that era in the NL. Those other three teams, with the exception of LA won multiple world championships and didn’t mortgage their farm systems and their futures and let big time players walk and not overpay.
They regressed each year, WS win, WS loss, NLCS Loss, NLDS Loss, no playoffs. On the field, in the playoffs, Manuel got out managed by Bochy and LaRusso.
Everything you said about it being hard to repeat is correct, but the Phillies hurt themselves through mismanagement during that time and the Cards and Giants had the recipe for long term success.
Just another Merrifield. I think they have a problem.
Not a good comparison with Merrifield as they are/were very different players. 1 infield 1 outfield and completely different style of hitters.
Further, Merrifield came to the Phils as a still solid producing everyday hitter.
Yeah, This would be dead money. Any additional OF needs to be depth for CF. The bench is pretty well developed. The questions are, 5th starter (we can assume Painter if nothing else happens), CF, and whether they plan to upgrade over Bohm at 3B. If they do that it needs to be superior scrapy hitter like Bregman or Bichette.
Future Cardinal. Cards need a right-handed outfielder who hits lefties good. 703 ops last year against lefties,but a 913 ops in 2024 against lefties. Nice bounce back upside, and a former Cardinal.
Sigh
I would prefer Andujar.
As a platoon guy, Grichuk is a decent low cost answer to lefties for a lot of teams.
Especially on what would likely be a 1.5-3mil salary
Let’s be honest, no one is interested in Randal Grichuk.
Why? Trade for Doyle of Colorado, 157 OPS vs. LHP last year and GG defense in CF.
Jake Meyers, Luis Robert. Anyone but this guy. Stop holding on to these prospects. Keaton Anthony is 24, Caleb Ricketts is 25, Felix Reyes 24. All had very good minor league seasons. Johan Rojas + those 3 older (top 25) prospects for a team that needs close to ready guys has to get one of those I mentioned. Astros wanna shed salary and have worst ranked farm system. ChiSox and Rockies rebuilding, 4 for 2 type deal and get a RP not named Zach Pop while you’re at it.
@AC Take a look at Doyle’s other splits(home/away). His #s were horrible away from Coors Field. With COL players there’s usually s drop in #s taking them away from that home park.
Phillies fans, I hope for your sake you all don’t sign any of these outfielders listed in this article. I’m a Reds fan and they have been starved for outfielders who can hit for going on a decade now and every option listed in this article aside from Grichuk has played for the Reds in the last few years as they have looked to replace Nick Castellanos when he signed with you all.
Miguel Andujar – Check
Austin Hays – Check
Tommy Pham – Check
Harrison Bader – Check
Austin Slater – Check
This article is the perfect example of the landscape of MLB today. If you want a decent OF these days it’s going to cost you a good amount of $$$ or a prospect or two that hurts to see get moved.
Year after year cannot get even one decent outfielder.
Wouldn’t mind seeing more of Austin Hays than we got first time on Phillies. Huge Marsh fan didnt like Bader but am okay with Grichuk also as a 4th OF not exposing Crawford and Marsh at times
“Meanwhile” has to START the sentence, not come in the middle between commas.