Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper believes it’s obvious what his team needs to add before the August 3 trade deadline.
“I mean, I think everybody knows kind of what we need, right?” Harper told MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki on Monday. “I mean, everybody in here knows what we want. Everybody in baseball kind of knows what we need. So, there’s players out there that are available, and I think we have a good opportunity to go get the guys we need. If that’s bullpen, if that’s in our lineup, if that’s a starting pitcher. You guys know what our five spot’s looked like all year.”
Philadelphia is 5-21 in games not started by Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler, Jesús Luzardo, or Aaron Nola. The fifth spot in the rotation hasn’t won a game since May 18.
The Phillies are 16th in MLB in slugging percentage (.402), and only the Toronto Blue Jays have a lower on-base percentage (.304).
“I have no idea what (president of baseball operations Dave) Dombrowski is thinking,” Harper said. “I haven’t talked to him. I mean, it’s his job. It’s not my job. It’s my job to go out and play and do my job. And obviously, the last month, I haven’t done my job to the best of my ability.”
Harper is batting .163 with three home runs, 13 RBIs, and a .632 OPS in his last 24 games. He hit his 22nd home run of the campaign during Monday’s 8-7 loss against the Miami Marlins.
The Phillies are 57-50 and rank second in the NL East, 5.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves. Philadelphia sits in the second NL wild-card spot and is two games up on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“Just get us in,” Harper said. “I think that’s a big deal too. Hopefully we have the pieces to do it.”
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