Overview
- Tuesday’s league data show all right-handed-hitting outfielders combined for a .695 OPS, the weakest recorded split since at least 1969.
- The Philadelphia Phillies continue to lack a productive right-handed outfielder this season as Adolis García is hitting .200 with a .598 OPS and internal options have not produced.
- Analysts say the multi-year drop in righty outfield production, with five of the six worst seasons since 1969 occurring since 2022, has thinned the talent pool and made fixes harder to find.
- League sources tell reporters the Phillies are not expected to pursue free agent Austin Slater despite his 10-year, .715 career OPS and his .518 OPS in 2026.
- Because free-agent depth looks limited teams face a choice between cheap short-term rentals that often underdeliver or costly deadline acquisitions, and Philadelphia is widely expected to target a right-handed outfielder at the trade deadline which could alter payroll and lineup construction.