ARLINGTON — Last July, the Philadelphia Phillies traded for Edmundo Sosa — viewed as a light hitter that could play elite defense — and he ended up being a key piece in the team’s run to the World Series.
The Phillies are hopeful Cristian Pache, acquired from the Oakland Athletics Wednesday, will have a similar journey in 2023.
“After we traded [Matt] Vierling, we’ve been looking for a situation where we could come up with somebody with a right-handed bat that was also outstanding defensively,” Dave Dombrowski, president of baseball operations, said Thursday at Globe Life Field.
“Right now, the big key is that we know he’s an outstanding defensive center fielder … defensive outfielder, he hasn’t played much of a corner. So for us, he’s a really good compliment to what we have with our ballclub.”
Entering the 2020 season, Pache was ranked as the No. 13 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline. In parts of three MLB seasons between the Atlanta Braves and the A’s, Pache has lived up to his billing as an elite defender. Across 814 2/3 MLB innings in center field, Pache has posted five defensive runs saved and nine outs above average. He’s also slashed just .156/.205/.234 in 332 MLB plate appearances, and there’s no sugarcoating how bad that is.
So there were no promises made before Opening Day — this move may or may not work. But while Kevin Long isn’t a miracle worker, he’s considered to be the best hitting coach in the sport. And if he can help Pache turn things around offensively, it wouldn’t take much for the 24-year-old to still have a solid big league career given how talented he is as a defender.
“So in Pache’s case, we just think he is a really, really good defensive center fielder,” Dombrowski said. “And I mean if anybody is in a position — he has struggled offensively in his career — but if anybody has a club that can hopefully help on being receptive to it, it’s us with Kevin Long because he’s outstanding. Even if he doesn’t hit a lot, we just think he’s a help for us because of the defense he plays.”
Pache is not with the Phillies for Opening Day Thursday. However, the 24-year-old will arrive in Texas this evening, and the Phillies will have a roster move before the second game of the season Saturday.
It’s become common since Long joined the organization in October of 2021 for the Phillies to reveal after acquiring a player that their hitting coach saw something he believes he can fix with a former top prospect. Brandon Marsh would probably be the best example. In this case, though, the Phillies traded for Pache’s glove, and didn’t really consult Long on whether he believes the outfielder’s approach at the plate is correctable.
“No, not really on this one,” Dombrowski admitted. “I mean, some of our staff members knew [we were going to make this move], but really in this case it was more defense that outweighed anything. It kind of reminds me a little bit of when we acquired Sosa at that time.
“Now, Kevin has had a chance to look at his video afterwards — yesterday we gave him a heads up. But it’s a situation where the defense is so good, hopefully we can help the offense.”
When the Phillies acquired Sosa from the St. Louis Cardinals last July, he was hitting just .189 with a .515 OPS in 53 games. In 25 games in red pinstripes last season, Sosa hit .315 with a .937 OPS.
Perhaps the success that Sosa had late in 2022 isn’t a fair standard to hold Pache or any struggling offensive player acquired to. But if Long can unlock Pache’s bat, the Phillies will have acquired much more than a late-inning defensive replacement capable of spelling Brandon Marsh against left-handed pitching.
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