David Dahl’s strong first impression may force Phillies to keep him at someone else’s expense

A ninth-inning meltdown from José Alvarado kept the Philadelphia Phillies from sweeping the New York Mets during their two-game series in London.

Still, Alvarado entered the game in the ninth with a save opportunity because of a pinch-hit home run by David Dahl in the bottom of the seventh inning, which gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead. It continued what’s been a great first impression in red pinstripes by Dahl, and may force the Phillies to find a way to keep the former All-Star on their roster for the remainder of the season.

Sunday’s pinch-hitting opportunity was only Dahl’s sixth at-bat as a Phillie, but he already has two home runs and four hits, three of which are of the extra-base variety. This is on top of Dahl having hit .340 with 12 home runs and a 1.076 OPS in 43 games at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies know that Dahl has some limitations defensively, but he provides their bench with something they haven’t had consistently since the DH became universal in 2022 — a power threat.

It’s funny, just a couple weeks ago Dahl seemed to be out of luck. As Anthony SanFilippo of Crossing Broad reported in Spring Training, Dahl was six days short of having five years of MLB service time, meaning he wasn’t eligible for an opt out in his minor-league contract. So with a deep MLB team, Dahl seemed destined to spend his entire summer at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

But injuries to Brandon Marsh and Kody Clemens opened up opportunities for Dahl to finally get spots on both the 40-man and 26-man rosters. And now that he’s at the MLB level, Dahl can’t be sent down to Triple-A unless he’s designated for assignment, clears waivers and accepts the demotion. Suffice it to say, Dahl has probably played in his final game for the IronPigs, because if he was DFA’d, he would surely be claimed.

It does appear, though, that Marsh and Trea Turner aren’t far from returning from the injured list. Weston Wilson is an obvious candidate to be optioned when either one of those two is ready to return from their respective hamstring injuries. Who the second player off the bench to go when both Marsh and Turner are back is less clear.

Edmundo Sosa obviously isn’t going anywhere. Neither is backup catcher Garrett Stubbs. If the Phillies intend to keep Dahl, that would leave them with three possible options of who else to clear: Johan Rojas, Cristian Pache and Whit Merrifield.

Of the three, Rojas is the only one who can be optioned to Triple-A. We don’t know what the Phillies truly think internally of what Rojas has done this season. Despite a few blips, his defense is typically excellent. But he’s hitting only .234 with a .572 OPS. Rojas doesn’t quite have enough at-bats to be a qualified hitter, but if he did, his .572 OPS would be tied for the third-worst mark among all MLB players.

If the Phillies decide to option Rojas, that takes care of that. It would mean, at least for the time being, that Marsh and Pache take down a bulk of the starts in center field. Rojas could return to the Phillies when rosters expand in September, assuming he isn’t used as part of a trade package before the July 30 deadline.

However, if the Phillies keep Dahl and Rojas at the MLB level once both Marsh and Turner are back, it will likely force a decision on the future of either Pache or Merrifield in the organization.

Pache is an elite defensive outfielder, who is playable offensively against left-handed pitching, whom he has a .340 on-base percentage against this season. But on a roster that includes Rojas, he’s kind of redundant. Still, Pache is only 25, and won’t even become arbitration-eligible until next season. He’s out of minor-league options, so the Phillies would have to DFA him if they decided not to carry him on the 26-man roster. There’s a real chance he would get claimed, but who knows. Unlike Dahl, though, Pache doesn’t yet have three years of MLB service time. So if he cleared waivers, the Phillies would be able to outright him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley without his consent, which they certainly would do in that scenario.

What’s also at least worth discussing is the idea of pulling the plug on Merrifield. In each of the last two summers, the Phillies have parted ways with established veterans on MLB deals who were underperforming — Didi Gregorius in 2022, and Josh Harrison in 2023. Merrifield homered Saturday and drove in another run Sunday, but has struggled to adjust to not getting consistent at-bats, as he’s hitting just .177 with a .542 OPS.

Yes, Merrifield has positional versatility, but that’s perhaps not as valuable to a team that has Sosa, Pache and Clemens (more on him in a minute). Merrifield wouldn’t be claimed on waivers, so the Phillies would be on the hook for the remainder of his $7 million salary this season, along with the $1 million buyout on his $8 million club option for 2025.

Manager Rob Thomson has said all year that he expects Merrifield to get going, and to his credit, he did make an impact in the London series. But Merrifield is 35 years old, and probably doesn’t have a future with the Phillies beyond 2024, if he even makes it past the trade deadline, when president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will likely make more MLB additions. Pache getting the opportunity to pinch hit over Merrifield late in the June 4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers might have been an indication of what’s to come if the Phillies don’t want to option Rojas to Triple-A.

Meanwhile, for all the good vibes that surrounded Clemens before low back spasms put him on the injured list, he may be out of luck when he gets back now that Dahl has emerged. Unlike Dahl, Clemens can be sent to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies can delay the decision by having Clemens rehab at Lehigh Valley for up to 20 days, but just by virtue of getting injured, he could end up back at Triple-A. Next year, Clemens will be out of minor league options, and will likely spend the whole season with the Phillies. This year, despite a .908 OPS in 17 games, Clemens could fall victim to the incredible roster depth the Phillies have.

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