Ben Verlander gets 100% real on Phillies’ new lineup with Bryce Harper in RF

The Philadelphia Phillies are sporting a new look lineup after the MLB trade deadline. One of the changes has seen veteran first baseman Bryce Harper move to right field. The position is certainly nothing new for Harper, but it’s been quite some time since he has roamed the outfield grass.

The changes to the lineup come after the Phillies failed to acquire a third baseman. Instead, they swung a trade for Luis Arraez with the San Francisco Giants. This sent Bryson Stott to third, Alec Bohm over to first, and Harper into the outfield. This is a lot of change, but one analyst is fine with what Philadelphia is doing.

“To me [the Phillies] always feels like, ‘we’re going to rake, we’re going to try and pitch well and we’ll figure out defense later,'” Ben Verlander said during an appearance on MLB Now. “This move feels like more of that… It disrupts the defense a little bit, but I wouldn’t say they were the best defensive team anyway. They’re moving guys around, they’re going to figure it out on defense.”

Arraez was added at the deadline for his bat. While not the most powerful hitter in the league, he is an old-school contact hitter. Prior to this trade, he slashed .324/.360/.440 with the Giants, swatting four home runs and driving in 43 runs.

The Phillies are willing to try something out of the box to get into October. Whether it works out certainly remains to be seen. In any event, Harper and the Phillies will take this new look lineup onto the field again on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.

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