With Dave Dombrowski’s move for Twins’ closer Jhoan Duran officially kicking off the Trade Deadline, many Phillies fans were hoping for the Phillies front office to make at least one more move to bolster this roster as it makes a push for the 2025 World Series. Once their legitimate closer was locked down, it was clear that their bullpen was ready for hard-fought postseason baseball, and the focus before the six pm trade deadline was then an outfield bat. Dombrowski decided to call back the team from the land of ten thousand lakes and work another deal in hopes of enhancing the Phillies’ consistently rotational outfield, especially now that the previous veteran corner outfielder, Max Kepler, hasn’t panned out the way anyone had hoped.

Bader, the right-handed bat the Phillies’ lineup so desperately needed, is also a massive defensive improvement compared to Kepler, and has consistently suited up for the Twins night in and night out. However, Bader is relatively new to left field, as the former Minnesota Twin previously won the Gold Glove for center field in 2021 with the St. Louis Cardinals. While the Phillies’ left and center field positions have significant depth with Kepler, Marsh, and Rojas still platooning the majority of the time, and despite all three of them having had intensely impressive moments defensively in the Phillies’ outfield, Bader is still reasonably a stronger defensive whiz in Bader, who, in his last series with Minnesota, made a stunning play in the Twins’ 13-1 loss against the Boston Red Sox.

HARRISON BADER MAKES AN INCREDIBLE LEAPING CATCH TO ROB A HOME RUN! 🔥😱#MNTwins | #DirtyWater | #MLBTradeDeadline pic.twitter.com/nKTkYqeFzu

— Talkin' Twins (@TalkinTwins) July 30, 2025

While the seven-year veteran isn’t known to be the most impactful bat, his consistency at the plate and situational awareness will be something to also look out for as he probably will be placed in the sixth-eighth spots in the lineup when making his debut with his new team. When the Phillies’ offense is locked in, there is no denying that they are one of the toughest offenses in all of baseball, but when the latter half of this lineup (the half that usually consists of Bohm, Stott, Marsh, Realmuto, et al) is struggling, they are like a compact car stuck in mud, and sometimes even painful to watch. Now, Bader obviously isn’t going to get on base every at-bat, but his “spark plug” nature at the dish could electrify that latter half of the team when they’re stuck in neutral. Bader is in the midst of one of his best offensive seasons, slashing .258/.338/.439 with 12 home runs and 10 stolen bases in 96 games. His splits were pretty even with a .779 OPS against righties and a .774 OPS against lefties, but Bader figures to get most of his playing time against opposing left-handed pitchers moving forward. According to Sports Info Solutions, Bader has +13 defensive runs saved this season. As a roster, the Phillies have -28 defensive runs saved, 27th in MLB. Bader also has postseason experience, playing in five postseason series with the Cardinals, Yankees, and Mets with a .809 OPS and five career homers, so if and/or when the Phillies make it to the postseason, there will be yet another experienced presence on the field and in the clubhouse.

Harrison Bader joins the Phillies and has a better slugging %, OPS, on base %, and WAR than all of the Phillies outfielders. And he is the best defensive OF?
👊🏼 @MikeyMuls pic.twitter.com/9D8QgLtxbD

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) July 31, 2025

In return for this outfield improvement, the Phillies dealt away outfielder Hendry Mendez (who is now the #18 prospect in the Twins system) and right-hander Geremy Villoria, truly finessing one of the best low-key upgrades before the trade deadline, despite potentially just being a rental with a $10 million mutual option for 2026, the value of which can increase upon meeting certain playing-time thresholds. The Phillies continue to follow the mantra of shedding prospective talent for MLB-caliber players to help them win now. With both the additions from Minnesota in Duran on the pitching side and Bader on the offensive side, the Phillies are definitely a stronger baseball team than they were yesterday.

With the trade deadline having come and gone, these two moves seem to have been the only things the Phillies’ front office deemed a “necessity” before finishing out the second half of this season. With the World Series on the horizon, the Phillies have put all their eggs in the basket of wanting to win immediately with this core that is on the verge of missing its prime. After the 2022 Cinderella run, all the Phillies have wanted to do is return to the deepest form of October baseball one could play with the majority of the same roster from that fateful team who defied the odds, but lost to the Astros. After this season, some of these former stars who have been marquee names in Philly could potentially be playing elsewhere to start the 2026 season, so the time for this core that fans have gotten to know and love over recent years to win as a unit officially is quite literally now or never, and hopefully, this year the Phils will be towing the Fall Classic trophy rightfully back to South Philadelphia.