Braves and Phillies get trade information on player both teams are expected to pursue originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia Phillies are expected to be interested in a player who can come in and make an immediate impact for them on the offensive side of things. If things go as planned, the Phillies will add a right-handed bat who can leave the yard at any given moment.
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However, there’s reason to believe that the Atlanta Braves will be looking for the same exact thing, as reports have indicated over the past few months that Atlanta is searching for a right-handed bat.
Other reports have also indicated that they’re specifically looking for an outfielder, so somebody like Taylor Ward can make a lot of sense for both teams, with Jeff Passan recently connecting the dots on a potential trade for the Braves and Phillies to pursue with the Baltimore Orioles.
“A slugger who hit 36 home runs last season, Ward has evolved into the walkingest hitter this side of Nick Kurtz and Mike Trout. It has juiced his on-base percentage to over .400 — higher than his slugging percentage — and made him a leadoff hitter extraordinaire for the Orioles. Plenty of teams could use an outfielder, and though Ward won’t win a Gold Glove anytime soon, his on-base percentage fits in almost every lineup,” Passan wrote.
Ward has had a very strange year for his sake. This was once a guy who was one of baseball’s better power hitters, especially over the past two years. However, his power numbers have dipped a good bit recently, which makes things a bit intriguing.
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I don’t want to say that he can’t be a good fit in Atlanta or Philadelphia, and there’s even a chance he could decide who wins the National League East, but he’s not the same type of power guy that he once was.
