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By Andrew Wright
Contributing Sports Writer
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If not for the scorching hot start from the division rival New York Mets, the Philadelphia Phillies would be in the driver's seat in the National League East.
The Phillies entered Monday just 2 1/2 games behind the Mets for the top spot in the division. That might appear to indicate that changes are not needed for Philadelphia, but that is indeed not the case.
There are a couple things the Phillies could do at the trade deadline to improve the roster, and here are the two positions that need the most help.
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Bullpen
According to Wins Above Average, Philadelphia's relief pitchers have been worth minus-0.4 this season. That continued pace will not give the Phillies many chances to hold late-inning leads and secure wins in close games.
The bullpen as a whole has the eighth-worst ERA in baseball at 4.50, just behind the Miami Marlins, Colorado Rockies and Baltimore Orioles.
The offseason signing of Jordan Romano has not paid off, as he is currently worth minus-0.6 WAR and has a 7.11 ERA across 28 appearances. Jose Alvarado was far and away the best pitcher in the 'pen before his 80-game suspension.
With an assumed surplus of relief pitching available at the trade deadline, Philadelphia would be wise to go out and acquire multiple arms to add to its bullpen.
Outfield
Going right back to Wins Above Average, the Phillies rank 27th in baseball at negative-2.9 from the outfielders so far this season.
Nick Castellanos has been the lone bright spot while Max Kepler, Johan Rojas and Brandon Marsh have performed below average, as they all have an OPS+ under the league average of 100.
With there not expected to be a ton of elite outfield talent on the market, Philadelphia may have to get creative in the way it addresses the outfield situation.
That could mean moving Kyle Schwarber back to the outfield and opening the designated hitter role for free agent JD Martinez or even swinging a trade for a DH like Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves or Ryan O'Hearn from the Baltimore Orioles.
Whichever way they decide to do it, the outfield will certainly need to be upgraded if the Phillies front office has any real aspirations of another deep postseason run.
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