Phillies Mailbag: Crawford, Kennedy, Relief Help

June is almost over and Justin Crawford continues to rake.  When will he be up?
~Michael

When the month of June began, Phillies outfield prospect Justin Crawford was doing pretty well.  On June 5th, it seemed like Crawford was destined for a promotion.  But he has been even better in the time since.

For the  month of June, Crawford is batting .357 (which is actually down from .378 in May).  But on the season one of the major splits stands out: Crawford is batting .440 against left-handed pitchers.  And .309 against right-handed pitchers is not too bad, either.

So when might the Phillies finally call him up?

Part of it, is that Brandon Marsh is finally performing.  After an 0 for April and struggles into late May, Marsh has turned it on.

In Marsh's last 15 games, he is batting .366 with a .912 OPS.

Granted, his last 13 starts have come against right-handed pitchers.  The splits favor Marsh platooning - he is batting .262 against right-handed pitching and .231 against lefties.  But the Phillies really have given him few opportunities against lefties, despite suggesting before the season that he would play every day.

I think that with the trade deadline just five weeks away, the Phillies might be holding steady.  Crawford could be a trade piece for the right return, and Marsh is someone I can see going somewhere else in a trade if an outfielder comes back.  It certainly helps if Marsh is reclaiming his season.

Meanwhile, Otto Kemp will get some opportunities in the outfield with Weston Wilson optioned to Triple-A.  He will likely get the outfield starts against lefties for now.

What do the Phillies plan to do with Buddy Kennedy while he's up in the major leagues?
~Franco

The Phillies purchased the contract of Millville's Buddy Kennedy and optioned Weston Wilson to Triple-A last week.  It was clear that Wilson was just not getting it done at the plate and the Phillies had to make a change.   That might have come in the form of Otto Kemp - if he had not already been in the major leagues.

Kennedy had a clause in his contract that would have allowed him to sign with a major league team had the Phillies not added him to their roster.

While much attention was on the likes of Kemp and Justin Crawford, Kennedy was quietly having a really nice season at Triple-A.   Batting .283, Kennedy had eight home runs, 11 doubles, and a triple, along with 31 walks and 40 RBI.  His OPS was a cool .835.

So rather than lose him to another team right now, the Phillies decided to give him a look first while the roster had space.  I think he he is the last position player on the roster, and the one who stands to lose his roster spot upon Bryce Harper's return.

So between now and then I think we will see Kennedy play first base against left-handed pitching (with Kemp taking up left field).   He will get some late inning work at second base or third base should the Phillies have a nice lead.  But I still think he is behind the rest of the bench on the depth chart, behind Edmundo Sosa and Kemp for opportunities.

Kennedy will have some opportunities to show he belongs with the Phillies in the major leagues.  If the Phillies were going to lose him, they at least wanted to see what he can do in the meantime.

What relief pitchers are actually on the trade market?
~Gary

There are not too many teams who are currently out of the running for a playoff spot.  One week to 10 days can change something for many teams.  There has been a lot of movement even in the last 10 days.

For example:

• The Arizona Diamondbacks went from the .500 mark to two games over the .500 mark.  That was enough to put them 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card
• The Cincinnati Reds went from one game over the .500 mark to three games over the .500 mark
• Of course, the Phillies picked up 7 games (yes, seven!) on the Mets in a span of their last 10 games
• Boston hit three games over the .500 mark and then lost three in a row
• The Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels are both two games under the .500 mark... and 2.5 games out of a Wild Card.  What could a hot week do for each of them?

So teams are looking at the schedules and hoping they can have a hot 10 games to two weeks and can change their status.

Here is who I would put as clear sellers:

• Chicago White Sox
• The not-Oakland Athletics
• Baltimore Orioles
• Washington Nationals
• Pittsburgh Pirates
• Colorado Rockies
• Miami Marlins

So the pool is growing.  I don't think that Mason Miller is going anywhere.  But here are a few names that could have a big impact on the Phillies bulllpen:

• Felix Bautista.  Will cost a pretty penny, as the Orioles closer has two more years of control left on his contract after this one.  He is the type of player that a team might be more likely to give up a good prospect for.   His $1 million salary in 2025 will make him fit onto any team's roster and payroll immediately, raising his trade value.
• Jake Bird.  One bad game last week against the Dodgers will not sully his season overall, which has been pretty good.   Bird is 2-1 with a 2.06 ERA for the Rockies.  He is not serving as a closer, but is a back-end reliever.  Should the Phillies permanently give the back-end right-handed outs to Orion Kerkering, Bird could be a good replacement for Kerkering in the seventh inning.
• Kyle Finnegan.  The Nationals closer is 0-2 with a 2.93 ERA on the season.  Finnegan was briefly shut down with some shoulder fatigue.  But has mostly been a reliable relief arm for the Nationals.   After being non-tendered by the Nationals in the offseason, he ended up back on the Nationals on a one-year, $4 million deal.

I don't have a left-handed pitcher on this list.  I like Garrett Cleavinger of the Rays, but the Rays have been performing well and might not be selling.  I know some have tossed around Aroldis Chapman as a lefty option, but the Red Sox do not appear to be sellers just yet.