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The Phillies agreed to buy forward Asdrubal Cabrera of the Mets for the Double-A right-handed pitcher, the clubs announced early Friday night.
Cabrera, 32, has an average of .277 / .329 / .488 (124 OPS +) with 23 doubles, 18 homers, 58 RBIs and 48 points this season. In many ways, it's the best offensive season of his career. He has mostly played the shortstop in his career, but he can also handle the second or third base.
In all likelihood, the Phillies want it short. Maikel Franco is on fire right now and must stay in the lineup everyday at the third base. Cesar Hernandez is pretty well cut to second base.
At the stop-court, it is mostly a combination of young J.P. Crawford and Scott Kingery. Phillies shortstops have been a black hole offensively this season, cutting .232 / .279 / .348. Cabrera obviously represents a significant improvement in attack.
The defense, however, could be a problem. Cabrera has not had a great reach for a while and is now north of 30 years old. Last season, in 386 innings at the stop-court, he recorded a negative-8 in recorded defensive runs.
Then Kingery is at -5 in the same statistic this season in 608 innings, so it's not as if Cabrera started, it meant he was taking a big step back. This is not just an improvement of the defense. They will gladly take the offensive, however.
In addition, Cabrera is a hitter of change, so he will easily slip somewhere in the lineup for director Gabe Kapler.
The Phillies enter Friday with a 2 1/2-match lead in the NL East.
As for the return, Kilome, 23, is in Double-A. For the Reading Fightin's Phils this season, he has been 4-6 with a 4.24 MMP, 1.44 WHIP and 83 strikeouts in 102 innings. Walks was a problem, as it is offered up to 51.
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