What did the Phillies see in trade acquisition Austin Hays?

The Phillies and Orioles completed an intriguing trade Friday that saw Baltimore land Seranthony Dominguez and Cristian Pache in exchange for Austin Hays, which represented something of a lengthy pursuit for Phils president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. The executive revealed an interesting tidbit to reporters (including The Athletic’s Matt Gelb and The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber ) regarding the team's long-standing admiration of Hays “I’ve actually tried to acquire him the last two trading deadlines," Dombrowski said, "and [the Orioles] were asking for much more than we wanted to give.” The O’s finally budged, perhaps due to both Dominguez addressing Baltimore’s bullpen needs and Hays’ increasingly expendable nature within a crowded Orioles outfield.

An ice-cold start to the season and then a four-week IL stint due to a calf strain led to Hays’ playing time being reduced, though he has hit quite well in a more limited capacity over the last two-plus months. Even with the first six weeks of the season essentially being a wash, Hays has gotten his offensive production back above league average, delivering a 102 wRC+ from a .255/.

316/.395 slash line over 175 plate appearances. It isn’t too far removed from the 108 wRC+ Hays posted over 1677 PA with Baltimore from 2021-23 and his recent hot streak indicates that Hays could certainly still match or surpass that number over the rest of the 2024 campaign.

Hays’ numbers against right-handed .