Philadelphia Phillies 'Evaluating' All Possible Outfield Situations Before October

The Philadelphia Phillies are still looking into all possible scenarios when it comes to how they will deploy their outfield lineup during the playoffs.

Sep 14, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Brandon Marsh (16) and center fielder Cal Stevenson (47) and right fielder Nick Castellanos (8) celebrate after defeating the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

At this point in the year, the Philadelphia Phillies can start turning their attention to the playoffs, figuring out who will be on the field the majority of the time and which players are going to be their go-to guys coming off the bench.

There's a lot manager Rob Thomson has to factor in, especially with the way some of their unheralded players like Kody Clemens, Cal Stevenson, and Weston Wilson have performed.

Austin Hays is still out on the injured list, making things even more murky coming down the stretch with the team not knowing if he'll be back before the end of the regular season.

The good news is the Phillies have built up a large enough lead in the NL East standings where they can afford to tinker with a few things before the playoffs begin, giving the organization a better idea of who should be in the mix when they are competing for a championship.

One thing seems to be clear right now; Stevenson has played his way into consideration.

That's evident by him starting in center field on Thursday in the opener against the New York Mets, moving their youngster Johan Rojas to the bench for this contest. The decision was likely impacted by them facing right-hander Luis Severino, getting the lefty bat of Stevenson into the lineup for that matchup.

Still, Thomson wouldn't be making this move if he at least didn't think the upstart outfielder could have a role in October.

It's hard to not like what Stevenson has done since being called up on Sept. 5 to fill in when multiple players hit the injured list.

Across 16 games and 21 at-bats, the 28-year-old has recorded six hits, three of them being for doubles, driving in five runs while only striking out four times. Much of that production has come in pinch-hit situations, coming through for the team when they needed him most.

Thomson discussed the outfield landscape on this team heading into the playoffs, admitting they are still assessing options and how this group might look.

"Just really evaluating it. You know? Stevenson's put together really good at-bats. You have one of the best defenders in baseball in Rojas. So how do you measure that?" he said per Matt Gelb of The Athletic.

There's no doubt Philadelphia's defense is much better when Rojas is roaming in center field, but there are also concerns when it comes to his production at the plate that were brutally apparent last postseason.

Evaluations are still being done, with Thomson saying the outfield could change on a "case-by-case basis."

If Stevenson continues to perform well when called upon, he could firmly find himself having a role in the playoffs, something that was unforeseen even just two weeks ago.