PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
The Philadelphia Phillies, like the Yankees, could use a new face at shortstop in the worst way. After all, 31-year old Didi Gregorious was the club’s primary option at the position in 2021 with journeyman Ronald Torreyes and young Nick Maton also playing more than 100 innings there.
Why Trevor Story could make sense for the Philadelphia Phillies
While Trevor Story is not the best defensive shortstop in the game, Didi Gregorious is easily one of the worst in the game when it comes to his glove work. Didi finished 2021 dead last in both Runs Prevented and Outs Above Average according to Statcast while also finishing near the bottom of the league in Fielding % per Baseball-Reference’s leaderboard.
Torreyes (28) has departed the club via free agency and Maton (24) is a light-hitting utility infielder who is still developing and is not ready for a starting role yet. Additionally, the club has very little infield depth to backup at shortstop. A Trevor Story signing would push Gregorious to a backup shortstop role or a positional move to second base or even first base where his poor fielding will not be as exposed.
The Phillies also received well below-average offensive output in 2021 (Gregorious -0.8 WAR and a below-average .209/.276/.370 line) and could desperately use a Trevor Story manning the position, becoming the club’s first truly consistent offensive threat at short since the Jimmy Rollins days.