Baltimore – The first domino has fallen. In what is expected to be a bustling trade deadline for the Orioles, the team made its first move Friday afternoon, which was unexpected and shocking.
The Baltimore Orioles dealt veteran left fielder Austin Hays, an All-Star in 2023 and team leader since the rebuild, to the Philadelphia Phillies for right-handed reliever Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache, the club said. Hays, 29, has seen his playing time in Baltimore drop from nearly every game in prior seasons to a platoon role in 2024. He started the season slowly, went on the injured list, and then returned to face predominantly left-handed pitchers.
This season, the left fielder is hitting.255 and has an OPS of.711. He will enter his last year of arbitration in 2025 before becoming available for free agency the following offseason. The Orioles are looking for pitching help, but given that the organization boasts one of the strongest crops of minor league talent in baseball, trades involving Baltimore were expected to involve some of its top prospects.
That’s still possible before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline, since the Orioles need starting pitchers to strengthen their rotation, but this transaction involved a big league talent swap between the MLB-best Phillies (64-38) and the American League-best Orioles (61-41). Domínguez, a pitcher known for his high-90s mph fastball, currently has a 4.75 ERA.
The Orioles might keep the 29-year-old next season if they accept his $8 million team option. While his ERA isn’t particularly impressive, his peripherals are considerably better, which could explain why the Orioles are interested in the Dominican native. His 26% strikeout rate places him among the finest swing-and-miss pitchers in Baltimore’s bullpen. In addition to his 97.5 mph four-seam fastball and sinker, he has a quick slider that ranks as his best pitch. This season, opposing hitters are only batting.143 against it. He’s also improved recently, with a 2.81 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 28 strikeouts, and nine walks in his last 25 2/3 innings following a difficult April.
Domínguez, who joined the Phillies in 2018, has a career 3.55 ERA over 220 2/3 innings. He also has plenty of playoff experience, with a 1.13 ERA in 16 postseason innings, 25 strikeouts, and only four walks. Pache (pronounced PAH-chay) mostly plays centre field and has a.515 career OPS. The 25-year-old is under team control until 2027, but no minor league options left. To clear space on the 40-man roster, the Orioles designated right-handed pitcher Levi Stoudt for assignment. Pache, a right-handed hitter with a career.242 batting average and.698 OPS versus lefties, could replace Hays, who was hitting.328 with an OPS of.894 against southpaws this year. However, Pache can play centre field consistently, whereas Hays is primarily a corner outfielder.
That implies that, in addition to receiving a bullpen piece in the trade, the Orioles’ lineups against lefties might improve defensively but decline offensively. Pache, a Dominican Republic native, could also act as a defensive substitute and pinch runner off the bench. Baseball Savant ranks him as a good defender, with 12 career defensive runs saved and four outs over average this season. Statcast places his arm strength in the 91st percentile and his sprint speed in the 79th percentile.
Hays was drafted in 2016 and made his Orioles debut in 2017, during the team’s previous competitive window under manager Buck Showalter. Hays, along with outfielders Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander, made it through the reconstruction and emerged as crucial members of a team that has been among the best in the majors over the last two years. However, Hays’ increased compensation through arbitration, his diminishing play this year, and Baltimore’s youth movement, with top prospects beginning to fill out its team, all made it likely that this would be his final year as an Oriole. This transaction ended his tenure prematurely.
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