BALTIMORE — Bryson Stott was back in his room at the Phillies’ hotel here Saturday night when the news came across his phone.
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Tarik Skubal was traded …
… to the Dodgers.
Gulp?
“No, I mean, you don’t say that,” Stott said Sunday — a.k.a., Trade Deadline Eve — before the Phillies wrapped up a series against the Orioles. “Everyone’s trying to get better. You’re not scared of anyone or anything like that. As a competitor, you’re not like, ‘Oh great, they got him.’”
Sure, but the road to the World Series in the National League was always going to run through the Dodgers. And the two-time defending champs just landed the two-time reigning Cy Young winner in the other league.
“It’s a little shocking with [the Tigers] being still in it,” Kyle Schwarber said. “That was the weird thing to me. Maybe they just know something that none of us know and they just wanted to do something. I guess it was what they thought was the best quote-unquote deal.”
OK, to be clear: This isn’t simply a case of the rich getting richer. In addition to being a financial goliath, the Dodgers have the third-best farm system in the sport, according to Baseball America’s midseason rankings, with seven top-100 prospects.
The Phillies’ system ranks 29th and was labeled Sunday by one rival talent evaluator as “weak.” Zyhir Hope, a 21-year-old outfielder and the centerpiece of the three players headed to Detroit, is the No. 55 prospect in baseball and the sixth-best in the Dodgers’ system. He would likely be the Phillies’ top prospect.
So, no, the Phillies couldn’t put together a package to compete for Skubal. Besides, they need a late-inning reliever and a right-handed bat, in addition to a starting pitcher. It puts Dave Dombrowski in “a tough spot,” as one NL team official said, because he has multiple holes to fill and few high-level prospects to cash in.
Unlike the Dodgers, who led the NL West by 10 games entering play Sunday, the Phillies aren’t a shoo-in for the postseason. Although they were in possession of the final NL playoff spot, they led the Padres by only one game and the Marlins by 1½.
But if the Phillies get in, they’re viewed across the sport — even within the Dodgers’ front office — as a tough matchup, especially in a seven-game series, because of their starting pitching. Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo, in particular, are left-handed; the Dodgers are far more productive from the left side of the plate (.811 OPS) than the right (.721).
Last year, the Dodgers won two one-run games to edge the Phillies in the division series and expressed relief to have advanced. But that was before Skubal, who will join Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Justin Wrobleski, Roki Sasaki, Tyler Glasnow, and maybe Shohei Ohtani in the Dodgers’ stable of starters.
It only makes the challenge more formidable.
“You know how good they are and how good we are,” Stott said. “I think our starters match up with anybody in the league. Obviously I think everyone would love a guy like [Skubal]. I’m sure there were other teams involved, too, and that’s who [the Tigers] went with. Can’t fault them.”
The Phillies faced Skubal three weeks ago in Detroit and scored two runs in five innings of a 5-0 victory behind Wheeler. In three career starts against the Phillies, the hard-throwing lefty has a 2.37 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 19 innings.
Read more Dodgers land Cy Young ace Tarik Skubal in a blockbuster deadline deal
Schwarber, who played with Skubal on Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, recalled facing him for the first time in spring training in 2022.
“I was like, ‘Oh [crap], this kid’s throwing 100,’ you know, with a hard-breaking ball and then the good changeup,“ Schwarber said. ”I was like, ‘Well, the kid’s got some good stuff.’ And then to see where he developed to, the picture of where he is now.
“So, yeah, good trade for [the Dodgers], right? I don’t think anyone would look and say, if they traded for that caliber of a starting pitcher, that they would be upset.”
But Schwarber said the Phillies won’t like their chances against the Dodgers any less if they get to face them in the playoffs.
“Everyone always talks about their payroll. That hasn’t guaranteed them anything,” Schwarber said. “It’s worked out these last two years. But you kind of go back, I remember when I was with Chicago, [the Dodgers] won the West for how many years? I mean, 2020 was their first championship.
“I think one of our biggest things is that we’ve got to make it there, right? And if we match up with them again, anyone can beat anyone.”
The Dodgers made their big move. Dombrowski has two more days to come up with a counter.
No matter what moves the Phillies make before the trade deadline Monday, they will have to fix some of their issues internally. Chief among them: Trea Turner’s defense at shortstop. And that’s where infield coach Bobby Dickerson comes in. Dickerson sat down with “Phillies Extra,” The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss Turner’s struggles, the problems with analytics in measuring defense, his unique coaching style, and more. Watch here.
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