The Phillies announced that outfielder Adam Haseley is stepping away from the team for an “undetermined amount of time” due to personal reasons. He’ll be placed on the restricted list while he is away from the team, and Mickey Moniak has been recalled from the team’s alternate training site to fill his spot on the active roster.
Haseley, who just turned 25 this week, was out to a slow start to the season but had a brilliant spring training and has been a solid contributor for the Phils since debuting in 2019. Through 334 plate appearances between the 2019-20 seasons, he slashed .269/.330/.382 with strong defensive ratings in the outfield. The Phillies declined to provide any additional detail as to the reason for Haseley’s leave of absence.
Moniak was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft and still has just 18 plate appearances under his belt. He had a monster spring showing, though, hitting .273/.385/.727 with two doubles, two homers and a triple in 26 trips to the plate. Moniak’s prospect status has obviously tumbled since he was taken with that top overall pick, but it’s far too early to write him off. He won’t even turn 23 until next month, and while his .252/.303/.439 batting line from Double-A in 2019 may not look like much, it was 15 percent better than the league-average in an extraordinarily pitcher-friendly setting.
Moniak now seems to have a clear path to fairly regular playing time. Roman Quinn will still factor in to the center field mix as well. However, Moniak’s left-handed bat would be on the larger side of any platoon arrangement, and the Phillies undoubtedly want to see what their former top pick can do when given a significant role.
More must-reads: