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He also went 2-for-4 in his first game. The Phillies seem to be leaning towards keeping De La Cruz around next year after he hit .280/.349/.413 in 34 games in the second half of the season. If so, it’d probably be as a platoon partner to Brandon Marsh in left field.

The game, already halted for two hours in the third, was delayed for a second time as the bottom of the sixth was about to start and never resumed. De La Cruz’s homer off Kyle Bradish accounted for the only scoring prior to the first delay. He’s 9-for-20 with two homers in eight appearances since being summoned from Triple-A on July 21, which should ensure that he sticks around in the likely event that the Phillies add an outfielder before the deadline. That could result in Gabriel Rincones Jr. returning to Triple-A.

De La Cruz had three plate appearances before Brandon Marsh hit for him in the ninth. The plan is for De La Cruz to start against lefties, but if he can get hot quickly, he might stake a claim in right field with Gabriel Rincones Jr. struggling to start his major league career. The Phillies, though, are almost certainly going to acquire an outfield before the deadline.

The Phillies are slated to face a couple left-handed starters in the next few days, which is why De La Cruz is getting a look for the first time this season. The 29-year-old hit .191 (9-for-47) in 16 games for the division-rival Braves last year. He started his career with the Marlins, which means he just needs to find a way to latch on with the Nationals and Mets in the future to fill up his NL East bingo card.

De La Cruz exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Phillies, so the club did what they had to do in order to bring him back and keep him in the organization as quality outfield depth. The 29-year-old has hit .254/.343/.426 with 12 homers and 51 RBI in 328 plate appearances at Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season.

The 28-year-old slugger saw just 50 plate appearances at the big league level in 2025, slashing .191/.240/.213 with zero RBI and an 18/3 K/BB ratio for the Braves. He delivered a much more palatable .263/.331/.431 slash line with 15 homers and eight steals in 102 games this season at the Triple-A level. He’ll add solid outfield depth for the Phillies.

De La Cruz wound up spending the rest of the season toiling away at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after being claimed off waivers from Atlanta in early May. The 28-year-old outfielder hit .191/.240/.213 during a 16-game stint with Atlanta, but hit an encouraging .263/.331/.431 with 15 homers and eight steals in 102 games this season at the Triple-A level.