The Phillies appear prepared to rearrange nearly their entire defense to accommodate Luis Arraez. Curiously, the player who has struggled the most with the glove may be the one who does not move.
Early indications are that Arraez will take over at second base, pushing Bryson Stott to third. Alec Bohm would move across the diamond to first, Bryce Harper would return to right field and Trea Turner would remain at shortstop.
That alignment allows manager Don Mattingly to place Philadelphia’s most accomplished hitters in the same lineup. It may also be the easiest configuration politically and personally.
But is it the Phillies’ best defensive alignment?
That is much harder to argue.
Turner has been the weakest defender in Philadelphia’s infield this season. Through July 26, he had accumulated minus-13 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-8 Outs Above Average and minus-9 Fielding Run Value at shortstop. His surprisingly strong 2025 season now looks more like an exception than evidence that his defensive decline had permanently reversed.
Despite that evidence, the proposed arrangement would keep Turner at the most important infield position while requiring four other players to adjust around him.
Arraez’s move to second makes sense. Once regarded as one of baseball’s weakest defenders, he has experienced a dramatic turnaround under Giants infield coach Ron Washington. By late June, Arraez ranked second among major-league second basemen with plus-9 Fielding Run Value.
The problem begins with what happens next.
Stott is a natural middle infielder who entered professional baseball as a shortstop and played the position regularly during his rookie season. Moving him to third might work because of his athleticism, but it would place him at a relatively unfamiliar position during the most important portion of the season.
Meanwhile, Bohm would leave the position he has played throughout most of his major-league career. He has experience at first base, but the Phillies would be moving him largely because Stott is being displaced by Arraez.
Harper would then return to right field after spending nearly four seasons away from regular outfield duty. His first-base defense has declined this season, but moving him outside introduces questions about range, workload and the physical demands placed on one of Philadelphia’s most important hitters.
All of that movement would occur so Turner can remain at shortstop.
A more defensively logical alignment would leave Harper at first, Arraez at second and Bohm at third while moving Stott to shortstop. Turner could then transition to the outfield, where his speed and athleticism might be better utilized.
The concept is not unprecedented. Turner played center field for Washington as a rookie in 2016 after the Nationals searched for a way to get his bat and speed into the lineup.
But that experiment happened a decade ago. Turner has spent nearly his entire career since then at shortstop, and moving to the outfield in August is not as simple as handing him another glove. Routes, positioning, wall awareness and communication must be learned. A transition that might make sense during spring training becomes significantly more complicated in the middle of a playoff chase.
Stott is not a guaranteed defensive upgrade at shortstop, either. His work there as a rookie was uneven, and moving him away from second sacrifices the familiarity he has developed at that position.
Still, the broader question is legitimate.
If the Phillies are willing to move Harper, Bohm and Stott to accommodate Arraez, why should Turner be exempt from the discussion?
The expected alignment may be Philadelphia’s least disruptive way to keep its best bats in the lineup. It is not necessarily its best defensive arrangement.
The Phillies are attempting to solve an offensive problem by creating an entirely new defensive configuration. If it works, the lineup becomes deeper without costing them substantially in the field.
If it fails, the Phillies will have moved almost everyone except the player whose defense created the strongest argument for change.
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