The Phillies added two right-handed-hitting infielders recently, claiming Brett Harris and Shay Whitcomb off waivers from the San Francisco Giants. Neither is expected to change the projected lineup, but both add depth to an infield that has lost Luis Arraez, Alec Bohm and Edmundo Sosa to free agency. Here is a general look at what each player brings to the organization.

Brett Harris: The Road to Philadelphia

Brett Harris, who turns 29 in June, took the long way into pro baseball. He redshirted at the University of Houston in 2017, moved on to Central Arizona College and finally landed at Gonzaga, where he broke through in 2021. That spring he hit .350/.482/.535 with six home runs and 43 RBI, drew more walks (29) than strikeouts (26) and was named the West Coast Conference’s defensive player of the year at third base. The Athletics took him in the seventh round that summer, 218th overall, and signed him for just $120,000.

He stayed with that organization until 2026 turned into a carousel. The A’s designated him for assignment in June and traded him to Boston. The Red Sox designated him in September, the Giants claimed him, and a San Francisco roster squeeze put him back on waivers. Philadelphia is his fourth team of the year.

Offensive profile

Plate discipline is the best thing Harris brings to the batter’s box. Baseball America has consistently praised his eye and his swing decisions, and those skills held up in the majors even when the results did not. He doesn’t often chase, and he doesn’t miss many pitches in the strike zone. His in-zone miss rate against Triple-A pitching in 2024 was just 13 percent. Over the past three years, nearly all of it at Triple-A, he has hit .286/.388/.460 in 895 plate appearances with a 12.5 percent walk rate and an 18.1 percent strikeout rate. He kept it going in 2026 with an .848 OPS over 319 minor league plate appearances.

The question has always been impact. Harris posted roughly average exit velocities in 2024, with plenty of opposite-field contact, and Baseball America’s most recent grade on his power was a 45 on the 20-80 scouting scale, where 50 is average. Velocity at the top of the strike zone has also given him trouble. Even that strong three-year Triple-A line works out to a 109 wRC+, or about 9 percent better than league average, because so much of it came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

So far, the bat has not translated. In 89 major league games and 258 plate appearances, Harris has hit .186/.293/.273 with three home runs. His first chance came in 2024, when he had an opening at third base in Oakland and hit just .146/.276/.262 in 36 games. He looked much better in a late audition in 2025, hitting .274/.349/.342, although he did not homer in 84 plate appearances. That October he had surgery to repair the UCL in his left thumb.

Defensive profile

Defense is the other reason teams keep claiming him. Third base is his natural position, and Baseball America’s most recent grades gave him a 55 for fielding and a 50 for his arm, citing good hands and a solid throw, though with somewhat limited agility. SoxProspects rated him an excellent defender at third, second and first and credited him with a high baseball IQ. The metrics swung from minus-4 Defensive Runs Saved in 2024 to plus-5 in fewer innings in 2025. He has played every infield spot except shortstop in the majors and has played short only sporadically in the minors, so it would be an emergency assignment at best. He is a fringe-average runner, with a 45 grade.

Brett Harris: What Comes Next

The key detail is that Harris is out of options. He cannot be sent to Lehigh Valley without first passing through waivers, which makes him harder to keep on the 40-man roster all winter. There is some room to compete, because Luis Arraez, Alec Bohm and Edmundo Sosa have all reached free agency. Still, Harris fits best as a right-handed backup at the corners and second base, not as the answer to an open everyday job. If he sticks, it will be because of his glove, his versatility and his ability to control an at-bat. He needs to do more damage when he makes contact to hold a big league job for long.

Shay Whitcomb: The Road to Philadelphia

Shay Whitcomb, 28, has been beating the odds since college. He played at Division II UC San Diego, then raised his profile in the Cape Cod League in 2019 by hitting .303 with eight home runs in 34 games. The Astros took him with the 160th and final pick of the shortened 2020 draft and signed him for $56,000. He debuted in 2021 by hitting .293/.363/.530 with 23 home runs and 30 stolen bases between Low-A and High-A.

Double-A pitching exposed him in 2022, when he hit .219/.283/.399. He rebounded with 35 home runs in 2023, tying for the minor league lead. Then came the breakout in 2024 at Triple-A Sugar Land, where he hit .293/.378/.530 with 25 home runs and 26 steals. He was named MVP of the Triple-A championship game and Houston’s minor league player of the year, and he doubled in his first major league at-bat that August. Houston designated him for assignment this August, the Giants claimed him, and their crowded 40-man roster sent him back to waivers in November.

Offensive profile

Power is Whitcomb’s calling card. Baseball America gave him a 55 power grade on the 20-80 scouting scale, where 50 is average, and his 2024 batted-ball data backed it up, including a 43.5 percent hard-hit rate and a 90th-percentile exit velocity of 106.3 mph. Across 2024 and 2025 at Triple-A, he hit .280/.369/.520 with 50 home runs and 42 steals in 950 plate appearances, good for a 128 wRC+, or about 28 percent better than league average after adjusting for his hitter-friendly surroundings. He also hit two home runs against the Czech Republic for South Korea in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Contact and swing decisions are what will decide his future. Early on he was pull-happy and hyper-aggressive, and Baseball America graded his hit tool as low as 30. Better discipline helped drive the 2024 breakout, and his hit grade jumped to 50. The concern is that some of that progress may have slipped in 2026. His minor league line fell to .273/.335/.414 with 10 home runs in 81 games, and his strikeout rate climbed to 24.8 percent, up from 22.6 percent over the previous two years. That line was slightly below average for the Pacific Coast League and was propped up in part by a .342 batting average on balls in play.

The majors have been a tough adjustment. Whitcomb has hit .196/.232/.307 with five home runs and 19 RBI in parts of three seasons. That on-base percentage is the number he most needs to improve. He did close 2026 on a better note. His career average stood at .167 when he left Houston and finished at .196 after his stint in San Francisco, though that remains a small sample.

Defensive profile and speed

Whitcomb’s versatility is real, even if no single position stands out. He has played all four infield spots and left field in the majors, and he has also played right field in the minors. Baseball America’s most recent report graded him as a 45 overall defender with a 50 arm, calling him below average at shortstop and fringe-average at third base.

His legs add value too. Baseball America rates him an average runner, but he knows how to steal a base, with 23 minor league steals in 2026 and four straight 20-steal seasons from 2021 through 2024.

Shay Whitcomb: What Comes Next

Whitcomb has a clear roster advantage over Harris: he still has one option remaining. That means the Phillies can send him to Lehigh Valley without exposing him to waivers, and the IronPigs are his most likely 2027 destination unless he wins a job in spring training. He could become a useful up-and-down utility man, and a return to his 2024-25 form would make him more interesting than that. He is still a depth claim who could be placed on waivers again this winter. But the 50 home runs he hit at Triple-A over 2024 and 2025 give him a little more upside than a typical waiver pickup.