By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
While the Philadelphia Phillies open a four-game set against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on Thursday, club "superscout" Charlie Kerfeld is reportedly in attendance an approximate 882.6 miles east driving distance at the Minnesota Twins-Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park.
The Phillies, according to TwinCities.com's Mike Berardino, are continuing their "background work" on switch-hitting utility infielder Eduardo Escobar ahead of next week's non-waiver trade deadline. The club reportedly is "determined" to acquire a shortstop, after missing out in the Manny Machado sweepstakes.
As Berardino notes, Escobar is "a longtime favorite" of former Twins general manager Terry Ryan, who is now a Phillies special assignment scout. Escobar's "lack of recent work at shortstop" and his "poor fielding analytics" are "sticking points" for the Phillies, however.
Fancred's Jon Heyman linked the Phillies to the 29-year-old last Friday. The Phillies reportedly also scouted Escobar and the Twins on July 9, according to Darren Wolfson — a game in which he went 3-for-4 with a RBI. Acquiring Escobar would move rookie Scott Kingery back into the super-utility role, as J.P. Crawford remains on the disabled list with a fractured left hand suffered on June 19.
Prior to Thursday's action, Escobar has fielded 635 2/3 innings at the hot corner, 185 2/3 innings at shortstop, and nine innings at second base this season, committing three (176 chances), one (70 chances) and zero (7 chances) errors, respectively.
At the plate, the Villa de Cura, Venezuela, native has slashed .274/.337/.515 with a Major League-best 37 doubles spanning 96 games and 404 plate appearance, coupled with 15 home runs and 63 RBI.
