The Phillies Have Holes to Address in the Off Season

With the 2018 season behind us and the Winter Meetings about to open, it seems like a perfect time for some hot stove discussion on the Phillies. 

Watching this team contend for most of the season, and remain in first place until August, was certainly a thrill. But the late season collapse laid bare the Phils’ inadequacies. Young pitching, led by Aaron Nola, kept the team competitive. Poor hitting and defense, however, doomed the Phillies’ early success. Indeed, I felt less confident at the end of this season than I did at the end of last season, where an August and September surge led by the young players gave me hope. 

What is clear is that this team needs more than just one player. While I may be pleased should the Phillies acquire Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, that would simply not be enough to address the most serious of holes in this roster. 

Starting with the biggest concern, the Phillies’ defense was just horrible. Much of that has been blamed on players playing out of position. Acquiring Carlos Santana last season, for example, pushed Rhys Hoskins to left field where he is still not comfortable. With Santana’s disappointing offensive performance, the Phillies signing him as a free agent when Hoskins was already on the team was probably the biggest mistake last off season. 

Likewise, with a crowded infield, the Phillies had to justify Scott Kingery’s million dollar contract by playing him all over, instead of his natural position of second base. Learning new positions in his first year in the majors carried over to affect Kingery’s offensive consistency. Still, given the success Kingery showed in the minors, I’m not ready to give up on his potential after one subpar season. Remember Mike Schmidt’s rookie year? What is clear is that it was a mistake to sign Kingery to a million dollar contract before he had played even a single major league game. He showed his potential last spring. Now he has to live up to it.

The defensive shift, while just perpetuating plain boring baseball, proved ineffective for the Phillies. If the Phillies are going to utilize the shift, someone will have to figure out how to better position the defense. 

Odubel Herrera, Aaron Altherr and Jake Arrieta all had disappointing seasons. While Herrera can have incredibly impressive hot streaks, his lack of discipline leads to major inconsistencies. Altherr, to some degree, suffered from the logjam that signing Santana created. With Hoskins playing the outfield regularly, Altherr was reduced to a platoon role. The lack of everyday play had an effect on his hitting consistency. This caused Altherr a stint back in the minors after being an All-Star contender in the first half of 2017. 

Despite his inconsistencies on the mound, I still believe signing Arrieta was the right move. Perhaps the third-two year old is on the down slide of his career. Perhaps he’s just had a couple of bad years and will be ready to be the quality pitcher the fans expected. In watching his games last year, the movement on his pitches gave me hope that Arrieta still has something to contribute. The three year guaranteed deal really wasn’t that much of a risk for the Phillies. 

As for bright spots in the Phillies’ season, Nick Williams showed he could be a dangerous clutch hitter. After finally adjusting to the league’s adjustments to him, Hoskins power came through again. Nick Pivetta continues to develop and prove that the Phils got the best end from the Jonathan Papelbon trade. 

What are the Phillies biggest needs this offseason?  Certainly a proven power hitter like Harper or Machado will help. However, even with the money it may be difficult to lure Harper to a division rival. Machado has shown attitude problems that won’t play well with the Phillies faithful. 

One glaring hole in the pitching has been the lack of a quality left hander in the Phillies rotation. That should be addressed. 

Maikel Franco has not lived up to early expectations. Third base is a position that could use improvement. 

Trading Santana could bring greater consistency to the Phillies’ infield, giving Hoskins and Kingery a chance to play in position. This, of course, means that the Phillies need to make a choice with Cesar Hernandez. Either Hernandez or Kingery should be cut loose. The question is whether the Phillies still have the confidence in Kingery reflected in his lucrative contract from last year. 

The Phillies have potential. With principal owner John Middleton willing to spend money this off-season, the Phillies are in a position to make some interesting moves. If done correctly, the Phillies could contend with the Braves and the Nationals for the NL East title for an entire season. Fans will be expecting improvement to the next step, which could include a play-off appearance. If things go awry, Phillies fans have already shown that an in-stadium wiffle ball field is not enough to sell tickets. This off-season is a crucial one for the Phillies. 

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr. 

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