The Phillies have a lot of issues. Their bullpen has been both really good and really bad. Their starting pitching started out great, but appears to be coming back to earth. They have made the habit of making boneheaded base running mistakes. Their offense is putrid. Among all these issues, the most glaring one is possibly their outfield. It’s horrendous.
To be fair, it never really had a chance to be successful. Before the regular season even began, the Phillies lost Aaron Altherr for the season due to a wrist injury. Cody Asche strained his oblique and the timeline for his return is still up in the air. Neither one of these players is Mike Trout or Bryce Harper, obviously, but they at least provided depth and each has shown glimpses in the past of being salvageable major league players.
With those injuries, the Phillies were forced to look elsewhere for outfield depth. Long-time minor leaguer Cedric Hunter, who had not played in the majors since 2011, played well enough in Spring Training to make the Opening Day roster. In the third game of the year against the Reds, Hunter hit his first career home run, and it was downhill from there. By the end of the 13th game of the year (April 17th), Hunter was hitting .088 and had an OPS+ of -15. Hunter was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and was replaced on the active roster by David Lough. Not exactly a Wally Pipp/Lou Gehrig situation, but to be fair Lough has been solid in his three games so far, collecting four hits in 11 at bats with a RBI and stolen base.
The fact that we feel the need to point out Lough’s “accomplishments” over his three games this season is a statement on the futility of the rest of the outfield. Looking at the outfield collectively is quite alarming, even if it’s only after 16 games. Players who have appeared in the outfield for the Phillies this season have posted a .188/.268/.288 slash line, striking out 47 times in 180 plate appearances, and notching just 11 extra-base hits combined. Pretty putrid indeed.
PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 13: Peter Bourjos #17 of the Philadelphia Phillies gets tagged at home in the fourth inning by Christian Bethancourt #12 of the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park on April 13, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
Peter Bourjos, who the Phillies claimed off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals in the offseason, is one member of the outfield who has struggled to date. Granted, he did have two hits on Wednesday including the walk-off infield single. It’s worth noting on that night Bourjos batted ninth, behind starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson. While this was likely more a ploy by manager Pete Mackanin to stir the pot to the get the offense going, it helped that Bourjos was barely batting .100 on the season.
The first pick of the Rule 5 draft was Tyler Goeddel, who the Rays decided not to protect. Because of his Rule 5 status, Goeddel needs to stay on the active roster and that could become an issue as the season rolls along. The 23-year old is 1-for-16 so far this season and has struck out eight times. With his struggles, he hasn’t played much which sometimes makes it tough to right the ship, but with numbers like that, no one can blame Mackanin.
If there is anyone in the outfield that has been valuable to the Phillies, it has been Odubel Herrera. Last season’s Rule 5 revelation hasn’t exactly been an offensive machine, but he has shown he can be a legitimate lead off man. What’s the job of the lead off man? Get on base, and Herrera has done that superbly. He has a .424 OBP and has drawn 16 walks, which leads the league. He has seen more pitches while at bat then any player in the majors. In essence, he’s the lead off man the Phillies haven’t had in a long time. Jimmy Rollins wanted to be the lead off man, but he didn’t want to do the “lead off thing”. He liked hitting homers, he didn’t care about working the count and just getting on base. Herrera is the complete opposite. Whether Herrera is in a Phillies uniform long-term remains to be seen, but that mold of a lead off batter is what the Phillies need.
So yes the Phillies outfield is absolutely terrible, but what can be done about it? Prospect-wise they have a couple options. Roman Quinn will likely make an appearance before the season gets too old. Quinn is known for his strong defense, speed, and sneaky power, all of which the Phillies can use. According to Mackanin, Nick Williams is not a candidate to be called up any time soon. More likely, we will see Will Venable, who has big league experience, most recently with the Padres. Of course, Venable isn’t a long-term solution either.
Depending on how long the Phillies hang around in the NL East standings, they could try to acquire someone. The chances of the Phillies staying in contention up until the trade deadline is a long shot, and renting a player to possibly make the Wild Card game seems short-sighted and inconsistent with the new regime in Philly which seems focused on the future.
Indeed, the Phillies are stuck with what they have and it’s dreadful. Thankfully for the Phillies, the pitching has been good enough to keep them in ball games, but eventually the lack of bats (team wide, not just in the outfield) will doom this team to the cellar of the division with the Braves.
