3 Things To Improve All 30 Teams — The Philadelphia Phillies
The 2021 Philadelphia Phillies finished the season with a record of 82–80, good enough for 2nd in the NL East. It was not good enough for a Wild Card spot however, and the Phillies extended their playoff drought to double digits. 2021 was the first time since 2011 the Phillies had a record above .500 and look to build on that this year and end the playoff drought. Let’s see what we can do to help them.
1. Utilize The DH Properly So That Harper, Schwarber, And Castellanos Are All In The Lineup For 150+ Each
The Phillies ownership and front office have decided that the time is now to go all in and make a run for the playoffs. Having spent $204,150,000 in free agency and also making an unsuccesful attempt to bring in Kris Bryant on top of that, it’s clear that ownership is tired of missing out on October baseball. Offensively, the two biggest names brought in to join 2 time MVP Bryce Harper were Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos. The universal DH is perfect for a team constructed as such.
It’s no secret that Bryce Harper is one of the top 5 offensive players in baseball. The 2 time MVP, 6 time All Star, 2 time Silver Slugger, and 2012 NL RotY cemented that with his 2021 in which he carried the Phillies on his back with a line of .309/.429/.615 with 35 homeruns, 100 walks, and a 179 OPS+ over 599 plate appearances and 141 games. The issue with Bryce, however, has been his durability.
Debuting for the Nationals on April 28, 2012, Bryce has had the opportunity to play in 1,498 but has only played in 1,283. That’s a career games played rate of 85.6% or 138.67 (139) games. For most players, missing 23 games isn’t much of an issue, but when you’re a top 5 player in the game and the face of your franchise, you need to be out there for 150+ a year.
Kyle Schwarber was brought in by the Phillies to replace the departing Andrew McCutchen in left and provide some lineup protection for Harper in the process. Coming off a career best year, Schwarber hit .266/.374/.554 with 32 homeruns and a 148 OPS+ over 471 plate appearances and 113 games. The former catcher shares the same problem with Harper, just to a much higher scale.
Schwarber debuted for the Cubs on June 16, 2015. He has since had the opportunity to play in 971 games. Over his career, he has only played in 664 games for a career games played rate of 68.4% or 110.8 (111) games a season. In order to protect Harper and get the most opportunities possible to succeed, he needs to play 150+.
Castellanos isn’t as much of an injury risk as Harper and Schwarber. Over his 9 year career, he’s played in 150+ games 4 separate times and 145+ games 5 times. Brought in to be the primary DH, the Phillies and manager Joe Girardi should not just set it and forget it here. Giving Harper and Schwarber days off from the field, especially during long stretches between off days or on double header days, would be beneficial to the team and ultimately maximize the amount of games that their 3 best hitters are on the field. Should all 3 guys play 150+ games, expect the Phillies to add 7 more wins to their total.
2. Hope The Bull Pen Additions Help, Otherwise, It’s Time For A New Pitching Coach
Over the past 2 seasons, the Phillies have struggled mightily in terms of bullpen pitching. In 2020, the pen had an astronomically high ERA of 7.06. In 2021, they blew 34 saves. Fixing the bull pen would go a long way to getting the Phillies back to playing baseball in October.
Looking to do just that, the Phillies brought in veteran relievers Corey Knebel, Brad Hand, and Jeurys Familia. 3 guys that have all spent time as closers over their career. Knebel was named the closer earlier this month by Girardi, and Hand and Familia are sure to be the set up guys. Let’s go through each and see what they bring to the table.
Coming into his age 30 season, Knebel carries a career ERA of 3.23 with 366 strikeouts and a 131 ERA+ over 262 innings and 266 games. Having made a few opening appearances, he mostly comes in to shut the door on games having 108 games finished and 60 career saves. As Girardi said, expect him to be the primary closer for the Phils.
Brad Hand is an 11 year veteran with a career ERA of 3.68 and an ERA+ of 110 over 673.1 innings and 464 appearances. Coming into the league as a starter, Hand as had much more success as a reliever with his career relief ERA of 3.09 over 451.1 innings. Having finished 224 games and a career total of 126 saves, Hand will be a solid setup man.
At the age of 32, Familia has pitched all but 30 of his 499 career appearances as a member of the New York Mets. Holding a career ERA of 3.28 and an ERA+ of 119 over 498.2 innings, Familia will be another solid addition to the Phillies bull pen. Should all 3 guys stay healthy, the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings of games should be all but decided. These 3 guys should add another 2 wins to the Phillies total. If they don’t, the Phillies need to look into hiring a new pitching coach.
3. Introduce Ranger Suarez To The Rotation Full Time
Debuting on July 26, 2018 for the Phillies, Ranger Suarez has been back and forth from the Big Leagues to the minor leagues every year since. Having a career ERA of 2.64 and a 162 ERA+ over 173.2 innings and 83 appearances, it’s time for Ranger Suarez to take his rightful place in the rotation behind Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola.
Suarez had a breakout year in 2021 putting up an ERA of 1.36 and an ERA+ of 308 over 106 innings and 39 appearances, 12 of those being starts. If you take a look at his splits, he was pretty succesful as both a reliever and a starter. As a reliever he pitched to a 1.12 ERA over 40.1 innings and as a starter he pitched to a 1.51 ERA over 65.2 innings. With the additions made to the pen through free agency, however, he would get lost in the shuffle and should bump Zach Eflin down to the 4 hole, and Kyle Gibson to the 5 hole. Should Suarez make 32 starts and qualify for the ERA title (Minimum of 162 inning pitched), he would add another 2 wins to the Phillies total.
Keeping Harper, Schwarber, and Castellanos healthy, the new additions to the pen working out, and Ranger Suarez joining the rotation full time should add 11 wins to the Phillies total. This would give them a record of 93–69 which would be good enough to win the NL East and have them back in the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
This has been the 21st entry in our series in which we take a look at all 30 teams individually and see what 3 things we can improve upon so that their 2022 is better than their 2021. Previous entries include the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Atlanta Braves, the Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago White Sox, the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Guardians, the Colorado Rockies, the Detroit Tigers, the Houston Astros, the Kansas City Royals, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles, the Miami Marlins, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Minnesota Twins, the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and the Oakland A’s. Follow me on Twitter @TroyBrock1993 for updates and other sports musings. Next up will be the Pittsburgh Pirates!
