2. Improve the defense.
If there weren’t names like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado available in free agency, this would be the Phillies biggest priority.
When the Phillies built their roster last season, they did it entirely with offense in mind. They put a left fielder in right field, a first baseman in left field, a second baseman at shortstop, a shortstop at third base, and first baseman at third, with two catchers, who had each played fewer than 60 games before the start of the season. Unsurprisingly, this defense recorded the second most errors in baseball last year with 121. What’s worse is, despite the offensive mindset, the Phillies scored the tenth fewest runs in all of baseball as well.
There’s very little justification for the Phillies to go into next season with the same defensive lineup and they have all the resources necessary to make a change. For starters, let’s say this is a perfect world and the Phillies manage to sign Harper and Machado and also convince Machado to play third base. Harper would be a major defensive upgrade over Nick Williams and Machado at third gives you one of the best infielders in all of baseball.
It pains me to admit, but I think the most important step towards fixing the defense is finding someone to take Carlos Santana. I like Santana and I think he had a good season, but his contract kind of forces him in the lineup. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing to have Carlos Santana in the starting lineup, the problem is keeping Santana and Rhys Hoskins in the same lineup.
Hoskins was a mess in left field last season. He led all national league left fielders in errors with six and posted a -3.6 dWAR. The argument could be made that he was the Phillies worst defender last season and thats really saying something. Despite all this, he’s the Phillies most promising young player and needs to be in the lineup every night, specifically playing first base.
There’s no ideal way to fit Hoskins and Santana in the same lineup. They tried experimenting with Hoskins at first and Santana at third, but that was awkward and could create another log jam with Machado. Any way you look at it, Santana is getting shoe horned in somewhere and the fit just doesn’t feel right.
The Yankees are a team with a question marks around first base. They also seem hellbent on getting rid of Sonny Gray. I think the Phillies could help them out on both fronts.
Another big step towards improving the defense would be adding depth at catcher. Wilson Ramos is the first name that comes to mind. He ain’t anything special of defense, but he’s a seasoned vet who could help Jorge Alfaro mature. Using two inexperienced catchers went as well as you might expect. Alfaro had his moments, but Andrew Knapp just ain’t it.
The Phillies already have pieces to make a quality defense, but the pieces just need to be moved around and helped.
Here’s what I’d like to see the Phillies looking like come next season:
C Wilson Ramos
1st Rhys Hoskins
2nd Cesar Hernandez
SS JP Crawford/Scott Kingery
3rd Manny Machado
LF Nick Williams
CF Odubel Herrera
RF Bryce Harper
It’s a very subtle change from last year, but one that would hopefully make a world of difference. The Phillies also have the depth to replace struggling veterans, so if Hernandez and Herrera continue to underperform in the field, the team has internal options to replace them.
Snowballs & Batteries 