Philadelphia Phillies Prospects Who Never Lived Up to the Hype

The Philadelphia Phillies have not been the most successful franchise. They were the first team in MLB history to reach 10,000 losses, their all-time record is below .500 and as one of the oldest teams in baseball, they only have two World Series titles to their name.

On top of that, the Phillies don’t have too many homegrown All-Stars throughout their history. The recent run of success has been a large exception—in fact, of the team’s five players with retired numbers (six including Jackie Robinson), two of them were acquired in trades: Jim Bunning and Steve Carlton.

Consequently, the Phillies have had plenty of prospect busts. While it would be impossible to name them all, some stick out like sore thumbs.

Here are five of the many Phillies prospects who never lived up to the hype.

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5 Potential Deals Ruben Amaro Jr. Should Propose at the Deadline

Concerning the Philadelphia Phillies, there is good and bad news. The good news is that they are only 4.5 games out of first place in the NL East. The bad news? They’re dead last in the division at 17-21, have lost three straight and are 3-7 in their last 10 games. One more note: They’re 6-11 at home.

In order to make one last run at the playoffs, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was supposed to improve the team over the offseason in its most-needed areas. Marlon Byrd was not the worst pickup he could have made, but there was better out there. Carlos Ruiz was overpaid. And Brad Lincoln being the most significant bullpen addition Amaro made in the offseason speaks for itself.

Amaro needs to focus on the future. The window has closed, and it’s time to accept that fact. What may hinder him from doing so, though, is the amount of money tied up to the Phillies’ most attractive trade pieces. Most, if not all, of the Phillies’ best trade chips are due guaranteed money in 2015, if not beyond.

However, it’s time that Amaro and the Phillies front office get creative and make some trades that go against their self-imposed rules. That means eating salary when necessary. And it will be necessary for many players.

While it’s too early to speculate on who the Phillies would get in return in a hypothetical fire sale, here is the framework for five deals Amaro should propose come the July 31 trade deadline.

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5 Early-Season Philadelphia Phillies Stats That Tell You All You Need to Know

As it stands, the Philadelphia Phillies are in a bit of a funk. After finding a way back to a game above .500 at 15-14, they lost four straight games to the Toronto Blue Jays—two at home, two on the road—to fall to 15-18. For the record, that places them dead last in the NL East.

Forget that the Miami Marlins are tied with the Washington Nationals for first place. The Phillies are in dead last. That’s just flat-out embarrassing.

Although the Phillies are entrenched in a discouraging stretch, they have had their share of ups and downs this year, and the stats support this fluctuation. As the adage goes, the stats don’t lie. Some stats are more significant than others, but there are clear front-runner statistics that have defined the Phillies’ season.

Here are five of those statistics that tell you all you need to know about their season to date.

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Early Grades for All of Philadelphia Phillies’ Offseason Acquisitions

While not nearly as flashy as past offseasons, the Philadelphia Phillies made a plethora of moves this past offseason. And as they finish up the first sixth of the season with an even 13-13 record, the Phillies are at the point where their offseason acquisitions can be graded with a relatively decent sample size.

All acquisitions will be graded on an A+ to F scale. Hitters will primarily be graded on batting average, on-base percentage and slugging, while pitchers will be graded on ERA, FIP (now found on Baseball-Reference.com) and WHIP.

Other stats, such as home runs and RBI for hitters and wins/losses and strikeouts for pitchers, will be included, but will factor less into the player’s grade.

Carlos Ruiz will be excluded since this slideshow does not include players who were re-signed by the Phillies.

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Early-Season Grades for Philadelphia Phillies’ Offseason Acquisitions

The Philadelphia Phillies had a relatively quiet offseason in comparison to those of recent years. After making free agent splashes and major trade acquisitions for years, the Phillies have seemingly cooled on that methodology. Instead, in each of the last two offseasons, they’ve sought players with upside and value.

It’s lead to a very different final product. What the Phillies look like they’re doing is patching holes. While there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that, it doesn’t exactly help the team in the long run.

Nevertheless, there’s time for that aspect of things. Right now, the Phillies are concerned about winning in 2014, and they went into the offseason with that mentality. They signed two starting pitchers, two catchers and one outfielder to major league deals, while they also traded for a reliever.

Since Carlos Ruiz was a re-signing, he will be excluded from this list. But with the rest of the above in mind, here are the grades for the Phils‘ offseason acquisitions about a week and a half into the regular season.

 

Statistics and salaries courtesy of BaseballReference.com

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5 Reasons to Be Optimistic for Philadelphia Phillies’ 2014 Season

Monday, March 31 welcomed back baseball into the hearts of fans everywhere. In Philadelphia, while that is certainly the case, how much love fans will give back to the sport is a different story.

The Philadelphia Phillies were the worst team in all of the majors in spring training. Cole Hamels is hurt. The infield is old and—depending on the player—overpaid. And the team put this all together following their worst season since the turn of the century.

Fortunately there is always reason to be excited at the beginning of a new season. Even if expectations are low, the field production can always defy the odds.

Here are five reasons to be optimistic for the Phillies’ 2014 season.

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Final Predictions for Winners of Phillies’ Key Spring Position Battles

Spring training at long last is approaching its merciful end. With the end of meaningless exhibition games comes the onset of the regular season, when every game counts.

Fortunately for the Philadelphia Phillies, this spring set of games didn’t count. Had it, the discussion would be completely different.

This spring, the Phillies would like a do-over, to say the least. They are currently 9-17-3, good for dead last in both the Grapefruit League and major leagues. While the sample size is small and many of the early games sport minor league talent, the games are nevertheless taken as an indicator of regular-season potential.

Is the Phillies’ regular-season potential to wind up with the first-overall pick in the 2015 MLB draft? That remains to be seen, and predicting the Phillies this season is itself a difficult task. But predicting who will make the roster and contribute toward the Phils’ successes and failures is a bit easier.

All of the team’s everyday players are set. If Cole Hamels was healthy, the rotation would be, too. However, because of his injury, there is a vacancy in the back of the pitching staff. Add in some typical bullpen and bench competition and that leaves the Phillies with a few final holes to fill.

With that in mind, here are the final predictions for the winners of the Phillies’ key spring position battles.

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Most Disappointing Philadelphia Phillies Players in Spring Training So Far

Saying that the Philadelphia Phillies have had a disappointing spring training in 2014 would be an understatement. It’s been abysmal. And there are no signs of the Florida sunshine emerging through the heavy clouds hanging over the organization.

Not only are the Phillies the worst team in the Grapefruit League at 6-14-2, they also hold the distinction of being the worst team in baseball this spring. Tack onto that a report from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports that scouts referred to the Phillies as “awful” and “painful to watch,” and the Phillies have nothing going their way right now.

The pitching staff has been serviceable at best, but its ace, Cole Hamels, has been absent for the entirety of the spring. The offense, on the other hand, has been nonexistent. Of the team’s eight likely everyday starters, only four are batting at least .250 on the spring, and just two—outfielders Ben Revere and Marlon Byrd—are batting over .300. Normally, a .300 average would be commended, but keep in mind that we’re talking about 43 and 38 at-bats for these guys, respectively. It’s a small sample size.

An honorable mention would be that the collective Phillies offense has been a colossal disappointment. Even the team as a whole could be categorized as the biggest letdown of the spring. Both arguments are merited. However, certain players have been worse—much worse—than others. Here’s a list of the most disappointing Phillies players this spring.

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Breakout Performances from Phillies’ First Two Weeks of Spring Training

It’s already been a long spring for the Philadelphia Phillies, and it may be the start of an unbearably long season. While spring training usually isn’t a full indication of the regular season to come, all games are taken into account by some measure.

At this point in time, the Phillies’ spring training record is 4-10. They’re the worst team in the Grapefruit League, the worst National League team in spring training and the second-worst team in baseball this spring. Only the 3-9 Texas Rangers are worse. Simply put, spring has been a disaster for the Phillies thus far.

The offense has not looked sharp. The rotation continues to thin out due to injuries. And while bullpen pitching has been surprisingly decent, the relievers have had their moments of surrendering hits and runs.

However, there have been a few bright spots worth mentioning. Here are the breakout performances from the Phillies’ first two weeks of spring training games.

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Philadelphia Phillies: A Position-by-Position Breakdown at Spring Training

Spring training is upon us, and with it comes the annual talk of positional battles. Who will end up winning the job at a certain position? How close are the competitors to unseating the incumbent?

No, this isn’t a political race. But for most MLB teams, spring training holds the distinction of being the time in which players must prove themselves worthy of Opening Day roster spots.

However, the Philadelphia Phillies aren’t most teams. Thanks to a plethora of reasons—whether age, guaranteed salary and/or a lack of prospect depth—almost all of the team’s starters are cemented firmly into place. There are a few positions where this is not the case, though, and the issue will be covered at those positions.

All positions, including the rotation and bullpen, will be discussed in the following slideshow. With that in mind, here is a position-by-position breakdown of the Phillies at spring training.

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