10 weeks to go, Phillies begin priming for 2019 playoff push

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Rhys Hoskins (L), Bryce Harper (R) lead Phillies attack

There are now 10 weeks remaining in the 2019 Major League Baseball regular season. That makes for the perfect beginning of a countdown. So, each Monday over these next ten weeks, I’ll update you on exactly where the Phillies stand in their attempts to return to the MLB postseason.

The last appearance by the Phillies in the MLB playoffs ended with first baseman Ryan Howard crumped on the ground at home plate after striking out to end the club’s disheartening defeat in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS against the Saint Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park.

That loss by a Phillies team that had won 102 games in the regular season became the swan song for a once-great aging championship team. Every starting position player was over the age of 30, with the exception of right fielder Hunter Pence. Three of the pitchers who made up the club’s vaunted “Four Aces” starting rotation were over 32 years of age.

Over the next half-dozen seasons, management would begin the process of slowly and systematically turning over the roster in what became a major, lengthy rebuilding program, one that would ultimately include a change in that management structure itself.

That rebuilding program took a major step forward in this past off-season when half the everyday lineup was turned over. Newcomers Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Jean Segura, and Andrew McCutchen brought excitement at the outset of the season that hadn’t been seen down in South Philly since those halcyon days way back at the start of the decade.

Ryan Howard is helped off field after crumpling to ground at end of winner-take-all defeat to Cardinals in the 2011 NLDS.

The Phillies bolted out of the gate, took over first place in the NL East Division on April 25, and held that top spot until June 12. Prior to Independence Day, the club was never lower than second place in the division standings.

But the Phillies have pretty much been treading water for the last two months. McCutchen was lost for the season, blowing out his knee and taking a huge piece out of the lineup. Since May 25, the Phillies record is just 21-27, and they have fallen to third place.

As the MLB trade deadline approaches, Phillies center field target emerges

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Jackie Bradley Jr would slide perfectly into Phillies center field

As the July 31 trade deadline approaches in Major League Baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies have a number of holes that could use filling if the club wants to seriously take a run at the 2019 postseason.

The struggles of the pitching staff are well known to all Phillies fans. The starting rotation could use two more reliable, veteran arms. The bullpen, struggling through numerous injuries all season, could use better options as well.

Among the reserve position players, a more reliable, veteran backup is needed at catcher. In addition, the club could use a more talented veteran bat with some pop than is currently available off the bench for manager Gabe Kapler.

The glaring need in the everyday lineup can be found out in center field. That is the one position that immediately jumps out as an area where improvement is needed.

During this season, the Phillies suffered the unexpected loss of the incumbent starter, Odubel Herrera, to his legal troubles and league suspension stemming from a domestic violence incident. It is not likely that he is ever going to appear in a Phillies uniform again, at least not if the fan base has anything to say about it.

Andrew McCutchen sliding over was a possibility, and the veteran actually filled in a number of games when Herrera had suffered an April injury. But McCutchen was also lost for the season when he suffered an ugly knee injury which required surgery. He will not return until spring training of next year.

Kapler has been trying to get by with a combination of the perpetually out-of-position Scott Kingery and the perpetually injured Roman Quinn. Also, youngster Adam Haseley has been given a shot when healthy.

But if the Phillies are serious about getting to the 2019 postseason and making a legitimate further run by 2020, they need a more proven answer in center field. Enter my suggestion as a potential trade target, Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr.

Bradley is a 29-year-old Virginia native who was the Red Sox pick at 40th overall in the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft out of the University of South Carolina. He made his big-league debut in the 2013 season, and is now in his fourth season as Boston’s full-time starter in center field.

Getting to be gut-check time early for the 2019 Philadelphia Phillies

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Phillies in desperate need of a gut-check win at SunTrust Park 

To call the Philadelphia Phillies (38-31) loss on Friday night to the Atlanta Braves (41-29) simply frustrating would be an understatement. The host Braves rallied from a five-run deficit entering the bottom of the 7th and a two-run deficit entering the bottom of the 9th to a walkoff, 9-8 victory over the Phillies.

The victory was an eighth straight for the surging Braves. It was also their 11th win in their last 13 games, and raised their record to 23-9 since the club fell two games below the .500 mark back on May 9.

On that day, the Braves were four games behind the first-place Phillies in the standings. But now, after turning their season around and after sending the visiting Phillies to their own fourth loss in five games, the Braves have pushed to the top of the NL East Division and hold a 2.5 game lead.

The Phillies now hold just a two game lead on both the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamonbacks, and a 2.5 game lead on the Saint Louis Cardinals, for the final National League Wildcard playoff spot.

Perhaps more important than worrying about the postseason, however, is winning right now. The Phillies are reeling, and all of the Pollyanna positive-thought talk from manager Gabe Kapler or anyone else in the organization isn’t going to change that fact.

This 2019 Phillies ball club has reached gut-check point. The club has gone just 5-9 over the last two weeks since a rousing 11-4 win over Saint Louis at Citizens Bank Park on May 29 pushed them to 11 games over the .500 mark and a 3.5 game division lead.

Can the Phillies regain whatever mojo allowed them to repeatedly overcome their inconsistencies to produce victories over the season’s first two months? Or are the multi-talented defending NL East champion Braves simply too much for them? Are the Braves just a better team? Could this Saturday night game at SunTrust Park in Atlanta possibly be a must-win game already, as we reach the exact mid-point in June?

A grand welcome to the Phillies starting lineup for Jay Bruce

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Jay Bruce greeted after his 5th inning grand slam in San Diego

Man, did the Philadelphia Phillies (34-27) ever need this kind of a game? At Petco Park in San Diego, the offense finally awoke after a week-long slumber. As a result, the Phillies drubbed the host Padres by a 9-6 final score on a beautiful Tuesday night in San Diego.

The victory took just a little of the sting out of the pre-game announcement that outfielder Andrew McCutchen would miss the rest of the 2019 season with a torn UCL in his knee, which he injured in a rundown on Monday night.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Phillies. It also pushed them back in front of the Atlanta Braves by a half-game in the NL East Division standings, though the two teams are tied in the loss column.

The Phillies got on the scoreboard first in the top of the 2nd inning when newcomer Jay Bruceand new third baseman Scott Kingery ripped back-to-back doubles. It was only the beginning of what would prove to be a memorable first start in a Phillies uniform for Bruce.

San Diego briefly took the lead in the home 3rd inning when Ian Kinsler led off with a double. That was followed by Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff hitting Austin Hedges. Eickhoff’s counter-part, Chris Paddack, then bunted the two runners over to second and third. Greg Garcia followed with a double to right, scoring both and putting the Padres up by a 2-1 score.

I say “briefly” on that Padres lead, because the Phillies would take it right back in the top of the 4th inning. It began with a great at-bat from J.T. Realmuto, who won an eight-pitch battle with Paddack by lining a base hit. Bruce then followed by driving a ball out over the wall to the opposite field in left, the two-run shot giving the lead back to the Phillies by a 3-2 score.

Paddack may have been a little shaken by that blast. He went to 2-0 on the next hitter, Kingery, who then blasted his fourth homer of the year deep into the left field upper deck to push the Phillies lead out to a 4-2 margin.

Adam Haseley suddenly finds himself starting for Phillies, ready or not

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Series of unfortunate circumstances propel Haseley to the bigs

There has been no official announcement from manager Gabe Kapler, general manager Matt Klentak, or anyone else in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.

But there is no other way to look at the present situation regarding the Phillies injury-depleted outfield. Against all odds, Adam Haseley has become the starting center fielder for a Philadelphia Phillies team that still hopes to contend for a National League East Division crown.

The center field position has been in flux for weeks. The year opened with Odubel Herrera beginning what appeared to be his fifth season as the everyday starter. At just 27 years old and with a contract that runs at least through the 2021 campaign, and with no other healthy candidates appearing ready in the organization, Herrera’s job appeared as secure as any on the team.

However, Herrera came up injured on April 17, just 17 games into the 2019 season. At that exact same time, the perennially injured Roman Quinn was ready to return to the team. Quinn immediately was inserted into the lineup in Herrera’s place.

As most anyone who has followed the team over the last few years could have predicted, Quinn didn’t last long. After just seven games, he came up injured once again. Scott Kingery, the super-utility player who the team believed was also capable of covering center field, also came down with his own injury issues.

This began a nearly two-week period in which the position was in flux. Andrew McCutchen was moved over from left field to cover center field most days. The problem there was that it left a hole in left field. Aaron Altherr‘s game had completely fallen apart, to the point where he was released. Nick Williams wasn’t hitting at all, and would eventually find himself shipped back to Triple-A.

Herrera finally returned from the Injured List on May 4, but he did not produce. Over 22 games and 70 plate appearances during the month of May, Herrera slashed just .175/.257/.302 with no homers, nine RBIs, and five runs scored. He was proving a black hole in the batting order.

And then it really began to completely unravel. Just over a week ago as the club returned home from a tough road trip, Herrera was arrested following a domestic assault incident at an Atlantic City casino hotel. He is now being investigated by Major League Baseball, and his career with the Phillies may be over.

Phillies position players: 2019 first trimester report cards

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Mixed grades for Phillies position players in first 2019 trimester

Each season in Major League Baseball is currently scheduled to last for 162 games. This means that the Philadelphia Phillies reached the 1/3 pole of the 2019 campaign this past Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park against the Saint Louis Cardinals.

I previously handed out report cards for the first “trimester” of the season for each of the starting pitchers on the Phillies 2019 roster, as well as outfielder Nick Williams and reliever Pat Neshek.

In an effort to wrap-up the process, this piece will include a letter grade, along with a brief description of each remaining key position players contributions, including their relevant statistics through Tuesday night, May 28.

I’ll be back with player grades for the second trimester and the season to that point when the Phillies reach the 108-game mark. That is scheduled to come on July 31, the same date as the MLB trade deadline.

STARTING LINEUP

Andrew McCutchen (B): ‘Cutch’ slashed .257/.375/.446 with eight homers, 26 RBIs, 38 runs scored, and 21 extra-base hits through the first one-third of the season. He provided strong left field defense, and was mostly solid when called upon to fill in at center field as well. For the forseeable future in this 2019 season, that could prove to be his regular position.

Jean Segura (A): Segura was perhaps the club’s most consistent hitter at that one-third mark, slashing .308/.354/.478 with five homers, 23 RBIs, 35 runs scored, and 19 extra-base hits. He has also provided stellar defense at shortstop. Segura missed ten games after suffering a mid-April injury.

Bryce Harper (B): For many fans, the first one-third of this Phillies season was a disappointment from Harper after he was signed to a massive free agent contract. True, he hit for just a .232 average. But he also got on base at a .357 clip, and provided nine homers, 36 RBIs, 31 runs scored, and 25 extra-base hits. While we expect more offensively, his grade also reflects his having played outstanding defense in right field and provided a hustling example on the field and base paths at all times.

Rhys Hoskins (A): Through the one-third pole of the season, Hoskins was the club’s most consistent run-producer. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise, with his return to the more comfortable first base position and the improved offensive talent surrounding him in the batting order. He slashed .271/.396/.536 with 13 homers, 41 RBIs, 31 runs scored, and 24 extra-base hits.

Dodgers power past Phillies by 6-3 on Friday night at Chavez Ravine

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Joc Pederson helped lead host LA past the Phils on Friday night

The Los Angeles Dodgers (39-19) showed the Philadelphia Phillies (33-24) why the National League pennant has gone through the six-time NL West champions in each of the last two seasons, and why it likely will once again in 2019, putting a 6-3 thumping on the visitors on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

In front of 54,307 fans, the largest crowd to see a game at Chavez Ravine since 2012, the Dodgers ripped Phillies starter Jake Arrieta for 10 hits and three home runs. Two of those longballs came in the home 5th inning, when the Dodgers scored three times to break open a tie ball game.

The scoring got started in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Joc Pederson led off with a base hit, which was followed immediately by a two-run homer off the bat of Max Muncy.

The Phillies answered in the top of the 4th when Andrew McCutchen took Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda out to dead center field. His 10th home run of the season cut the deficit to just a 2-1 margin.

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In the top of the 5th, Arrieta got himself even. With runners at second and third and two out, the Phillies pitcher lined a base hit to left, scoring Cesar Hernandez with the run that temporarily tied the game back up at 2-2.

Phillies win another series as Jake Arrieta shuts downs the Brewers

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Jake Arrieta pitched the Phillies past Milwaukee at Miller Park

This was shaping up to be the type of  game that has bedeviled the Philadelphia Phillies all season. Build a lead, fail in chances to put it away. Watch the opposition come back late. Take a small lead into the last inning. Home opponent rallies to a walkoff win against the bullpen.

Three times already this season the opposition has done it. Walked off with a win in their final at-bats. It just happened four days ago in Chicago, for goodness sakes. And here we were again. Phillies build a 4-0 lead. Two on, one out in the top of the 7th inning. Nothing to show for it.

The Milwaukee Brewers (29-24) used a solo homer off the bat of Mike Moustakas in the home 7th to get on the scoreboard. Then a leadoff single by Eric Thames in the bottom of the 8th was followed one out later by an RBI double from Orlando Arcia. Suddenly it was a 4-2 game with the tying run at the plate.

But something different would happen this time. The bullpen didn’t blow the game, at least in part because they weren’t in the game. Starting pitcher Jake Arrieta was still in there, and manager Gabe Kapler was showing faith in the veteran right-hander. Arrieta rewarded that faith, retiring the final two batters in the frame and keeping the lead at 4-2.

And then the Phillies bats did something they have done very seldom this season. They struck a late blow against the opposition. Actually, a couple of late blows. Big blows. After Jean Segura led off the top of the 9th with a base hit, Rhys Hoskins followed two batters later by blasting his 13th home run of the season out high and deep to left-center field.

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Nick Williams 2019 first trimester report card

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It was a rough first 1/3 of the 2019 season for Nick Williams

Each season in Major League Baseball is currently scheduled to last for 162 games. This means that the Philadelphia Phillies (30-21) will reach the 1/3 pole with their home game on Tuesday night against the Saint Louis Cardinals.

Over the next few days, I’ll be handing out the report cards for the first “trimester” of the season for each player on the Phillies 2019 roster. There will be a letter grade, along with a brief description of their contributions, including their relevant statistics.

I’ll be back with each player’s grades for the second trimester and the season to that point when the Phillies reach the 108-game mark. That is scheduled to come on July 31, the same date as the MLB trade deadline.

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NICK WILLIAMS

FIRST TRIMESTER GRADE: D

STATS: 38 games, 65 plate appearances, .180/.231/.262 slash, one homer, four RBIs, three XBH, seven runs.

REPORT: the only thing keeping Williams from an ‘F’ grade were his circumstances. A starter for most of the last two seasons, his first two in the big-leagues, Williams was forced into a bench role with the signings of free agents Andrew McCutchen and Bryce Harper.

He didn’t get a start until April 26, and only made eight starts among his 38 appearances. But Williams contributed to his own struggles by not producing when he did get an opportunity.

He was mercifully sent down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley last week. Hopefully he can get regular playing time and at-bats there, rediscover his swing, and be more ready to help the Phillies should injuries strike the outfield at some point. That, or make himself into an attractive trade chip.

Give us your feedback. Respond either as a comment to this piece or at our social media feeds. What is your take on him to this point? What, if anything, would you do differently regarding this player or their role if you were the Phillies manager or GM?

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Phillies 2019 first trimester report card: Nick Williams"

Odubel Herrera's time as Phillies center fielder may be coming to an end

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Odubel Herrera has manned center field for five years in Philly

Despite losses in their last two games, the Philadelphia Phillies remain atop the standings in the National League East Division, a post they have occupied now for all but seven days this season.

But the team has some significant roster and lineup holes which are keeping them from really establishing themselves as clear favorites.

One such hole, by far the biggest where the everyday lineup is concerned, has developed out in center field. Incumbent Odubel Herrera, who has filled the position for the better part of the last five years, is just not getting the job done.

Herrera is slashing just .219/.280/.342 over his first 35 games and 125 plate appearances. This is not some aberration, but the continuation of a career trend. Herrera’s batting average has dropped every season of his big-league career.

From hitting .297 as a rookie in 2015, he has dropped to .286, .281, .255 to his current low point. Over the last four years his on-base percentage has also plummeted from .361 to .325 to .310 and now today’s poor level. His slugging has fallen off for a third straight year from .452 to .420 to its now .342 mark.

From August 1 onwards last season, Herrera slashed just .189/.242/.287 over 45 games and 153 plate appearances. His was not the only poor performance leading to the club’s collapse from first to third place over the final seven weeks of 2018, but it was a major piece to that puzzle.

Searching for a better option, manager Gabe Kapler turned in desperation to Scott Kingery to man the position during the second and third games of the current four-game series against the host Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.