If the Phillies want to contend in 2019 then improvements to their bench will be needed

Embed from Getty Images

Nick Williams and the Phillies 2019 bench have not produced early

This is no “woe is us” tale, nor will it be a “the sky is falling” story about how it is all going to come crashing down on the National League East Division-leading Philadelphia Phillies.

But as I pointed out in my Monday piece on three looming lineup and roster issues, the team’s bench players have not been producing to this point.

Over the first nine games, manager Gabe Kapler has used the exact same starting lineup of position players seven times. He gave catcher J.T. Realmuto a rest last Saturday with Andrew Knapp getting the start behind the plate. Then in Monday’s series opener against the Nationals, Kapler started Scott Kingery over Cesar Hernandez at second base.

Nick Williams has been the primary left-handed bat off the bench. He has appeared in eight of the nine games, all as a pinch-hitter. Williams is just 1-8 with the lone hit an RBI single during last Wednesday’s loss in Washington.

Aaron Altherr has appeared in six games, with all of his appearances also as a pinch-hitter. Altherr is off to a 1-6 start and contributed an RBI single during last Friday’s victory over Minnesota.

Kingery registered his first two hits of the season in Monday’s starting opportunity. Prior to that he was 1-4 while coming off the bench with a walk and a run scored. Three of his four previous appearances had come as a pinch-hitter. He also came in as part of a double-switch, replacing Hernandez during the loss in D.C. last week.

Andrew Knapp received one start behind the plate and is going to be counted on to spell J.T. Realmuto a couple of dozen times.

Knapp was just 0-2 in a pair of pinch-hitting appearances prior to his lone start in which he went 1-2 this past weekend. In that game, Realmuto came on as a pinch-hitter and stayed in to catch, going 0-2. Hernandez did not see action in Monday’s game.

So with the single starts for both Kingery and Knapp out of the equation and Realmuto’s relief effort factored in, the Phillies bench has been a collective 3-22 for a collective .136 batting average, two RBI, and one run scored. They have no extra-base hits to this point.

There is hope that the dynamic Roman Quinn will be able to return from his latest injury in the coming days. But even with his addition the bench may require some upgrading if the Phillies truly hope to extend their hot start over a full season of contention.

Phillies Fall Classics XII: 2008 World Series Game Five

The Philadelphia Phillies franchise had won just a lone World Series title over its first 125 seasons, until this cool October evening in 2008.

The Philadelphia Phillies franchise was founded for the 1883 season in the National League, and is the oldest continuous same name, same city franchise in all of North American pro sports.

However, for all of their history, the Fightin' Phils had won the World Series, the championship of American professional baseball, just once, in 1980.

The 2008 Phillies had won the National League East Division crown for a second straight season, then fought past the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers to reach the World Series for the sixth time.

They were underdogs to a young, talented Tampa Bay Rays club. But after taking the opener and escaping Florida with a split of the first two games, the Phillies captured a dramatic Game Three in walkoff fashion, then punished the Rays by pounding their way to a blowout win in Game Four.

On Monday night, October 27th, the Phillies took the field in front of a jam-packed, rally towel waving, frenzied crowd of 45,940 at Citizens Bank Park hoping to clinch a second world championship.

The Rays were just trying to win Game Five of the 1980 World Series to stay alive. A victory would take away the Phillies momentum, cut the Phils' lead down to 3-2, and send the World Series back to Tampa.