As the dog days of baseball march down the final stretch with September just around the corner, it's time for the Philadelphia Phillies to hand the reigns of the team over to their youth. This season has been nothing short of a disaster for a squad that won 71 games in 2016 and were hopeful to improve closer to .500 in 2017 season. The Phils have given the fans of Philadelphia nothing to cheer about over the summer except for the anticipation of football and the city's fall sports teams.
The Phillies find themselves in the basement of the entire MLB with the league's worst record at 44-77. With the worst record, they are staring down the barrel of possessing the first overall pick in the MLB amateur draft for the second time in the last three seasons. However, unlike the city's other cellar dweller team in the Philadelphia 76ers, who managed to get back-to-back first overall picks in each of the last two seasons by means of "The Process", - losing at all costs by sporting a team that can't compete with the rest of the league - the Phillies have TRIED to win baseball games.
There is no tank for the Phils, here. They've signed veteran free agents, they've made trades to bring in players in an attempt to help the team but none of it has resulted in wins. The Phillies are a result of their management and front office who are trying to be patient with their prospects in their minor league system. Which, in theory, is understandable. A prospect can't be hurt by being overly ready for the MLB with extra time spent in the minors. However, when prospects are succeeding at the top level of their system they have shown the precedent of not bringing them up and keeping them down on the farm as players on the big league roster flounder.
The Phillies find themselves in the basement of the entire MLB with the league's worst record at 44-77. With the worst record, they are staring down the barrel of possessing the first overall pick in the MLB amateur draft for the second time in the last three seasons. However, unlike the city's other cellar dweller team in the Philadelphia 76ers, who managed to get back-to-back first overall picks in each of the last two seasons by means of "The Process", - losing at all costs by sporting a team that can't compete with the rest of the league - the Phillies have TRIED to win baseball games.
There is no tank for the Phils, here. They've signed veteran free agents, they've made trades to bring in players in an attempt to help the team but none of it has resulted in wins. The Phillies are a result of their management and front office who are trying to be patient with their prospects in their minor league system. Which, in theory, is understandable. A prospect can't be hurt by being overly ready for the MLB with extra time spent in the minors. However, when prospects are succeeding at the top level of their system they have shown the precedent of not bringing them up and keeping them down on the farm as players on the big league roster flounder.
#Phillies 1B Rhys Hoskins:
— Jeff Skversky 6abc (@JeffSkversky) August 20, 2017
•1st Phillies player in at least 104 years to hit 4 HR in 1st 10 career MLB Games#RhysHoskins #MLB #GoPhils pic.twitter.com/Pky4Mjprip
The perfect example has been the handling of the Phillies top power-hitting prospect Rhys Hoskins. Recently just called up to the big leagues over a week ago, Hoskins has been nothing short of dominating in his last two seasons playing in Reading and Lehigh Valley. After a 2016 season in Double-A Reading that saw him hit 38 home-runs while driving in 116 RBI (good enough for 2nd in the league in both categories), he followed that up in 2017 at Triple-A with the Iron Pigs by leading the International League with 28 home runs and 91 RBI at the time of his call-up (he is still the statistical leader in both categories as of the time of this post).
The point is, why were the Phillies holding back on giving Hoskins a chance much earlier in the season? Hoskins has clearly been MLB ready since mid-June and waiting another two months to get him to Philadelphia doesn't make all that much sense. The Phillies everyday first-baseman Tommy Joseph is an okay player but not someone who has the business of blocking a prospect the caliber of Hoskins from getting into the major league lineup.
What makes things even more frightening is the way general manager Matt Klentak's has handled Hoskins recent call-up. It took an injury to outfielder Aaron Altherr to pave the way for Hoskins to start in left field, a position he's never played professionally before until the last two weeks. Without the Altherr injury, Hoskins might have had to wait till September call-ups or even worse could have spent the rest of the season in Triple-A with the Iron Pigs.
The good news is that he's here, he's playing well, and Klentak can't get in the way anymore as long as Hoskins plays the way he knows how to.
The point is, why were the Phillies holding back on giving Hoskins a chance much earlier in the season? Hoskins has clearly been MLB ready since mid-June and waiting another two months to get him to Philadelphia doesn't make all that much sense. The Phillies everyday first-baseman Tommy Joseph is an okay player but not someone who has the business of blocking a prospect the caliber of Hoskins from getting into the major league lineup.
What makes things even more frightening is the way general manager Matt Klentak's has handled Hoskins recent call-up. It took an injury to outfielder Aaron Altherr to pave the way for Hoskins to start in left field, a position he's never played professionally before until the last two weeks. Without the Altherr injury, Hoskins might have had to wait till September call-ups or even worse could have spent the rest of the season in Triple-A with the Iron Pigs.
The good news is that he's here, he's playing well, and Klentak can't get in the way anymore as long as Hoskins plays the way he knows how to.