Phillies 2016 Grades: Outfielders
The Philadelphia Phillies outfield production left a lot to be desired in the end, but there is definitely hope for the future.
There is probably a wide swath of the larger Philadelphia sports fan base who were not paying much attention to the Phillies during the month of September.
Unless you are, like myself, one of the hard cores who follows closely year ’round no matter the circumstances, you missed something significant and exciting.
That exciting and significant development was the somewhat unexpected promotion and insertion into the regular lineup of outfield prospect Roman Quinn following the conclusion of the minor league playoffs.
The 23-year old speedster has worked his way towards the top of the Fightin’ Phils batting order, producing four stolen bases and eight runs scored over his first 65 plate appearances over 14 games, 13 of those as a starter.
Those may not sound overly impressive at first blush. But extrapolated out over a full season at the top of the order, and we are talking about a likely base line of 40 stolen bases and 80 runs scored for the switch-hitter.
He is also weighed down by a .226 batting average that is sure to increase by at least 50 points as he adjusts to the big league level. His on-base percentage of .349 is already acceptable.
I’ve been harping the talents of Quinn for the past couple of years, so the fact that I am a fanboy is no surprise to anyone who follows.
But I believe that anyone who has watched his speed on the bases and that same speed as well as his throwing arm in the outfield now is well aware that I haven’t been selling a bill of goods. Quinn is the real deal, and he is the Phillies future in center field.
Quinn is one of seven Phils outfielders for whom I am going to provide a grade for their 2016 performance.
I’ll be leaving out a quartet of relatively inconsequential players who each received fewer than 100 plate appearances: Darin Ruf, David Lough, Emmanuel Burriss, and Cedric Hunter.
The seven who will receive grades are Quinn, Odubel Herrera, Peter Bourjos, Tyler Goeddel, Cody Asche, Aaron Altherr, and Jimmy Paredes. So let’s begin with the dispensing of their 2016 report card grades.
ODUBEL HERRERA
“El Torito” was the lone Phillies NL All-Star representative in San Diego back in July, his first All-Star nod in just his second big league season.
Herrera was up and down this year, but in the end he improved over his surprising breakout 2015 rookie campaign.
Over 631 plate appearances through this past weekend, Herrera has hit for a .288/.364/.426 slash line with 15 homers and 48 RBI. He leads the club with 85 runs scored and 25 stolen bases.
Right now, Herrera is the Phillies most consistent offensive player, the only outfielder in the current group who was an everyday player.
Defensively he improved over last year, which was the first full season in which he had ever played out in center field.
He got plenty of work this season over his 153 games played, appearing in 1250.1 innings to this point, 13th among all outfielders in the big leagues. His 380 total chances are second among outfielders.
With all that work, Herrera is tied for 10th with 11 outfield assists. He has made four errors, which makes his .976 fielding percentage just middle-of-the-road, but he hasn’t hurt the team.
Frankly, I’m not sure of what to make of Herrera longterm. He turns 25 years old at the end of the year, and can arguably be said to still be adjusting to the outfield and to the big leagues. He may have another level to climb.
For now, Herrera is a key piece to the Phillies rebuilding puzzle. I have advocated that the club should explore trading him while his value is high. But if that is done, it had best be for something valuable coming back in return.
GRADE: B+
PETER BOURJOS
Bourjos will be a free agent this coming off-season, and I wouldn’t lay strong odds that he will return for the 2017 season when he will turn 30 years of age at the end of spring training.
He was brought here as a veteran presence to eat up innings while some of the club’s top prospects, most notably Quinn and Nick Williams, continued their minor league development.
Bourjos has indeed provided those innings. He is second to Herrera among the club’s outfielders in games played (122) and innings 877.2, the overwhelming majority of that time coming out in right field.
Now in his seventh big league season, Bourjos hit for a .251/.292/.389 slash line with five homers, 23 RBI, and 40 runs scored across 383 plate appearances.
Those are wholly unacceptable offensive numbers for a starting outfielder, but it was known from the beginning that Bourjos has never been a big offensive producer. He was brought here to provide speed, defense, and a bit of a veteran presence.
He fielded his position well, making just one error over 204 total chances in 877.2 innings. It is fairly obvious to me that Bourjos is a 5th outfielder, or a AAA starter available in case of injury emergencies.
Bourjos has seen his playing time reduce over the last few weeks with the return to health of Aaron Altherr, and the promotion of players like Quinn and Asche once the minor league season ended.
Frankly, Bourjos did nothing overly impressive this season. Certainly nothing that makes me interested in having the Phillies bring him back.
GRADE: D+
TYLER GOEDDEL
Goeddel was the top overall choice in last December’s MLB Rule 5 Draft by the Phillies, who took him away from the Tampa Bay Rays organization and found a way to keep him all season long.
To their credit, the Phils didn’t hide and baby Goeddel just to get him through the year. He played in 92 games and received 234 plate appearances, both third among the team’s outfielders to this point in the season.
Goeddel, who will turn 24 years old in late October, produced a .192/.258/.291 slash line with four homers, 16 RBI, 17 runs scored, and just three stolen bases during his first exposure to the third deck of big league ballparks.
Defensively, Goeddel showed athleticism while misplaying some balls, but also making some highlight reel plays, as the below video demonstrates his strong arm.
Over 77 games played in the outfield, the vast majority of those in left field, Goeddel made three errors in 96 chances. But he also had five assists in his 496.2 innings.
While he showed that he absolutely has a future in Major League Baseball, it appears at this point that it will be one similar to the five years older Bourjos, as a 5th outfielder.
The Phillies will almost certainly have him play with AAA Lehigh Valley in the 2017 season, where he will receive a few hundred necessary at-bats at that level.
His ceiling will be determined by his performance back in the minors, but Goeddel demonstrated clearly this year that he can at least hold his own, and that his floor has a place in MLB somewhere down the line. Whether that will be off the bench in Phillies pinstripes remains to be seen.
GRADE: D
CODY ASCHE
Asche was injured for much of the season, and when healthy spent most of his time as a non-productive minor leaguer.
Down on the farm again as a 26-year old, the lefty hitter who fields right-handed went for a .248/.319/.469 slash line in 160 plate appearances across three levels against minor league pitching.
Given a promotion back to Philly when rosters expanded in September, Asche is once again failing to produce for a fourth consecutive season.
To this point with the Phillies in 2016, Asche has a .222/.293/.368 slash line with four home runs and 18 RBI over 205 plate appearances.
The Phillies have changed ownership, front office, and managerial regimes over the last year. None owes Asche anything, and he has shown that he has little to offer as an everyday player.
It has always been my contention that the Phillies have misused and/or miscast Asche, and I still believe that, if he is to have any value, he would best be used as a Greg Dobbs-type player.
In addition to left field, Asche should be given time once again at 3rd base, as well as at 1st base. He should also get particularized instruction on developing a pinch-hitting mindset.
It is possible that as a left-handed bat off the bench with a bit of pop, one who could play a handful of positions, that Asche could make himself a valuable commodity. But that value is non-existent if you are only letting him play left field, and view him as starting material.
GRADE: F
AARON ALTHERR
Altherr is somewhat of an enigma to Phillies fans, some of whom still seem to believe that the player who will turn 26 years old in January can be a star.
For me, Altherr has always been fourth outfielder material. He is athletic, plays solid defense, has some pop, can run a little. He just doesn’t do any of those things well enough to be a starter for a contender, at least not that I have ever seem him demonstrate.
In 2016, Altherr was another who lost time due to injury. He finally made his season debut back with the Phillies at the end of July, and has received regular playing time over the last two months.
Altherr has produced just a woeful .194/.289/.294 slash line over 204 plate appearances in 51 games spread across all three outfield positions, with a solid majority of those coming in right field.
He has just four homers, 21 RBI, 21 runs scored, and six stolen bases to this point. He has certainly not earned an automatic starting berth for 2017, and if the Phillies can find a cheap, productive, short-term right field bat in free agency, they should jump on it.
As the Phillies rebuilding program moves forward, Altherr is going to find himself pushed by Williams at some point. With Herrera and Quinn also around, that leaves him with little margin for error.
If the Phillies do not sign a veteran free agent as a new everyday right fielder, it is likely that Altherr comes to spring training as the Phillies right fielder, trying to hold off Nick Williams, with Quinn and Herrera handling center and left.
GRADE: F
JIMMY PAREDES
I was tempted to lump Paredes in with the group of inconsequentials mentioned back in the first page of this piece.
However, the soon-to-be 28-year old switch-hitter did receive 137 plate appearances across 71 games, 33 of those in the outfield. He has been a frequently used pinch-hitter by Phils’ skipper Pete Mackanin.
Paredes has produced a .221/.250/.366 slash line since being purchased from the Toronto Blue Jays back on June 1st of this season. He has four homers, seven doubles, 16 RBI, and 13 runs scored, not bad numbers for a pinch-hitter.
While arbitration eligible, I can see the Phillies bringing him back for their 2017 bench. He will never be a world-beater, but I would much rather give his bat a shot in a big moment than Asche or Ruf, the two longtime overrated organizational players who always seem to get too many shots.
GRADE: D+
ROMAN QUINN
You already know how I feel about Quinn, either from following me on a regular basis, or simply from reading the opening few original paragraphs of this piece.
Quinn is a potential game-changer, and I believe that he will be the Phillies leadoff man and starting center fielder of the future, with that future beginning next season. Heck, it already has begun.
Since his promotion following the end of the minor league playoffs, Quinn has brought speed and an extra level of dynamism to the top of the Phils’ lineup each night. In the long-term, I see him as almost a Shane Victorino type player.
His 2016 Phillies grade is an “incomplete”, since he only has 65 plate appearances across 14 games, 13 of those as a starter in the outfield.
But as I mentioned back at the beginning of this piece, any Phillies fan who has been paying attention over these last few weeks of the regular season has seen him demonstrate exactly why I have been so bullish on his future.
This was frankly a good place to end this 2016 Phillies outfielders report card piece, with a nod to the future.
If you’re a Phillies fan who hasn’t been following the team lately, take a look once more over these final few games and watch him play on a regular basis, and be excited for 2017.