The Phillies disappointing season came to an end on Sunday. The team finished the year 71-91, an eight game improvement over the 2015 season.
A lot of young talent emerged for the Phillies this year, giving fans reason to hope that a contending team is not too far away. Cesar Hernandez and Odubel Herrera shined offensively, while Jerad Eickhoff and Vincent Velasquez showed a lot of promise out of the rotation.
The Phillies final week of the season was an abysmal one. They finished the week 1-5, with their lone win coming in their season finale against the Mets on Sunday.
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The game also marked Ryan Howard’s final curtain call with the Fightins as the team will not exercise his option for the 2017 season. While the last few years have not been great for the Big Piece, he was an integral part of the 2007-2011 glory days. There were times when Howard carried the entire team on his back and he was a big part of the reason the Phillies took home a World Series trophy in 2008.
While his MVP days are long behind him, Howard will always hold a special place in fans hearts as one of the core four (along with Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Cole Hamels) that brought a championship home to the City of Brotherly Love after a 25 year drought.
Let’s take a look at who was surging and who was struggling to end the 2016 MLB season.