Phillies: Early Look At Fourth Outfielder Candidates For 2017
By Gary Brinson
The Phillies will have many youngsters fighting for a position on the club in 2017, let’s take a look at the early candidates to be the teams fourth outfielder next year.
Heading into the 2016 season, the Phillies had their outfield plan set. Odubel Herrera in center, Aaron Altherr in right, and a platoon of Cody Asche and veteran Peter Bourjos in left. Not to mention, rule-5 pick Tyler Goeddel as a fifth outfielder.
However, that plan fell apart very quickly.
Altherr would miss the first five months of the season due to a wrist injury suffered in spring training. And Asche would miss the first 2 months of the season after an oblique injury prior to spring training.
This forced the team to enter the season with an outfield tandem of Herrera in center, Bourjos in right, and a mix of Goeddel, Cedric Hunter (remember!), and David Lough (again, remember!).
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To say the least, it wasn’t pretty. Outside of Herrera, there was never stability.
With all of that in the rear-view now, the club seems primed to make changes to its outfield. The younger players from last season may be better off in a fourth/extra outfielder role for many reasons.
So with that in mind, lets take a look at the early in-house candidates for the role: