Phillies manager Pete Mackanin isn’t quite ready to use Brock Stassi and Aaron Altherr as defensive replacements late in games.
When the Phillies added some offense to their lineup this offseason, they knew it would come at the cost of their defense.
Michael Saunders, the team’s starting right fielder, had -6 defensive runs saved the past two seasons in right field and already is at -1 for the 2017 season. Meanwhile, Howie Kendrick, the second baseman-turned-outfielder, broke even at zero defensive runs saved last year in left field and has a career 1.2 UZR/150 in left field.
At first base, Tommy Joseph is not much of a defender either as his -6 DRS and -0.1 UZR/150 from last season will indicate. He is still learning the position after spending his career as a catcher.
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However, manager Pete Mackanin has two solid defenders on his bench who can help the Phils keep a lead late in games: Brock Stassi and Aaron Altherr. Altherr, the team’s fourth outfielder, is a solid defender at both corner outfield positions. He has a career 26.3 UZR/150 in left field and 7.0 in right.
Stassi is a strong defender in his own right as well.
Last year at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, he Stassi a .999 fielding percentage, making just one error in 729.1 innings. He is even versatile enough to play the corner outfield positions, although his career fielding percentage in left (.944) is not nearly as good.
Even though both Stassi and Altherr offer better defense than Kendrick, Saunders, and Joseph, Mackanin isn’t dead-set on using them as defensive replacements a lot of the time. So far, he is content with letting the latter three prove whether or not they need to be replaced.
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Mackanin told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com:
"“I’ve read a few things about Kendrick, that he needed to be defensed for. I don’t see that. I thought he did a great job this spring. Saunders has been fine in right field.“A guy like Stassi is an above-average first baseman. Down the road, if I feel that it’s going to help us, I might put him in just because he’s so good. But Tommy has held his own. I don’t want to do it right away. I want to give Tommy a chance to show he needs to be or doesn’t need to be defensed for.”"
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This conversation could come back into the spotlight if one of these players makes a costly error late in a game that costs Philadelphia a win, but for now, Mackanin has tabled the discussion.
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