That Balls Outta Here
FanSided

Phillies outfield plans: How they look heading into 2018

By John Town

ATLANTA, GA - JUNE 06: Odubel Herrera #37, Howie Kendrick #47 and Aaron Altherr #23 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrate their 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on June 6, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JUNE 06: Odubel Herrera #37, Howie Kendrick #47 and Aaron Altherr #23 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrate their 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on June 6, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 8
Next
Phillies
PHILADELPHIA, PA – JULY 28: Aaron Altherr #23 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a solo home run in the fifth inning during a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on July 28, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 10-3. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

Aaron Altherr

Aaron Altherr started off 2017 as the team’s fourth outfielder behind an outfield corps of Herrera, Kendrick, and Michael Saunders. Altherr was coming off a 2016 season where he missed the first three and a half months of the season due to a broken wrist he suffered in spring training, then did little to impress when he returned.

However, Altherr still had his believers, and they were proven right this season. Altherr has been quite the force at the plate, collecting 40 extra-base hits in 84 games with a .919 OPS and 16 home runs, tied with Tommy Joseph and Maikel Franco for highest on the team this year. His 1.8 fWAR is second only to Herrera on the team.

Thanks to Kendrick being traded and Saunders being DFA’d after struggling in Philadelphia, Altherr has no one to fight with for playing time in the outfield. He has shown no signs of slowing down at the plate and his numbers at the end of the season should be fairly close to the ones he has now.

In 2018, Altherr has the starting right field job pretty much locked up as long as he doesn’t get injured or completely forget how to hit before Opening Day next year. That isn’t to say that he won’t have some contenders breathing down his back soon after.

Home/Phillies News