Five Phillies lineup possibilities for the 2018 season

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 21: Manager Charlie Manuel #41 of the Philadelphia Phillies adjusts the lineup card during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals in a MLB baseball game on April 21, 2013 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Thanks to the players they now have on their roster, the Phillies have a lot of room to play around with their lineup next season.

2018 will be a season all about figuring out what the team has in many of their players. Most of the players we’ve been hearing about for so long are finally in the major-leagues, and it’s time to see what they can do for a full season.

Manager Gabe Kapler expressed interest in Carlos Santana’s introductory conference in his ability to hit up and down the lineup. That trend carries over to several of the other players on the team, who could hit anywhere from leadoff to the bottom three of the lineup. There are many things Kapler could do with his lineup in 2018: here are just five possibilities.

Traditional

2B Cesar Hernandez
SS J.P. Crawford
LF Rhys Hoskins
1B Carlos Santana
RF Nick Williams
CF Odubel Herrera
3B Maikel Franco
C Jorge Alfaro
P Aaron Nola

This is the lineup that fits all the normal conventions of a baseball lineup. Speedy, high on-base percentage hitter Cesar Hernandez leads off with another high-OBP player, J.P. Crawford follows him up. The best two hitters on the team (Rhys Hoskins and newcomer Carlos Santana) carry the heart of the order.

Nick Williams and Odubel Herrera both offer some pop in the fifth and sixth spot. Maikel Franco and Jorge Alfaro both can hit for some power in the bottom of the lineup and can get hot for stretches.

This lineup assumes that Aaron Altherr is on the bench or traded at some point this offseason. He is likely the odd man out if no one gets moved from the outfield. The bench probably also consists of Andrew Knapp as the backup catcher, plus a utility man and maybe one more backup position player. Kapler and general manager Matt Klentak have said the team might carry an eight-man bullpen, so it would leave them with a four-man bench.

Changing things up a bit

2B Cesar Hernandez
CF Odubel Herrera
1B Carlos Santana
LF Rhys Hoskins
RF Nick Williams
3B Maikel Franco
SS J.P. Crawford
C Jorge Alfaro
P Jerad Eickhoff

The bright side of not being able to trade Hernandez is that Kapler gets to use one of the best leadoff hitters in the game nearly every day. Keeping Hernandez in that spot makes plenty of sense. Having Herrera hit second makes plenty of sense also, as he is a career .270/.326/.422 hitter there. Crawford hitting at the bottom of the lineup may be below his abilities, but it gives a spark there rather than just being an easy out.

Flipping Santana and Hoskins doesn’t change a lot as they have similar profiles at the plate. They both hit for some power with high on-base percentages. It will be interesting to see who hits more home runs in 2018.

This lineup also preserves the lefty-righty alternation with the two switch hitters, Hernandez and Santana, spaced apart. This makes the Phillies harder to use relievers against, as an opposing manager can’t line up his specialist to mow down a row of hitters.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 30: Rhys Hoskins #17 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits an RBI single against the New York Mets during the seventh inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on September 30, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

This could be interesting

1B Rhys Hoskins
SS J.P. Crawford
LF Carlos Santana
RF Aaron Altherr
CF Odubel Herrera
2B Cesar Hernandez
3B Maikel Franco
C Jorge Alfaro
P Nick Pivetta

Now we’re starting to dive into some more wacky lineup combinations. A rising trend in baseball is rather than having your traditional leadoff hitter hit at the top of the lineup, you put your best hitter. That would be Hoskins, who spent the last two months of 2017 punishing baseballs in the majors after doing it all year in Triple-A. Santana, who is now arguably the team’s second-best hitter, would finish off the first inning, hitting third. That could give Philadelphia plenty of games where they get on the board early thanks to Hoskins or Crawford getting on base followed by Santana knocking them in.

Hoskins and Santana have also switched positions here. Santana will mostly play first base with Hoskins in left field, but Kapler said that Santana could see some time in the outfield as well depending on how the season goes.

Altherr is also getting his first crack in the lineup here. If he is still with the team when the season starts, he could platoon with Williams in the outfield. If the Phillies are facing a tough lefty, that would be the ideal time to get the right-handed hitting Altherr in the lineup.

ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 23: Maikel Franco #7 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates scoring a run with Odubel Herrera #37 in the fifth inning of an MLB game against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on September 23, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /

Absolute anarchy

End of the season

More from That Balls Outta Here

SS J.P. Crawford
2B Scott Kingery
1B Carlos Santana
LF Rhys Hoskins
CF Odubel Herrera
RF Aaron Altherr
C Jorge Alfaro
3B Maikel Franco
P Ben Lively

There is a strong possibility that Hernandez gets traded at the July deadline in 2018 to make way for Scott Kingery. As long as Kingery continues to hit in Triple-A, he should be in the majors by midseason.

With Hernandez gone, Crawford could make sense as the team’s next leadoff hitter. He should get on-base plenty and can steal a good number of bases. Kingery also could be a spark at the top of the lineup; he could very well hit leadoff too.

The rest of the lineup is pretty standard. Altherr is back in, perhaps in the event Williams is also traded. I expect Alfaro to hit better than Franco by the end of the season, so he should hit ahead.

Next: Five Greatest Starts in Phillies History

The Phillies could have plenty of more lineup combinations than this next season; these are just the first few that came to mind when analyzing which players would be starting next year.

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