Are the Phillies going to start locking up their young talent?

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – JULY 3: Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch in the top of the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park on July 3, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Will the signing of Scott Kingery to a six-year contract mark the beginning of multiple extensions for the Phillies’ best young players?

The Phillies made a bold move over the weekend, signing their second-best prospect, Scott Kingery, to a six-year deal before he has set foot on the field in a major-league game. However, they truly believe in him, and he is only set to be paid $24 million over the next six years. If Kingery turns out to be a star – or even just an above-average player – there are three club options after those six years for $13, $14, and $15 million.

Kingery joins Odubel Herrera as the second young player to be locked up to a team-friendly, long-term extension. Even at its most expensive, if Kingery becomes the player the team believes he can be, his value on the field will outpace what he will be paid.

Will the Phillies continue to lock up their young talent this year? They have definitely shown they want to keep their best young players under contract for as long as possible. There are certainly a few candidates for an extension in the near future.

Aaron Nola

Aaron Nola is slated to be a centerpiece on this team for a long time. He was among the best pitchers in the league last year, posting a 3.54 ERA, 1.208 WHIP, 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings, and a 3.27 fielding-independent pitching in 27 starts. His 4.3 wins above replacement per Baseball Reference was ninth among National League pitchers. By Fangraphs WAR, he ranked seventh among NL pitchers.

Nola is the Opening Day starter the year and is expected to be the ace of the rotation. If Philadelphia gets to the wild-card game, Nola would probably be the one to start it. He is expected to fill a huge role this season, and there’s no reason to think why he can’t.

Of course, this all depends on Nola’s elbow remaining healthy. It showed no issues last year after it caused him to miss the final two months of the 2016 season. There were significant doubts about his future heading into 2017, but he quelled them with a strong season.

Nola is easily the team’s best starter when healthy. He will hit arbitration after this season and would stand to get a decent amount. Signing him to an extension would avoid the issue and give Nola and the team some long-run security.

Rhys Hoskins

Despite playing less than two months in the major-leagues, Rhys Hoskins had one of the best offensive seasons of anyone on the team. His 2.0 wins above replacement made him the fifth-most valuable player on the team for the entire season.

Hoskins’s 18 home run explosion in his first 34 games got everyone finally talking about the Phillies again. Beyond that power, he displayed impressive plate discipline with a 17.5 percent walk rate and .396 on-base percentage. Even when he struggled in the final weeks of the season, he still showed that plate discipline.

Extending Hoskins may not be on Philadelphia’s priority list. He is still under team control for the next few seasons, not becoming arbitration-eligible until the 2021 season. His extension may not come until next year, but if he hits even remotely as well as he did last year, keeping him on the team will be key.

Jerad Eickhoff

This season was about Jerad Eickhoff staying healthy. He has already failed to do that as he will be sidelined until May with a lat strain. He dealt with upper back issues last year as well, but manager Gabe Kapler said that they are unrelated.

Whenever Eickhoff does come back, the Phillies are hoping he can pitch like he did the first two seasons of his career. After being traded to Philadelphia in the 2015 Cole Hamels deal, he had a 3.44 ERA, 4.00 fielding-independent pitching, 3.93 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 1.14 WHIP in his first career 41 starts.

Injuries plagued him last year as his ERA climbed to 4.71 and his walk rate went from 5.2 percent the year prior to 9.2 percent. He made 24 starts before being shut down for the year.

If Eickhoff comes back strong from this injury and looks more like the pitcher from two years ago, there may be enough confidence to sign him to an extension after the season. He will hit arbitration after this season before becoming a free agent for the 2022 season. On the other hand, he will turn 28 years old this year and there are concerns about whether or not he can stay healthy. Ultimately, the likelihood he gets an extension depends on how this season goes.

Aaron Altherr

Trying to figure out what kind of role Aaron Altherr will have is hard to do. He was a borderline All-Star candidate last year after taking over a starting role. On the other hand, injuries have limited him to 164 games over the last two seasons. He also has to jockey with Nick Williams for playing time in right field this year, which will hurt his overall value.

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Due to his injuries, there is skepticism he can be anything more than a fourth outfielder. If that is the case, he would certainly be one of the better ones in baseball as he could be a starter on plenty of other teams in the league.

Signing a fourth outfielder to a long-term extension is certainly a stretch. However, if Altherr stays healthy and winds up starting more times than not, there is a chance he gets locked up soon. He is arbitration-eligible after this year, and a strong 2018 would certainly give him a better case for more money. If Philadelphia wants to avoid this headache, they might wind up giving him an extension too.

J.P. Crawford

If you talked to me a week ago, I would tell you that there is no chance the Phillies extend J.P. Crawford anytime soon. Kingery’s extension changes all that, and now locking up a player with little to no major-league experience doesn’t seem as crazy.