Honorable Mentions
Maikel Franco
Every year we wait to see Maikel Franco break out into the 30-home run third baseman this team has needed for decades. Every year we get a month or two of pure dominance from the kid, but the rest of the year he’s hitting .220 with one extra-base hit.
It’s maddening considering the amount of talent he obviously has, but the organization can’t trust him when he hits .330 in July and .244 in August.
Hector Neris (First-half)
Looked at as the closer of the future, Hector Neris was utterly abysmal in the first half of the season. After a relatively solid month of April with a 3.27 ERA, Neris’ era ballooned more than double in May. His season officially went off the tracks in June when he allowed seven home runs in 10 games with an 11.17 ERA.
After the Phillies sent him down for the majority of the summer the confidence and command has returned. In his last 11 games he hasn’t given up a home run and he’s struck out 21 batters in 9.2 innings. He was named the National League Reliever of the Month for August and could be a major piece in the playoff run.
Aaron Altherr
Similar to Franco, Altherr has all the talent needed to play in the big leagues without the consistency. Starting the year in right field over Nick Williams, Altherr hit .190 with 11 extra-base hits in his first 50 games. After losing the starting job to Nick Williams, Altherr went down to Lehigh Valley and returned as a September call-up. Since returning to the big leagues he’s 0-2 with a strikeout and his future with the organization is in doubt.