Phillies: Three Breakout Candidates for 2020 Season
We take a look at three Philadelphia Phillies who could surprise fans with a breakout season.
The Philadelphia Phillies and manager Joe Girardi have their hands full this time of year as decisions loom regarding the make-up of the 40-man roster and who will get the chance to prove themselves off the bench or out of the bullpen.
Before the casting call known as spring training reaches a close, we take a look at three potential sleepers who could have a breakout season in 2020.
Deivy Grullon
Catcher Deivy Grullon is a Phillie who could have a breakout season after performing well the past couple of years in the minors.
In 2018, he had 21 HR, 59 RBI and a .273/.310/.515 slash line in 90 games at AA Reading.
That same year, he knocked 25 homers over two rounds to win the Eastern League Home Run Derby.
Last season, he moved up to AAA Lehigh Valley, where he recorded 21 HR, 77 RBI and a .283/.354/.496 slash line in 108 games.
Grullon made his major league debut in late September with the Phillies and had just one hit in nine plate appearances, but that hit was an RBI double.
Through his first six games of spring training, he has three hits, including one home run and five RBIs, over 14 plate appearances.
With Andrew Knapp expected to back up J.T. Realmuto, it’s unclear how many major league opportunities Grullon will get.
Given his strong performance in AA and AAA, he has the potential to show noticeable improvement and surprise some fans when he gets his opportunity with the major league squad this season.
Deolis Guerra
Another sleeper who could have a breakout season is right-handed pitcher Deolis Guerra.
Guerra is a bit of a journeyman, spending 14 seasons in the minors for a variety of organizations and making at least one major league appearance in four seasons split between the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels and Milwaukee Brewers.
The most MLB games he appeared in during a single season was 44 games for the Angels in 2016.
That was also his best statistical year, with a 3-0 record, 3.21 ERA, 1.106 WHIP and 36/7 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Last season he saw only one game for the major league Brewers, giving up four earned runs over two-thirds of an inning.
But he had a stellar 2019 at AAA San Antonio, with a 4-0 record, 1.89 ERA and 0.885 WHIP in 45 games.
Guerra’s stats have been up-and-down throughout his time in the minors.
He performed well in 2017 with the Angels’ AAA affiliate and in 2015 with the Pirates’ AAA, but did not fare as well in 2014 with the Minnesota Twins’ AAA team and in 2018 with the Texas Rangers’ AAA.
Overall, in eight seasons at the top minor league level, he has a 16-12 record, 3.36 ERA and 1.114 WHIP in 214 games.
With his good years at the minors and a decent 2016 at the MLB level, Guerra deserves another chance in the big leagues.
Given an opportunity, Guerra could build off of his 2019 success in San Antonio to turn some heads with the major league Phillies.
Cole Irvin
Another Phillie who could have a breakout year is left-handed pitcher Cole Irvin.
Irvin is a pitcher who’s shown that he can get better with time. After posting a 5-3 record, 4.06 ERA and 1.138 WHIP in 13 games for AA Reading, he stepped it up for a strong rookie campaign in AAA.
Moving from AA in 2017 to AAA Lehigh Valley in 2018, Irvin posted a 14-4 record, 2.57 ERA and 1.054 WHIP in 26 games.
Those numbers led the southpaw to International League Pitcher of the Year honors.
Despite a 6-1 record, he did have a 3.94 ERA and 1.356 WHIP last season in Lehigh Valley.
But the most interesting case study is his time with the Phillies.
Philadelphia Phillies
Irvin appeared in 16 games last season between call-ups in May, June, July and September.
In his first eight games, he gave up 26 earned runs over 29.1 innings. In his last eight games (all in September), he gave up only one earned run over 12.1 innings.
He pitched in way fewer innings due in part to his exclusive use as a reliever, compared to making three starts in May (the first of which saw only one earned run surrendered over seven innings in his debut).
Following his rough patch, with more experience at both the minor and major league levels, Irvin showed much improvement in his bullpen use late season.
With his solid minor league stats and that September call-up, Irvin could be primed for a breakout year.
While it would be realistic to think that he’d be used out of the bullpen at first, the back of the starting rotation remains in question and Irvin has the experience of being a starter, so he could eventually earn himself a starting spot.