Phillies who likely played their last game with Philadelphia
Which Phillies are unlikely to ever come back to the big league team?
The Phillies Opening Day was supposed to be last month, however, due to an unforeseen global pandemic, this obviously hasn’t happened. Coming up on a full month of suspended baseball activities, analysts and team owners alike have begun to get serious on projecting baseball to return sometime later this summer.
Although likely to occur without fans in attendance, the hope for some semblance of a 2020 season to occur is rising.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean everyone currently on the Phillies roster will be getting the opportunity to play major league baseball this year (at least with the Phillies that is).
Combined with the fact that Spring Training was heavily shortened, here are a few players currently in the Phils’ organization who likely won’t be playing a MLB game with the Phillies anytime soon.
Odubel Herrera, Outfielder
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first; Odubel Herrera’s tenure as a Phillie coming to an end needs little explaining.
Caught up in a domestic assault case halfway through the 2019 season, Herrera spent most of last year suspended from the MLB. While he was never convicted of any crime, the MLB has been known to have a pretty strict policy when it comes to any sort of potential violent crime. Herrera was reinstated this past November and was quickly designated for assignment.
All other 29 MLB teams passed on Herrera and his services, and the 28 year old outfielder was outrighted to the AAA.
The Phillies would no doubt like to cut Herrera if possible, he’s owed $20 million dollars over the next three seasons and clearly isn’t in the team’s long term plans. However, whether unfortunately or fortunately, the MLB has a procedure set in place where you can’t simply cut a player due to a suspension. For the meantime, Herrera will likely sit in the minors until the MLB deems it appropriate for the Phillies to release him.
Teams have turned their head when it comes to legal issues in the past, with some of the greatest players in MLB history having been caught up in steroid scandals. However, considering the fact that Herrera was batting just .222 before his suspension, it’s unlikely Joe Girardi and the Phillies will see him worthy of receiving a second chance.
While he may not be cut anytime soon, the chance of “El Torito” ever dawning an official Phillies uniform again is pretty much zero.
Cole Irvin, Pitcher
Cole Irvin was initially a player I felt was in a good position to crack the main roster this spring, but it’s quite possible we never see him pitch for the Phillies ever again.
Selected in the fifth round of the 2016 draft, Irvin entered the Phillies farm system as a bit of a project pitcher. Not possessing a lot of raw power or any sort of electric “stuff”, Irvin relied heavily on his control. Operating around the 80-88mph range as he peppered the corners of the plate with offspeed pitches.
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Unfortunately for Irvin, this style of pitching really failed to translate to the big leagues. Making his MLB debut last season, Irvin posted a 5.83 ERA across 41.2 innings. He was utilized in both a starting and a relief role, finding little to no success in both.
Spring Training this year was going to be huge for Irvin. The Phillies added just one starter to the rotation, and made zero moves for a marquee bullpen arm. Irvin was going to get his fair shot at winning a spot somewhere. Throw in the fact that he’s a lefty, some may say he even had an advantage this past spring.
Unfortunately, Irvin was allotted just seven innings of work during the spring session. Despite winning two games coming out of the pen, Irvin allowed a total of four earned runs. On March 26, Irvin was optioned back down to AAA along with a handful of others.
At 26 years old, it’s unlikely Irvin is going to turn the corner anytime soon. Although Spring Training was cut short, it seems like Girardi and his staff got enough of a look at Irvin to deem he wasn’t major league quality. Irvin could realistically be on the move as soon as this year, either in a trade or an outright release.
Nick Williams, Outfielder
While Herrera is getting phased out due to some off the field issues, Nick Williams is getting phased out simply due to on the field issues.
After batting .288 his rookie year (2017), opinion on Williams as a player was actually quite high. Landing the starting job the following year, a lot of fans felt he had the potential to be the team’s next Jayson Werth. However, after earning the role of everyday right-fielder, Williams’ numbers started to dip. Williams hit just .256 in 2018, and knocked in five fewer RBIs compared to the year before, despite playing in 57 more games. Needless to say, he had massively failed to live up to expectations.
In the offseason leading up to the 2019 season, the Phillies made a power play in attempting to upgrade the RF position. Spending $330 million on our beloved superstar Bryce Harper, it was obvious Williams would now be relegated to a bench role.
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After batting .158 through the first few months of the season, the team opted to send Williams down to AAA. After he was fired, Kapler even expressed some pretty vocal frustrations about Williams’ 2019 performance.
Williams had a pretty good spell in the minors during 2019, but failed to translate that level of play to this year’s Spring Training. After posting a .095 batting average across 22 plate appearances, Williams was optioned back down to AAA.
The Phillies outfield is already crowded as it is. Harper and Andrew McCutchen obviously aren’t going anywhere, Adam Haseley looked great during the second half of the 2019 season, and guys like Roman Quinn and Jay Bruce are valuable bench bats. After so much poor play over the last year, I doubt Williams ever gets a shot to put on a Phillies uniform again.