That Balls Outta Here
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Phillies: The All-2010s “Forgotten Phillies” Lineup

By Travis Strominger

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 24: Odubel Herrera #37, Jeff Francoeur #3, Darin Ruf #18, Ryan Howard #6, Andres Blanco #4 and Ben Revere #2 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrate their win against the Atlanta Braves on April 24, 2015 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 24: Odubel Herrera #37, Jeff Francoeur #3, Darin Ruf #18, Ryan Howard #6, Andres Blanco #4 and Ben Revere #2 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrate their win against the Atlanta Braves on April 24, 2015 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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LAKELAND, FL – MARCH 24: Cameron Rupp #29 of the Philadelphia Phillies catches during the Spring Training game against the Detroit Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on March 24, 2018 in Lakeland, Florida. The Phillies defeated the Tigers 4-1. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
LAKELAND, FL – MARCH 24: Cameron Rupp #29 of the Philadelphia Phillies catches during the Spring Training game against the Detroit Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on March 24, 2018 in Lakeland, Florida. The Phillies defeated the Tigers 4-1. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Who’re some of the Phillies we’ve forgotten about from the rebuilding era?

The beginning of the 2010s decade for the Phillies was great: two world-series quality teams, incredible pitching, all-time great Phillies players, and a lot of wins.

While the Phillies did not end up winning a title in those two seasons, there was lots of fun and lots of winning.

The rest of the decade saw mediocrity as slices of bread with some bad teams sandwiched in the middle. So, in this unusual time, let us turn the clock back to look at the All-2010s “I forgot he played for the Phillies!” lineup.

We’ll go through the decade and look at players who played a respectable number of games for the team at any particular point. So, no, I’m not going to include Steven Lerud and his nine career games in 2012 and 2013.

The lineup will include three categories: infield, outfield, and pitchers. First, the catcher:

Catcher: Cameron Rupp

So, this one is probably easier to remember than the rest. Surprisingly, the Phillies had some consistency behind the plate during the rebuild. Rupp’s entire Major League career spanned his 296 games with the Phillies that spanned from 2013 to 2017.

He obtained a WAR of 2.9 with a .234 average, .705 OPS, 39 HR, 124 RBI, and a Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) of -16 in parts of five seasons. He was third in total errors committed by a catcher in 2017. For a catcher, his plate performance was about what you could ask for given the circumstances. Not everyone is going to be a spectacular fielder, especially on a rebuilding team.

Rupp was average in his time in Philadelphia, which was better than most of the roster during that time. He spent 2018 and 2019 in the minors, playing for a total of five different teams at the AAA level. Last season with the Las Vegas Aviators, he even pitched an inning, giving up two runs in the outing.

Rupp was in the conversation to be on the Cleveland Indians’ roster for the 2020 season before everything was shut down due to COVID-19. He appeared in 9 spring games with 13 plate appearances.

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