Philadelphia Phillies young core contributing to team’s success

The Phillies are finally seeing contributions from their homegrown prospects.

When thinking about the most recent group of homegrown Philadelphia Phillies players, many would say Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Cole Hamels. Since the 2008 World Series championship core “broke up,” the club hasn’t been able to rely on many prospects — even ones identified as “untouchable.”

One of the major disappointments was Domonic Brown, who showed glimpses of great potential in 2013 when he earned NL Player of the Month and All-Star honors. Scott Kingery is a recently heralded-turned-forgotten prospect. The utility player had a respectable 2019 campaign — hitting .258/.315/.474 in 458 at-bats. Unfortunately, Kingery regressed to the point in 2021 when he went 1-for-19, before being sent to Triple-A and placed on the injured list with shoulder issues.

So far, the 2022 season seems to be a different story. Phillies fans are excited about what they’re seeing from homegrown talent in Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, Matt Vierling, Seranthony Domínguez, and Darick Hall.

In Friday’s thrilling series-opener win against the New York Mets, Stott accomplished an amazing feat against future Hall of Fame pitcher Max Scherzer. Bohm drove in both of Phillies runs in the 2-1 win. Vierling threw Starling Marte out at home to keep the game tied and force extras. Dominguez, meanwhile, kept the Mets scoreless in a crucial late-inning appearance. It was a team effort.

One of the key changes that occurred when Dave Dombrowski became President of Baseball Operations was the hiring of Preston Mattingly as Director of Player Development. Dombrowski had high praises for Mattingly upon his hire:

“I think there will be a true balance. I think one thing we need to do is make sure everybody is on the same page and understands what that page is. And he will do that. It’s extremely important that we make sure everybody is on the same page … “

Since Dombrowski took over, Phillies fans have seen a change in team operations — one of the biggest being the player development department shakeup. This was an area that became stagnant under former president Andy McPhail and general manager Matt Klentak.

The future of the Phillies farm system looks brighter than it has in years past. There are players making contributions in the majors, as well as promising minor-league prospects — such as Andrew Painter, Mick Abel, Griff McGarry, and Johan Rojas.

Hopefully, Dombrowski’s vision for Mattingly’s development program is coming to fruition.