Building the best Phillies all-rookie team of all time

The Phillies have had a long list of successful rookies over the course of their storied franchise history.

New York Mets v Philadelphia Phillies
New York Mets v Philadelphia Phillies | Rich Schultz/GettyImages

The Philadelphia Phillies may be set to employ a handful of players on the wrong side of 30 heading into the 2025 campaign, but there's still a youth movement going on around there that's worth getting excited over.

Just this past season alone, Johan Rojas, Weston Wilson, Orion Kerkering and a few others stood out as some of the least experienced but most promising players on the club's roster. It remains to be seen how each of them will fit into the Phillies' future plans, but there's a lot more on the way in the high minors.

Of course, Andrew Painter is the Phillies' future ace-in-the-making and has a ton of buzz surrounding his name. He has dealt with his fair share of early-career injuries, but the right-hander has what it takes to lead this team's starting rotation for years to come.

This got us thinking about some of the best Phillies rookies in their long and storied franchise history. A total of four players have won the Rookie of the Year Award as a member of the Phillies, which dates back to 1947 when the award was first handed out.

Let's take a look back in time at the best rookies to ever suit up for the Phillies. We're going to assemble a starting lineup, with a starter and a closer to go along with the position players to find the best single-game team we can find.

Here is the best Phillies all-rookie team of all time

Catcher: Bob Boone

Bob Boone spent the first 10 seasons of his 19-year career as a member of the Phillies, but one of his best showings came as a first-year player in 1973. The backstop was worth 2.1 bWAR (a number he tied or topped three other times in his decade with the club), but a whole lot of that value came from his glove.

Over the course of the rest of his career, that was basically always the case for Boone. He went on to win seven Gold Gloves, two of them coming with the Phillies.

In his rookie season, Boone recorded 20 doubles with 10 home runs and 61 RBI across 145 games played. His .261 average, .675 OPS and 86 OPS+ left quite a bit to be desired, but he was worth 1.6 dWAR behind the plate, which tells the majority of the story for why his total Wins Above Replacement were so high.

First base: Ryan Howard

One of the most fearsome left-handed sluggers of his time, Ryan Howard is one of the most successful power hitters in Phillies franchise history. He got his 13-year career off to a bang in 2005, which was his first full season in the big leagues after a 19-game cameo the year prior.

Howard hit 22 home runs with 63 RBI across just 88 games played, but this was enough to make him the NL Rookie of the Year. He's the Phillies' most recent winner of the award, and he did so by hitting .288 with a .567 SLG, .924 OPS and 133 OPS+, all of which are made so much more impressive when taking into account the fact that he didn't even play in 100 games.

Even so, Howard showed throughout the rest of the year that he's capable of doing so much more damage across a full season of games. He promptly won the NL MVP the year after his ROTY campaign and he made a total of three All-Star Games with a Silver Slugger and World Series ring to go alongside them by the time all was said and done for his career.

Second base: Juan Samuel

Another player who spent the beginning of what wound up being a long big-league career on the Phillies is Juan Samuel, who finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting back in 1984. The infielder was an extra-base hit machine, recording 36 doubles, an MLB-leading 19 triples and 15 home runs along with 69 runs driven in and 105 more scored.

Samuel also stole 72 bases in 87 attempts, posted a .749 OPS and 107 OPS+ all while leading the majors in strikeouts with 168. The league's introduction to him was a hectic one as he found a way to be oh so valuable while also striking out more than any other batter in the game. As a matter of fact, he led the league in strikeouts in each of the first four years of his career.

Samuel wound up playing 16 years in the big leagues, with the first seven of them coming in Philadelphia. He never quite experienced the same amount of success as he did with the Phillies in his post-Phillie days.

Third base: Dick Allen

One of the most recent inductees into the MLB Hall of Fame, Dick Allen started an outstanding career as a member of the Phillies back in 1963. He only made it into 10 contests that year, but his first full season in 1964 was one for the ages.

In 162 games, Allen led the majors in runs scored (125) and triples (13) while posting a ludicrous 162 OPS+ and .939 OPS. He won the Rookie of the Year while finishing seventh in the MVP voting. Interestingly enough, Allen was worth 8.8 bWAR that year but he also led the league in strikeouts, which is a common theme we're coming acrosss here.

Shortstop: Jimmy Rollins

Easily the most successful shortstop in Phillies history, Rollins was the face of durability and consistency throughout his 15 years on the club. The switch-hitter finished third in the ROTY voting in 2001 when he led the league in triples (12) and stolen bases (46) while also recording 14 home runs and a .743 OPS.

Rollins wound up spending the vast majority of the rest of his career as the team's primary shortstop and added an MVP Award to his trophy case, along with three All-Star Game appearances, four Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger and a World Series ring for good measure.

Outfield: Rhys Hoskins

Willie Montanez barely missed the cut, but there's simply no denying that Hoskins' rookie season was one of a kind, even if it only consisted of 50 games. Hoskins became the first player in MLB history to hit 18 home runs, taking only 34 games to do so.

The fact that he played in just a fraction of the 2017 Phillies' games while also being one of their top run-producers is ridiculous, but it was more than enough to earn him the title of "fan favorite" around Philadelphia. Hoskins finished fourth in the ROTY voting thanks to his incredible offensive output that year, before going on to spend six more seasons (one lost to injury) on the club.

Outfield: Richie Ashburn

Easily the oldest entrant on our list, Ashburn finished third in the ROTY voting back in 1948 after putting together an outstanding first season in the big leagues. The eventual Hall of Famer hit just two home runs all year long, but he also went 32-for-42 in stolen base attempts while hitting .333 and being an on-base machine.

Ashburn played in a time where home runs were more important than any other offensive statistic, but batting average was a close second. His .333 average that year likely carried him to that third-place finish in the ROTY voting, but his 60-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio may have played a part in that as well.

Outfield: Marlon Byrd

Byrd wound up being quite the journeyman over a 15-year career, but the first four (and one a decade later) seasons came on the Phillies. Byrd played in 10 uneventful games in 2002 before getting a full year's worth of games in 2003.

That year, he recorded 28 doubles with seven home runs, 45 RBI and 86 runs scored while functioning as one of the Phillies' most productive players. He hit .303 while sporting a 111 OPS+ that puts his total output at 11 percent better than league-average. Byrd wound up finding his power stroke as he aged (topping out at 25 home runs for the 2014 Phillies), but his value was carried by a handful of other traits in that '03 season where he finished fourth in the ROTY race.

Starting pitcher: J.A. Happ

The Phillies have a boatload of successful rookie starting pitchers over their franchise's history, but it's difficult to find one that sticks out more than Happ. The left-hander had a small amount of big league experience in each of the two seasons prior to 2009, but he finally got a full workload in '09 and ran with it.

Functioning as a swingman at various points that year, Happ finished the 2009 season with a 12-4 record across 23 starts and 12 relief appearances. His 2.93 ERA and 119 ERA+ both were way above league-average and he rode these numbers to a second-place finish in ROTY voting.

Happ didn't throw very hard and didn't strike batters out at high rates, but he was a run-prevention machine in his early days.

Closer: Ken Giles

One of the most passionate yet peculiar players to wear a Phillies uniform, Giles also happens to be one of the most successful relievers to ever do so.

In 2014, Giles made 44 relief appearances, finishing 11 games but only earning one save. Even so, he struck out 12.6 batters per nine innings while allowing just six earned runs and one home run all year long. He threw 45 2/3 innings that year, punching out 64 batters while walking only 11.

Giles went on to spend just one more season on the Phillies, but his 1.56 career ERA on the club is about as dazzling as it gets. He was quite the character during his heyday, but there's no denying that he backed up some of his quirky behavior with some legitimate run-prevention on the mound.

More from That Ball's Outta Here

Schedule