On Friday, the Philadelphia Phillies surprised the baseball world when they announced that they had released veteran utilityman Whit Merrifield. After all, Merrifield was one of the Philllies’ biggest free agent signings this past offseason. They had fully expected him to provide a significant impact to the lineup off the bench given his versatility and the fact that he was coming off a revitalized All-Star season with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023.
However, things certainly did not turn out as planned, as Merrifield struggled to find his groove with his new team despite now reaching the halfway mark of the season.
For the year, he posted a disappointing .199 batting average and .572 OPS, along with just 21 runs scored, four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI in 53 games played. To be fair, Merrifield still proved that he had the legs with 11 stolen bases on the season, along with playing some solid defense in various positions in the field by registering 2 DRS and a .972 fielding percentage overall.
Nevertheless, with the Phillies going all-in for a World Series championship in 2024, they can't afford to have any weaknesses in their lineup that could potentially impact their progress going forward. As a result, Merrifield was ruthlessly dismissed from the team despite still providing some value in various aspects of the game other than offense.
4 Phillies players who could be ruthlessly dismissed after Whit Merrifield release
If that's the mentality of the ballclub going forward, then which other Phillies players could potentially suffer a similar fate in the coming weeks? With the trade deadline coming fast, the roster will likely see some shuffling, and more players could be headed out the door.
Here, we will take a look at four Phillies players who could be ruthlessly sent packing, just like Merrifield was, if things don’t start improving for them any time soon.