8 players you've already forgotten played for the Phillies in 2023

What a wild ride the 2023 Philadelphia Phillies season was. It was a slow build into excitement and elation that saw the bottom fall out so suddenly that many folks are still in recovery mode, and there will be permanent scars to go around for the entire fanbase.

But even though it ended on the bitterest of notes, we got to witness some incredible moments and storylines. From Bryce Harper's unprecedented return from injury to Zack Wheeler's dominance in the clutch, to a team-wide barrage of postseason home runs, this season won't soon be forgotten. Yes, people will most likely focus solely on the disastrous way that things ended, but there were truly some notable highlights that got us up to that point.

There is, however, an element to every baseball season that goes under the radar and gets lost to history almost immediately. During a 162-game, six-month grind, teams need contributions from a whole host of characters just to keep things moving, and the 2023 Phillies were no exception.

While years past have featured forgettable cameos from the likes of José Bautista, Mike Sweeney, and Jay Bruce, we tend to remember those cases because the players themselves were at least noteworthy. But the following eight players who each took the field for the Phillies in 2023 don't fit that bill. This forgettable bunch gets one last look before being tossed into the dustbin of Phillies history. Short of helping you in a pinch on your Immaculate Grid, you won't be sparing them a thought going forward.

Kody Clemens

Did you recall that Kody Clemens started 35 of the Phillies' first 81 games at first base this season? Obviously, a large chunk of that came while Bryce Harper was out of the lineup and the Phillies were trying to get left-handed bats into the lineup against right-handed starters.

When the second half of the season officially kicked off with Game #82 on July 1, Clemens received a pinch-hit appearance in a 19-4 win, then was banished to Lehigh Valley for the remainder of the season. He did mash a bit down in Triple-A and looked like a viable candidate for usage later in the season, but it never materialized.

It remains to be seen what kind of future Clemens has with the Phillies, or even in the majors in general, but he hasn't done much to help his cause over 103 games in the bigs split between the 2022 Tigers and 2023 Phillies. One might argue that he's only gotten this far based on legacy, as his dad is kind of famous. And baseball, just like other sports, loves those bloodlines. It makes you wonder, though, if "K"ody is ever self-conscious about the fact that his first name is spelled in such a way as a tribute to strikeouts. Not exactly ideal for a hitter.

But kudos to Kody for holding down the fort at first base for a little while, at least, and for the four times he pitched this year that I'm sure you all definitely remember as well. He actually performed decently there, too, allowing just one run over 2 2/3 innings of mop-up duty in four separate blowout losses. He struck out one batter during that time, Michael Busch of the Dodgers. Also along the way in 2023, he surpassed his dad in career hits, so he's got that going for him.

Rodolfo Castro

The Phillies’ big splash at the trade deadline, which looked great for a while but then ended up not being so hot, was Michael Lorenzen. But the acquisition of Rodolfo Castro from the Pirates flew under the radar and had the potential to be a sneaky-good addition by Dave Dombrowski.

It wasn’t.

Seeing sporadic playing time, to put it mildly, Castro went just 3-for-30 with the Phillies. Even a rudimentary math student can tell you that comes to a cool .100 batting average. With no homers, no steals, and a paltry two RBI, Castro ended up stapled to the bench for literally weeks, and he only saw 10 plate appearances during the entire month of September.

Unsurprisingly, he was left out of the playoff roster equation entirely. Maybe he didn’t get a long enough look, but he certainly didn’t do anything to stand out, either.

Word on the street is that a strong showing could have earned Castro a shot at reprising a utility role for the Phillies in 2024. Safe to say he won’t be back. Instead, Castro will have to just wait by his phone, hoping that another organization will call to give him a chance. After all, you know that he always keeps it nearby.

Drew Ellis

Drew Ellis was a feel-good story for all of about five minutes for the 2023 Phillies.

In his first week with the club, Ellis socked two dingers in an 11-3 win at Washington on June 4, and we got speculative whispers about him being in some sort of corner infield platoon. Of course, Ellis’ presence was largely due to an injury to Alec Bohm, who immediately asserted his dominance upon returning to health.

Ultimately, Ellis would accumulate 22 plate appearances over the first ten days of June, then resurface right after the All-Star break for a four-game series versus the Padres. He took seven trips to the plate in that series, then was sent down and didn’t return.

There is a chance that Ellis hangs on as organizational depth for the Phillies, which would open the door for a cameo appearance in the bigs once again in 2024 if he performs well, but it’s far from certain. Credit to the guy for hitting two home runs in a major league game, which is more than you or I will ever do, but he’s one of those "dime a dozen" players that nobody will have any real reason to remember as our collective memories all fade.

Bailey Falter

It wasn’t too long ago that Bailey Falter looked like a viable depth piece for the Phillies’ rotation. Taking a regular turn during the second half of the 2022 season, Falter ended up authoring a 3.86 ERA over 84 innings, and it seemed like he could be useful going forward. Then came the playoffs, and his lone start, where he was waxed by the Padres in Game 4 of the NLCS, surrendering four runs in less than an inning in a game that the Phillies would rally to win.

When the curtain came up on 2023, Andrew Painter’s injury essentially locked Falter into the rotation once again to start the season as he attempted to build on the glimpses of promise from 2022 and put his lone postseason blemish behind him.

He did not do that.

After seven starts, his record sat at 0-6, accompanied by an ugly 5.75 ERA. Then, on May 13, the Phillies used the "opener" strategy, with Falter relieving Connor Brogdon five hitters into the game. That didn’t work either, and it would turn out to be his last appearance as a Phil.

He was demoted and later traded to the Pirates for the aforementioned Castro. Falter eventually collected a couple of wins for the Bucs, going 2-2 with a 5.58 ERA over 10 appearances (seven starts) for them. Best of luck to Falter resurrecting his career on the other side of the state, because it was a mighty quick flameout for him in Philadelphia.

Erich Uelmen, Michael Plassmeyer, McKinley Moore

We'll treat this "three-headed monster" as one entry since each of them was so insignificant that it'd be a real stretch to write much about them individually.

First, Uelmen. He was most notable for becoming the first "U" entry on the Phillies' all-time player registry since Chase Utley. Still, you could be forgiven for missing his one appearance during the 2023 season, as he surrendered four runs in the fifth inning of a 10-1 loss to the Cubs on May 19. Oddly enough, it came less than a year after his MLB debut, which came as a member of those Cubs against the Phillies in 2022. That game was also a blowout win for Chicago, although Uelmen surrendered a home run to Darick Hall (remember when he existed?).

As for Plassmeyer, he received a start in the penultimate game of the regular season and was destroyed by the Mets to the tune of ten runs (nine earned) in 3 2/3 innings as the Phillies looked to rest some arms. You have to feel bad for the guy, having this kind of result in his first MLB start (he debuted with two relief appearances in 2022). On the bright side, literally nobody was watching this game, as the last series of the season didn't matter. Although, the Phillies were one win away from potentially having had homefield advantage in the World Series over the Rangers. Just food for thought.

Lastly, 2023 also saw the MLB debut of McKinley Moore, as he got into three games for the Phils and posted an 18.90 ERA over 3 1/3 innings, all coming between April 10 and April 15. Moore threw 86 pitches just to get ten outs over the three appearances, allowing five hits, five walks, and hitting a pair of batters. Things went better for him in the minors, but it remains to be seen if he'll be afforded another shot with the big club next year.

Hopefully you enjoyed this trip down recent memory lane. Now feel free to forget all of these players.

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