Checking in on the performance of each of the Phillies’ upcoming free agents
By Edward Eng
Josh Harrison
The Phillies signed Josh Harrison to a one-year, $2 million deal back in the 2022-23 offseason to provide depth for their bench, and to serve as the club’s backup utilityman. Harrison is definitely the definition of utilityman as he has played every single fielding position in his career other than catcher. Despite being 35 years old, he still got some game in him as he produced a solid season doing part-time duties with the Chicago White Sox just last year.
For this season with the Phillies, however, his age may finally be beginning to show, as he has struggled with a .231 batting average, .617 OPS, 70 OPS+ (all among his lowest numbers in his career), with only three doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI, three walks and 18 strikeouts in 101 plate appearances. With speed being also once upon a time his forte, he hasn’t shown any signs of it so far this year with no stolen bases to show for it. As a result, despite providing positional flexibility, his underperformances hasn’t net him much playing time at all this year as he looks to be struggling mightily to find his niche with the Phillies.
Despite heating up slightly for the month of June in which he hit .300 with an OPS of .777, production had been still limited with only one double, one home run and three RBI to show for in his sporadic 10 games played. Consequently, it is more than likely that Harrison will be one free agent the Phillies will probably let go at the end of the year as they can look for internal solutions from within their organization to help fill the void for future years. In the meantime, at least the Phillies can still use Harrison’s veteran experience for spot starts at any position when needed to help fill their daily lineup without hesitation.