Who are the 5 Phillies with the most to prove in 2024?

The 2024 season is still a long way off, but with all of our offseason free time, we can start to think about next year. From fresh-faced rookies to seasoned veterans to superstar players, the Philadelphia Phillies had some players that finished the 2023 season with more question marks than answers.

Many thought this most recent version of the Phillies should have been back in the World Series for a second straight year — and if we're being honest, the red carpet was rolled out for them, they just tripped on the edge. After finishing 90-72 this past season, improving on their 2022 record of 87-75, it looked like the assembled roster was bigger and better and would take that final step to Philadelphia sports immortality.

Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

So, with expectations sky-high heading into 2024, which players will be under the microscope?

We've assembled a list of the Phillies who have the most to prove next season. These are players who the team and the fans will be looking for answers from during Spring Training up to Opening Day and throughout the six-month grind of the regular season and into the postseason.

We'll start with some younger players who are trying to establish themselves and get their major league careers jump-started. Are these newcomers to the Phillies roster going to stick around through 2024 and prove they belong in the Majors? Or will they regress and find themselves back in Triple-A, figuring things out before getting another chance?

Then we'll check in on some veterans. It may seem strange to look at such seasoned major leaguers, especially a couple of superstar-caliber players. But these Phillies had ... interesting ... 2023 seasons and definitely have something to prove in 2024.

First up, a rookie pitcher...

NEXT: Can Orion Kerkering solidify his job in the Phillies bullpen?

Can Orion Kerkering solidify his job in the Phillies bullpen?

Orion Kerkering was some kind of cool story for the Phillies this season. The 22-year-old shot through the farm system at blazing speed, passing through four levels from Low-A to Triple-A before getting the call to the bigs in late September.

The question for Kerkering is, can he solidify a major league role in 2024? There have been plenty of rookies who burst on the scene with early success but struggle to readjust after the league adapts.

In his brief regular season action, the right-hander looked utterly unfazed by the best league in the world, at least in his first two outings. He pitched a clean inning in his debut against the Mets, striking out two and earning his first hold.

After another two-strikeout performance against the Pirates, he hit a speed bump in his final game of the season, giving up a run on two hits with a pair of punchouts against the Mets.

Despite only three innings of major league experience, Kerkering was included on all three of the Phillies' postseason rosters and pitched in every series. He again started off strong, pitching three clean innings across the Wild Card Series and the NLDS before stumbling in the NLCS.

While his inclusion in the playoffs shows how much the organization believes in the youngster, it also illustrates the precarious state of the bullpen at year's end.

Kerkering's devastating two-pitch mix of a 97.8 mph sinker and an 86 mph sweeper overpowered major league hitters when he was locked in, albeit in a very small sample size. What might raise doubts about his major league job security in 2024 is how consistent he can be in finding the strike zone against major league hitters.

He posted a 12.5 percent walk rate across his 8 1/3 regular and postseason innings (again, it's a small sample size). If that seems high, it's because it is. It's not impossible to survive at that rate, but he'll have to bump up his 27.5 percent strikeout rate to be successful.

Some of the most accomplished relievers have high walk rates. Aroldis Chapman had a 14.5 percent walk rate this year, Josh Hader had a 13 percent walk rate, and Alexis Díaz sat at 12.6 percent. The difference is that they had strikeout rates of 41.4 percent, 36.8 percent, and 30.1 percent, respectively.

The good news is that a high walk rate wasn't an issue for Kerkering in the minors, at 5.8 percent.

Growth isn't always linear, and the Phillies are a team with high hopes of another deep postseason run and a return to the World Series. As a rookie with three options, Kerkering could find himself getting more "seasoning" in Triple-A if he doesn't impress early on in 2024.

NEXT: Can Cristopher Sánchez take the next step?

Can Cristopher Sánchez take the next step to be a legitimate MLB starter?

After a strong showing in 2023, Cristopher Sánchez is another pitcher with a legitimate chance at being on the major league roster heading into the 2024 season. Not only does he have a chance to be on the roster, but he has a genuine shot at being an important part of the Opening Day starting rotation.

The 26-year-old just has to prove that he belongs in the major leagues as a full-fledged starter and can hold up to the rigors of a full 162-game schedule.

After one appearance in April, Sánchez got called up for good in mid-June and made 18 starts for the Phillies, throwing 99 1/3 innings. He finished the year with a 3.44 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP while striking out 96 batters.

While the lefty started out gangbusters through his eight June and July starts, he faded a little toward the end of the year as the league began to figure him out.

In June and July his posted a stingy 2.30 ERA, a 0.84 WHIP, and held opposing hitters to a .194 average. Despite his impressive outings, he didn't pick up a win, going 0-3. The highlight of that stretch was his July 24 start against the Baltimore Orioles when he struck out eight over seven innings of four-hit, two-run ball.

Through 10 games (nine starts) in August and September, Sánchez went 3-2 and his ERA expanded to 4.15 with a 1.17 WHIP. Opponents started hitting him, and his luck began to run out, as his .314 BABIP led to a .260 opponent average. This came about despite a higher strikeout rate, which bumped to 25.9 percent from 22 percent.

There's no question that the Dominican Republic native has legit stuff, as we examined during the season. He has a special sinker and a nasty changeup, which accounted for 43 percent of his whiffs this season.

And inning limits shouldn't be a problem next season. Sánchez threw 149 frames between Triple-A and the Majors this year.

The biggest question mark for the southpaw is whether he can continue producing such a top-tier walk rate. He finished the year with a 1.45 BB/9 and a four percent walk rate, which ranked in the 98th percentile according to his Statcast metrics on Baseball Savant.

In the minors this past season, he had a real problem issuing too many free passes. He ran a 5.26 BB/9 and a 13.1 percent walk rate over 49 2/3 innings. If Sánchez is going to prove himself to be a legitimate major league starter, he'll have to show that what he did this year for the Phillies was no fluke.

NEXT: Will Taijuan Walker prove the Phillies made a mistake not using him in the postseason?

Will Taijuan Walker prove the Phillies made a mistake not using him in the postseason?

Even after such an up-and-down season, the way Taijuan Walker's 2023 campaign ended, or rather unceremoniously fizzled out, was surprising, especially to the veteran pitcher. Walker took issue with being included on all three postseason rosters but not seeing the field for even one pitch.

While you can't blame the 11-year veteran for being upset about being relegated to a bench warmer in October, it's also easy to see why the team opted to go with other options.

Walker posted a 15-6 record in his first year in red pinstripes and finished with a 4.38 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. He just didn't do enough to move up the pecking order come playoff time. With Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Ranger Suárez pitching as well as they did, there weren't any openings in the abbreviated playoff rotation.

The right-hander's rough September contributed to his benching. The 31-year-old had a 5.93 ERA in the final month, which came after a tough first two months of the season when he had a 5.57 ERA through May. The only reason his 2023 stats are passable is his phenomenal June 1.50 ERA and his July 3.86 ERA.

Can Walker prove to be a piece that manager Rob Thomson can rely on through the regular season and then in the playoffs? He has had some impressive seasons in recent memory that show he has the ability.

Last year with the New York Mets, he had a 3.49 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 157 1/3 innings. In 2020, he was an All-Star with a sparkling 2.70 ERA over 53 1/3 innings in the shortened season.

That's the pitcher the Phillies were hoping they were signing last offseason, and he'll have to prove it in the second year of his four-year, $72 million deal. The club has high hopes for Walker next year, which Dave Dombrowski spoke about at his end-of-year presser.

"I like Taijuan Walker. I think he did a nice job," Dombrowski said. "I look for him to be a real solid part of our rotation. I look for him to pitch well for us next year."

The fans will be looking for that too.

NEXT: Can Trea Turner put together a full season?

Can Bryce Harper prove himself at first base and cement his Phillies legacy with a World Series?

Bryce Harper had quite the 2023 season. He made it back to the field in record time after his Tommy John surgery in the offseason, endured a career-long home run drought, started playing a new defensive position, and capped it all off with some incredibly dramatic and memorable postseason moments.

The one thing he didn't do was deliver a World Series to Philadelphia.

There's no doubt that Harper loves playing in Philadelphia, but the ultimate goal for the two-time MVP is to bring a World Series trophy to the city and fans he loves so much. Anything less during his tenure as a Phillie will be a huge disappointment for him and the fans.

Harper is five years into the 13-year, $330 million contract that brought him to Philadelphia. We can give him a pass for 2022 when he played with a bum elbow, and perhaps this season, after all the challenges he overcame to get back into game action.

But the former first-overall pick is now 31, and while there's still time for him to lead the team to the pinnacle of the sport, the window won't stay open forever. The gradual downhill slide out of his prime years is getting close. As incredible a ballplayer and as impressive a specimen as Harper is, the clock is ticking for him and the core group of stars that make up this formidable version of this Phillies team.

It's a trip to the World Series or bust in 2024.

The other question for Harper going into next season is: how good will the former outfielder be at first base now that he has picked his position?

He held his own in 36 games at first base this year. He committed one error and earned one Defensive Runs Saved with his play. Obviously, there are a lot of intricacies to playing first, but the Phillies don't seem concerned about Harper's ability to pick up the position.

"We think he'll develop into a Gold Glove first baseman," Dave Dombrowski told Jon Morosi at the GM Meetings.

Let's hope so.

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