PHILS PHACTS:
Welcome Back Mickey! – Mickey Morandini has joined the Phillies to be
their first-base coach. Morandini played for the Phillies from 1990-97 and 2000
and served on their Minor League player development staff the past five
seasons. He managed Class A Williamsport in 2011 and Class A Lakewood in
2012-13 before coaching for Triple-A Lehigh Valley and Double-A Reading the
past two seasons. Morandini will also be the team's baserunning instructor. Morandini's
hire means Phillies manager Pete Mackanin's coaching staff is complete. The
group includes bench coach Larry Bowa, hitting coach Steve Henderson, pitching
coach Bob McClure, third-base coach Juan Samuel, bullpen coach Rick Kranitz and
catching coach John McLaren. Assistant coach Jorge Velandia will return to his
role as special assistant to player personnel. He joined the coaching staff in
June following Ryne Sandberg's departure and Mackanin's promotion.
Rebuild Summary – A
little less than a month ago, the Phillies finished their worst season since
1972, but in a way, they hope history repeats itself. The '72 Phillies hit rock
bottom, but the organization had a talented farm system and talented young
players already in the big leagues when it happened. They eventually formed a
core that made the postseason six times from 1976-83, including winning the
1980 World Series championship. The Phillies hope they hit the floor in 2015,
but they expect improvement in '16, with the idea they can compete for the
postseason as early as '17. But first things first. Phillies president Andy
MacPhail and general manager Matt Klentak have plenty of work to do. Here is a
look at what the team might look like when Spring Training opens in February: Arbitration
eligible: infielders Andres Blanco and Freddy Galvis; and right-hander Jeanmar Gomez. Free agents: right-handers Chad Billingsley, Aaron Harang and Jerome Williams; left-hander Cliff Lee (club option); and outfielder Jeff Francoeur. Rotation: The Phillies need
some serious rotation help. Free agents Billingsley, Harang and Williams are
not expected to return, and Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez might not pitch again for
Philadelphia, considering his checkered health history. It means the Phillies
will need to find at least a couple veteran starters to fill out the rotation.
Do not expect the Phillies to commit to big-money contracts. It is too early
for that. Instead, expect them to pursue starters like J.A. Happ or Doug Fister, potential placeholders until the team
knows it truly has a core to reach the postseason. Of course, the Phillies will
fill the rotation with internal pieces, too. Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff are heavy favorites to win jobs. Adam Morgan has a line on one. Matt Harrison, Alec Asher, David Buchanan and others will have the opportunity
to win jobs. Bullpen: The bullpen struggled at times this season, with
the exception of Jonathan Papelbon
(traded in July) and Ken Giles. Gomez, Luis Garcia, Elvis Araujo and Dalier Hinojosa put together solid performances. Justin De Fratus struggled, which is why the Phillies
outrighted him last month. It seems likely Philadelphia will sign at least one
veteran reliever to stabilize the bullpen. But once again, do not expect them
to pursue the highest-priced free agents on the market. Catcher: It
would not be a surprise to see both Carlos Ruiz and Cameron Rupp back. If so, Rupp is the likely
candidate to start Opening Day as Ruiz endured the worst season of his career.
Ruiz turns 37 in January, but he has value as a backup. (Not to mention he will
be paid $8.5 million.) Chooch can work with the team's young pitchers as well
as mentor catching prospects Jorge Alfaro and
Andrew Knapp in Spring Training. Don't rule out the possibility that Knapp, who
the Phillies named their Minor League Player of the Year, sees time with the
Phillies at some point. Teams rarely use only two catchers over the course of a
season, and if Knapp is playing well, he could get a shot. Alfaro is promising,
but he missed much of the season with an ankle injury. He needs more seasoning
in the Minors. First base: Will Ryan Howard return? He will make $35 million next
season, which includes a $10 million buyout on a 2017 club option. Howard
performed well against right-handed pitchers this year, but he struggled
terribly against lefties. He is a platoon player at this point of his career.
But if Howard and Darin Ruf return, they
could form a pretty respectable duo as Ruf hit left-handers very well. Second
base: Cesar Hernandez
is expected to open next season at second base. The Phillies saw enough
potential offensively to give him a longer look. But Hernandez is going to have
to perform because there are prospects coming through the system that could
force the club to make some position changes. Shortstop: Galvis will
open the season as the team's shortstop, but top
prospect J.P. Crawford is breathing down
his neck. Crawford finished the season in Double-A Reading, but he is expected
to open next season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. If Crawford continues to
progress, it will be difficult to keep him in the Minors. And if Crawford is
promoted at some point next season, he will be promoted to play shortstop and
play every day. If that happens, Galvis could move to second base if Hernandez
is not performing. Or he could fall into a super utility role. Third base: Maikel Franco has this job locked up, assuming he is
healthy. He showed he can be a productive bat in the middle of the lineup,
which the Phillies desperately need. Of all the positions on the roster, this
is the easiest one to predict. Outfield: Odubel Herrera is expected to be the Opening Day
center fielder. He earned it. But who plays the corners? Domonic Brown is gone.
Aaron Altherr has earned a longer look. Cody Asche will get another look, although he really
must pick up his production. The Phillies see Asche as somebody who could hit
15-20 home runs with 75-90 RBIs. He fell woefully short in RBIs this year. The
Phillies could re-sign Francoeur, which makes sense. (If Francoeur is not
re-signed, they are likely to pursue another veteran outfielder.) Philadelphia
needs a vocal veteran to show the team's young players how to act during a long
season and how to react to adversity. Top outfield prospect Nick Williams finished
his season in Double-A. Like Crawford, he is expected to open the season in
Triple-A. He could join the team at some point.
AFL Recap – It
would be difficult to overstate how important statistical analysis has become
in how decisions in baseball are now made. Every so often, however, something
happens that seemingly defies what the numbers say. After going 1-for-3 in a
Class A Advanced Florida State League game on June 24, Phillies catching
prospect Andrew Knapp was hitting .262/.356/.369. On the surface, those rather
pedestrian numbers do not scream promotion. Yet Knapp did get bumped up to
Double-A. What happened next, it's unlikely anyone expected. Knapp simply went
off in Reading, kicking things off with a 17-game hitting streak and never
really looking back. The 2013 second-round pick hit .360/.419/.631 in 55 games,
earning Phillies
Minor League Player of the Year honors before
heading to the Glendale Desert Dogs and the Arizona Fall League. "Honestly,
I think I just got a little bit more selective," Knapp said. "Earlier
in my career, I'd be swinging at a 1-1 changeup that probably wasn't a good
pitch to swing at. Then once I got moved up to Double-A, I started laying off
those pitches and started flipping some counts to 2-1 or 3-1 and started
getting some fastballs. I think that was the biggest adjustment I made." It's
something Knapp was working on in Clearwater, even if it didn't translate to
better numbers until after he moved up. Knapp feels that, along with the work
he put in on the defensive side of the game, is what made the organization
comfortable with the promotion. "The last month there in Clearwater, I
started making those adjustments," Knapp said. "I think part of it,
too, was the advancement behind the plate, being able to handle the game,
handle the pitching staff more. I think that's what they saw. Sometimes a change
of scenery is all you need to get a little boost and a little confidence. I
think that helped, too." His time in the AFL will undoubtedly aid in his
development as well. While Knapp is continuing to pretty much do what he did in
Double-A with the bat, he knows there is work to be done behind the plate if he
wants to be an everyday catcher at the big league level. "I think
defensively is one of those things I want to tighten up," Knapp said.
"Tighten up the receiving, tighten up the throwing. We worked a lot behind
the plate this year off the field, working on the mind game a little bit.
Trying to manage a pitching staff and work from behind the plate. That's what
I'm focusing on." Knapp has some defensive skills, namely arm strength
that allowed him to throw out 36 percent of would-be basestealers in 2015.
While the AFL is known more as a hitters' league, Knapp sees plenty of
opportunities to improve his catching, from working with advanced pitchers to
picking the brains of his coaching staff, including manager Bill Haselman of
the Dodgers, himself a former big league backstop. "These are guys who
know what they're doing on the mound," Knapp said of the pitchers on the
Glendale staff. "You can get a ton of work in the bullpen. I'm working
with the [coaches from the] Dodgers and the Phillies in the cages and on the
side fields. You get a little more down time, less playing, but you get to work
on the side, so that's good." Getting to talk with catchers is nothing new
for Knapp. His father Mike caught at Cal just like his son did and spent parts
of 11 seasons catching in the Minors, reaching Triple-A. He had former big
league catcher Dusty Wathan as a manager in Reading and now has Haselman in
Arizona. "Throughout my career, I've pretty much been surrounded by
catchers," Knapp said. "You get to pick those guys' brains. They've been
there before, they've done it, they've caught over 100 games in a year, they
know how the body feels, and how it's mentally draining, too. It's been awesome
to see how they do it and gain that little bit of experience from them as I'm
going through it." Phillies hitters in the Fall League: Aaron
Brown, OF - A two-way standout at Pepperdine, the Phillies took Brown as an
outfielder in the third round of the 2014 Draft. Coming off his first full
season as a hitter only, Brown hasn't played a ton, but the at-bats he is
getting should help him make the jump to Double-A in 2016. J.P. Crawford, SS
- Crawford was the highest-ranked prospect in the AFL (No. 5
overall), but went home with
a left thumb injury after just six games. He
should be 100 percent for Spring Training. Drew Stankiewicz, 2B/SS - The
Phillies' 11th-round pick in the 2014 Draft, Stankiewicz was added to the
Glendale roster to replace Crawford. He played at two levels of A ball in 2014
and saw time at both second base and shortstop. Phillies pitchers in the
Fall League: Edubray Ramos, RHP - Originally signed by the
Cardinals, Ramos was released by St. Louis in February 2011. He signed with
Phillies in November 2012 and finally got moving more quickly in 2015, reaching
Double-A -- a level he may be ready to master after pitching well in the AFL. Yacksel
Rios, RHP - The 2011 draftee has spent much more time relieving than
starting, but three of his first four AFL outings have been starts, something
he may get the chance to do in Double-A next year. Jesen Therrien, RHP -
The Montreal native is coming off a very solid year out of the bullpen in 2015,
one that saw him spend most of the year in the Florida State League. His AFL
innings should prep him for Double-A in 2016. Tom Windle, LHP - Windle
made a successful transition to the bullpen midway through his first season
with the Phillies. He's continued to adjust to the role this Fall.
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies finally put an end to the season finishing in last place in the NL
East with a record of 63-99. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and
bipolar performances, this has ended up being one of the worst seasons in
franchise history!
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