Philadelphia Phillies: Aaron Altherr Is Fourth Positional Piece
By Sean O'Brien
The Philadelphia Phillies’ rebuilding plan continues to gain momentum this season. Aaron Altherr has returned from injury, is playing well, and looks to be the fourth young positional player in the team’s emerging core.
Philadelphia Phillies prospect Aaron Altherr injured his left wrist five months ago. Needed surgery set a timetable of four to six months for his return. The organization’s 2009 ninth-round amateur draft pick maintained a positive attitude, took his rehabilitation program seriously, and returned to action on July 28. Since then, the 25-year-old’s power stroke, base-running ability and sound defense reminded everyone that he’s surely a part of the team’s long-term plans. He, along with Maikel Franco, Odubel Herrera and Tommy Joseph represent four young pieces in an emerging positional core.
Altherr possesses two important attributes that many modern players lack: he has game smarts and projects a positive disposition that underscores coachability. Those specific intangibles, combined with obvious physical attributes and production to date, give him an edge to start in the outfield (probably right field) next season. Sure, anyone can be traded. But, unless Altherr is included in an offseason transaction or suffers another injury, he’ll also remain in the middle of manager Pete Mackanin‘s lineup in 2017.
By September at the latest, J.P. Crawford, Nick Williams and a few other prospects should populate the Phillies’ expanded roster. Two Septembers ago, Maikel Franco made his major league debut. Odubel Herrera impressed to such an extent in the spring of 2015 that the Phillies added the Rule 5 draft pick (via the Texas Rangers) to their 25-man Opening Day roster. Then, Joseph raked in the Grapefruit League this spring, continued to shine in Triple-A and earned his first big league opportunity on May 13.
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There’s no question that Franco has third base fully secured. He’s a two-way player, as opposed to Cody Asche, who was shifted to left field last year and likely will be jettisoned from the organization in the fall. Franco isn’t Mike Schmidt or Scott Rolen. But he’s an impactful player, who leads the Phillies in home runs (20) and RBI (63) this year and could be a potential All-Star in future seasons.
Herrera sports a quirky demeanor year-round. However, ‘El Torito’s offense is steady from April through October, as evidenced by his career .291 batting average and All-Star selection this season. Whether Herrera remains in center field depends on the development of eternal prospect Roman Quinn, who hasn’t been able to stay healthy, or the future acquisition of a solid major league center fielder. The Phillies hit big on this Rule 5 selection and will be hesitant to part with him unless some dramatic trade package is offered by another team.
Joseph’s recovery from multiple concussions and willingness to shift to first base in an attempt to continue his career made him a good read even before he first donned red pinstripes in May. Ryan Howard‘s final season, Darin Ruf‘s inconsistent big league efforts and the likelihood that Reading Fightin’ Phils first baseman Rhys Hoskins starts at Lehigh Valley next season, give Joseph an open opportunity to retain his spot in 2017. Plus, he’s hitting with power and has an .805 OPS which currently leads the team.
Simple math shows that adding Altherr to a trio that already includes Franco, Herrera and Joseph, puts the Phillies half-way toward the goal of fielding eight solid positional players. Each man will be in his mid-20s next season, which enables inexpensive payroll slots and increasing production on the field.
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Now general manager Matt Klentak needs to upgrade the Phillies’ four other starting positions and further bolster the pitching staff. Success in those areas could realistically produce a playoff push by 2018.