Philadelphia Phillies: 5 Players, 3 Spots

While Klentak hoped for 30 homers from Franco and is getting 20, he cautiously mulls over his other options including those for ’19. He understands that nobody hits 20 bombs by accident, even though home run output is up in the majors. That stated, Franco is batting .297 in September and .319 with two long balls and seven RBIs since Crawford’s first start on Sept.5, while the rookie is at .245 with a .379 OBP, no homers and six RBIs. Not a slam dunk!

"FOOD FOR THOUGHT:     “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” – Mark Twain"

Leaning on the Phillies to fire manager Pete Mackanin, fans have a favorite reason: Galvis batting second. In that spot, however, Galvis has a .274 average (361 ABs) compared to a .217 mark (231 ABs) in the other holes combined. Isn’t the skipper’s job to get the most out of each player? Well, the gold glove defender has acquitted himself and Mackanin.

Unlike armchair GMs, Klentak and his staff don’t have the luxury of cherry-picking the numbers. But if you take Hernandez out of the lineup, how would the club do? Well, the Philadelphia Phillies were 21-39 (.350) through June 9, and they went 9-21 (.300) from June 10 through July 16 with the second baseman on the disabled list. In other words, they would have eight more victories over a full 162 with Hernandez.