Philadelphia Phillies: Concerns for the early season remain
By Rick Soisson
The Philadelphia Phillies are virtually ready for the regular season. And yet, there are still reasons for concern.
Aside from nudging their 24th and 25th players into place, the Philadelphia Phillies are set for the coming season. They may surprise everybody by signing Alex Cobb, but that seems less likely now than signing Jake Arrieta did a week ago, so – hey – it could happen. (It won’t.)
The Phillies front office has added expensive talent to the clubhouse, and along the way made some moves that have been questioned, but all in all, they are set up as well as any last place team from the previous season could hope to be. They have an enthusiastic young manager (Gabe Kapler), a former Cy Young winner (Arrieta), a selective hitter at first base who is a defensive plus (Carlos Santana), a left fielder who might hit 50 home runs (Rhys Hoskins), and an apparent superstar about to be promoted from Triple-A (Scott Kingery).
Moreover, the supporting cast for these five isn’t that horrid either. Aaron Nola, Nick Williams, Aaron Altherr, and J.P. Crawford could all one day be called “top three” or “top five” at their respective positions. Of course, because their manager loves versatility, some of those positions aren’t determined yet, but everybody’s young enough for adjustments.
Two others could be added to this able supporting cast, but that brings us to the point here. The two players unlisted above are listed below. Though legitimate major leaguers, those two are first among the greatest concerns for this presumably improved Phillies squad.