Phillies: Stars or placeholders
By Tal Venada
Whether the Philadelphia Phillies are playing or enjoying the offseason, fans and writers evaluate them differently than general manager Matt Klentak with his entire staff employed to analyze even the smallest detail.
Measuring impact:
The general public receives answers from Philadelphia Phillies management like a governmental page of confidential information with a handful of redactions. Despite this, the faithful believe they have the unshakable ability to spot talent –or lack thereof.
"IN OTHER WORDS: “The art of prophecy is very difficult, especially with respect to the future.” – Mark Twain"
On the other hand, GMs have a different perspective regarding rookies. Through experience, they realize the average player makes an impact in his third season or after three campaigns. The others are the exceptions.
Based solely on service time, this article considers a second half followed by the first half of a 162 to be one year. So, three summers could take four seasons.
Pushing the hopeful in the wrong direction, a coach can initiate changes for a youngster with an unorthodox approach. In fact, Jake Arrieta had immediate success when he eliminated the unwanted adjustments. Yes, a three-year detour. But it’s not the norm.
Accomplishing stardom immediately is a rare feat, but many fans today decide a rookie’s value based on his first few months in the majors. Rhys Hoskins is passing that test, but this guy didn’t: .196, 18 home runs, 52 RBIs and a .697 OPS. Yeah, Michael Jack Schmidt! He followed that with a .282 mark, 36 bombs and 116 RBIs.
After the last All-Star break, Aaron Nola dominated the National League for two months. But his achievement came after two campaigns of improvement. Ergo, in his third 162.
While Arrieta is an example of success after roughly three seasons, Cesar Hernandez came of age in 2016 following approximately two full summers of service. He went from .248 with a .294 OBP on June 20 to finish at .294 with a .371 OBP. Translation: He wasn’t getting a rest, the skipper benched him, and a coach tipped him off.