Odd man out:
With Hoskins at first base and Santana manning the hot corner, Franco will be the man without a position. So, the front office may prefer someone else in left field to improve the defense with this new alignment. Or they could switch Nick Williams to left and ink Bryce Harper for right field.
Regarding Santana, his glove is adequate but Franco’s is better at third. The switch-hitter had batted .259 in ’17 with a .363 OBP, 23 home runs and 79 RBIs but produced a .229 average, a .352 OBP, 24 bombs and 86 RBIs in ’18. Additionally, he’ll be more familiar with NL pitchers and thrive with acquired firepower.
Concerning the new hitting approach, it also affected Franco. He went from .230, a .281 OBP, 24 long balls and 88 RBIs to .270, a .314 OBP, 22 blasts and 68 RBIs (sometimes batting eighth). But if the red pinstripes acquire shortstop Manny Machado, Santana could slot between Hoskins and Machado.
Phillies possibilities:
- First base: Santana, Hoskins or Bour.
- Second base: Hernandez, Kingery or Crawford.
- Shortstop: Machado, Kingery or Crawford.
- Third base: Franco, Santana, Machado, Kingery or Crawford.
- Left field: Hoskins, Williams or Herrera.
- Center field: Herrera, Quinn or Altherr.
- Right Field: Harper or Williams.
With offense and defense in mind, Klentak has enough options besides Hoskins as a first sacker; he can sign free agents and trade veterans. But because the GM has multiple directions, he will probably be more deliberate this winter. Will he hit a home run, and what is he doing now? Fielding calls!
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