The Philadelphia Phillies signing Bryce Harper? Not so fast…
As the Philadelphia Phillies readied to face the Tampa Bay Rays in their first exhibition contest Feb. 22, somebody named Robinson was going to be in right field. And while some felt that the Phillies chances of landing Bryce Harper were good, that the first day of spring training competition had arrived drove home to the team’s regularly pessimistic fan base the possibility the team might well be playing this season with the players already assigned uniform numbers.
Not signing Harper would not be a good business decision, but nonetheless, it may be the one that shakes out in the end. If it does shake out that way, don’t expect to see many seats filled at Citizens Bank Park early in the season, despite the upgrades already made to the team.
As they currently stand, assuming returning players who start and started last year at least match their 2018 production, the Phillies should jump well past the .500 mark and perhaps take second in the NL East.
The addition of Jean Segura, Andrew McCutchen, David Robertson, and J.T. Realmuto is not like throwing three-day-old Wawa hoagies on the table for Sunday’s dinner. Three of these players replace a third of last season’s starting lineup with clearly superior talent. The fourth, Robertson, helps an already “somewhat promising” bullpen, and may end up being the closer.
Even without Harper, the Phillies will be a young, hungry team to be feared every day most of their starting lineup is on the field, even given manager’s Gabe Kapler’s penchant for jumping players around the field and lineup. Kapler will surely continue to give his players proper days off, but expect that Mexican jumping bean drill to settle down this season.
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The Lineup without Harper
What will the Phillies best lineup look like without Harper? Here you go:
McCutchen, LF
Segura, SS
Rhys Hoskins, 1B
Realmuto, C
Nick Williams/Aaron Altherr (platoon), RF
Maikel Franco/Scott Kingery (spring training competition), 3B
Cesar Hernandez, 2B
Aaron Nola, P
Odubel Herrera, CF
This will surely not be the lineup day after day; it may, in fact, never be the lineup as given, but most of these players will play a great deal. Speedy Roman Quinn may ultimately replace Herrera, indeed even before the season opens. However, Quinn has proven to be fragile; Herrera is streaky in the extreme.
Problems and Potentials
With or without Harper, the biggest problem for the Phillies last season returns like the spring this season. The starters after Nola are question marks in regard to effectiveness. With the anticipated better defense, Jake Arrieta should return to posting a winning record, but he may not.
After Arrieta, Zach Eflin, Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez, and oft-injured Jerad Eickhoff will battle for the other rotational spots, all of them being given likely last chances to finally take a firm step forward as major leaguers. Left-hander Cole Irvin, slated for the Feb. 22 start, should get a serious look as a non-roster invitee to the Phillies spring camp. He went 14-4 with a 2.57 ERA and 1.05 WHIP at the triple-A level last season.
Dallas Keuchel could be acquired, but again, spring training games start today. With each passing day Harper is not brought into the fold, signing Keuchel or closer Craig Kimbrel seems less likely.
Nonetheless, assuming some team chemistry, and despite the grumbling of their fans, the Philadelphia Phillies should be considerably better in 2019.