Philadelphia Phillies: How many things actually must work in 2020?
By Rick Soisson
What Else Has to Happen?
First, it could seriously be argued that young Adam Haseley is a key piece, if for no other reason than he is the choice for center field, a key position for which there is no apparent backup plan.
It is widely assumed that the Philadelphia Phillies will divest themselves of the recently-suspended Odubel Herrera for a “baseball reason,” and the most obvious one would be Haseley coming into Spring Training and hitting about .375 while making diving catches in the Clearwater sunshine. After that, it would be really nice if Haseley could hit about .280 out of what will likely be the seven or eight-hole in the line-up.
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No pressure, kid.
He might well do it. Haseley will never be the greatest center fielder in the game’s history, but there’s no reason to believe he couldn’t be very, very solid, and his hitting approach – hitting line drives instead of five-run homers – is likely to drive up his rookie batting average from .266.
At a minimum, he must field the position well. It would be very nice if he didn’t let his .720 OPS last summer slide.
What else has to happen? Somebody in the bullpen has to take a serious step forward and become as close an approximation as possible to what Josh Hader was for the Brewers in 2018. I have no idea who that might be.
Finally, settle on the everyday positions for Scott Kingery and Jean Segura, and hope they hit as their careers have indicated they can for extended periods. No one really expects that someone coming to camp will beat out these two guys for second and third base; the problem is that no one really knows which guy will play where. Oh, Girardi likely has a decent idea already, but it’s time for Segura to assume the role of the puzzle piece who can fit where needed instead of forcing it on Kingery as it was as his career started.
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The fact is the Philadelphia Phillies don’t need six things to go right. They need about ten, but if they get eight of them, they will be very dangerous. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the right fielder’s performance is a given.