Philadelphia Phillies: Five emerging keys to the 2020 season
A mixture of certainties and question marks will be key to the Philadelphia Phillies success in 2020.
With day one of all-player drills in the books for the 2020 Philadelphia Phillies and their first spring training game on a near horizon, their fans’ concerns have not been much allayed. After a massive cash outlay over the past two off-seasons to improve the team, a word uttered more often about them than it should be on Philly sports talk radio is “mediocre.”
This is curious. On Opening Day, the Phillies will likely field two former MVPs (one whose contract says he’s worth well over a quarter of a billion dollars), a pitcher who nearly won the Cy Young award in ’18, and the best catcher in baseball.
Another player on the field had a .308 batting average from ’16 through ’18, and their manager will start the season 200 games over .500 in over 1600 MLB games overseen.
There are Phillies pitching questions beyond their first two starters, and they have been and will be much discussed, but not today. As important as pitching is, there are Five Fightin’ Keys now emerging to a successful season beyond the expectation the team’s best three starters will pitch reasonably well.
Two of those matters seem near locks – expectations are high, but not unrealistic. Three other keys are iffier.
The first two keys are the most important and most likely to work out in the Philadelphia Phillies favor, barring significant injury – that is, any injury that keeps either of the following players out for more than two weeks running:
Bryce Harper: What, you didn’t expect Harper to “emerge” as a factor this season? While observers in the Washington-Baltimore area may find this amusing, there’s no reason to believe Harper won’t equal or improve on his 35 home runs, 114 RBI, and .882 OPS from ’19.
It’s clear he’s energized by playing for the Phillies, and this is particularly borne out by his assists figure from last year – 13 – tied for the best mark in the NL and only one behind the MLB leader.
J.T. Realmuto: All right, perhaps Realmuto won’t win both the catcher’s Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards two years running, but if he does, will anyone be truly surprised? It’s also reasonable to expect him to be MLB’s caught-stealing leader again by a dozen or so baserunners.
The Philadelphia Phillies backstop is one of the most level-headed guys in baseball. So, no, don’t expect his arbitration outcome and coming contract negotiations to screw any of this up.
The Lesser Hopeful Keys
Then, there are keys that are iffier than the above two, but these items are still hopeful from a Philadelphia Phillies fan perspective:
Andrew McCutchen: The high point of hope for the Phillies in 2019 may well have occurred on March 28 when McCutchen homered in his first Phillies at bat. When he went down with a torn ACL after 59 games, he was never properly replaced in terms of offense, defense, leadership, or sense of humor. (Corey Dickerson came close late in the season in terms of offense.) McCutchen staying healthy this year is vital. Physical indications and assessments are high.
Related Story. Phillies holding Howard for when it matters. light
Jean Segura: Segura is one of the most intriguing figures for the Phillies this summer; he came to camp 14 pounds lighter, indicating a new dedication to taking care of his body that includes eating better and cutting out almost all alcohol.
Moreover, he expressed a significant amount of regret over the fact he was at least partly responsible for McCutchen’s injury last season – the left fielder was caught in a rundown resulting from Segura’s lack of hustle on an infield grounder the infielder had hit. (And believe me, this was not lost on Phillies fans.)
It is hoped he will be the everyday third baseman, the position he worked out at on the first day of drills. When entirely healthy, focused (and maybe lighter in weight), Segura is a .300 hitter.
Joe Girardi: Finally, there’s the skipper, who is widely respected in MLB and is considered a return to traditional baseball in the Phillies dugout, however exactly accurate that is.
The former Yankees skipper is an unknown at this point, however.
Girardi reportedly asked his team to give him their “hearts” in a very early team meeting, and I suppose that’s interesting. It’s hoped he followed that up with an old-fashioned Philadelphia warning that, if a player didn’t play with some heart, he might find out his manager owning another, lower, posterior part of his anatomy.
Next. Thinking positively about the Phillies pitchers. dark
It has been widely observed that Rhys Hoskins, the first baseman, is also an important cog after a disappointing season, but if all five of the above keys turn cleanly in their locks, Hoskins may need to only improve incrementally. Really.
The Philadelphia Phillies open their Spring Training schedule Feb. 22 against Detroit in Lakeland, FL.