Grading the rest of the Philadelphia Phillies offense
Yairo Munoz: B. It’s tempting to give Johan Camargo 2.0 an incomplete, but Munoz has added a little power, and can play both infield and outfield positions if needed although the Phillies have kept him at second and third thus far in 19 games.
Bryson Stott: C-minus. The rookie infielder who looked extremely promising in Spring Training has somewhat disappointed fans by hitting only .188 thus far, but he has displayed some power and driven in 26. He has played good defense at second, third, and shortstop, however (three errors in 221 chances), handling his various assignments better than Scott Kingery did.
Outfielders
Nick Castellanos: C. What Castellanos has provided so far is not what the Philadelphia Phillies expected for what they’re paying the outfielder. That said, however, he has done reasonably well in right field, replacing Harper even before the regular right fielder broke his finger at the end of June. (This was necessitated by Harper’s partly torn right UCL.) Castellanos is hitting only .251, 58 points below his 2021 average with the Reds. He has gathered 10 of his 46 RBI in the 19 games he’s played since Harper’s injury.
Bryce Harper (IL): A-minus. Is this the right grade for a guy having another MVP season who’s been injured? What’s the minus for? Not avoiding Blake Snell’s fastball, or somehow overthrowing some ball sometime back when…? When he went onto the IL, Harper was hitting .318 with 15 HRs and 48 RBI in 64 games.
Odubel Herrera: C-plus. This grade has nothing to do with Herrera’s domestic violence incident. It has to do with his lack of focus. Physically gifted, Herrera somehow manages to do ridiculous things on a baseball field. He swings at a pitch between his legs on a Monday, then takes a route to a fly ball on Thursday that looks like the path on the Candy Land game board. He is hitting .244 in 172 ABs.
Kyle Schwarber: A-minus. The NL home run leader at the break, Schwarber has done everything he’s been asked and more except for hitting for a slightly better average, considering he bats, somewhat weirdly, lead-off. He has hit 29 home runs and driven in 58. His OPS is equal to (drumroll) Garrett Stubbs’.
Matt Vierling: B. The speedy, versatile Vierling doesn’t hurt the Phillies in center field, the position he’s played most. He takes good routes to fly balls and is errorless out there. He’s only hitting .231, however, and his greatest danger may be Castellanos’ underperformance. Phillies president Dave Dombrowski may try for a player to replace Vierling with more offensive potential at this point.
The Philadelphia Phillies once again are facing a struggle to reach both the playoffs and, very possibly, a winning season.