• March 29, 2024

Phillies Midseason Review: Disappointing Players

While the Phillies have had some players blossom into pleasant surprises, there have also been some players that the organization had high hopes for that have let them down.

Danys Baez: Baez has been a major disappointment since signing a two-year deal with the team before the 2010 season. He was supposed to add a stable, veteran arm to the bullpen, but he’s barely proven himself fit for mop-up duty. He’s been unable to establish himself in a very thin bullpen, and has seen youngsters Antonio Bastardo and Mike Stutes quickly surpass him.

Joe Blanton: It’s hard to get on a guy when he’s spent most of the season on the disabled list, but the Phillies had hoped that Blanton would perform well enough to be a tradable commodity for them by the deadline. If they had a chance to clear his salary, they might have been able to give themselves the financial flexibility to bring in a strong right-handed bat to help the offense. He’s only appeared in six games this season, and doesn’t appear close to a return.

Ben Francisco: The biggest disappointment on this list. Francisco got the first crack as the team’s five-hole hitter, and the job in right field. The team hoped that he would respond the chance to play every day similarly to how Jayson Werth did before him. He had an impressive Spring Training, hitting over .330, and his hot play carried over to the first few weeks of the regular season. However, the former Indian quickly came back down to Earth, and hit .167 in May and .188 in June, playing his way out of a starting job.

Jimmy Rollins: Entering a contract year and coming into the season completely healthy, there was a lot of hope that Rollins would finally be able to bounce back from a couple of down seasons, and become a semblance of what he was in 2007. Instead, he’s been no better or worse than he’s been since 2009: solid defense, occasional clutch hits, but ultimately underwhelming with a poor, impatient approach with the majority of his at-bats.

Denny Basens

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vricchini
vricchini
July 12, 2011 1:54 am

Sad part about it is that Jimmy said he’s not willing to give the phillies a discount. Clearly he is at the down spiral of his career and next year the short stop position will be someone else. If the phillies are willing to take on another big contract do they go after Jose Reyes and cut ties with cole hammels? insert vance worley in his spot?

vricchini
vricchini
July 12, 2011 1:56 am

Cole is due for a 60-80 million contract possibly 100 million.

DDCar
DDCar
July 12, 2011 5:42 am

Should list the entire offensive lineup, with the exception Howard & Victorino, of course.

bugsyhawk
bugsyhawk
July 12, 2011 8:16 am

Really get rid of Hamels? A 28 year old (after the season) dominant lefty in his prime? The same Hamels who has a legit shot to win the Cy Young this year? What is the only advantage that the Phils have? Their SPs and they are not going to give that up nor should they. He needs a long term deal and he deserves 18-20 per year to stay here.

They will lose a lot of money off of the cap this year with Oswalt, Lidge, Ibanez and possibly J-roll, so they will potentially have money to spend. Although they will need to re-sign Madson.

As far as Reyes goes, I woulda touch him with a ten foot pole. Dude is having a monster year, but what about the last couple of years where he couldn’t stay healthy and then wasn’t effective when he was. No interest there. I have to go back to what Pman has been saying is that they need to take a long look at Adam Jones for LF next year.

DDCar
DDCar
July 12, 2011 9:25 am

Hamels, is worth every $$$. Reyes is dog meat. He can go straight to hell, with gasoline underwear on. No “Muts” on this team. If Adam Jones could be had, i’m all in, dude is a stud, with a black hole organization. If the Phils can get him, JJ Hardy, Heath Bell, & resign Hamels, they will be right back in it again.

bugsyhawk
bugsyhawk
July 12, 2011 12:56 pm

If they don’t re-sign Madson and they decide to go after a closer, the Papelbon may be an option too.

paulman
paulman
July 12, 2011 6:23 pm

Phils would be crazy to move/trade Hamels,he’s just entering his prime and had has 5-7 great years ahead of him if he remains healthy.. (Halladay/Lee won’t pitch forever)
******Trade Alert******
Phils Trade Pitchers R Oswalt, K Kendrick and RF D Brown to Houston Astros for RF Hunter Pence and RHP Reliever N Figueora..

paulman
paulman
July 12, 2011 6:31 pm

Paulman’s Grades for Phillies 1st Half performance

Starting Pitchers
Hamels (A)
Halladay (A)
Lee (B)
Worley (B+)
Oswalt (C)
Kendrick (C+)
Blanton (D)

Relievers
Bastardo (A)
Madson (A)
Stutes (B +)
Contreras (B)
Kendrick (B as a reliever)
Herndon (C)
Baes (D)
Romero (D)
Lidge (I for incomplete)
Perez (Has shown some promise in his limited action)

paulman
paulman
July 12, 2011 7:06 pm

Paulman’s Grades for Position Players

1B – R Howard (Solid B — He is on pace for a 35 HR-140 RBI Season with no consistent #5 Hitter all Season to protect him)
2B – C Utley (C + in his limited play, he’s repsonded better than I thought from injury and missed time)
SS – J Rollins (C +) – Still strong in the field, but has too many bad at bats
3B – Polanco (C +) – Started off real strong,but has really slumped and that nagging elbow still is giving him problems

Reserve IF’s –
W Valdez (B) – Excellent golve and versatility and has come up with big hits
M MArtinez (C) – Good Glove,versatile but looks overmatched at plate
P Orr (C +) – Versatile and a tough nosed player who is limited athletically

Outfielders

CF – S VIctorino (B) – Has become the catalyst of the Phillie Offense and one of the Best Defensive CF in the NL..
LF – R Ibanez (C +) – After a terrible start, has come around and gotten some big hits and is now on pace for 20 HR – 90 RBI’s which is pretty good from where he was 2 months ago.. He’s become more agressive at the plate and is not taking as many pitches as he has in the past, see’s a good one and is swinging at it…
RF – D Brown (C) – With all the injuries since Spring Training to beginning of Season, Brown started slowly and is now finally getting his legs and confidence back.. He has played much better the last 15 games or so and I expect a nice 2nd HAlf for him and he does need to improve his defense in terms of positioning,taking proper angles to balls hit, recognition off a hitters bat,etc,etc.. all very workable skills with more experiences and practice

Reserves

John Mayberry (C) – Has generated some Power#/RBI’s in his limited At-Bats, covers a lot of ground in the OF and hits the ball hard when he makes contact.. Needs to work on hitting the breaking.curve balls and staying balanced at the plate, shorten up that swing and hit more balls the other way and he could potentially be a .275 Hitter with 20 HR and 80 RBI Stats over a full course of a season. (maybe he becomes Ibanez’s replacement in 2012)
Ben Francsico – (D) looks overmatched at the plate, takes way too many good Pitches and appears to swing for the fences on almost every swing..an adequate Defensive replacement late with an average arm at best
Ryan Gload (C+) – Phils best Pinch-Hitter, lacks power and is not very athletic to play any of the OF Spots on a platoon basis..Can play a little 1B to rest Howard

paulman
paulman
July 12, 2011 7:15 pm

Catchers

C Ruiz (B) – One of the best at calling a game and handling the Pitchers. Still one of the best pure Fastball Hitters in the MLB but has struggled with off-speed and breaking balls. Good arm and excellent defensively all the way around
B Schneider (D+) – Another player who is always hurt and has disappointed with his lack of overall production during his entire time with the Phils..
Sardinha (C) – Young player who has gotten some experience

Ruiz is the main Catcher without a doubt, but now with the dog days of Summer and another 75 Games to go before the playoffs begin. It would be nice to give Ruiz more rest so he could be more fresh down the stretch and for the playoffs.. Can Schneider be that Catcher to play 15-20 Games over the 10-12 weeks to get in a groove and to give Ruiz a break. It would be a nice, bonus situation if Schneider could produce when called upon.

DDCar
DDCar
July 13, 2011 3:34 am

Paul, you were very generous with those grades. My grades–
Starting Pitchers
Hamels (A+)
Halladay (A+)
Lee (B+)
Worley (A-)
Oswalt (D)
Kendrick (C-)
Blanton (I for incomplete)
Relievers
Bastardo (A+)
Madson (A-)
Stutes (B +)
Contreras (C)
Kendrick (C- as a reliever)
Herndon (D)
Baes (F)
Romero (F)
Lidge (I for incomplete)
Perez (2 appearances, cannot judge)

DDCar
DDCar
July 13, 2011 3:41 am

1B – R Howard (B)
2B – C Utley (C-)
SS – J Rollins (C-)
3B – Polanco (B-)
Reserve IF’s –
W Valdez (B)
M MArtinez (D)
P Orr (C-)
Outfielders
CF – S VIctorino (A-)
LF – R Ibanez (C-)
RF – D Brown (D
Reserves
John Mayberry (C)
Ben Francsico – (D)
Ryan Gload (D)
C Ruiz (B)
B Schneider (D)
Sardinha (D-)

paulman
paulman
July 13, 2011 12:57 pm

We weren’t that far off DDCar..

Utley a C – is a little harsh, he’s batting .285 afterm missing all SPring and the 1st coupe of months of the Season..
Ibanez has brought his average up .40 points over the last 6-8 weeks and is on apce for 20-25HR/85-90 RBI Season which isn’t bad at all
D Brown a D is a little harsh also, with all the time he missed and he can’t help the overhyped expecatations which is not his fault, but after a slow start he;s been improving and hitting the ball pretty well the last month or so which is why I graded him a C …