It’s a rarity for me to write about the major league team as my focus is on the player development process however the team released it’s 2024 highlight video this week on You Tube and after watching it I felt inspired to write about a few players and things.
The review reinforced to me that it’s far less important what seeding position you qualify for the playoffs in or for that matter gaining “home field advantage” as opposed to playing your best baseball at playoff time - the Phillies 2024 season exemplified that as they were the best in the game for much of the first half but then stumbled thereafter and lost to the Mets in the playoffs. Maintaining winning consistency or building momentum into October is how champions are crowned - no major league team has ever won a championship in the first half of the year - that’s a minor league half season thing 🤓.
I was also reminded (not really as it’s part of my focus 🤓) while watching the video that “role players” are vitally important to any team’s success, filling in the gaps when slumps or injuries occur, providing days off for regulars without significant fall off in performance along with exuding and contributing to good clubhouse atmosphere and team spirit are big cogs to winning ways. Yes teams will only go as far as their “stars” take them but system depth and those providing it are also key elements.
The video included highlights on multiple “role players” that positively impacted the team’s 2024 success. It’s often too easy for many to peg players incapable of doing well with regular playing time once they’ve made squads as reserves. I think the Phillies have current positional depth players who indeed could do well as lineup regulars or as extended substitutes.
Did you know that infielder Buddy Kennedy is just 26 years old and has posted three consecutive AAA level seasons with an OBP of .360 or better (2022 - .363 in 394 PA’s, 2023 - .432 in 463 PA’s and 2024 - .376 in 463 PA’s) - he’s walked 50 or more times in each of those three years and has an 80 % walk to strikeout percentage - 191 walks to 241 strikeouts. He’s the type of hitter a winning club wants in the lineup as he gets on base and doesn’t chase pitches - he’s also a decent defender at third base and can also play second. Buddy doesn’t turn twenty-seven till October and made his big league debut at the age of twenty-three. It’s certainly within the realm of thinking he could hold down a full-time lineup position, even if temporarily.
Weston Wilson is four years older at the age of thirty and has posted 49 home runs and delivered 141 RBIs over his last two AAA level seasons (2023 and 2024) in 857 plate appearances with a .355 OBP - he’s also stolen 46 bases those two years. Weston has earned the chance to compete for at least semi-regular big league AB’s this coming season. Included in the video was his cycle game on 8/16/24. He’s capable of playing all four infield spots and both outfield corners - not a plus defender but makes most plays.
Edmundo Sosa is 28 years old and posted a respectable slash line of .257/.313/.422 last season in 274 plate appearances including a terrific month of May when he hit .306/.375/.597 with 4 doubles, 4 triples, 3 home runs and 13 RBIs filling in at shortstop for an injured Trea Turner. Edmundo is a plus defender on the right side of the infield and has shown skills as a second baseman as well.
Kody Clemens is 28 years old and while not a great defender can play all four infield spots along with left field. Kody has posted a collective .339 OBP in 844 AAA level plate appearances over the past three seasons with 45 home runs and 145 RBIs. He’s hit 14 home runs and driven in 48 runs over those same three season in the major leagues in 395 plate appearances. Kody hits left handed and is out of options which may hurt his cause this spring making the Phillies big league roster but he’s shown he’s deserving of an extended stay in the show somewhere.
Rafael Marchan is just 25 years old and has excellent defensive skills as a catcher - he also has developed into a decent hitter - posted a .294/.345/.549 slash line in 56 major league plate appearances in 2024 in particular helping to fill in when JT Realmuto had knee surgery. He’s very capable of contributing in the major leagues and is already in Clearwater working towards his immediate goal of making the Phillies opening day roster. Raffy is out of options so will very likely be in the show somewhere in 2025 if not with the Phillies.
Cal Stevenson is 28 years old and is a plus defender in center field - he had a very good season last year at AAA Lehigh Valley in 2024 posting a .302/.421/.486 slash line in 397 plate appearances with 25 doubles, 8 home runs and 29 stolen bases. He drew 68 walks and struck out 66 times. Cal is a very good defensive outfielder, especially in center field. Cal had a day with the Phillies on 9/14/24 when he went 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs against the Mets. He’s got one more option left and therefore provides good insurance if an outfielder is needed during the season, likely begins the year at the least at Lehigh Valley.
Then there are the younger and yet to be big leaguers that are potential 2025 spring training non-roster invitees (NRI’s) such as Otto Kemp, Matt Kroon, Gabriel Rincones Jr, Justin Crawford and Aidan Miller. Each of these young men bring different levels of readiness to the table and position versatility with the abilities to become either lineup regulars at some point or 2025 big league “role players” if needed during the year.
That’s just the position player side of things - don’t get me started on the pitching depth -it’s better than some may believe. Watch the video - it’s very good and gets the baseball juices flowing.
One more Plug :
The Phillies Show podcast featuring Todd Zolecki, Jim Salisbury and Ruben Amaro is always a fun and informative watch/listen. The most recent guest (in the podcast released today) in their show was Jonathan Mayo of MLB who puts out the prospect lists and evaluations. He explained how he arrives at the rankings and also delved into a few of the Phillies players - was a very good show, I say that from a biased perspective as my “expertise” 🤣 is Phillies minor league player development. Mr. Mayo was spot on in a few of his descriptions in my opinion - he was also very forthcoming in saying that since it’s a subjective view/list that there are often times he’s wrong - equally true and telling - no one is ever always right, that’s the beauty of the game - the people within it - never count out a person who won’t give up - just sayin.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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