The second NL East team I’m looking at is the Phillies. The Philadelphia Phillies are coming off a 3rd place finish with a 28 – 32 record in last year’s shortened 60 game season. To say it was a disappointment would be an understatement. The Phillies should have had a better record than they ended up with, if it wasn’t for their bullpen blowing lots of games. But one of the top priorities on Philadelphia’s check list when it came to team needs this past offseason, was to fix their depleted bullpen. And they did just that, but that wasn’t the only thing they did in terms of offseason acquisitions.
| Additions |
| RHP Archie Bradley |
| RHP Ivan Nova |
| RHP Chase Anderson |
| LHP Jose Alvarado |
| RHP Sam Coonrod |
| LHP Matt Moore |
| C J.T. Realmuto (Re-Signed) |
| SS Didi Gregorius (Re-Signed) |
| UTIL Brad Miller |
Listed above are some of the notable additions that the Phillies made this past offseason (note: I couldn’t find their departures). By looking at it, you can see they had 3 things on their check list; 1) re-sign J.T. Realmuto, 2) re-sign Didi Gregorius, and 3) get bullpen arms. For the past year and half, star outfielder Bryce Harper had been campaigning for the Phillies to re-sign Realmuto to a contract extension, because he knows how valuable Realmuto is to the team. J.T. is the best catcher is baseball at the moment, and he wanted to test the free agent waters because he wanted to A) get what he felt like he deserved and earned and B) set the bar for catchers in the future. Realmuto ended up re-signing with Philadelphia with a 5 year $115.5 million deal. There were some questions regarding giving a catcher this big of a contract, as their bodies deteriorate quickly and their production value diminishes rapidly. Bringing back Gregorius on a short 2 year deal gives them time to develop their 3rd best prospect shortstop Bryson Stott. Gregorius also gives them a great glove, and a much needed left-handed bat in their righty dominant lineup. If you followed them last year, you’d know that they had the worst bullpen ERA in all of baseball, and because of their bullpen, they missed the playoffs. Well, new GM Dave Dombrowski gave manager Joe Girardi much needed help for their bullpen. 2 key names to look out for are Archie Bradley and Jose Alvarado. Both, have closing experience, Bradley in Arizona and Alvarado in Tampa Bay. Bringing in these two guys helps solidify the back end of the bullpen, and gives Girardi not one, but two options to go for the 9th.
Projected Starting Rotation
| 1 | Aaron Nola |
| 2 | Zack Wheeler |
| 3 | Matt Moore |
| 4 | Zach Eflin |
| 5 | Vince Velasquez |
In regards to their rotation, they have a number of options but there are only 2 notable names in their rotation. Those two are Aaron Nola, the ace of the staff, and Zack Wheeler. An interesting name in the depth chart, is Matt Moore, who is returning to the big leagues from Japan. I think regardless of his performance in Spring, he will be in the rotation. Eflin was someone who benefited from the shortened 60 game season, last year. If he can repeat his success, the Phillies will be in a good spot. Vince Velasquez is someone who has to step up, or step aside. The guy has had a rocky career thus far. I believe he will be named the 5th starter depending on how he is in Spring, but odds are in his favor especially with Philadelphia wanting to give prospect Spencer Howard some more time to develop in the minors.
Projected Line-Up
| 1 | LF Andrew McCutchen | R |
| 2 | 3B Alec Bohm | R |
| 3 | RF Bryce Harper | L |
| 4 | C J.T. Realmuto | R |
| 5 | 1B Rhys Hoskins | R |
| 6 | SS Didi Gregorius | L |
| 7 | 2B Jean Segura | R |
| 8 | CF Scott Kingery | R |
| 9 | P Pitcher | – |
The one for sure thing that is a lock for the Phillies, is their line-up. The top of the order is one of the best for sure. Having a core of Harper, Realmuto and Hoskins gives them a heart of the order that no pitcher will want to mess with. Harper, last year, had his second best year in his career besides his MVP year. A name to keep an eye on, is 3rd baseman Alec Bohm who was the Phillies second most consistent hitter last year. And if it wasn’t for Brewers reliever Devin Williams having an amazing season only giving up 1 run, Bohm would have won the NL Rookie of the Year. Another name to keep an eye on is Scott Kingery. Kingery was one of the few players to be given a contract extension even before he made his MLB debut. Unfortunately, he has not been able to find a permanent position defensively, as he has bounced around from 2nd base to 3rd base to all of the outfield positions Bryce Harper isn’t playing in. As long as the top of the order performs to their expectations, the Phillies will have a good shot this year.
2021 PECOTA NL East Projections
As seen above, PECOTA projects Philadelphia to finish above the Braves in the standings finishing in 3rd. I disagree with that. As stated in my Braves preview, I predict the Braves to finish in 1st once again. As for Philadelphia, I predict they will finish the season in the basement of the division. I believe that their starting pitching just isn’t enough to compete with the other teams in the division. It’s not that I don’t think Phillies are good enough, I just think the other teams are better than them. I believe that it will be a fight for 4th place between Miami and Philadelphia. At the end of the year, I believe Phillies will finish in 5th.
