The Phillies have plans to use Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz in 2016, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Howard and Ruiz are the only two remaining members from the 2008 World Series winning roster. GM Matt Klentak notes that he’s yet to have a sit down with either veteran, but there is a role for both players. Klentak also talks about the importance of setting expectations. “If we’re doing our jobs and communicating with players throughout the process, I think that goes a long way towards minimizing issues.” Howard will probably continue to platoon with lefty-mashing first baseman Darin Ruf. Ruiz himself acknowledged that teammate Cameron Rupp outplayed him, although Ruiz also sees himself as a starting catcher.
Here’s more from Philadelphia as they prepare to turn the page in 2016:
- Trade deadline acquisition Jake Thompson could begin the season in the Phillies’ rotation, writes Matt Breen of Philly.com. Thompson, acquired in the Cole Hamels trade, performed well after joining Philadelphia’s Double-A squad with a 1.80 ERA, 6.80 K/9, and 2.40 BB/9 in 45 innings. Only Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff made a strong case for rotation jobs next season so there is a potential job for Thompson. Barring several acquisitions, Adam Morgan will likely get a shot too. Of course, the Phillies will also be aware of service time with regards to promoting Thompson. It strikes me as extremely unlikely that he would open the season in the rotation, although a late April promotion is more palatable. GM Matt Klentak prefers for players to be ready when promoted, saying “we want players to be ready to stick here. I don’t know if developmentally, it does any player a service to flip them up and down throughout the course of a year if it can be avoided.” Baseball America ranks Thompson as the the third best prospect in the Phillies system.
- Another trade acquisition, Tom Windle, may be ready to join the Phillies bullpen, suggests Jake Kaplan of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The left-handed Windle was originally acquired from the Dodgers along with Zach Eflin last offseason in exchange for Jimmy Rollins. He was converted to relief in June and posted a shiny 1.69 ERA over 26 and 2/3 innings. His fastball has run between 93 and 96 mph in the Arizona Fall League.
I’d personally rather see Thompson do something at the AAA level before being promoted. However, if they do call him up, the Phillies could actually have a decent top 3 with Eickoff, Nola and Thompson. Add a Fister/Latos/Norris kind of rebound SP and one of Morgan, Buchanan, Asher, Eflin and Lively as the 5th guy.
As for Windle, I’d rather see him get another shot at starting before committing to being a big-league reliever. The Phillies are struggling for LH relief pitching. Seeing as Elvis Araujo as the only lock to be a lefty on the entire pitching staff.
None of these kids should be rushed to the majors. The phils have plenty of time. They will not be competitive for a few years
Like most, I see no reason to start Thompson at the major league level, even if he has a stellar spring. A June promotion will probably be the earliest we see either Thompson or J.P. Crawford, with service time being a major contributing factor.
The Phillies are shaping up to be a very intriguing team headed into 2016. If they can continue to develop their young major league roster, then the sky is the limit when some of these prospects arrive. Add to it the 1st pick in the draft this year, 1st waiver priority all off season, the highest bonus pool for international FA, and a potential top 5 payroll with little-to-no money committed beyond this year, and well let’s just say I’d be nervous if I were the rest of the NL East right now.
Your odviously a Phillies fan. Seems your a bit out of touch with reality. The Phillies have a long journey ahead of themselves. They are years away from anything. Have you seen those four starters the Mets are throwing out there?
And you obviously aren’t a baseball fan; that or you have been for about two years
Anything can happen. The Phillies will more than likely be terrible next year but it is intriguing that their minor league system is oozing with talent that is just about major league ready. If you recall, the mets weren’t supposed to do anything this year. The Nationals were supposed to run away with it. It seems like everyone, including me, had the Nats as World Series favorites. What happened? They got the injury bug, a few under achievers and some heady manager decisions. On the other hand, everyone panned out for the mets.
The Mets super rotation could, God forbid, all blow their arms out in April. Calling someone “out of touch with reality” for having hopes for a team is dumb
Yes the Mets have a great rotation but their window to win is slim. Those 4 guys will not be cheap when it comes to signing them.
Nowhere in PhilliesPhan08’s post did he say they were ready to contend. All he did was list reasons to be optimistic about the Phillies turning it around over the next few years.
The Mets had everything come together this year, much like the Cubs and Astros and it was fun to watch. I’ll always root for teams that are more homegrown over those built through FA when they face-off. There’s no reason to think the Phillies couldn’t follow a similar path over the next few seasons with the reasons he listed (top draft picks, potential top-5 payroll, etc).
I’m not sold on Jp yet. That said, Nick Williams and Rich Thompson should be up at some point with Alfaro and Knapp(if he repeats) right behind.
I wouldn’t get your hopes up for them just yet. For the Phillies to be good in 2016 it would require every single young guy to be top notch along with whatever rebound guys they sign to be good as well which almost never happens.
The Phillies are poised for a quicker rebuild than expected. I could see them being competitive in 2017 and a surprise wild card (behind a Mets division title, of course) in 2018. The Braves rushed their rebuild though and could be bad for a while
That 2nd WC changes everything … Im more optimistic than I have been for while about them. I really do believe that half of these upcoming prospects are going to be above average MLB. Nola and Thompson are going to be steady #3’s with flashes of #2’s for stretches at a time. Erichoff, Efflin,and Morgan can duke it out for the #4 and 5 spot. The Ace is coming from a FA, Kilome, Medina?, or this year’s #1 pick. Eventually bumping the rest out. The bullpen should be strengthened by a few FA signings this year, and the upcoming prospects.
Now… that doesn’t sound as great as the Mutts staff right now, but I believe it will be close enough, and they will have their battles. The key for the Phillies IMO will be to out-build the mutts in the positional players. Franco, Crawford, Williams, Herrera, Alfaro maybe altherr…. need to be good, above average, trending to the tops at their positions in the league, and then they will be onto something again.
Im going to be more reserved this time, because we had Brown and Biddle, and they both failed. So im not so bullish on Knapp, just because he’s from the Phillies system, though Ruiz did come out of no where as well. Having those players at the start of this rebuild would have been a really big boost. Again, Im more optimistic, and think they can win earlier than expected by most. I’m hoping for .500 this year, WC next, and then periennal contenders after. Will shall see.