The Phillies are entering the final two weeks of the regular season primed for another playoff run. While there’s still an outside shot at winning the division, the likely focus will be securing the top Wild Card berth.
The Phillies will need their stars to keep performing as well as they have been. Bryce Harper is having another productive season, walking at one of his career-high rates (16.1%). Kyle Schwarber is looking to lead the league in home runs again, sitting at 44 this year. The starting rotation is once again one of baseball’s best. And closer Jhoan Duran has been as dominant as ever, with a 1.82 ERA, 30 saves, and the fourth-best fWAR among relievers this year (2.6).
While the stars will need to keep shining, help from the roster’s depth pieces will also be crucial. Which Phillies relegated to bench roles or depth could make a surprise impact in their playoff push?
A New Cult Hero in Philadelphia
The Phillies made an early-season trade that seemed fairly inconsequential at the time. Shortly before it was discovered that offseason signing Adolis Garcia would miss the year with a torn lat, the Phillies made a trade with the White Sox for Derek Hill. Hill was expected to be a depth addition, even with Garcia’s eventual season-ending injury.
Nobody could’ve predicted it at the time, but Hill quickly endeared himself to the fanbase. He’s posted an .808 OPS since joining the Phillies, with six home runs and steals each. His textbook speed and great defense have translated well since joining the club. As a Phillie alone, he’s added +3 outs above average and +8 defensive runs saved in the outfield.
Perhaps the biggest surprise has been his contributions in the clutch. In high-leverage situations, Hill has put up a .333 batting average and a ridiculous .704 slugging percentage (1.083 OPS). Along the way, he’s generated a litany of iconic clutch hits. Early into his Phillies tenure, he hit a go-ahead home run with the Phillies down to their last strike. Against the Nationals again, with the Phillies down 3-0, Hill hit a go-ahead grand slam to lead the Phillies to a win.
The Already Beloved Bench Bat
Right around the 2022 Trade Deadline, the Phillies and Cardinals swapped a pair of depth players. St. Louis received lefty reliever JoJo Romero, and Philadelphia got utility man Edmundo Sosa. It wouldn’t take long for Philly to fall in love with the fun-spirited Sosa, who’s become a staple of the Phillies’ bench.
One look at his numbers this year and it seems his charm has begun to run its course. Sosa is hitting just .239/.278/.394 (.672 OPS) in 79 games. Those numbers are his worst in every category since he joined the Phillies four years ago. But as he showed off in August, he’s not out of magic just yet.
After hitting just .208 with a .579 OPS through July, Sosa found his spark again. In 11 games in August, Sosa hit .414 and slugged .793 (1.262 OPS). He sparked some big rallies, including hitting a bases-clearing double that led to a 6-4 comeback win against the Cardinals. Less than a week later, against the Angels, Sosa hit a pinch-hit, go-ahead grand slam. It was the first grand slam of his career and would ultimately lead to another Phillies win.
The big moment has never been too bright for Sosa. Even despite his early-season struggles, he’s hit .375 in high-leverage opportunities, with a 1.101 OPS. Sosa’s .960 OPS with runners in scoring position is second on the team, only behind Kyle Schwarber by three points.
A Pitcher Flying Under the Radar
The Phillies’ fourth-best reliever by K% might surprise some. He’s also fourth-best in batting average against among Phillies relievers, and fifth in difference between his strikeout and walk rate. That player happens to be Chase Shugart, who has quietly pitched well in lower-to-moderate leverage situations. Shugart has shown some flashes of having the stuff to handle the bigger moments, evidenced by the aforementioned stats:
- 26.7 K%
- .217 batting average against
- 17.8 K-BB%
But Shugart has also limited hard contact in most regards. Shugart’s average exit velocity (87.4 MPH) is in the 77th percentile of pitchers. His HardHit% (33.3) is even better, ranking in the 85th percentile. For the most part, Shugart keeps batters from regularly making strong contact. But when they do, they make it count. His 10.3 Barrel% is towards the bottom of the league.
Shugart has allowed 10 home runs this year, one of 15 relievers (minimum 40 innings) to do so. His 1.85 HR/9 is the sixth-highest in baseball, and his HR/FB% (percentage of flyballs that became home runs) of 16.9 is tenth-worst. It’s led to overall uneven results this year, as he’s sandwiched stretches of excellence between very poor performances.
After posting a 2.33 ERA in the first two months of the year, the walls caved in on Shugart. During June, Shugart pitched to a 10.24 ERA over 9.2 innings. He walked seven batters and gave up four home runs. Since then, he’s looked closer to the pitcher he was earlier in the year. Since July, he’s had a 3.20 ERA, striking out 26.0% of batters and holding them to a .156 average.
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