Atlanta Braves 2021 NL East Rivals: what did the Phillies do this Winter?
Phillies in 2020
- 28-32, 3rd place in NL East
- 9th in offensive fWAR
- 27th in defensive fWAR
- 27th in total pitching ERA
- 10th involving starting pitching
- 30th involving relief pitching
Key Names
- Managing Partner: John Middleton
- Team President: Andy MacPhail
- General Manager: Sam Fuld
- Field Manager: Joe Girardi
- Bench Coach: Rob Thomson
- Hitting Coaches: Joe Dillon, Pedro Guerrero
- Pitching Coach: Caleb Cotham
When looking at those performance metrics, the Phillies had two huge problems: (1) they couldn’t catch the ball; and (2) they couldn’t back up their starting pitchers at all.
The question now is this: did they do anything to resolve either problem for the 2021 season?
An Atlanta Braves nemesis forming?
The Phillies have struggled with their finances — their owner was decrying their 2020 losses which made people wonder whether they’d do anything this off-season.
Well, they did. They hired Dave Dombrowski as GM and finally managed to sign back J.T. Realmuto. Then they brought in a basketful of relievers (roughly 10 new faces). Some notable bench players have also been inked. Their payroll now exceeds $200 million.
The question, though, is whether that improves things since they’ve largely only retained the status quo on offense.
ROTATION / BULLPEN
There’s still a feeling that the Phils aren’t done yet here, and there’s a recent report that they’ve been in contact with Jake Odorizzi (along with several other teams).
Right now the rotation includes Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Zach Efflin, and two from the group of Spencer Howard, Vince Velasquez, Matt Moore, and Chase Anderson.
Odorizzi would be a help here, and could move their performance needle a bit higher, giving them a respectable 4-deep group… never mind additional depth and innings.
The big deal for Philadelphia was clearly a need to address their bullpen, and they largely have done so. In 2020, they had 12 blown saves as a staff and only 11 saves, period… one of three teams having a ‘backward’ stat like that (Angels, Pirates).
Their bullpen truly can’t be as bad as they’ve been in the past couple of years and Bradley will be the closer, pushing Nector Neris back to the 8th inning or so. Many others will compete for the rest of the bullpen slots.
It’s quite reasonable to believe the Phils pitching fortunes have indeed improved significantly — even if just by subtraction. They may not be elite, but middle-of-the-pack might be enough.