It came too soon — a pivotal offseason for the Phillies as they scratch their heads after an embarrassing loss to the Mets in the NLDS.
The first thing the team will need to decide is what they should do with the 26 men who got them the 2-seed in the National League with 95 wins this past season. Who should stay, and who should go?
It would be lunacy to return the entire roster. They need some changes. The bullpen was obviously an issue in the playoffs, the team did not have enough contact hitters, nor did it have the best defense in place to handle the young and feisty Mets. But just how should the team approach these necessary changes?
Our next visit to this topic will touch on a handful of players who will be the subject of chatter this offseason, the Phillies bench. We'll look at the five guys who were on the postseason roster — Garrett Stubbs, Austin Hays, Kody Clemens, Weston Wilson and Edmundo Sosa — plus a few others.
Phillies stay or go
The stars | The bullpen | The bench | Alec Bohm | Taijuan Walker
Bryson Stott | Brandon Marsh | Johan Rojas | Nick Castellanos | Rob Thomson
Why they should stay?
From a salary and contract perspective, the Phillies could theoretically bring back the entire bench, as all five players are under team control and are still pre-arbitration for the 2025 season. So the value is there. There is also some depth from the team-control perspective, as Buddy Kennedy, Rodolfo Castro, Cal Stevenson and Rafael Marchán are all going to be cheap options next season as well.
Here's a reason why each of the Phillies five 2024 playoff bench guys warrant another year in Philly:
• Stubbs is known as a locker room vibes guy and there is value in that. And while his numbers didn't really pop at the plate he did have some timely hits down the stretch last season when J.T. Realmuto was hurt.
• Sosa had a really good year and shined bright filling in for Trea Turner in the spring. The utilityman can play basically any position well defensively, and he hit .257 with 31 RBI in limited opportunities. He seems like the safest bet to be back in 2025.
• Clemens has power, had some clutch hits and is a good fill-in at first when Bryce Harper is out.
• Wilson hit for the cycle and has a really powerful bat. He might be the second-most likely bench guy to return next year.
• Hays was a Phillies trade deadline acquisition meant to help platoon in the outfield. He hit a respectable .256 in 80 plate appearances.
They were fine. Kennedy and Stevenson had memorable games in the summer too. And luckily the team was relatively healthy, so no backup was taxed with doing very much besides for perhaps Sosa. The Phillies will probably have greater places to look to improve the roster this winter.
Why they should go?
Phillies hitters, as substitutes (and this, of course, includes everyday players who on occasion would enter a game later on), hit just .200 last season (23rd) with five homers and 21 RBI in 193 plate appearances. Pinch hitters fared even worse, hitting .144 in 104 plate appearances with just one home run — off the bat of David Dahl. Both of those are dead last of 30 MLB teams. While coming into a game completely cold to pinch hit is one of the toughest things to do in the sport, it would be nice to have a group of pinch hitters that can hit above the Mendoza line.
The part-time players above also have some complicated option situations — and that could force Dave Dombrowski's hand a bit too. Part of the reason the Phillies liked their bench last season was that they were able to maneuver players to and from the minors quite a bit. Hays has no MiLB options remaining. Neither do Sosa, Marchán, Castro, Clemens, Kennedy or Stevenson. That means they might be trade targets, or they could have short stints with the team next season.
Also a note on Stubbs, who is 31 and has never really been a serviceable hitter for long stretches. With Realmuto aging as well (he will turn 34 in 2025), it could become more important for the Phillies to have a backup catcher who can hit a little bit more. It might make sense for the team to hand the keys over to Marchán or to look to bring in a veteran who can handle more mileage.
With so many players under control, it is likely that veterans will come in to compete for roles on the 26-man roster but the players we know from last year's bench will also be in the organization in spring training with the chance to compete for jobs as well.
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