Philadelphia Phillies: Who is Tommy Joseph?

Fresh off of a 3-4 performance in which he netted his first homer for the Philadelphia Phillies the hype surrounding first baseman Tommy Joseph is at an all-time high. But, who is he?

Tommy Joseph was initially drafted as a catching prospect by the San Fransico Giants in the second round of the 2009 draft. Joseph made a name for himself early by blasting 16 homers in his first full season of professional baseball and shot up Giants prospect lists. Joseph followed that  year up by blasting 22 homers in High-A ball in 2011.

That rise up prospect lists helped Joseph earn a trade to the Philadelphia Phillies as his path to the majors was blocked with the Giants by Buster Posey. He was one of the key prospects included in the 2012 trade that sent fan favorite Hunter Pence to the giants. At that point, Joseph seemed destined for stardom and like the likely candidate to replace Carlos Ruiz behind the plate.

Phillies fans imagined the dingers that Joseph would blast out of Citizens Bank Park but the easy path to the majors wasn’t meant to be for Joseph. In 2013, Joseph was limited to 36 games due to a severe concussion. His 2014 season was also marred by another concussion plus a wrist injury. For a prospect losing two development years is a huge deal. At this point, Joseph began to look like another story about to be written about a top prospect that didn’t live up to expectations.

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Due to injuries, the Philadelphia Phillies switched Joseph from catcher to first base in 2015. He struggled with the switch and hit .193/.220/.301. It doesn’t take much analysis to see that those are unacceptable numbers for a starting first baseman, even in AAA.

The Philadelphia Phillies stuck with Tommy Joseph as their starting first baseman and he came into this season with something to prove. Entering the first season that he was fully healthy for Joseph looked like a completely different hitter in AAA this year. He cleaned up his swing mechanics that were an issue last year and was rewarded by hitting .347/.370/.611 in 95 at-bats while adding in 6 homers to show that the injuries didn’t sap him of his power.

It was amazing to see this performance from someone who was written off by most scouts because it goes to show that if you have the will to succeed anything is possible. The Philadelphia Phillies rewarded Joseph with a call up earlier in the week mainly due to his .405/.410/.811 line against lefties. That’s what I call mashing folks.

Tommy Joseph repaid the Philadelphia Phillies faith in him with this performance last night:

Joseph is expected to platoon with Ryan Howard and provide a power bat to pinch hit off of the bench. Manager Pete Mackanin has already shown faith in Joseph by batting him in the cleanup spot because, “Why not?” Mackanin continued to say, “That’s pretty much it.” Basically, if Joseph can spark this offense he will get playing time but he has to earn it.

After last night’s performance, Mackanin was asked if Joseph would be in the lineup today and his response was, “Nope” when asked to expand on why by reporters Mackanin’s response was, “there’s a righty on the mound.” This is the candor that people have come to expect from Mackanin and he will stick by his decisions.

Next: The Phillies are Due for Regression

This is a great story of a prospect overcoming the odds to make the majors but Joseph is going to have to show that he’s the real deal if he wants to replace Ryan Howard at first next season. The ball’s in Joseph’s hands now and we’re just along for the ride.