Philadelphia Phillies: Adonis Medina deserves a genuine shot in 2021

Adonis Medina deserves a chance to crack the Philadelphia Phillies rotation.

At the moment, the Philadelphia Phillies 2021 rotation is still somewhat up in the air. Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler make up a solid one-two punch at the top, Zach Eflin appears to be blossoming into a reliable #3/#4, and Spencer Howard was obviously the team’s top pitching prospect heading into last season.

Jake Arrieta is expected to depart this offseason (finally), which leaves a fairly sizable hole somewhere in the rotation. There’s plenty of legit arms available on the free agent market, with guys like Trevor Bauer expected to command decent enough paydays this offseason. Should the Phillies target one of them, they would enter next season with one of the best starting pitcher trios in all of baseball.

On the flip side, there are also a handful of veterans on the open market, names who could come in and operate as a solid back-end starter for a fairly affordable price. Names like Charlie Morton, Cole Hamels, and Corey Kluber have all been tossed out there.

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Despite the plethora of starting pitchers being available, and the Phillies having an obvious need at the position, we’ve yet to see the team legitimately connected to anyone this offseason. The Phils are still reportedly working through their own front office struggles, having yet to fill their vacant GM position, leaving many to believe that they may just sit out of free agency altogether. Owner John Middleton has brought up COVID-19 related revenue losses on a handful of occasions as well, adding to the idea that the team has minimal desire to spend money this winter.

The Phillies already let guys like JT Realmuto and Didi Gregorius hit the open market, casting a gloomy light on what may be an uneventful MLB offseason in Philadelphia.

If the Phillies front office opts against adding a new starter to the rotation, turning things over to RHP Adonis Medina as the team’s solidified #5 isn’t the worst idea in the world. Once hailed as one of the organization’s best pitching prospecst, Medina has somewhat fallen out of favor with the team after rough seasons in the minors in 2018 and 2019.

However, Medina made his official major league debut this past season, and for the most part I thought he flashed some legitimate potential. He went 4.0 innings, allowing 3 hits and 2 runs while also striking out four. For what it’s worth, the hits that he allowed likely could’ve been prevented with some better fielding, as none of them were particularly well hit balls.

Medina did struggle with his control during his debut, walking four. With all that said, I thought it was a fairly productive first start for Medina. He proved he could strikeout batters at a major league level, and the high pressure nature of a late-September start didn’t seem to phase him.

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Is having Medina in the starting rotation the best possible plan of action for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2021? No, probably not. However, as he turns 24 in December, finding out what exactly you have in Medina should be on the team’s priority list.

Is he a serviceable starter? A bullpen arm? A trade piece? Whatever the case is, if the Phils don’t plan to be big spenders this winter, honing in on player development for 2021 should be the obvious substitute – and that begins with letting Medina consistently start some ballgames.

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