Philadelphia Phillies: “Less is more” when it comes to Roman Quinn in ’21

During the 2020 season, we all learned something relatively important about Joe Girardi in his first year as Philadelphia Phillies manager: he really likes Roman Quinn.

Despite having a former first round pick like Adam Haseley at his disposal for the majority of the regular season, Girardi routinely leaned on Quinn as an everyday player out in center field. Quinn appeared in 68.3% of all the games played last season (44/60), which was easily a career-high for the speedy outfielder. Quinn’s 116 plate appearances nearly ended up being a career-high as well, despite 2020 of course being a drastically shortened season.

On face value, it’s not hard to see why Girardi (who’s a bit of an “old school” type of manager) fell in love with Roman. The former second round pick offers a ton on the base paths with his elite speed, giving Girardi a bit of a “weapon” to work with when it comes to stealing, bunts, etc.

Quinn’s dynamic speed also (in theory) takes some pressure off the corner outfielders when it comes to the team’s defense, as his range is greater than most defenders out there.

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While Quinn definitely had his moments as a Phillie last year (his 12 stolen bases ranked fourth in all of baseball), his overall stat line ended up far below what you’d expect from an everyday CF on a team hunting for the postseason. Quinn slashed just .213/.261/.315, while striking out a whopping 39 times. Throw in the fact that Quinn also posted a negative defensive WAR (-0.1), and it ended up being a fairly poor season for the outfielder all things considered.

The Philadelphia Phillies need less Roman Quinn in 2021.

As I’m typing this, the Philadelphia Phillies haven’t brought in any CF competition this offseason, which means that Quinn will once again battle it out with the likes of Haseley and Scott Kingery for reps in CF. While Quinn’s days as an everyday option should hopefully be behind him following his below average 2020 season, there’s undoubtedly still a role for him on the roster as a bench player/pinch-runner.

Quinn is legitimately one of the fastest players in all of baseball. Batting average woes aside for the moment, if you can get Quinn on first, it’s almost guaranteed that he’ll be able to swipe second base. That speed hasn’t gone anywhere this offseason, and the Phillies incorporating him more as a late game substitution/pinch-runner should definitely be in their game plan.

With the “man on second base in extra innings” rule set to hang around this season, it’d be a dream scenario to get Quinn in that position on a regular basis.

When it comes to Roman Quinn and how he can best help the Phillies moving forward, less is more. The team has two promising young players in Haseley and Kingery who deserve all the everyday reps out in CF, whereas Quinn should be a go-to option off the bench. Milking 1-2 stolen bases out of Quinn every couple of games more than justifies him having a spot on the active roster this season.