Philadelphia Phillies: 4 keys to dominating the NL East for years to come
By Will Bullitt
Adam Haseley
Adam Haseley is the player I would hope to take Cutch’s spot in left field once his contract expires.
Haseley is likely not going to transform into an elite talent, but he can very easily be an average to above average everyday starter in the outfield. Haseley is a career .269 hitter in 301 at-bats, with 21 walks to add on to that. Those numbers are not too far off with what I expect Haseley to do over the course of his career. However, it would be reasonable to expect that he does improve on his power, and he is enough of a pure hitter to raise that average up over his career.
He is an elite fielder, and has had no trouble playing in all three outfield spots, notably playing center field the most. But it should not be a problem to switch him over to left field, with the hope of Moniak claiming the everyday center field job in the next couple of years.
Nevertheless, Haseley has the approach at the plate that inspires confidence in coaches, and I believe the key to him reaching his full potential is to just get more at-bats. Andrew McCutchen is not going to play everyday, probably around 120-130 games. In his absence, I expect Haseley to be the next man up and hopefully prove to the league what he is capable of.
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If all four of these players live up to their potential the way I have described, the Phillies are all of a sudden an NL powerhouse with perhaps among the deepest lineups in the league, next to the Dodgers and Yankees. Having players like these with their offensive capabilities batting behind Cutch, Hoskins, Harper, JT, and Didi would make the lineup as dangerous as could be. The Phillies have a lot to look forward to this season, and it’s possible they make the playoffs without these players all massively improving. But, if they do, there’s no stopping Philadelphia.