Philadelphia Phillies: Midseason Fantasy Baseball Report

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The Philadelphia Phillies have delivered both good and bad fantasy results in the first half of the 2021 season.

J.T. Realmuto

The consensus top catcher for your fantasy team entering 2021, you had to think long and hard about whether it was worth it to spend a fifth-round pick or thereabouts on J.T. Realmuto. It certainly hasn’t paid off thus far, with several less costly options outperforming him to this point. In fact, J.T.’s numbers look an awful lot like those of 100-year old Yadier Molina, who you could have picked up for free early in the season. There’s still time for Realmuto to get to 20+ homers and 70+ RBI, which would salvage his season to a degree. But a lackluster first half has really taken the shine off. Grade: C-

Rhys Hoskins

We’re at a crossroads with Rhys Hoskins here in the real world, but he hasn’t totally killed your fantasy team if you decided to roll with him this year. His average remains in the toilet (along with most of baseball), but Hoskins should blow past 30 home runs and give you about 90 RBI. Given that he was a lower-tier option at first base, and you probably got him after the midpoint of your draft, you could have done worse. Grade: B-

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Alec Bohm

If you reached a little bit to nab Alec Bohm, banking on him continuing his rookie success, you regretted it. Kudos to you if you’ve rostered him for the whole season and still stayed competitive in your league, but it doesn’t look like any second-half surge is forthcoming. There’s still hope for the future, but for this year, Bohm was a total fantasy dud. At least be glad that defense doesn’t matter in fantasy. Grade: D-

Zach Eflin

Zach Eflin is once again pitching better than his numbers indicate, but do you really care if you own him in a fantasy league? Stats are all we want, and Eflin’s two wins and his failure to average even a strikeout per inning have left him as a streaming option/waiver wire fodder. If you actually drafted him in the final rounds expecting a fantasy sleeper, you didn’t get it. Grade: D+

Didi Gregorius

When healthy, Didi Gregorius can ably fill a middle infield/utility slot on your roster, but it just hasn’t happened this year. If you got him late in your draft, you no doubt moved on long ago. And while it certainly didn’t kill your fantasy team, it’s still been a disappointing sequence of events for a player whom the Phillies spent so much money on. Grade: D-

Jean Segura

Another player who’s spent some time on the IL this season, Jean Segura has nonetheless produced when he’s stayed in the lineup. If you took him in the final rounds and stuck with him through the time he was hurt, you’re enjoying good production from him at this point. For a utility slot/fill-in player, what else could you ask for? Grade: B

Scott Kingery

I’m not going to blame you if you took a flyer on Scott Kingery at the very end of your draft. I’m just curious how hard you slammed your finger on the “drop” button and how early in the season. Just a total mess in every way. Grade: Less than F

Andrew McCutchen

Finally, a feelgood story here, as Andrew McCutchen turned around a very rocky start to produce some good numbers in closing out the first half of the 2021 season. He should surpass his expected counting stats, and he may even reach double-digit steals for good measure. As your fifth outfielder or in a utility slot, that really helps your club. Grade: B

Spencer Howard

Another situation that we shouldn’t even talk about, as the Phillies have no idea how to handle Spencer Howard. Maybe he’ll have value in 2022, but not this year. Grade: F

Any Phillies Reliever

Whether you’ve thrown in with Hector Neris, Jose Alvarado, or anyone from the Phillies bullpen this year, you’ve seen it blow up in your face at some point. And without any single pitcher providing a steady enough source of saves to make the headaches worthwhile, I pity you if you still roster any of these guys. Grade: F

Matt Moore, Chase Anderson

These two pitchers who earned rotation spots out of spring training can be lumped together as failures. The good news is that nobody was delusional enough to draft them, and they never showed enough to merit being picked up. So…can I even really grade them when there was no established expectation, to begin with? I guess not.

Phillies Center Fielders

As I told you in the fantasy preview, you were fine to stay away from Adam Haseley and Roman Quinn, so I won’t even evaluate them. But Odubel Herrera has actually been quite decent since returning out of sheer necessity. If you picked him up and he’s the last guy on your bench, that’s fine. Grade: C

Vince Velasquez

You would be an absolute madman if you rolled the dice on Vinny V. this season, especially after I warned you to avoid him at all costs. But he’s actually been…not terrible. If he continues to get regular starts and post the kind of numbers he has so far, then I guess I stand partially corrected. Grade: C

Next. Failure to add a closer is haunting the Phillies. dark

It’s indicative of this Phillies season as a whole that a number of their top players have underachieved to this point. But the MLB and fantasy seasons aren’t over, so let’s hope that Bryce Harper, Aaron Nola, and others can turn things around for both fans and fantasy owners over the next few months.

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