Philadelphia Phillies: Who should stay and who should go?
Stay or go: Relief pitchers
Brad Hand
Brad Hand was one of the more underrated Philadelphia Phillies last season, appearing in 55 games while posting an ERA of 2.80, a FIP of 3.93, a WHIP of 1.333, a SO/9 of 7.6, and an excellent ERA+ of 146. His glaring weakness is his 4.6 BB/9, but if he brings that number down, he would have been one of the best relievers in all of baseball last year.
The Phillies still have work to do in their bullpen, as the only locks seem to be Alvarado, Brogdon, Bellatti, and Dominguez. Bringing Hand back on at least a one-year deal would give the Phillies some much-needed depth and another reliable lefty that all teams need. The Phillies should make Hand one of the bullpens’ top priorities.
Decision? Stay
David Robertson
David Robertson was another trade deadline acquisition and worked out much better than Syndergaard. In half a season with the Phillies, Robertson posted an ERA of 2.70, a FIP of 3.71, a WHIP of 1.371, a SO/9 of 11.6, and an ERA+ of 153. Needless to say, Robertson was a great pickup for the Phillies, and he helped to lock down the back end of the bullpen in both the regular season and the postseason.
The thing that worries me most about Robertson is his age. He is heading into his age 38 season, and there is no telling how he’ll perform in the future. Robertson was great for the Phillies this year, and it was a great story that he was able to come back to Philly and help them reach a World Series, but at his age, I wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing him back.
Decision? Go
Corey Knebel
Last but not least, we have Corey Knebel. Knebel was signed last offseason to a one-year deal to be the savior of a bullpen that had long been the Achilles heel of the Phillies; unfortunately, due to a tear in his shoulder, he missed the last month-plus of the season, but in the time that he was healthy he was a decent piece of the Phillies bullpen. In 2022 he posted an ERA of 3.43, a FIP of 4.46, a WHIP of 1.366, a SO/9 of 8.3, and an ERA+ of 119.
Knebel signed for $10 million last offseason, but he’d probably be worth half that this year. If the Phillies wanted to bring Knebel back on a one-year prove-it deal, it would work as a low-risk high reward for them. We’ve seen Knebel be dominant in his career, and he’s only going into his age-31 season. I think it would be wise of the Phillies to try and sign him to a team-friendly deal and see if they can’t tap into that 2021 season they were hoping for last year.
Decision? Stay
As I noted in the beginning- this is shaping out to be one of the best off-seasons in recent years, but it all starts with the decisions that the Phillies face about bringing some of their guys back. A lot of these will be dependent on how they go about other aspects of the offseason, but I think the Phillies had success in singing bullpen pieces last year. They should prioritize bringing those guys back and letting their older rotation depth go for younger and better pieces.
dark. Next. 3 infield options to replace Jean Segura
It will be a great off-season for the Philadelphia Phillies, and we as fans owe all of the guys mentioned on this list a ton of thanks, as all of them contributed in some ways to the Phillies as they made their first World Series run since 2009, and hopefully, a few of them will be back to try it again next year.