{"id":78778,"date":"2016-10-12T13:46:30","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T13:46:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=78778"},"modified":"2016-10-13T12:36:57","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T12:36:57","slug":"sportstalk-shop-phillies-season-reviewroster-projections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-phillies-season-reviewroster-projections\/","title":{"rendered":"The SportsTalk Shop:  Phillies Season Review\/Roster Projections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cGPR9sU2_Hw\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>While the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.philadelphiaeagles.com\/\">Eagles <\/a>have clearly stolen the sports spotlight in the Eastern Pennsylvania region, the <a href=\"http:\/\/philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com\/index.jsp?c_id=phi\">Phillies<\/a>\u2019 \u201cpositives\u201d this season should not be forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>With their season coming to an end (and insights on the baseball playoffs with <a href=\"http:\/\/mlb.mlb.com\/home\">MLB.com<\/a>\u2019s Bill Ladson, and other guests, here: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rcn.com\/atvn\/sports-talk\/\">rcn.com\/atvn\/sports-talk<\/a>), here\u2019s a look at the top three \u201cfeel-good stories\u201d of the year, along with my guesses as to who makes the Opening Day roster next spring.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The starting rotation<\/strong><br \/>\nI thought at the beginning of 2016 that if half of the top-level prospects (eg., Aaron Nola, Jared Eickhoff, Vincent Velasquez) showed me some flashes of getting MLB-hitters out on an everyday basis, that this year\u2019s team would be a great success.\u00a0 Save Nola, who struggled before succumbing to a season-ending injury, I feel nearly every one of those prospects took a major stride forward this season. Throw in the better-than-expected performances of Ben Lively, Joely Rodriquez and others, and the team looks like it will actually be in the great position of having competition among those prospects for the top five spots in the rotation next year.\u00a0 A quality team will use\/need at least eight starting pitchers in a given season, and the Phillies might already have eight available (and quality) arms before you even think about your off-season shopping list.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tommy Joseph<\/strong><br \/>\nI remember talking with a scout behind the backstop at a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.milb.com\/index.jsp?sid=t1410\">Lehigh Valley IronPigs<\/a> game in 2015 commenting on how far the once-prized catching prospect had fallen offensively, following several concussions that severely limited his playing time since being acquired by Hunter Pence.\u00a0 In late August of that summer, Joseph looked completely lost at the plate and there were major questions whether he would even return to the 40-man roster.\u00a0 Fast forward to spring 2016 and he not only excelled in what started as a platoon-role as a new position, but hit 20 home runs with the parent club.\u00a0 Furthermore, he seemed to adjust and hit his way through slumps and, at the very least, should be counted in as the starting first baseman for Opening Day.\u00a0 I\u2019m not prepared to say he\u2019s going to be a star in the Majors, but he certainly has worked hard enough to be given that position to start the 2017 campaign.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hector Neris &amp; Edubray Ramos<\/strong><br \/>\nI talked with Phillies Manager Pete Mackanin in January about his bullpen, and he seemed really excited about a trio of young arms in the organization\u2014one of them being Neris. Although he really didn\u2019t get much of a chance to show what he could do as the team\u2019s full-time closer, he certainly exhibited \u201ccloser-type stuff\u201d all season long, and became the team\u2019s most consistent pitcher.<\/p>\n<p>Edubray Ramos was a guy I didn\u2019t hear very much about from the organization\u2019s top tier, but did hear a few people who have seen him pitch warn to \u201ckeep an eye out\u201d for him.\u00a0 He quickly rose from Double-A, to Triple-A briefly, and then to the Majors and formed a formidable bridge, along with Neris, to closer Jeanmar Gomez.<\/p>\n<p>If Neris and Ramos equal their efforts in 2017 and the Phillies can get a couple more of their young arms to have success at the Big League level, the team\u2019s bullpen will be a key part of future success without having to look elsewhere for much help.<\/p>\n<p>Now, here\u2019s a look at who I think we\u2019ll start next season (along with a few suggestions for additions) for 2017:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rotation<\/strong><br \/>\nJeremy Hellickson (or another veteran presence, if he elects Free Agency)<br \/>\nEickhoff<br \/>\nVelasquez<br \/>\nThompson<br \/>\n(combination of Alec Asher, Adam Morgan, Ben Lively and, when healthy, Nola and Zach Eflin)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bullpen<\/strong><br \/>\nNeris<br \/>\nGomez<br \/>\nRamos<br \/>\nRodriquez<br \/>\nSeverino Gonzalez (as a long-man\/spot starter)<br \/>\nAt least one or two additional veteran presence and perhaps another \u201cswing man\u201d to start in a pinch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Catchers<\/strong><br \/>\nCameron Rupp, A.J. Ellis (both prospects Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knupp, if not traded, still need more time, and so a veteran backstop will be needed).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Infielders<\/strong><br \/>\nJoseph<br \/>\nCesar Hernandez<br \/>\nFreddy Galvis<br \/>\nMaikel Franco<br \/>\nEither re-sign super utility (and all-around good guy) Andres Blanco or another stable veteran backup.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Outfielders<\/strong><br \/>\nOdubel Herrera<br \/>\nRoman Quinn<br \/>\nAaron Altherr<br \/>\nCody Asche (he MUST improve in 2017, and should learn to play first base as a left-handed compliment to Joseph on a part-time basis).<\/p>\n<p>A significant, but not a \u2018break-the-bank\u2019 offensive threat who can provide some much needed support to a very young and erratic offense.\u00a0 We\u2019ll take a look at possible options and best fits for the Phillies in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Note: \u00a0No Nick Williams or J. P. Crawford on this list.\u00a0 I still think both could use some seasoning and, at the very least, keeps these guys off the MLB roster until you can get another year before free agent eligibility kicks in (cover your ears, agents).\u00a0 Plus, I\u2019d like to see a few guys (ie., Altherr, Hernadez, Galvis) try to continue (improve upon?) what they showed flashes of during the 2016 season\u2014especially more offense needed from Altherr.<\/p>\n<p>What do you think of my off-season shopping list and 2017 Opening Day projections?\u00a0 Email me at <a href=\"mailto:rcnsportstalk@rcn.com\">rcnsportstalk@rcn.com<\/a> and tune in for this Thursday\u2019s \u201cSportsTalk\u201d show for more sports conversations.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the Eagles have clearly stolen the sports spotlight in the Eastern Pennsylvania region, the Phillies\u2019 \u201cpositives\u201d this season should not be forgotten. With their season coming to an end (and insights on the baseball playoffs with MLB.com\u2019s Bill Ladson, and other guests, here: rcn.com\/atvn\/sports-talk), here\u2019s a look at the top three \u201cfeel-good stories\u201d of&#8230;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5],"tags":[567],"class_list":["post-78778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-sports","category-the-sportstalk-shop","tag-phillies-baseball"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The SportsTalk Shop: Phillies Season Review\/Roster Projections - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-phillies-season-reviewroster-projections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The SportsTalk Shop: Phillies Season Review\/Roster Projections - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While the Eagles have clearly stolen the sports spotlight in the Eastern Pennsylvania region, the Phillies\u2019 \u201cpositives\u201d this season should not be forgotten. 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