JFLNYC wrote:I admire the passion but the Marlins did not deliberately tank this year.

ReadingPhilly wrote:Yeah Wth are you talking about

Warszawa wrote:

ReadingPhilly wrote:Yeah Wth are you talking about

Maybe one or two minor league affiliates would be ok, otherwise if a guy is a legit prospect bring him up and let him play.

ReadingPhilly wrote:Loria is obviously scum but those guys you listed all suck and it was probably smart to move them and save money. He did give one of the best players in the game a monstrous contract.

After nine long weeks, the Phillies are finally out of the cellar!

For that, Philadelphia can thank a suddenly rejuvenated offense that’s batted .282/.331/.447 since the All-Star break,1 which is the fourth-best (park-adjusted) mark in the National League in the second half. Behind that robust hitting, they have won 16 of 21 games since the break, the best record in baseball during that time. And while some of that surge has been driven by veterans — Ryan Howard and especially Jeff Francoeur (?!?!) have been mashing — the Phillies have received an unexpected surprise: At the start of a complete rebuild, the mostly unheralded kids in their lineup are hitting, too.

One of the biggest drivers of the team’s recent success has been Odubel Herrera. The Phillies nabbed the Venezuelan center fielder from the Rangers last December in the Rule 5 draft. Playing in the big leagues for the first time this season, Herrera quickly claimed an everyday job in Philadelphia’s depleted lineup. With a very high batting average on balls in play (.368), he’s due for some regression, but that number might be a bit more sustainable thanks to Herrera’s ability to leg out a bunch of infield and bunt hits. He’s sporting a sky-high .379/.414/.561 line since the break, and he’s shown more extra-base pop than he ever did in the minors, with a .141 Isolated Power mark that’s fueled by his 22 doubles and three triples.2 His skill set is far from perfect — six and a half times more strikeouts than walks isn’t a recipe for sustainable success, so he’ll need to improve his batting eye. But a rookie center fielder with speed, gap power, and competent defense who’s making the league minimum through 2017? For a $50,000 buy-in, the Phillies will take it.

Then there’s Cesar Hernandez, the middle infielder who GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said was better than Chase Utley but who has moved to shortstop since the veteran returned from injury. Unlike his compatriot Herrera, Hernandez has shown impressive command of the strike zone, walking in about 10 percent of his plate appearances and netting a strong .361 on-base percentage. He’s also a real base-stealing threat, swiping 17 bags in 21 attempts. Overall, he’s sporting a strong .305/.352/.415 line since the break. Hernandez’s defense has been spotty, however, and that leaves his long-term everyday status in doubt. But with top shortstop prospect J.P. Crawford still probably a year or more from a promotion, and few other middle-infield options in the high minors, Hernandez should get a chance to prove himself for the foreseeable future.

The last of the offense-boosting trio of 25-and-under Phillies is Maikel Franco. By far the most highly touted prospect of the three, the 22-year-old nonetheless arrived with question marks of his own, as observers wondered how his free-swinging approach might translate to the big leagues, and if he could hack it defensively at third base. So far, Franco is 1-for-2. He’s walking more often in his rookie season than he has since playing at low-A ball, and he’s striking out less than one-sixth of the time. Franco’s second-half numbers are actually down a hair, but that’s mostly because he’s been so dangerous for much of the season, delivering a 2015 line of .274/.336/.476. Whether he’ll stick at third long-term remains an open question, though: According to Baseball Info Solutions, Franco has been nine runs worse than the average MLB third baseman this year, ranking 33rd at his position. The good news is Howard has only one year left on his excruciating $125 million contract, meaning Franco is a good bet to shift to first base by Opening Day 2017 — if not sooner.

Combine those encouraging performances with Crawford’s potential — plus an intriguing crop of young pitchers led by rookie right-hander Aaron Nola and enhanced by the deadline trades of Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon, and Ben Revere — and the outlines of a new, encouraging era of Phillies baseball have begun to form. There’s still plenty of work to be done, but right now it’s enough to make even the old guys smile