Nick Williams is just one of a number of promising, young, Phillies outfielders.
Spring training has been underway for a few weeks now and teams around the Florida and Arizona are getting a better idea of what their major league active rosters will look like. For many teams, there will be the inevitable surprise player who earned the right to break camp and stay with the MLB team.
For the Phillies, who have seemingly put a just slightly better than Triple-A team in the majors for the past few years, it’s a great showcase of what’s around the corner. This spring, however, there are a few players who are going to make things difficult on the front office and coaching staff when decision time draws near.
Nick Williams is one of those players. Williams has been slipping on prospect rankings and in the graces of Phillies staff after a particularly bad 2016. Williams was a big piece in the deal that sent Cole Hamels to the Rangers in 2015 and expectations for him were fairly high. Up until this spring though he’s fallen short of those expectations. He is, however, making a name for himself in camp, hitting .350/.409/.400 in his 20 at-bats. It’s a small sample size but it’s a promising step in the right direction.
Roman Quinn is playing like he wants to stay with the big league team as well. He’s hitting .269/.367/.423 and playing stellar defense in a premium position at centerfield. He’s walked four times to six strikeouts and stolen four bases without being caught. He’s flashed some power as well hitting a home run off of Boston Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez.
And in what might be his last chance to impress management Brock Stassi has really shown up to play ball. Stassi is hot, hitting .417/.500/.833 in 26 at bats. He hit a grand slam off of Detroit Tigers reliever Blaine Hardy, who in 129 MLB games has a 3.00 ERA. As a testament to how much the Phillies like his bat the Phillies are trying to increase the first basemen’s versatility by giving him innings in left field.
Stassi, like Quinn, has always possessed a skill that has been seriously lacking on the Phillies the last few years: the ability to work a walk. He has a .360 OBP for his six seasons in professional ball. Last year the Phillies sported the second lowest OBP in the majors at .301. The Phillies could be well served by adding players with more discipline to their roster.
Stassi played in the Venezuelan Winter League this past offseason and tore it up there as well. He played in two short seasons, 57 games total, and hit a combined .301/.462/.551. At 27 Stassi may have found himself.
So yeah, it’s early, but at least it’s happening. And yeah, it’s spring training but that doesn’t mean that pitchers aren’t trying. And sure, it’s a very small sample size, but all large sample sizes start out as small ones.
