While the Philadelphia Phillies sit atop the National League, fans are already fed up with these three players.
This season, the Philadelphia Phillies, a team recognised more for its postseason prowess than its regular season victory totals, have reversed the trend. Philadelphia has the most wins in the National League, with 44, and leads the NL East by 7.5 games. Despite this strong start, there is still space for growth as the Phillies seek their first World Series win since 2008. Here are three Phillies players that supporters are already tired of in the 2024 season.
After missing the first month of the season, Taijuan Walker’s return diamond was supposed to boost a Philadelphia starting rotation that was already the best in baseball. Instead, it sent Spencer Turnbull and his sub-2.00 ERA to the bullpen, while Walker has posted an ERA of 5.73 — more than four times worse than Turnbull’s at the time of his demotion to the relief corps.
Only two of Walker’s seven starts have lasted at least five innings with three or less earned runs allowed, a feat Turnbull accomplished in five of his starts. After Walker let up a go-ahead two-run homer in his most recent start against the St. Louis Cardinals, the typically unloving Phillies screamed, “We want Turnbull.” The 31-year-old’s predicted metrics are even worse: a 6.10 expected ERA, ranked third in expected velocity and fifth in whiff rate. The Phillies are paying Taijuan Walker $18 million this year to play at well below replacement value, giving the organisation little reason to keep him in the starting rotation going forward.
Despite a slow second half of the season in which he batted just .226 with a .696 OPS, Nick Castellanos finished 2023 with 26 homers and a career-best 106 RBI while receiving MVP votes. That second-half slump has continued into the early portion of the 2024 schedule. The Phillies right-fielder is batting just .214 with a .630 OPS — each far below his career averages. He batted .229 in May, and it still raised his average by nearly 20 points
Castellanos’ strength has to be at the plate because he has consistently been one of the worst base runners and fielders over the last few seasons. The 32-year-old has cost Philadelphia two runs on the basepaths thus far in 2024 (tied for the worst in the league) and six runs defensively. Add in the negative four runs Castellanos has been worth at the plate, and it is easy to see how he has a -0.3 WAR through 63 games played.
Gregory Soto (RP)
A two-time All-Star with the Detroit Tigers, Gregory Soto has not found the same success in the NL East. The lefty posted a 4.62 ERA in his debut season with the Phillies, and those struggles have continued into this year. Soto has a 4.91 ERA across 18.1 innings pitched, while his 5.9 walks per nine innings are the worst of his career. The 29-year-old Dominican has been saddled with the loss in three of his last nine appearances with the Phils — a stretch that could end up hurting the ballclub come the end of the season.