2017 Philadelphia Phillies

2017 Philadelphia Phillies / Franchise: Philadelphia Phillies / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 66-96, Finished 5th in NL Eastern Division (2017 NL)

Coaches: Larry Bowa, Rick Kranitz, Bob McClure, John McLaren, Mickey Morandini, Juan Samuel and Matt Stairs

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

The 2017 Philadelphia Phillies started off the season strong, going 11-9 in their first 20 games. However, after that, the team went into a tailspin, losing 19 of its next 23 games to fall in last place in the NL East on May 23rd, 11 1/2 games back of the first-place Washington Nationals. The Phillies showed some sign of life in late July, winning their last five games that month, but still finished the month with the worst record in the major leagues at 39-64. They were sellers at the trading deadline, sending out SP Jeremy Hellickson, their lone All-Star, RP Pat Neshek, RP Joaquin Benoit and 2B Howie Kendrick in separate deals.

The Phillies played much better over the second half, with the big reason being the remarkable contribution of OF Rhys Hoskins, who began to tear the cover off the ball a few days after making his major league debut on August 10th. He needed only 17 games to hit hisd first 10 homers, and did not stop after that either. While he was getting most of the attention, teammate Aaron Altherr, finally healthy after what had been an essentially lost season in 2016, was also giving opposing pitchers jitters. In a span of three days in mid-September, he became the first player ever to hit a grand slam against Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw and then added a two-run homer and tie-breaking two-run single to give the Phillies a 7-5 win over L.A. on September 20th. That win gave Philly 10 wins in its last 12 games. In the end, they went 37-38 in the second half, showing fans some hope for the future. Still, their first half had been so bad that they still finished last in the division, 4 games behind the fourth-place New York Mets and 13 games out of first. Manager Pete Mackanin was let go at the end of the season.