How Phillies’ offseason additions have performed through the 100-game mark originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Phillies hung on to win Thursday’s series opener in Pittsburgh despite a ninth-inning implosion from reliever Jeurys Familia that turned an 8-2 laugher into an 8-7 nailbiter.
Familia allowed five runs in one-third of an inning and was lifted for Seranthony Dominguez with the tying run at the plate.
In 33 innings with the Phillies, Familia has a 6.00 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. Of the 138 relievers in the majors this season who have pitched at least that many innings, Familia ranks dead-last in WHIP and second-to-last in ERA.
The Phillies signed Familia to a one-year, $6 million contract, the same terms as their deal for Brad Hand. While Familia has pitched himself into mop-up duty, Hand has been a key member of the Phils’ late-inning formula setting up for Corey Knebel and now Seranthony Dominguez. Hand has a 2.05 ERA in 39 appearances and his opponents have hit just .194.
The Phils play their 100th game of the season Friday night, an appropriate time to look at how their offseason additions have performed.
Nick Castellanos‘ struggles have been well-documented. He’s hit .251/.295/.368 through 410 plate appearances, the second-lowest batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage of his career. He’s gone deep once in his last 50 games. Things have been slightly better of late. Castellanos has two multi-hit games in his last four and has hit .271 since July 2, albeit with no power and two walks.
Obviously, free agency would have played out differently for Castellanos had this been his walk year. Four years and $80 million remain on his contract beyond 2022. He’s 30 years old so it’s not as if the decline set in overnight. He hit .290 with an .872 OPS from 2018-21. A bat like that in the middle of the lineup would change things dramatically for this team and getting Castellanos right is one of the most important pieces of the entire organizational puzzle.
Kyle Schwarber, in the first of a four-year, $79 million contract, has done what he was paid to do: hit bombs. He enters the weekend hitting just .204 but with a National League-leading 32 home runs. His 64 RBI leads the team by 16. Schwarber slowed down a week into July but has homered twice in the last three games and four times in the last nine. Low batting average or not, nobody’s complaining about that contract.
The aforementioned Knebel has settled nicely into a setup role after beginning the year as the closer and saving 11 games in 15 opportunities through mid-June. He was demoted from the role and has pitched very well since, allowing a run in just one of 15 appearances for a 1.23 ERA. His opponents have hit .082 with a solo homer in 59 plate appearances over that stretch.
Add backup catcher Garrett Stubbs, relievers Andrew Bellatti and Nick Nelson and utilityman Johan Camargo to the list of offseason acquisitions the front office should be satisfied with.
Stubbs has provided the Phillies big bonus value by hitting .275 with eight extra-base hits (including four homers) in just 76 plate appearances. He had one of their biggest hits of the year, a walk-off three-run homer to beat the Marlins on June 15. He also hit a three-run homer against the Mets in a game when the Phillies almost came back from a seven -run deficit. He’s been solid behind the plate as well. The Phillies acquired Stubbs from the Astros last November for Single A outfielder Logan Cerny.
Bellatti has given the Phillies more than they could have hoped for. Making close to the league minimum on a one-year deal, the 30-year-old reliever has a 3.24 ERA in 37 appearances with 13.2 strikeouts per nine. He’s pitched in an assortment of roles — middle innings, extra innings, occasional setup duty, close deficits.
Nelson was acquired cheaply from the Yankees in November and has done his job as the long man. He’s had two long and important relief appearances in Phillies wins, covering four innings against the Mets and 3⅓ against the Padres. He’s pitched at least two innings 15 times this season, nine of them scoreless appearances. Nelson has a 3.94 ERA with 48 K’s in 48 innings.
Camargo has been a do-it-all infielder for the Phillies and their best defensive third baseman this season, although he’s played in just 11 big-league games since June 1 because of a knee injury that kept him out until just before the All-Star break. He’s on a one-year, $1.4 million deal.
While it’s far too early in the life of a five-year contract to make any sort of declaration on Castellanos, the Familia deal sticks out as a definitive miss. His usage is evidence enough. Mychal Givens signed for $1 million less with the Cubs and has had a strong season that could again have him on the move at the trade deadline. Adam Ottavino signed with the Mets for $2 million less than Familia and has well outperformed him. The Phillies have been able to make up for it because of guys like Connor Brogdon, Bellatti, and aside from one bad night in the last six weeks, Jose Alvarado.
Subscribe to Phillies Talk: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Watch on YouTube