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MacPhail pleased with ‘measurable progress’
- Updated: September 26, 2016
NEW YORK — A little more than seven months ago, Phillies president Andy MacPhail sat at a table in a Bonita Springs, Fla., hotel and said he expected the 2016 season to reveal if the club is on the fast, medium or slow track to postseason contention.
So where are the Phils with six games remaining?
“I would say somewhere between medium and fast,” MacPhail told MLB.com this weekend at Citi Field. “We certainly had measurable progress in a lot of areas.”
MacPhail mentioned the Phillies’ farm system. Every affiliate finished better than .500 for the first time since 1953. Philadelphia’s domestic affiliates had a .595 winning percentage, which ranked first in baseball. Four of those six teams made the postseason.
“An outstanding year in our farm system, no matter how you want to measure it,” MacPhail said.
• Phillies’ Top 30 Prospects
MacPhail said he saw progress in the big leagues, too. The Phils’ rotation finished 29th in the Majors in 2015 with a 5.23 ERA. After Sunday’s games, they were 18th with a 4.39 ERA. The Phillies are in decent shape entering next season with Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez, Jake Thompson, Zach Eflin, Alec Asher, Adam Morgan, Ben Lively and others in the mix.
Of course, Nola might be the best of the bunch and he sustained a season-ending right elbow injury on July 28. MacPhail, like many in the organization, is concerned about Nola’s health and recovery.
Eflin is set for his second knee surgery in the coming weeks, too.
But then there is the Phillies’ offense, which is last in the Majors with 3.79 runs per game and 29th with a .300 on-base percentage.
“Our offense here didn’t improve that much, if at all, but that’s not a surprise, because frankly we pretty much ignored it in the offseason,” MacPhail said. “We focused more on trying to get a foundation of pitching established. But I would say we had measurable progress, outstanding years in a lot of ways throughout the system. But we still have a lot of work to do.”
Could the Phillies acquire a free agent or two in the offseason to support the team’s young hitters? It is possible — a corner outfielder seems most likely — but it is not a fait …
