Phils improve in Howard’s final year with team

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies began their season in April hoping to see incremental improvements in their rebuild. They had some, including more wins this season than last.

“We certainly had measureable progress in a lot of areas,” Phillies president Andy MacPhail said recently. “We had an outstanding year in our farm system, no matter how you want to measure it. …We focused more on trying to get a foundation of pitching established. But we still have a lot of work to do. To become a perennial postseason team, there are a lot of things we need to continue to work on.”

• Young starters key to Phils’ success in 2017

Could the Phillies find themselves in National League Wild Card contention next season? That might be a stretch, but certainly they expect further improvement in 2017. But before we look forward, let’s look back at the ’16 season.

Record: 71-91, fourth place, NL East.

Defining moment: Ryan Howard is the greatest first baseman in Phillies history, and he said farewell when he played the final game of his Phillies career on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park. He had a heck of a run. He helped the Phillies win one World Series, two National League pennants and five consecutive NL East titles from 2007-11. He won the 2006 NL MVP Award and ’05 NL Rookie of the Year Award. The Phillies simply would not have enjoyed their success without him anchoring the middle of the lineup. Howard is the last remaining player from the 2008 World Series championship team. He leaves the organization second all-time in home runs, third in RBIs, fourth in slugging percentage, 10th in doubles, 13th in runs and 13th in hits.

What went right: The Phillies emphasized starting …

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