Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports
If the Philadelphia Phillies miss the postseason for the tenth consecutive year, these three individuals won’t be back.
The Philadelphia Phillies are currently in a three-team battle alongside the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves for the NL East crown. Philadelphia took first place away from the Mets this month following a three-game sweep but has since been knocked down to second place behind the Braves.
Philadelphia has not been in the postseason since 2011, when they were defeated in the NL Division Series by the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. The team’s actions in the past couple of years indicated that they planned on returning to meaningful baseball games, but they’ve failed to do so.
If the Phillies miss out on making the postseason for the 10th consecutive season, here are three players who won’t return next year.
3.
Ian Kennedy
RHP Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies missed out on the chance to acquire Tyler Anderson from the Pittsburgh Pirates after the trade fell through. Even so, the team wisely made a deal with the Texas Rangers to bring in starter Kyle Gibson and relief pitcher Ian Kennedy at the trade deadline.
At the time Kennedy was acquired by Philadelphia, he had recorded a 2.51 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP and converted 16-of-17 save opportunities in 35 appearances with the Rangers. Since coming over, Kennedy carries a 7.11 ERA, a 1.58 WHIP, seven strikeouts and four walks over 6.1 innings of work (seven games). Despite the high ERA, Kennedy has successfully converted on all three save opportunities.
Kennedy is set to become a free agent at the end of this season. If he brings down his ERA and continues to rack up the saves, he will likely command a large deal elsewhere. But if the ERA increases, it is hard to envision the Phillies re-signing him this winter.