Phillies Seasons: 2015, Worst Team in MLB
October 4, 2015
By Scott S.D. Weiss
The 2015 Philadelphia Phillies entered spring training with low expectations for the season. Baseball Prospectus projected the Phillies would finish 69–93, which would be the worst record in Major League Baseball. Even Philadelphia's front office personnel agreed they were unlikely to be majorl competitive, although acting team president Pat Gillick suggested the team could hover around .500, depending on whether the team could remain healthy.
Manager Ryne Sandberg expressed optimism, noting the Phillies could "surprise some people" in a transition season rather than a rebuild. Freddy Galvis was expected to replace all-time Phillies hits leader Jimmy Rollins at shortstop after J-Roll waived his no-trade clause during the offseason and headed to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Also, the Phillies sought to piece together an outfield: Domonic Brown moved from left field to right field in the offseason, and Ben Revere was the presumptive starter in centerfield, leaving several players vying for playing time. Revere even spent time in left field while Rule-5 acquisition Odubel Herrera played centerfield; Sandberg commented that Revere's arm may be a better fit in left, and he utilized spring training to experiment.
Well, the season was basically already over in April, even after Philadelphia issued five home runs to the visiting Boston Red Sox in an 8-0 loss on opening day at Citizens Bank Park. Lefthander Cliff Lee reinjured he recently-recovered elbow and didn't throw a regular-season pitch to make manners worse (plus the team declined his 2016 option). The Phillies finished April with an 8–15 record, their worst record that month since 2002. Philadelphia's .223 batting average was also the worst in the National League, ranking last in the league in runs, runs per game, and home runs. Second baseman Chase Utley hit .114, the worst in the major leagues. Starting pitcher Aaron Harang, meanwhile, posted a staff-leading 2.51 Earned Run Average in 32 and one-third innings and was mentioned as a potential candidate to be traded to a contender, but he later lost eight consecutive games.
You would've thought the Phillies could turn things around, pulling within five games of .500. However, those hopes were solely dreams as the Phillies began May by reshuffling their pitching staff, optioning David Buchanan (0–5, 8.76 ERA in April) to AAA Lehigh Valley, recalling reliever Elvis Araújo (who had similar struggles in the minors), and added Chad Billingsley to the rotation. Billingsley even hit a solo homer off Bartolo Colon in a home loss against the New York Mets, but Billingsley lasted only seven games due to injuries.
Oh yeah, June really defined the low point of the campaign. Philadelphia's 19-3 loss at the Baltimore Orioles featured Jeff Francoeur as a pitcher. Once he got on the mound, Francoeur had trouble: during Francoeur's second inning of work, the Phillies couldn't call the bullpen because the phone was off the hook. Utley participated in a shouting match with pitching coach Bob McClure about the phone issues. That embarrassing moment reflected poorly on both the players and the coaches, and Sandberg resigned a few days later, making Pete Mackanin the skipper on an interim basis.
Perhaps the high point of the season came when Cole Hamels threw a no-hitter on July 25, a 5-0 Phillies victory against the host Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Herrera recorded two pivotal catches in centerfield, including a body-falling catch from a long drive off the bat of rookie Kris Bryant to notch the final out to preserve the no-no. Hamels was traded to the Texas Rangers five days later and the Phillies received pitcher Matt Harrison and five minor league prospects in return for Hamels and reliever Jake Diekman; two of those prospects, pitchers Jerad Eickhoff and Alec Asher, made starts for the big-league Phillies late in the campaign.
Revere also had been traded, going to the Toronto Blue Jays at the non-waiver trade deadline. Utley decided to end his 13-season tenure in Philly in Aug. by waiving his no-trade clause and packed his belongings to the Dodgers; infielder-outfielder Darnell Sweeney, then playing in AAA, was acquired as one of a few players in that deal and immediately received promotion to the big-league Phillies. Closer Jonathan Papelbon continuously begged to be traded since the previous season and received his wish in a July trade to the Washington Nationals for a AA pitcher, making Ken Giles the new closer for the Phillies.
It would be plausible to conclude the Phillies had three or four players at best who would be key parts on a contending team: makeshift staff ace and rookie Aaron Nola, Giles, rookie third baseman Makiel Franco, and possibly infielder Cesar Hernandez. Franco bashed 13 big flies before an Aug. injury which forced him to miss the rest of the season except for the final series against the Miami Marlins (he went deep once against the fish in that series). Hernandez had been lost for the season after sustaining injury in Sept.
First baseman Ryan Howard led the club with 23 four-baggers and 77 RBIs despite missing the final few weeks due to injury. Darin Ruf proved he could platoon with Howard at first and went yard 12 times.
Mackanin, by the way, became full-time manager near the end of Sept. On Sept. 10, the Phillies fired embattled General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., a position he had held since Nov. 2008. Andy MacPhail was named team president effective after the 2015 season.
Given an extended big-league audition, outfielder Aaron Altherr had played himself into a starting spot in 2016. Herrera most likely considered the bright spot of the season, plus he once hit a second-deck jack to right field at Citizens Bank Park in a series against Atlanta during the summer. Catcher Cameron Rupp assumed the role as primary catcher over Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz and belted nine sayonaras.
Offensively, the Phillies batted .249 (1,374-for-5,529) with 626 runs, 272 doubles, 37 triples, 130 home runs, 586 RBIs, 387 walks, 1,274 strikeouts, and 88 steals in 120 attempts. Pitchers combined to post a 4.69 ERA in 1,436.1 innings with 35 saves, seven shutouts, one complete game, 1,592 hits, 809 runs (749 earned), 191 gopher balls, 488 walks, and 1,153 strikeouts. The Phillies posted the league's lowest-ranked defense (.981 fielding percentage) with 4,309 putouts, 1,589 assists, 145 double plays, and 117 errors.
Not only did the Phillies finish as the NL East's last-place club, they were the worst team in MLB by one game (the first overall pick in the 2016 amateur draft would belong to the Phillies). After a 7-2 victory against Miami on Oct. 4, the Phillies concluded the season with 63 wins and 99 losses, one more defeat than the Cincinnati Reds (64-98). The Phillies won six of their last 10 contests to make sure they wouldn't be the first Philadelphia squad since 1961 to drop 100 games in one season.
Citizens Bank Park scanned 1,831,080 tickets in 2015, the ballpark's lowest attendance for a season (it opened in 2004) and the Phillies' lowest home attendance since 2002 at Veterans Stadium. Papelbon was the Phillies' lone representative in the All-Star Game at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio. The top players in Philadelphia's farm system to receive the Paul Owens Award were catcher Andrew Knapp and pitcher Ricardo Pinto.
Scott S.D. Weiss can be contacted at [email protected].