The fact they got to the World Series in the first place was a miracle. Even though the Philadelphia Phillies enter 2023 Opening Day as the reigning NL Champions, they’ve probably got too many injuries and worn-down players to repeat a World Series berth.
I hate to say it Phillies fans, but your team’s chances at making another World Series from the NL might have been vanquished before the first pitch of the 2023 MLB season was thrown.
As of me writing this article, the Phillies currently have 6 players on the injured list…which includes Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, Ranger Suarez, and young prospect Andrew Painter. Obviously, that’s not ideal as Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins are obviously two of the best players in the world in their, respective, positions, but the loss of Suarez and Painter in the Philly bullpen creates a sizeable gulf in quality down the rotation.
Sure, Aaron Nola and Zach Wheeler are still healthy and playing, but they can’t play in every game. In fact, they’re not going to be playing in a vast majority of the games as the natural rigors of pitching prevents these two from playing every 5 or so days, thus leaving the rotation in a position to fill in during the games they miss.
And, if Painter and Suarez are already out for large parts of the season (which is possible as we don’t know the full extent of Suarez’s injury yet), then it’s completely possible the Phillies wind up in a horrible gulf-in-quality dilemma if just one more pitcher goes down with injury. And that’s obviously not ideal being in the NL this season.
As for the loss of Harper and Hoskins, these two losses are somewhat minimized by the acquisition of Trea Turner this offseason and Kyle Schwarber still being healthy and available. The Phillies may not suffer too greatly in hitting and scoring as Turner, Schwarber, and J.T. Realmuto can pick up the slack, but it’s going to be really interesting to see what shape both Harper and Hoskins return in.
Hoskins, who was one of the Phillies most important hitter last postseason, completely tore the ACL in his left knee during Spring Training and has to undergo surgery that’ll keep him out for the next seven months.
Of course, baseball isn’t like hockey, football, basketball, soccer, etc. where one has to rely as much on their mobility and agility, but being a 1st baseman, as Hoskins is, does require being light on one’s feet whenever a ball is struck. Having to get your knee surgical repaired doesn’t bode well in one trying to be a light, athletic basemen.
In Harper’s case, he might seriously be facing a career-ending injury in the outfield if his arm doesn’t fully heal from his Tommy John surgery. Sure, he’ll always be one of the best hitters in the MLB, yet Harper’s defensive game has always been really underappreciated (in my opinion) and the loss of him in the outfield could be huge.
We’ll have to wait and see.
Nevertheless, the big concern I have with all of these injuries is that it allows the Phillies NL rivals, such as the San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, and Los Angeles Dodgers, to get far ahead of the Phillies in the standings early on, leaving Philadelphia in a poor position come October.
If the Phillies have to play a series against New York or San Diego as the lower seed, I think they’re getting beaten with their current roster construction as these teams have two of the most intimidating rosters in all of baseball right now. Oh, and that’s me including Harper and Hoskins back in the lineup.
And that’s why if I had any money to bet, I’d not put a single cent on the Phillies making it back to the World Series as of this moment.
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