The Phillies outfield has a few problems

There are a lot of good things to say about the future of the Philadelphia Phillies. They have a young pitching staff that’s only going to get better with time. Third baseman Maikel Franco has insane power and increasing defensive skills. Their minor league system has shortstop J.P. Crawford and outfielder Nick Williams. They have potential coming out the wazoo. But the present is a much different story.

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In the present, these 2016 Phillies have some problems. Their bullpen has yet to find consistency, be it of the bad kind or the good kind. The right side of the infield, occupied by first baseman Ryan Howard and second baseman Cesar Hernandez, has both defensive and offensive problems. And the infield fly rule continues to haunt them.

To see the problems and potential on full display, you can watch the Phillies right here on Yahoo Sports. They face their NL East rivals the Washington Nationals in today’s Free Game of the Day, which starts at 7:05 p.m. ET. You can stream the game at Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home.

The Phillies greatest concern right now is their outfield. Two months ago, things were vastly different. Their starting trio of Aaron Altherr in right, Odubel Herrera in center, and Peter Bourjos/Cody Asche in left wasn’t tremendous, but it was passable. But spring training is a cruel mistress, and removed Altherr and Asche from the equation due to injuries. Altherr tore a tendon in his left wrist which required surgery and a 4-6 month recovery. Asche strained his oblique in late February and hasn’t resumed baseball activities.

Even though Altherr’s full potential isn’t known, and Asche just isn’t very good, the outfield has been a mess without them. Bourjos, who was signed in December, has batted just .196/.212/.333 in 17 games. Cedric Hunter, another winter signing, wasn’t meant to be part of their major league outfield, but found himself in the mix. He hit .088/.139/.176 in 13 games, which was too low for even the Phillies. Hunter was sent back to AAA on April 18 and they recalled David Lough, yet another winter pickup. In five games Lough has done better than his predecessor, but that’s a low bar to clear. Tyler Goeddel, the Phillies’ 2015 rule 5 pick, is also in the mix, but he hasn’t had the chance to do much of anything yet.

And then there’s Darin Ruf. He’s a natural first baseman who has played the outfield with the Phillies, and played it badly. He was supposed to spend this season platooning with Ryan Howard, since Ruf hits lefties well, and Howard is stronger against righties. But with Ruf spending time in the outfield, Howard will see time against lefties and righties, which is bad news for the Phillies offense.

The one part of the outfield that isn’t a grand mess is centerfield. Odubel Herrera had a breakout 2015, hitting .286/.432/.429, and thus far in 2016 he’s shown tremendous growth at the plate, especially in walks. He drew 28 walks in all of 2015, but in just 19 games this season, he’s drawn 17. Having Herrera in center, where he’ll hopefully be for years to come, should give Phillies fans hope for a better, brighter outfield in the not-too-distant future.

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