Ups and Downs for the Phillies heading into the 2023 season

The Philadelphia Phillies have been busy making moves all off-season and with these moves there are many new players to be excited for — as well as some possible new holes in the roster.

The highlight of the Phillies’ offseason was the signing of Trea Turner. The 29 year old shortstop agreed to an 11 year deal worth $300 million in December and is set to shake things up for Philadelphia in the 2023 season. Turner hit 21 homers and stole 27 bases all while batting .298 for the Dodgers last season. With his speed and ability to get on base Turner should be a gamechanger for the Phillies’ lineup.

The Phils also picked up a starter who will make a big impact in their rotation, Taijuan Walker. Walker has had some ups and downs in his performance over the last few years but he has been a fairly solid starter throughout his career. With his experience he will be a great backend starter that will be able to hold things down and give Philadelphia a chance to win even on nights when it doesn’t have an ace on the mound.

While those two signings provided players that will certainly help the club and should give fans excitement heading into the 2023 season, the biggest move of them all was the trade for Gregory Soto. Soto is a lefty with a big arm, something that a team can never have enough of in their bullpen. The reliever has been named an All Star the last two seasons and boasts a career strikeouts per nine of 9.2. Soto can certainly get strikeouts but his biggest issue has always been control. If he can figure out his command the Phillies will have a lights out pitcher to close things out in the late innings.

Although the Soto trade added a big arm to the pen and helped fill a hole, it also created some possible holes in the roster. The Phillies sent Nick Maton and Matt Vierling to Detroit in the Soto trade which means they lost two big role players off the bench. Maton and Vierling both had the ability to play multiple positions, which in the event of an injury can be very valuable. This trade certainly made the top end of the roster better, but fans should be concerned about the depth that Philadelphia now lacks on its bench.

Along with the new lack of bench depth, another possible issue for this Phillies team is once again going to be defense, especially in the outfield. Brandon Marsh has proven that he can hold down centerfield, but with Castellanos and Schwarber in the corners there are still some serious worries. Castellanos showed some flashes, making a few highlight defensive plays in the playoffs, but he and Schwarber will need to start making the routine plays as well if this team wants to find the same success it did last season.

Those defensive worries from the corner outfield spots also come from what is definitely the biggest concern for the Phillies heading into 2023, the lack of Bryce Harper. Harper is a two time former MVP and a leader in the clubhouse and while the team will certainly miss his bat it will also miss his glove as he is a significantly better defender than both Schwarber and Castellanos.

With Harper not being expected back until the All Star break the club will need to stay afloat without its best player. But, if the Phillies’ new acquisitions can step up and hang around in the division until they get their MVP back they could be set to make a run at the pennant in the second half of the season.