Ah, 2018 — what a delightfully strange season that was for the Philadelphia Phillies. It almost feels as if it were decades ago at this point...
Let’s set the scene:
The Phillies were coming off of a pretty terrible year in 2017, finishing at a woeful 66-96 — but the team left the year with heads held high, encouraged by the emergence of RHP Aaron Nola, 1B Rhys Hoskins, and a center fielder that shall remain nameless.
Thus, Phillies General Manager, Matt Klentak, decided it was time to push the team’s competitive timeline a bit, and did so by adding two big name Free Agents in 1B Carlos Santana and RHP Jake Arrieta — both of whom went on to have middling debut seasons.