After Sunday’s doubleheader against the Padres, the Phillies optioned Aaron Altherr and Mark Leiter, Jr. to Triple-A. Altherr’s demotion came as a bit of a surprise considering he was an Opening Day starter and viewed as a part of the future.
Altherr’s performance this season, especially in recent weeks, certainly warranted this demotion. In 89 games this year, Altherr has a .171/.290/.305 line with six home runs, 33 runs batted in, a 61 OPS+, 33 walks and 81 strikeouts in 248 plate appearances. He has been worth a whole win below replacement-level per Baseball Reference. The walk and RBI totals are both nice, but they certainly don’t outweigh the other negatives in his game.