HOUSTON — The Phillies’ three wins in the National League Championship Series all finished with a pitcher reared in their minor league system on the mound. The lineup they trotted out for Friday’s World Series opener featured three infielders they drafted.
For all the headlines that nine-figure hitters have earned this postseason, it’s no coincidence that the Phillies’ progress to the World Series has relied just as much on a nucleus of talent reared in-house.
“If you’ve got three meaningful contributors in a World Series team infield that have been drafted and come up through your player development system,” general manager Sam Fuld was saying Thursday, “that’s a great place to start.”
That was also the natural place to start for an organization needing if not an overhaul then at least a robust revitalization after the ill-fated Matt Klentak regime. It all starts from the simple ability that evaded that administration – to identify and develop MLB-caliber players with any regularity.
There’s no set formula, Fuld says, and many teams have struck the balance between development and spending in different ways. What’s certain is that no team – certainly not the Phillies – can buy a Bryce Harper at every position. And every quality big-leaguer that the Phillies produce from within is one less that they have to purchase.
To wit, Fuld highlighted not just the starters but the ballast of the roster – players like Matt Vierling, Darick Hall, Nick Maton and Connor Brogdon. When you don’t have to find those contributors on the open market, you’re able to target investment in fewer key spots to the most for your money.
The key in Fuld’s mind is flexibility, in terms of resources and the lack of holes to fill.
“We’re seeing what we identified prior to this year,” he said. “We hadn’t quite gotten a lot of homegrown players over the hump and gotten the most out of their abilities. We know that we have to lean on some level of young, homegrown players to have success – certainly success of this caliber.”
Whether it’s quality or quantity, it’s a multi-step process. First is identifying the right guys. The stumbles of Mickey Moniak, Adam Haseley et al. speak for themselves, as does a general dearth of impact international signings. On both fronts, the Phillies have reinvested in and re-imagined their scouting.
There’s also the development piece, from top to bottom, to get prospects prepared for the big leagues. That doesn’t end once they debut in the majors. Players like Ranger Suarez, who went from a lights-out reliever to a quality starting pitcher, and Alec Bohm, who fell from Rookie of the Year finalist heights in 2020 to Triple-A in 2021 before recovering to be a key starter in 2022, epitomize that.
“Those two in particular are two wildly different people,” Fuld said. “It’s meeting these guys on an individual level and trying to get the most out of them based on who they are, both as human beings, how they are physically and what their path to this point is.”
Zach Eflin is another example. For all the years that the Phillies have misfired on acquiring established relievers, a void created by their chronic inability to develop live arms, this year’s bullpen is backed by homegrown pitchers like Eflin and Seranthony Dominguez.
Eflin credits his roots in Philadelphia with helping him navigate a rough summer, missing nearly three months with knee issues. His ability to lean on teammates in the toughest moments helped him blossom into a late-season contributor out of the bullpen. And those long-standing relationships, especially among the position players in the Phillies bottom-order “daycare,” are one of the many threads that have created a special clubhouse identity.
“Everybody wants the ball in the big situation, everybody wants to hit in the big situation, and it’s just as a collective unit, nobody is selfish,” he said. “Everybody wants to be a part of it, wants to be able to celebrate together and win on the highest stage possible.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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