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Yet again, we have some guys here who just filled a brief role with the Phillies in 2021. Let’s run through them real fast.
2021 stats
Kyle Dohy: 1 IP, 2.00 WHIP, 20.0 K%, 20.0 BB%, 0.0 HR/9, 0.00 ERA (4.17 FIP), 0.0 fWAR
JD Hammer: 20 IP, 1.60 WHIP, 23.4 K%, 11.7 BB%, 1.35 HR/9, 4.95 ERA (4.87 FIP), 0.0 fWAR
Cristopher Sanchez: 12 2⁄3 IP, 1.82 WHIP, 22.0 K%, 11.9 BB%, 0.71 HR/9, 4.97 ERA (3.80 FIP), 0.1 fWAR
Adonis Medina: 7 2⁄3 IP, 1.70 WHIP, 16.7 K%, 11.1 BB%, 0.0 HR/9, 3.52 ERA (4.34 FIP), 0.1 fWAR
The good
Looking for a good thing from this group was tough. Not much could have been expected of them since they aren’t exactly the top prospects the team has. Possibly the best thing that happened to this quartet was Sanchez’s start for the team in Boston right before the All-Star break.
WHOA. From the Phillies:
— (@RochesRWinners) July 11, 2021
The Phillies have placed INF Alec Bohm, RHP Connor Brogdon, LHP Bailey Falter and RHP Aaron Nola on the COVID-related IL. LHP Damon Jones, RHP Mauricio Llovera, INF Nick Maton and LHP Cristopher Sanchez have been recalled from LV (AAA).
Thanks to several players contracting Covid-19, Sanchez was needed in an emergency situation just so the team could have enough pitching on the day.
Cristopher Sanchez is on his regular day, it’s possible he starts or at least throws bulk innings today for the Phillies. They are still working through it all.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) July 11, 2021
Sanchez then went out and gave them three solid innings as a “bulk pitcher” that day, securing the win for the team.
Phillies 5, Red Sox 4. Ranger Suárez throws 45 pitches to record a seven-out save. Cristopher Sanchez was great in three innings. Ronald Torreyes hit one over the Green Monster. The Phillies are 44-44.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) July 11, 2021
Hammer had a nice velocity bump this season, but his control, or lack thereof, meant he couldn’t actually use the velocity effectively.
The bad
When the team was in a pitching crisis down the stretch, needing a fourth and fifth starter to consistently give them innings, neither Sanchez or Medina, both starters in the minors, were unable to be that. It’s a highly disappointing development that the team couldn’t develop any starting pitching to help when the team needed them most.
The worst part for any of them didn’t even happen to them. Sanchez was traded to the Phillies at the end of November in 2019. He was traded for Curtis Mead, who as it turns out, can hit a little.
.321/.378/.533, 15 HR, 69 RBI
That’s Mead’s line this year in the Tampa Bay minor league system across three levels. While it’s hard to project how some fringe prospects will eventually play, seeing the team miss this badly on a hitting prospect when they could really use a few right now is especially tough.
JD Hammer was really popular because he had cool glasses and threw a baseball hard enough to remind you of “Major League”. In actuality, he wasn’t very good. The team also agreed and let him go a few days ago.
The future
Hammer has already been granted his free agency. Medina, Sanchez and Dohy still remain on the team, so they might have one more shot to make waves in the organization to even be considered a future of it.
Final grade(s): D-
Sanchez does get some credit for that start, perhaps the only thing keeping grade from an F. But this is about as uninspiring a group of former prospects as you’ll see.