Philadelphia Phillies Hitters: 2015 Team Preview

Sep 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Atlanta Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt (25) tags out Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley (26) as umpire CB Bucknor (54) makes the call during the fourth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

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Yesterday, I wrote about how porous the Atlanta Braves will be in 2015, but the Phillies will try pretty hard to outdo their division rivals in awfulness at the plate.  Jimmy Rollins is off to much, much greener pastures in Los Angeles and Ryan Howard is a $25 million black hole.

I never thought there would be a day when Ben Revere would be the fantasy option on the Philadelphia Phillies, but then again, who would have thought Ruben Amaro, Jr. would still be the GM of baseball’s version of the Titanic.  At this point, Amaro is still re-arranging the deck chairs while half the passengers have frozen to death.  It is time to deploy lifeboats and actually rebuild.

As for Revere, he is my favorite fantasy speedster, but his price may start to rise because people have realized he is Billy Hamilton without the fanfare.  Revere stole 49 bases in 2014 as well as hit .306 and scored 71 runs.  While Ben Revere may have the least power in MLB, that is okay because his value is on the bases.

He only struck out 7.8% of the time in 2014, which is great that he can put the ball in play and make a mad dash for first.  As a result, his .330 BABIP in 2014 can easily be replicated if 2015 Ben Revere will maintain his rate of contact.  I wrote more about Revere here, and I will keep a close eye on his stock.  If Revere is still available after pick #150, then I will probably swipe him up.

Chase Utley is a nice value even in his twilight years.  The longtime second baseman of the Phillies is still probably good for double digit homers and 60+ runs and RBI’s.  Utley’s 78 runs, 11 homers, 47 RBI’s, 10 steals, and a .270 average were not too shabby in 2014.  Even at 36, Chase Utley is still an above average and an inexpensive option at 2B.

Tanner Bell of Smart Fantasy Baseball has created all of the projections seen in this post.  You can read about how he develops his projections here.  His projections are invaluable to this site.  You can also visit his site at www.smartfantasybaseball.com.