Categories: 2010s All-Decade Team

Phillies All-Decade Team: Outfielders

Shane Victorino is one of the most productive outfielders the Phillies have had in recent memory. (Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire)

As the 2010s wind down, PhilliesNation.com will go position-by-position in determining the Philadelphia Phillies All-Decade team.

The Candidates

The Philadelphia Phillies had many outfielders cycle through the roster throughout the 2010s. With very few mainstays, there was not a wide selection of candidates for the Phillies All-Decade outfield. The list boils down to five candidates: Bryce Harper, Hunter Pence, Ben Revere, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth.

Harper’s first season as a Phillie came in the last of this decade. He agreed to a then-record 13-year/$330 million deal in February of this year, entering 2019 as one of the most anticipated signings in franchise history. Harper lived up to expectations this past season with an fWAR of 4.6, combining a 35-homer season with some of his best defense in years.

Many had hoped that Pence would be the final piece that would give the Phillies their third World Series championship when they traded for him ahead of the 2011 trade deadline. Although those expectations were not met, the team did get what it hoped for in Pence from an individual perspective. He had an .824 OPS and a 4.0 fWAR before being traded away at the 2012 deadline.

Revere’s speed and athleticism made him an interesting part of the rebuilding seasons for the Phillies. His 95 stolen bases for the Phillies were good for second in the decade behind Jimmy Rollins’ 127, although Revere played in nearly half the amount of games. Overall, Revere was worth 4.2 fWAR in about two and a half seasons for the Phillies.

Werth only played one season as a Phillie this decade before leaving in free agency following his 2010 campaign. Despite this, Werth left was an impact player in his final season in Philadelphia. He was a 5-win player according to fWAR, and had his best offensive season for the Phillies with a .921 OPS.

Victorino was the everyday center fielder for the 2010 and 2011 teams, the only Phillies squads to make the postseason this decade. He then played 101 games for the Phillies in 2012 before being dealt that July to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He posted an fWAR of 10.8 in the 2010s, which was tied for the highest mark for Phillies outfielders.

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The Verdict

Bryce Harper

As stated earlier, Harper was just about everything that Phillies fans had hoped for in 2019. Although he only played one season with the club this decade, it was one of the better seasons of any Phillie in the 2010s. Harper’s impressive season gave hopes for what could be to come in the next decade of Phillies baseball.

Shane Victorino

Victorino was a valuable contributor on two playoff teams this decade, something not too many other Phillies can say. He manned center field for some of the most iconic moments in Phillies history during this decade such as Roy Halladay’s perfect game, Halladay’s postseason no-hitter and the Phillies’ fifth-straight National League East title. Victorino had an fWAR of 5.6 in 2011, the best of any Phillies outfielder in the 2010s.

Jayson Werth

Werth gets the nod here for similar reasons to Harper, who was coincidentally his teammate from 2012-2017 after Werth left Philadelphia to play for the Washington Nationals. He had lacked longevity this decade but posted an incredible 2010 season for the Phillies. He joins Victorino as one of the only two Phillies outfielders with 5-fWAR seasons this decade.

Best Moment

The signature moment of Harper’s first season as a Phillie capped an unlikely comeback victory to sweep the Chicago Cubs. His upper-deck, walkoff grand slam off Derek Holland completed what would prove to be the best win of the Phillies season:

Victorino is the owner of two postseason grand slams, but one came before 2010 and the other came in a Boston Red Sox uniform. His best Phillies moment of the 2010s is much less obvious. Perhaps the most memorable one would be his charging of the mound in San Francisco, clearing the benches and showing the grit that Victorino and his teammates played with throughout the Phillies golden era:

Werth was a feared hitter in that 2010 season. He was capable of changing the game with one swing of the bat and that is exactly what he did in a September day game against the Nationals. He gave the Phillies a 7-6 win with a two-run, walkoff home run off Drew Storen: