3 Phillies appear on Audacy’s countdown of top 30 position players in MLB
Over on Audacy Sports, we released our countdown of the top 30 position players in baseball ahead of the 2023 season.
Three Philadelphia Phillies appeared on the list, at the following spots:
Bryce Harper, No. 7: “It was hard to determine what to do with Harper, because a broken left thumb limited him to 99 games in 2022, and he’s going to miss quite a bit of time in 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November. But the two-time NL MVP was one of the best hitters in baseball when he played last year, and he hit .349 with six home runs and 13 RBIs during a run to the World Series, capturing the NLCS MVP. The Phillies will eagerly await Harper’s return to their lineup, and — they hope — to right field in 2023.”
Trea Turner, No. 16: “Turner joined the defending National League Champions this winter, signing an 11-year/$300 million deal that will put him in red pinstripes for the remainder of his career. He’s already led the senior circuit in stolen bases twice, and it will be interesting to see how much he takes advantage of new rules that should incentivize more action on the basepaths.”
J.T. Realmuto, No. 23: “Realmuto re-emerged as the best catcher in baseball during a monster second half, which saw him slash .307/.367/.583 with a .949 OPS. During a magical postseason run for the Phillies, Realmuto hit an inside-the-park home run in Game 4 of the NLDS and the game-winning home run in Game 1 of the World Series. It’s fair to wonder how much longer Realmuto can handle the insane workload behind the plate that he’s had the past few seasons, but in a post Buster Posey/Yadier Molina era, he’s become the face of the position. And some food for thought: Baseball Reference says that the average WAR 7 — top seven single-season WAR totals added up, not necessarily in order — of a Hall of Fame catcher is 34.7. Realmuto is currently at 28.4 after seven full 162-game seasons, putting him within striking distance of that mark.“
Only two other teams had more players in the top 30 — the Houston Astros and San Diego Padres.
The defending World Series Champion Astros had four players on the list; Yordan Álvarez at No. 11, Jose Altuve at No. 26, Kyle Tucker at No. 28 and Alex Bregman at No. 29.
Meanwhile, the Padres also had four key players appear on the countdown; Juan Soto at No. 5, Manny Machado at No. 8, Fernando Tatis Jr. at No. 13 and Xander Bogaerts at No. 21. The Phillies eliminated the Padres in five games in the NLCS a season ago, but Tatis was serving a performance-enhancing drug suspension and Bogaerts was still a member of the Boston Red Sox.
Earlier this month, both Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola appeared on Audacy‘s countdown of the top 15 starting pitchers ahead of the 2023 season.
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