The Philadelphia Phillies are currently a half game up of the last wild card spot in the National League with just a week left to play. They might be without their best hitter, Bryce Harper, who has been playing with back issues the entire season and took himself out of the game on Sunday. JT Realmuto remains a question mark and Rhys Hoskins is still on the injured list.
For Matt Klentak, whether or not the Phillies make the playoffs could mean his job. According to Ken Rosenthal, Klentak is one of several GMs on the hot seat this offseason.
Here's what Rosenthal had to say:
The Mets’ Brodie Van Wagenen and Phillies’ Matt Klentak both are signed through 2022, but might be in trouble for different reasons. Steve Cohen, if approved as Mets owner, almost certainly would want to hire his own head of baseball operations. The Phillies rank seventh in payroll, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, yet for the second straight season are hovering around .500 despite fielding rosters that included catcher J.T. Realmuto, right fielder Bryce Harper and right-hander Aaron Nola. A deep run in the postseason might save Klentak, but how would that even be possible when the team’s bullpen is the worst in the majors?
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Klentak tried to address the bullpen failures at the trade deadline by acquiring Brandon Workman, David Phelps and Heath Hembree, but all three have preformed terribly for the Phillies. Here are all three combined lines before and after joining the Phillies:
Pre-Phillies: 3.99 ERA, .218 batting average, 7.5% walk rate, 32% strikeout rate
Phillies: 9.10 ERA, .355 batting average 11.2% walk rate, and 23% strikeout rate
Outside of the bullpen, questions about the starting pitching outside of Nola and Zack Wheeler still linger, although Zach Eflin's resurgence has been a positive at the backend of the rotation. The Phillies have one of the better lineups in baseball, and Klentak should be given credit for acquiring guys like Realmuto, Jean Segura and Didi Gregorious. Yet Klentak also shoulders the blame for a number of lopsided trades, and ultimately he is responsible for a team that has been mediocre over the last several years and have yet to take advantage of guys like Harper and Realmuto in their prime.
The Phillies finish out the season with a four-game set against the Nationals before heading to Tampa to play the Rays for the final three games. The Nationals are all but out of the playoff race while the Rays have clinched a playoff spot in the American League.