We here at The Good Phight are a learned group. We read, we study, we remember a lot of things about baseball. We are steeped in history, knowing the good and the bad of the rosters the Phillies have put onto the artificial turf at Veterans Stadium and the green expanse of Citizens Bank Park. While many fans today are unaccustomed to having to sit through actual bad baseball, those of us who have girded our loins to venture to South Philadelphia to take in a ballgame know the feeling of what bad baseball looks like.
In the past 25 years, the Phillies have actually enjoyed somewhat decent success. Included in those years is the greatest five season run in team history (2007-2011) as well as one of the darkest, most torturous rebuilds this city has ever seen. We can’t really call it the worst in team history since, well, you’ve seen the 1930’s Phillies right? Inspired by the recent article naming the best players in baseball since 2000, we’ve decided to assemble the greatest Phillies team of the same time frame. I created a list of three to five of the best players from that time in team history based on WAR and asked everybody in our Slack room to vote, but also reminded people that the stats aren’t everything. We can also take into account off field impact.
Don’t worry – you’ll get your chance in a few minutes.
Presented, with some commentary, here is the best player at each position for the 2000-2025 Phillies, as voted on by The Good Phight staff and other fun friends!
*Stats through 5/21/2025
Catcher – J.T. Realmuto (.256/.330/.459, 113 OPS+, 114 HR, 401 RBI, 23.1 bWAR)
While Chooch means a lot to the city, this one really isn’t all that close. Realmuto has been an outstanding acquisition since he got traded here, giving the team a leg up both on their offense and putting them at the top of catcher defense in the game today. While the gradual decline hasn’t been all that pretty, Realmuto is still one of the better all around backstops in the game.
Honorable mention: Carlos Ruiz, Mike Lieberthal
First base – Ryan Howard (.258/.343/.515, 125 OPS+, 382 HR, 1,194 RBI, 14.5 bWAR)
Another one that wasn’t close. Howard, affectionately called “The Big Piece” while here, became must see TV when he stepped to the plate. His home run off of Mike Mussina is still one of the best moments in Citizens Bank Park history.
While one can make the argument that the signing of Jim Thome changed the course of this team’s history, what with their finally deciding to flex a bit of financial muscle for once, Howard’s role in the team’s most successful run in team history cannot be understated.
Honorable mention: Jim Thome, Travis Lee
Second base – Chase Utley (.282/.366/.481, 122 OPS+, 233 HR, 916 RBI, 62.0 bWAR)
Having the best second baseman in team history is a no brainer here, but looking at his career numbers, the Hall of Fame argument is going to come up again. Sure, there were no MVPs, no nice round numbers that voters like to point at and argue for, but that last one – 62 WAR – is going to be tough to argue against in the next few years. He’s steadily climbed up ballots and has a Bert Blyleven’s-chance of getting in at the end of his time on the ballot, but boy was he fun to watch.
Honorable mention: Cesar Hernandez, Bryson Stott
Third base – Scott Rolen (.284/.370/.509, 127 OPS+, 68 HR, 262 RBI, 13.7 bWAR)
This one is one of the more controversial. Down below, you can see the honorable mention guys. Outside of maybe Bell, you can make a case for either Polanco or Bohm being the better choice here over Rolen. After all, since we’re only talking about the years since 2000, Rolen only played two and a half seasons with the Phillies in that timeframe, getting traded mid-way through 2002. Polanco had two different stints here with the Phillies and had a very good tenure here, but maybe suffers a bit from rose colored glasses when actually looking at his production (a 96 OPS+ with the Phillies isn’t that great). Bohm has been one of the more talked about players in these years with the Phillies and might even see his career with the team coming to an end soon.
Maybe Rolen is the best choice after all.
Honorable mention: Placido Polanco, Alec Bohm, David Bell
Shortstop – Jimmy Rollins (.267/.327/.424, 97 OPS+, 216 HR, 887 RBI, 453 SB, 47.5 bWAR)
Again, an easy choice, so instead, let’s take a look at some of the players that played shortstop since Rollins left the Phillies after 2014 and before Turner arrived in 2023.
2015 – Freddy Galvis, Andres Blanco
2016 – Galvis, Blanco, Emmanuel Burriss
2017 – Galvis, Blanco, J.P. Crawford
2018 – Scott Kingery, Crawford, Jesmuel Valentin, Pedro Florimon
2019 – Jean Segura, Brad Miller, Sean Rodriguez
2020 – Didi Gregorius, Ronald Torreyes
2021 – Gregorius, Torreyes, Phil Gosselin, Nick Maton, Galvis (!), Luke Williams
2022 – Bryson Stott, Segura, Johan Camargo, Maton
Folks, those are some bleak times. We were spoiled by those Rollins years now that we can look back it.
Honorable mention: Trea Turner, Freddy Galvis
Left field – Pat Burrell (.257/.367/.485, 119 OPS+, 251 HR, 827 RBI, 16.9 bWAR)
I’ll always be a Pat Burrell fan. While he was probably meant for a DH role early in his career, he was fine enough in left field at the same time being the right handed thump the lineup needed at that time.
But boy I will always do the “what if???” thing when it comes to Andrew McCutchen and the knee injury. I don’t think he would have been able to overtake Burrell for this spot, but I will wonder what 2019 looks like if he’s healthy the entire season.
Honorable mention: Raul Ibanez, Andrew McCutchen
Center field – Shane Victorino (.279/.345/.439, 105 OPS+, 88 HR, 390 RBI, 179 SB, 24.0 bWAR)
I didn’t realize how weak center field has been since Victorino has left. We could do the same thing here as we did with the shortstop position above, but I can only handle so many depressing looks back at the dark years before Harper arrived.
Honorable mention: Odubel Herrera, Aaron Rowand, Ben Revere
Right field – Bryce Harper (.284/.390/.529, 148 OPS+, 160 HR, 486 RBI, 73 SB, 24.7 bWAR)
Speaking of which…
The position with the deepest amount of names to consider, the choice between Harper and Bobby Abreu is a fascinating one. Abreu will always be underrated whenever his career is considered, but if we factor in off field things here as well, what Harper has meant to this franchise in the years since signing has to put him a good distance over the edge here.
Honorable mention: Bobby Abreu, Jayson Werth
Designated hitter – Kyle Schwarber
Really? Was there any other choice?
We could parse through all the games in which someone DH’ed for the Phillies prior to its becoming a league wide rule, but even then, it would pale in comparison to what Schwarber has done at the position.
Honorable mention: um….
Starting rotation – Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola
The years of the rebuild were torturous. They failed to produce anything in the starting rotation that would be of any use to that Phillies team or ones that came after.
Thank god for money.
Is it fair to say that this quintet of pitchers represent the best five starting pitchers in team history outside of Steve Carlton? Replacing Nola with Carlton, is there another name that you would put here, bumping someone to the curb? Maybe Schilling over Lee? How many questions in a row is too many questions?
Honorable mention: someone actually put Vicente Padilla
Relief pitchers – Ryan Madson, Jose Alvarado, Hector Neris
I asked the staff here to give me three relievers that were not closers since their importance in team construction cannot be forgotten.
The “Bridge to Lidge” was unanimous amongst everyone else, but the other names were not. Most every chose Alvarado (the suspension notwithstanding) and Neris felt like he belonged, but there was some other good choices here, shown in the honorable mentions. Pat Neshek especially should get some love; he was pretty good in those seasons he was here. Romero was a name I hadn’t remembered, but I like the thinking.
Honorable mention: Pat Neshek, J.C. Romero, Seranthony Dominguez
Closer – Jonathan Papelbon (123 SV, 237.2 IP, 2.31 ERA/2.85 FIP, 9.5 K/9)
Another interesting choice here. While Papelbon is about as well liked as J.D. Drew when it comes to remembering names, he was very, very good while here. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Amaro sign him like two days too early, before they changed a rule about signing free agents? I’m too lazy to look that up.
The other real choice here is Lidge, but if we’re talking straight effectiveness, it’s hard to forget his 2009 season in which he was just bad.
I still voted for Lidge anyway over Papelbon.
Honorable mention: Brad Lidge, Jose Mesa, Billy Wagner
Now, the part you’ve been waiting for.
Click here to vote for your choices for the Phillies’ All-Quarter Century Team. You might agree with our choices, you might have qualms with who was chosen. Let us know and we’ll write it up for next week.