The Phillies outfield is the weakest link of a weak offense. As a group, the unit ranks 29th in OPS (.654), on base percentage (.278), and wRC+ (77). The recent month-long cold spell from their only plus player in Brandon Marsh has made the sore spots in the outfield stick out even more. The team has cycled numerous options to try and stabilize the spots around Marsh but none have proven to be legitimate answers.
One of the more recent of those options the team has tried has been Gabriel Rincones
Jr. His start seemed promising, as Rincones homered in his second career game on June 15th. Outside of that however, Rincones has looked totally overmatched, as he’s hitting .171 with a .500 OPS across 87 plate appearances entering play on Wednesday. He’s struck out an eye-popping 27 times in 28 games and has walked just twice.
It’s somewhat unfair to single Rincones out in a group that has underperformed so badly. But he has been the worst and has no real track record to lean on, plus the recently called up Bryan De La Cruz has been off to a hot start. It may be time to get Rincones some much needed time in Triple-A to see if he can recapture some version of his swing to where he could actually contribute to the MLB club in some form.
So, is it time to end the Gabriel Rincones Jr. experiment?
