As baseball's offseason takes shape, we will take a look at each player on the Phillies 2020 roster and where they fit in the future. We'll go through the roster by uniform number, lowest to highest for position players, highest to lowest for pitchers, and alternate daily.
Today: Outfielder Roman Quinn
Career rundown
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Quinn is a talented and athletic switch-hitter with blazing speed and a strong throwing arm. As a young player in the minor leagues, he was compared to Jimmy Rollins for the electricity he brought to games, particularly on the base paths. Injuries have interrupted his progress throughout his career and he hasn't done enough when healthy to lock up a regular job in the majors.
How he became a Phillie
Much like Rollins, a second-round draft pick in 1996, Quinn was the Phillies' second-round pick in 2011. Rollins passed on a chance to play at Arizona State; Quinn at Florida State.
Though he had some experience in the outfield, he was mostly a shortstop coming out of high school. He made a permanent switch to the outfield to accommodate shortstop J.P. Crawford while the two were playing at Single A Clearwater in 2014.
MLB
2020 season
Quinn has spent time on the injured list in all but two of his professional seasons. He was relatively healthy this season, though he did miss nine days while in concussion protocol.
Even though the season was abbreviated, it offered Quinn his best chance at showing the organization he could be a regular. Manager Joe Girardi joined the club and admitted that he'd previously been smitten with Quinn's game-changing athleticism and speed. Quinn got every chance to impress. He made a tremendous defensive play in center field at Atlanta on August 23 to help ignite a string of 10 wins in 11 games. But overall, he struggled offensively and the Phillies go into this offseason with center field as one their potential holes to fill.
Quinn hit just .213 with a dreadful .261 on-base percentage. He struck out 39 times and walked just five in 116 plate appearances. His swing was noticeably long, as if he was looking to hit home runs. Even at 5-9, Quinn is a strong guy and can generate power. But he's far from a power hitter. His inability to get on base consistently with hits and walks prevents him from utilizing his best asset — his legs. Over the last two seasons, Quinn is 20 for 20 in stolen base attempts. This is a guy who can turn walks into doubles, but that's hard to do when you're striking out 33.6 percent of the time and walking just 4.3 percent of the time. Those were Quinn's percentages in 2020.
What lies ahead
Quinn will turn 28 in May. He is still a pre-arbitration player. In other words, he's inexpensive. He will get more expensive after next season when he becomes eligible for salary arbitration and that ramps up the pressure for him to produce in 2021 or prepare for his next stop.
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