Worst Phillies Outfield Since 1971?

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This 2014 Philadelphia Phillies outfield is one of the most difficult tandems I have ever had to watch.  Ben Revere hits for average and is fast, but offers zero power and his arm?  His arm is to the point where players are moonwalking into home when tagging up on balls hit to Revere in shallow centerfield.

Dom Brown’s offensive numbers are among the worst in baseball among qualifying players.  His defense? Atrociously awkward with a dash of laziness.

Marlon Byrd has been decent.

The bench of juniors, Mayberry and Gwynn, aren’t exactly Ripken and Griffey.

But, how bad are they?  Has boy-genius Ruben Amaro, Jr put together the worst outfield in the past 43 years for the franchise with the most losses in MLB history?  I went back and pulled the outfielders from some of the worst teams in Phillies history for comparison.  Granted, these are only half the story since they are just the offensive statistics.  We all know Revere and Brown may be the two worst to simultaneously be in the outfield considering Brown’s routes and effort and Revere’s arm.

Here are the teams I considered among the worst in recent Phillies history:  2000 (65-97), 1989 (67-95), 1988 (65-96), 1972 (59-97), 1971 (67-95).

The 2014 Numbers:

Name AB HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS
Domonic Brown 263 5 37 0.217 0.271 0.323 0.594
Ben Revere 253 1 9 0.273 0.290 0.332 0.622
Marlon Byrd 289 13 45 0.260 0.311 0.474 0.785
John Mayberry 96 5 20 0.229 0.339 0.458 0.798
Tony Gwynn 85 0 3 0.153 0.265 0.176 0.442

2000 Phillies 65-97

Name AB HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS
Ron Gant 343 20 38 0.254 0.324 0.487 0.811
Doug Glanville 637 8 52 0.275 0.307 0.374 0.681
Bobby Abreu 576 25 79 0.316 0.416 0.554 0.97
Rob Ducey 152 6 25 0.197 0.322 0.355 0.678
Kevin Sefcik 153 0 10 0.235 0.300 0.301 0.601

1989 Phillies 67-95

Name AB HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS
John Kruk 281 5 38 0.331 0.386 0.473 0.859
Lenny Dykstra 352 4 19 0.222 0.297 0.330 0.626
Von Hayes 540 26 78 0.259 0.376 0.461 0.837
Randy Ready 187 8 21 0.267 0.372 0.465 0.837
Juan Samuel 199 8 20 0.246 0.311 0.392 0.702
Bob Dernier 187 1 13 0.171 0.225 0.214 0.439
Chris James 179 2 19 0.207 0.223 0.263 0.485

1988 Phillies 65-96

Name AB HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS
Phil Bradley 569 11 56 0.264 0.341 0.392 0.733
Milt Thompson 378 2 33 0.288 0.354 0.357 0.711
Chris James 566 19 66 0.242 0.283 0.389 0.671
Bob Dernier 166 1 10 0.289 0.330 0.337 0.667
Mike Young 146 1 14 0.226 0.343 0.342 0.685
Ron Jones 124 8 26 0.290 0.295 0.548 0.843

 1972 Phillies 59-97

Name AB HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS
Greg Luzinski 563 18 68 0.281 0.332 0.453 0.785
Willie Montanez 531 13 64 0.247 0.32 0.405 0.725
Roger Freed 129 6 18 0.225 0.344 0.395 0.74
Bill Robinson 188 8 21 0.239 0.258 0.426 0.683
Oscar Gamble 135 1 13 0.237 0.331 0.326 0.657
Mike Anderson 103 2 5 0.194 0.317 0.32 0.637
Ron Stone 54 0 3 0.167 0.286 0.204 0.489
Byron Browne 21 0 0 0.190 0.227 0.19 0.418

1971 Phillies 97-95

Name AB HR RBI BA OBP SLG OPS
Oscar Gamble 280 6 23 0.221 0.275 0.332 0.607
Willie Montanez 599 30 99 0.255 0.327 0.471 0.798
Roger Freed 348 6 37 0.221 0.312 0.313 0.625
Ron Stone 185 2 23 0.227 0.315 0.314 0.628
Joe Lis 123 6 10 0.211 0.308 0.407 0.714
Mike Anderson 89 2 5 0.247 0.343 0.393 0.736
Larry Hisle 76 0 3 0.197 0.256 0.237 0.493
Byron Browne 68 3 5 0.206 0.289 0.382 0.672
John Briggs 22 0 3 0.182 0.357 0.227 0.584

I look at those numbers and the names attached to them and I can confidently say that this current squad of never-beens isn’t the worst outfield collective in Phillies history.  It’s close.  1971 is worse in my opinion, but arguments could be made for the 71 squad.

We can, however, probably say that boy-wonder Ruben Amaro, Jr has probably put together the worst outfield in the past 42 YEARS of Phillies history.  That’s no small feat.  A lot of GM’s have come and gone and none have been able to achieve such outfielder mediocrity.

My buddy Jim asked a decent question the other night.  Would I trade Gwynn Jr, Revere, Mayberry Jr, Ruf, and Marlon Byrd for Von Hayes?  Ya know, I probably would.