Has Altherr Earned A Starting Spot In The Phillies’ Lineup?

Aaron Altherr missed most of last season due to Wrist Surgery so the Phillies organization and their fans have waited till 2017 to see what he can do with a full season in the Major Leagues.  With the injury to Howie Kendrick, Altherr has been thrust into the daily lineup and has not disappointed.  Altherr has Four Home Runs and 14 RBI in 23 Games while posting a .338 Batting Average and .631 Slugging Percentage.

Philly Voice Phillies Beat Writer Ryan Lawrence joined The Sports Bash on Monday and discussed if Altherr has earned the opportunity to be an every day starting Outfielder moving forward:

"(Altherr) is proving he deserves to play every day and good for him because...I didn't think last year was very fair in terms of he missed all that time after having Wrist Surgery.  When he came back he wasn't himself, when you don't swing a bat for three months it's tough to jump in (against) Major League Pitching after a week of Rehab and expect to have success.  Just the nature of where this team is, they're rebuilding, they're trying to see who belongs and who doesn't, they need to play the young players and see what they have in these young players....That's the whole point of this season and the whole point of last season is to give all of these guys extended looks and then see if they belong.  You can't really make that decision based on three weeks."

Hear what Lawrence had to say about the Phillies Bullpen and Starting Rotation moving forward along with his perspective on Tommy Joseph and the return of Carlos Ruiz