Hamels, Halladay among top Phils of 2010s

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies entered this decade as a National League juggernaut, finishing the previous one with three consecutive National League East titles, two consecutive NL pennants and the 2008 World Series championship.

They had the best record in baseball in 2010 and 2011, but failed to reach the World Series.

The juggernaut crumbled after that. The Phillies have not been to the postseason since 2011. But as the decade closes, MLB.com looks back at the Phillies’ top 10 players of the decade:

1) Cole Hamels
Seasons: 2010-15

Hamels threw a no-hitter against the Cubs at Wrigley Field in his final start for the Phillies on July 25, 2015. Four days later, they traded him and Jake Diekman to the Rangers for Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams, Jerad Eickhoff, Jake Thompson, Alec Asher and Matt Harrison. Hamels went 66-56 with a 3.07 ERA in 179 appearances (178 starts) with the Phillies in the ‘10s. He threw 357 2/3 more innings than any other Phillies’ pitcher. He helped anchor the ’10 and ’11 rotations. He made two NL All-Star teams and finished in the top 10 in NL Cy Young Award voting three times.

WAR: bWAR 29.9, fWAR 25.6

2) Cliff Lee
Seasons: 2011-14

Lee shocked baseball when he re-signed with the Phillies before the 2011 season, forming one of the greatest rotations in baseball history. That’s right, the Phillies’ rotation in ’11 posted a combined 27.0 fWAR, which is the best mark in baseball since 1871. Lee went 48-34 with a 2.94 ERA in 118 games with the Phillies. He made the All-Star team in ’11, finished third for the Cy Young Award and earned a few NL MVP Award votes.

WAR: bWAR 20.5, fWAR 19.6

3) Chase Utley
Seasons: 2010-15

Utley is one of the most popular players in Phillies’ history. He had a remarkable peak from 2005-09, but still enjoyed some solid seasons (despite a chronic condition in both knees) before the Phillies traded him to the Dodgers in Aug. 2015. He made the All-Star team in ’10 and ’14.

WAR: bWAR 19.6, fWAR 19.1

4) Aaron Nola
Seasons: 2015-19

Nola is one of only two Phillies that played in the second half of the decade in the top 10 list. He finished third for the NL Cy Young Award in ’18. He went 53-35 with a 3.49 ERA in 127 starts. He made the All-Star team and got a few MVP votes in ’18, too.

WAR: bWAR 20.3, fWAR 17.2

5) Roy Halladay
Seasons: 2010-13

Halladay provided some of the greatest moments in Phillies’ history, much less the decade. He threw a perfect game in Miami in May 2010. He threw the second no-hitter in postseason history in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS against the Reds. He won the NL Cy Young in ’10 and finished second in ’11. He made the All-Star team in ’10 and ’11. He finished in the top 10 in MVP voting both seasons, too. They don’t make pitchers like Halladay anymore. He threw 17 complete games and five shutouts in his first two seasons with the Phillies.

WAR: bWAR 17.0, fWAR 16.8

6) Jimmy Rollins
Seasons: 2010-14

Rollins became the franchise’s all-time hits leader this decade, passing Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt. Rollins, like Utley, was not the player he was the previous decade, but he always played a Gold Glove Award-caliber shortstop. He won his fourth Gold Glove Award in ’12.

WAR: bWAR 11.4, fWAR 16.0

7) Carlos Ruiz
Seasons: 2010-16

Chooch was behind the plate for almost every amazing moment from the Philllies’ epic run from 2007-11. He tied an MLB record catching four no-hitters: Halladay’s perfect game, Halladay’s postseason no-hitter, a combined no-hitter in Sept. 2014 (Hamels, Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon) and Hamels’ no-hitter at Wrigley.

WAR: bWAR 17.1, fWAR 10.9

8) Shane Victorino
Seasons: 2010-12

Victorino was the Phillies’ best position player in ’11, although he was overshadowed because of the rotation. He won a Gold Glove Award in ’10 and made the All-Star team and earned MVP votes in ’11. The Phillies traded him to the Dodgers in July 2012.

WAR: bWAR 10.4, fWAR 10.8

9) Ryan Howard
Seasons: 2010-16

Howard hit 31 homers with 108 RBIs in 2010, making the All-Star team and finishing 10th for MVP, and hit 33 homers with 116 RBIs in 2011, finishing 10th for MVP. He ruptured his Achilles in Game 5 of the ’11 NLDS and was never the same, but he still hit 160 homers over those seven seasons.

WAR: bWAR -2.1, fWAR 0.8

10) Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper
Seasons: 2010 and 2019, respectively

OK, we’re playing fast and loose with the rules here, but we are going to bookend these two right fielders for the No. 10 spot because Werth started the decade with a stellar season and Harper capped it with a stellar season. Two of the better individual seasons the Phillies have had this decade.

WAR (Werth): bWAR 4.5, fWAR 5.0
WAR (Harper): bWAR 4.2, fWAR 4.6