The Philadelphia Phillies designated Grady Sizemore for assignment Friday in a move that isn't entirely surprising at this point in Sizemore's career. It is worth reflection, though, given that he's still only 32 years old and back in his early-to-mid 20s was one of the most talented, promising and even best all-around players in baseball.

Sizemore debuted at age 21 in 2004. Think about that. Kris Bryant debuted to heavy hype this season and he's 23. Joc Pederson is 23. Noah Syndergaard is 22.

In Sizemore's first full season, 2005 at age 22, he hit .289/.348/.484 (123 OPS+) with 185 hits, 37 doubles, 11 triples, 22 homers, 81 RBI, 111 runs and 22 steals. He played great defense at the premium position in the outfield and was ninth in the AL in total bases. Again, at age 22.

The next season, he became a bona fide star, making the All-Star team and finishing 11th in AL MVP voting despite playing for a team that won 78 games. He led the majors in doubles (53) and runs (134), also putting up 11 triples, 28 homers, 76 RBI (as a leadoff hitter) and 22 steals. Among AL position players, he led the league in WAR.

Not only that, but baseball-reference.com has a "similarity score" feature which outputs the most statisically similar player in baseball history. Through age 23, the most similar player to Grady Sizemore was ... Hall of Famer Duke Snider.

By the end of the 2008 season, Sizemore was a three-time All-Star, had gotten MVP votes in every single full season and had two Gold Gloves. He'd been to the playoffs with his Indians and was coming off a season in which he hit 33 homers and stole 38 bases. Remember that similarity score I mentioned? The most similar player to Sizemore through age 25 was Barry Bonds. Snider was second most similar.

And, again, this is at age 25. He already had four consecutive seasons in which he was one of the best all-around players in baseball. For some perspective, here are a few current 25 year olds: Jace Peterson, George Springer, Didi Gregorius, Kevin Kiermaier. To reiterate, by this time in his career, Sizemore had just produced four of the best all-around seasons in the league.

The great Grady Sizemore could do it all.
The great Grady Sizemore could do it all. (Getty Images)

And then everything fell apart.

Injuries to his elbow, back and mostly knees (yes, both of them) essentially ruined his career. Take a look at his average season the first four full years of his career compared to the rest, through last season. These are seasonal averages, so I left out his rookie year and this season so we'd have "full" seasons only.

Sizmore's average per season
Year Games AVG/OBP/SLG OPS+ 2B 3B HR R SB WAR
2005-2008 160 .281/.372/.496 128 41 8 27 116 29 6.2
2009-2014* 80 .234/.310/.396 94 16 3 8 39 6 0.5

*These samples are four seasons each, as Sizemore didn't play a single game in 2012 or 2013.

Note the average games played. Through age 25, Sizemore was incredibly durable. His body just gave way. Most of the value in the averages in the latter part of his career came in 2009, when he had 20 doubles, 18 homers and 13 steals. Starting in 2010, he has been worth very little on the field.

Now, let's be clear. This isn't a sob story for Sizemore as a human being. He's gotten to play in The Show for a almost a decade when most of us would have gone to pretty ridiculous lengths to get one plate appearance. He's banked over $30 million and, again, most of us could only dream of that.

This is, though, yet another reminder. I noted with Allen Craig that we constantly are reminded just how hard baseball is in the example of players losing "it." In the case of Sizemore, it is both a reminder of the difficulty of this game but also how easily injuries can completely derail a career. So when we look at the objects of our baseball-loving affection, such as Mike Trout, Bryce Harper (ahem, he's still only 22), Giancarlo Stanton or even someone a bit older like Andrew McCutchen, just keep in mind how fleeting these great years can be for even the most talented of players.

Remember the great Grady Sizemore and how badly it all fell apart.