General Discussion – Week of April 1. Our Long National Nightmare Is Over Edition

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Hey, there’s baseball today. Feel free to discuss it at length.

82 thoughts on “General Discussion – Week of April 1. Our Long National Nightmare Is Over Edition”

    1. You think? Worley despite questionable defense needed one more hit to tie or beat the best pitcher in baseball. Who will fill in when doc or kk or Lannon fail??

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  2. Thinking Cole pitches 7 shutout innings tonight, K’s 10, walks 0, Adams and Papelbon with scoreless innings out of the pen, and the Phils win 4-0 powered by two Ryan Howard home runs and a 2 run double by Dom Brown. Always great hope and optimism on opening day.

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    2. cole’s already given up 2 homers and mayberry RFD hit into a killer DP. that mayberry-nix platoon is far and away the weakest link in this lineup.

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        1. Exactly, that’s the problem. To be effective, these guys need to be on a pretty strict platoon with Nix being pulled for Mayberry the moment that a lefty relief specialist is brought in (he simply cannot hit a good lefty pitcher).

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  7. Two boots at 3B for Young. Good start. On a positive note, good to see Utley drive the ball and make it to third on the triple.

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  8. Absolutely great at-bat by Revere. He tired Hudson, who gave in to him, and set up Utley’s two RBI. Mayberry and Kratz took the heat and produced a run. The Phils would be still playing if not for Durbin’s unfortunate inning. Cole Hamels cutter did not serve him tonight. This team will hit. It should be a good year with the pitching strength.

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    1. I am very impressed by Ben Revere. HIs contact skills (and intentional ability to foul off pitches) are elite. If he can continue to grind it out and put up, say 50-60 walks a year (I would settle fro 45 if he can hit over .300), he’s going to be very valuable. I swear that every time I see him play, he manufactures a run.

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  9. Hamels was obviously over-throwing as too many pitches were up. I expect him to settle down going forward. Wednesday game all of the sudden becomes big for Halladay and I am not sure he is ready for that yet.

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      1. Except that the Phillies are already a game behind two very good clubs. Games in April count as much as ones in September. They need to show they can beat a marginal lefty in Maholm.

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    2. Not only was he overthrowing, he looked like he was rushing his pitches. Probably the excitement of opening day got to him. Physically, he looked great though. Looks like he added some muscle

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  10. Great, I know it is a SSS but we are on pace to go 0-162. I am going to eat rat poison and wash it down with anti freeze because this season is over.

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  12. What happened to the Howard we saw in ST? That guy last night was back to swinging at everything. He had 5 AB’s and I’m not sure they even threw him 5 strikes.

    Durbin is a blemish on what should otherwise be a strong BP.

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    1. Just be glad that Brian McCann is also not in the line-up now. He’s also a Phillies assassin.

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    2. braves have a heckuva lot of good young players, don’t they? could have six guys hit at least 20 homers, if mccann isn’t out too long.

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  14. Ender Inciarte designated for assignment. Phillies claim Ezekiel Carrera from Indians.

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    1. Hopefully we can retain Inciarte. He would fit well in Reading, Carrera is a more polished version of Ender but not much. Big league experience is about his only advantage. Quick speedy OF.

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      1. Diamondbacks refused trade offers (Phillies tried) and they will be taking him back if he clears waivers (another team can claim him and keep as a Rule V pick)

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        1. Does Carerra have options? I am assuming no. So when Young is activated and we send him down, there is a risk of losing him, correct?

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          1. Out of options which is why he was DFA’d by Indians. He is the teams only truly viable back up CF right now, I would suspect he might have the inside track on NIx and Mayberry right now.

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            2. I have no problem getting rid of Nix when Young is activated but then there is no lefthanded pop off the bench at all. I wish they would carry only 11 pitchers. Then, if Young is awful, Ruf gets called up in June (having hopefully become more comfortable in left) but then you are still righty power heavy. So maybe moving Mayberry would make more sense. I think he has some decent value. Then your post season outfield would be Ruf, Revere and Brown with Young the DH or coming of the bench, Carerra for defense and Nix as the lefty with power off the bench.

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            3. I agree somewhat. Righty-Righty matchup is much better than Lefty-Lefty. Having a left handed bat is always valuable. Greg Dobbs is a good example

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            4. Nick, John Mayberry Jr. just confounds me as he always starts slowly and does not play well in the first half. He has so much natuaral ability but has great difficulty harnessing it.

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    3. Meh. I’d rather have the guy who’s 22 than the guy who’s 26. But I guess we were all right to overlook Inciarte in the Top 30 afterall. There was just no spot for him on the 25 man roster all year and if the Revere trade had gone down a little bit sooner they might not have taken him.

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      1. They needed another LH bat, off the bench. Last nights’ game was a perfect example of why this was needed. Mayberry came up twice in crucial situations with RH pitchers on the mound, where Nix would have been the better option. Instead they had to wait, to use Nix, because he was the only usable LH bat on the bench. If they would have had another Major League(or AAAA) LH hitter on the bench, Mayberry wouldn’t have been in position to fail.

        I wish they could’ve made a deal to put Inciarte in AA, but Carrera is better for the major league team in the short term.

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        1. Of course the other answer would have been to start Nix. Then Mayberry wouldn’t have been in the position to fail either.

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        2. Agree. He’s not much of a hitter, but he seems to be a better one than any of the other options they had during spring training and he’s an actual OF. Too bad they couldn’t work out a trade with Arizona for Inciarte.

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  15. Ethan Martin vs. Brody Colvin tonight in the first official (albeit exhibition) minor league action of the year! Anybody planning to attend and give some reports?

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      1. Matt, where is it being broadcast? I didn’t see it on Milb.com. Is it on the Lehigh Valley station? This is the one year that I expect a number of prospects to be called up and actually make a big difference – perhaps a big enough difference where the team can possibly make the playoffs.

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        1. IronPigs website had it as being on milbtv, if not then I am locked out as well. A pity. It is on IronPigs Television Network otherwise

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  16. I thought we would win last night, because I think we can score runs against an aging Hudson and that Hamels could shut down a powerful but strikeout-prone Braves lineup. Hamels just had a uncharacteristically poor outing, but we did score runs against Hudson. History, of course, dictates that Hamels will rebound. As for tomorrow, I also think that we can score runs against Maholm, but I also think there’s a chance Halladay is shaky. If you make mistakes to the 2013 Braves, they will destroy you. If you’re careful, you can definitely beat them, though. So, tomorrow, there is no clear favorite. Halladay has looked better each time out, and he could be solid for six or seven. At the same time, he could get knocked around, and there is a slim chance we can beat up on Maholm and the Braves’ bullpen.

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  18. Two of the off season guys contributed nightly to this loss. So far the COver looks good but I did not like the price..

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  19. 3 one hit innings for Martin. Morgan on in relief. Martin had a lively fastball, Colvin has pitched well too, only allowed a RBI single to Ruf.

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  21. Hands are thawed out, here’s some game thoughts

    -Martin looked good tonight, topped out at I believe 93-94
    -Morgan walked the first two guys he faced, didn’t look great out there all
    -Friend I believe had 2 K’s in his one inning of work, topped out at 89
    -Ruf had two hits in the game (before I left), only chance in LF was a double from Hewitt of all people
    -Colvin gave up 1 run on 5 hits I believe in 4 innings of work, looked a lot better than I thought he would

    It was the coldest game I was ever at, that’s for sure, I’d say attendance was probably no more than 250-300, by the time I left in the 7th, it might’ve been 150. Usually I keep score and write pitches down, but it was wayyy too cold to be doing that, especially with no gloves.

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  22. Perils of the relief pitcher’s arm: After three very good years out of the pen, hard-throwing lefty Jonny Venters is shut down by the Braves for awhile with an injection in the throwing elbow in which he had surgery in 2005.
    From the metric guys…..does this signify the beginning of his decline?

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  23. That why he braves can compete at lower salary, they have great scouts. that avialn will come in every time before eighth that howard or brown bat, howard swung at nothing near a strike. just shows you spring training is nothing to base anything on,

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  24. Docs looking really shaky. It’s strange because it seems like he’s still got some pretty nasty stuff but his decision making is off as hes making too many bad pitches. It makes you wonder if Kratz is doing a good job calling the games.

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    1. I too am still in denial. I was going to blame the rain, but I can get on board with blaming Kratz. Seriously though, he has been mostly under 90 and just doesn’t look good to me. On the other hand, he has 6 strikeouts in 2 innings so what do I know?

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    2. His location was terrible but I think he has enough velocity and movement to win. Also I agree about the decision making, but I don’t know if Kratz should be the one to blame. Somebody decided to throw Maholm curveballs on 3 of 4 pitches though, which I don’t get. He seemed afraid to go with the sinker more.

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      1. Its really not the velocity that’s the issue on the fastball and cutter, its that they don’t move like they used to. He used to break bats all the time because guys would be swinging at a pitch that looked over the middle of the plate that tailed in two inches and broke the handle of the bat. Now his fastball and sinker just look straight. If he was 88-91 with them and the same movement, he would be okay. I’m hoping there are some mechanical adjustments he can make to get the movement back, but we’ll see.

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  25. I would give it one or two more starts and if the results still aren’t there you have to send him down to work on it. I’m actually looking forward to see signs of what the contingency plan might be. Morgan right now would be a better option with all do respect to Doc and what he has done in this league.

    Martin also has eyes on him to see if he can show improved command. If you look at how the team is constructed right now it is poised to get younger in a hurry.

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    1. Good post and the Phillies could John Lannan to replace Roy until and if he gets things corrected. If not the Phillies may bring up one of the AAA pitchers to fill Roy’s spot. Lastly, is Ben and Chase the only guys to show up this year?

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        1. You are correct I missed Dom who is playing well but most everyone else needs to step it up.

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        1. The one thing that is really neat about Adams is the swing and misses he gets with sub 90 Velocity. I mean he threw some balls right over the plate that weren’t touched.

          Pull out cliché here: he must hide the ball really well!

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    2. I agree that you’ve certainly got to give Doc a few more outings to see where he’s at. Like I posted before, I think he’s got the stuff to continue playing well. He wouldn’t have struck out 9 in 3 1/3 innings if he didn’t. That being said, I don’t think that Morgan should be the first guy brought up to replace Halladay. He’s already being given a challenge by starting the year at AAA, I doubt he’s just yet ready to be in the majors. Pettibone or Cloyd would make more sense IMO but I still don’t think they should give up on Halladay too soon.

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  27. The headline needs to be changed to: THE NIGHTMARE OF 2013 HAS BEGUN!!!

    Just kidding,that too brutal.Its only two games,and hopefully it will get better.Right now it just seems that the Nationals and the Braves are so much better,But that’s why they play 162 games.

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  29. There cheapness in the draft and international market, is the reason you have durbin, and horst, they couldnt come up with one relief pitcher to help, ridicuous, madson is the only guy they developed in all these years, good for fans , stub hub will have tickets for 19 cents like the sixers, have, good for this ownership, from world series to bottom of standing team.

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    1. Nice try but no, Horst has been pretty decent to this point but that was the wrong spot for him. As for Durbin (actually started writing Qualls), Stutes, De Fratus, Diekman, and probably Rosenberg are all better relievers who were sent to LHV by the front office (all home grown)

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      1. +1. Not only do they have guys in the minors who are likely better options but they have young relievers in the ML bullpen who are better in Bastardo and Aumont.

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  30. not one of those guys you mention have done anything in the majors, rosenberg just gets bomb, diekman is wild as hell, stutes hasnt prove anyting, de fratus is another who hasnt proven anything, try some more names in the last 5 years beside madson who were home grown, and actually helped, Wrong spot for horst, my god he is a big league pitcher, who was asked to get one lefthand batter out, wrong spot. does anyone have a clue ,what is a right spot to use horst.

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  31. Stutes and Defratus are BLOCKED by durbin etc.
    Hail to the unlikely hero. KF made a 1/5 team into a contender.

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