Box Score Recap – 8/28/2013

Box Score Recap

Not a banner night for the full-season teams. They combined for seven runs in five games. Lost all five. Cameron Rupp left the Lehigh Valley game with an apparent thumb injury. Jesse Biddle had another wild performance. Walked seven in three innings, but allowed just one hit and one run, while striking out four. Not sure what to make of his year. Ethan Stewart was not bad for CLR – he’s been not bad for a couple turns now. Exciting, I know. And Alejandro Arteaga had a good start in his FSL debut – 6IP/0R/2H/2BB/4K – after showing nice, if not thrilling number in the GCL most of the year.

In the short season leagues, Yacksel Rios pitched well for WIL again – 5IP/1R/6H/1BB/5K – while Venn Biter was 2-5 with a double and a triple and Trey Williams hit his third homerun of the year for GCL. The GCL season wraps up today, as the Phillies have been eliminated from playoff contention. They are, at least, guaranteed a .500 season, which will probably feel better than a sub-.500 season…I did the math in my head.

Here’s the affiliate Scoreboard from MiLB.

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?sid=milb&org=143&ymd=20130828

8-28-13 boxscores

79 thoughts on “Box Score Recap – 8/28/2013”

  2. asche went down last night with hamstring problems….do you think Franco will be a September call up. I agree he probably isn’t ready….but I also think a month of the majors might be good experience for him

    Like

    1. If I was the Phillies, I would 100% call up Franco for a month at this point. And he’d start every game at 3B

      Like

      1. It sounded like Asche’s hamstring injury would only be a day-to-day kind of thing, not huge at all. I really don’t think there’s any reason to rush Franco. I want him to be able to make adjustments that higher level pitching in AAA should reveal. Let’s not a pull a New York Mets and promote him way before he is ready – in the long run, it won’t help him.

        Like

          1. I’m actually of the belief that the back end of the 40 man (say last 2/3 players) are pretty much worthless, if you’ve got a stud prospect who might gain some benefit to playing 30 days on the big club, it’s a worth while move.

            As to Asche being day-to-day, that’s a good reason not to call him up.

            I’m not sure why the majority on this site insist on babying Franco. He’s got almost 300 AB’s at AA and is dominant, the Phillies suck, there is literally zero downside (other then the 40-man argument which I don’t place much weight in as described above) to giving him a taste of the majors. Maybe he’ll have a tough go of it and get a better idea what he needs to focus on for next year.

            I think it’s a fantastic idea.

            Like

            3. I gotta admit – Im not usually a fan of rushing someone (thinking of Dom Brown, but that was in a pennant race…) but the thought of watching Franco at 1B & Asche at 3B seems to make these last stretch of games more palatable towatch…..

              Like

  3. Zach Collier reached base three times. His AA OBP is now up to .308, higher than Kelly Dugan.

    Actually, Dugan vs. Collier is an interesting comparison. They are the same age (both September 1990), and now the same level. Since the ASB (which nearly coincides with Dugan’s promotion):

    Dugan: .261 / .302 / .500
    Collier: .264 / .368 / .415

    If you disregard BABIP, their A+ numbers weren’t so different. Dugan has more power, but Collier has more speed and plays CF.

    Like

    1. Are you serious why dont you compare the first six weeks in AA for both players? Is it still close than? You can’y just pick a certain timeframe and then make claims. Look at the whole season. I take Dugan over Collier anytime.

      Like

      1. Well yes, of course Dugan is the better prospect. I was simply using him as a foil to explore Collier’s recent performance and overall peripherals.

        Like

    2. Aren’t you even a little concerned at Dugan’s 2% walk rate? It’s even more concerning then Franco’s… it also might explain part of his massive drop in BABIP… aka he could be having trouble with pitch recognition and his ISO is related to “sitting on a fastball”. Collier has his own issues… at this point I think both are fringe prospects with big holes in their game.

      Like

      1. Dugan is getting his first look at AA pitching so I wouldn’t say that I’m concerned. I think he’s going to have a strong season next year at Reading

        Like

      2. I am not as high on Dugan as others. I am not convinced he will even make it to the majors. He did lose development time though and has hit at the levels he has played.

        Collier was great in AFL which got him a 40man spot but he has done little with it. He 2nd half “improvement” may have saved his roster spot for now. I guess I’d look at either Altherr or Collier as a guy I’d protect. Would a team take Collier to put him on their 40man? More so that to take Altherr and keep him on their 25man?

        Like

        1. You don’t understand the system, Collier is already on the 40 man if they want free his spot they need to put him on waver at which time any team can claim him without having to keep him on the 25 man roster. Rule 5 only affects Altherr this year. If they Phillies don’t protect him another team has to keep him all year on the 25 man roster.

          Like

          1. If a team claimed Collier off of Waivers, he would go on their 40 man roster, which is what he said.

            Like

      3. The walk rate is certainly a red flag, but this is after a previous ~750 ABs over the past year and a half that he walked around 10%. I think there are a lot of possible explanations for the precipitous drop in AA, and I do agree that none of them mean we shouldn’t temper expectations a bit going forward.

        That being said, he is without a doubt a better prospect that Collier at this point in time, and next season will go a long way towards determining whether he will be a viable starting outfielder or a AAAA player. If he consolidates his approach at the plate while continuing to hit for a +.200 ISO at AA in his age 23 season, we’ll know we have something on our hands.

        Like

    3. Actually, both Valle and Collier have similar(better)peripherals at age 22 in AA, as Dugan. It’s interesting to see the different perceptions of the prospects though.

      Like

      1. If by peripherals, you mean only K and BB rates, then yes. Although Dugan’s K-rate is still lower than Collier’s. I think of ‘peripherals’ as including power and batted ball data, and Dugan has shown more a lot more power and is hitting more line drive’s than either. Plus he hasn’t had as much time to adjust to the level as the other two.

        Not to say that I’m not concerned with Dugan’s BB rate, and I’m not in the camp that has him in the system’s top 10, but I do think he’s clearly a better prospect than Collier and Valle right now.

        Like

        1. +1 – And I’ll say he’s on the edge of my top 10, and his AFL performance could push him into it or keep him out of it.

          Like

    1. Colin – I was looking at Torres’s profile this morning. He’s 21 (turns 22 in Feb) playing against a bunch of 18 yr olds. His slash is solid, but far from dominating. I don’t think he’s much to be excited about

      Like

  5. Im a casual observer to prospects, but Zach Collier’s month of August is the oddest turn around that I have ever seen. To go from below the mendoza line for the whole season and go .300+ is crazy. Do you think it was tough luck all year and he got down on himself or is his August just a random hot streak??

    Like

    1. he showed in AFL that when he gets hot…he is legit. Its just those huge holes in between that he needs get better at working thru. Some of that is maturity and some of that is just having mental ability to do it. I hope he figures it out because he has talent.

      Like

  6. Rupp hurt is unfortunate. I really wanted him get to the majors to work with the veteran pitchers and Ruiz for a month. I’d still promote him even if he cannot play, just to be in the clubhouse and practice with those guys.

    If Asche is out then play Frandsen. I am not sure if Phillies really should keep Frandsen next year. I think Hernandez will need a 25 man spot so he’d be the backup 2B/CF. That leaves Frandsen as the backup 3B/1B. He is good hitter again lefties which platoons well with Asche but would someone like Josh Fields or Cody Ransom be just as useful (useless)?
    Also, when AAA is over Galvis can play 3B. I still hope Phillies can dump Young for something.

    Like

    1. Sounds like Rupp is probably ready to come back. He had a scheduled day off yesterday, and Jeff Schuler reported that he would have been held out anyway because of the injury, but it seems like not a big deal going forward.

      Like

  8. Much as been said about Franco’s approach, but he still generally maintains a 2:1 K:BB ratio. Take for example Miquel Sano, he also maintains a 2:1 K:BB ratio but w/ many more BBs and Ks. So which approach is better? You would probably say Sano’s but I looked at it mathematically by projecting their #’s for a full season (600 ABs). I’m not comparing them as prospects just wanted to see which approach would yield the better results. Using a 12.5% BB rate and a 25% K rate, Sano manages 75 BBs and 150 Ks. Franco (6.66% BB/ 13.33% K) manages 40 BBs and 80 Ks. In this case Sano reaches base 35 more times via walk, but Franco has 105 more opportunities where he puts the ball in play (or out of play w/ a HR). In those 105 more opportunities (using a .300 BABIP + 5% HR rate), Franco would collect about 35 additional hits (30 hits/ 5 HR) totaling ~60 TBs (used Franco’s total bases/ hits %). Keeping everything else identical in the rest of their ABs, each would reach base the same amount of times, but Franco would gain 25 extra bases (not to mention more opportunities for sacrifices, moving runners, fielding errors, and….. double plays.) So would people want more BBs and the expense of more Ks? Because the math says that’s the wrong approach.

    Like

    1. FIP values a K at 2/3 of a walk, so this is about right.

      The bigger concern is that his approach won’t translate to higher levels, i.e. his strikeouts will go up and his power will come down because he isn’t being selective enough.

      Like

    3. That’s actually really interesting. Thanks for posting. I’m one of the posters here that very much enjoys “running the numbers” you make an excellent point. As to Ramsey’s post above, I don’t think it’s likely his K rate increases all that much. He’s young, he’s still getting better. A more accurate prediction would be for it to stay the same.

      Like

    4. Not going to revisit this at length – my opinions are well known and oft expressed. I’ll briefly add the usual caveat that I think Franco can fix this problem.

      That out of the way, this analysis goes further wrong than most, despite internally consistent analysis. There are essentially two problems with this analysis:

      (1) Assuming there is some sort of trade off – i.e., that more BBs would mean more Ks. There is no reason in the world to believe that that is the case.

      (2) This focuses on the direct value of the BBs only. But that’s not the reason people are concerned about Franco’s AA performance. The concern is that major league pitchers will be able to exploit a player who lack plate discipline.

      Regarding the latter concern, if Franco maintained a sub 4.0 BB rate and was … not even a star, but a solid regular … he would be the first (see below for an exception that really isn’t) in the past 50 years.

      Let’s assume that for Franco to be a “star” he would have to hit at least 20% better than the average major league baseball player. Over the past 53 years, the lowest BB rate of a player who was at least 20% better than league average was Al Oliver with a BB rate of 5.5%.

      Again, I think he CAN and probably will have an acceptable BB rate. If he can keep his rate over 5%, he certainly could be a star, and he has a very good chance of doing that. But he will not succeed in the major leagues with a sub 4% BB rate. .

      (The exception that isn’t is Brian Harper, barely under 4.0 at 3.9, who was a catcher, and a decent hitter for a catcher, but whose offensive production would be borderline for a third baseman. And whose major league contact rate was much better than Franco’s AA rate.)

      (A note about the data – I used a 3000 PA cut off. Reducing it would not change the results significantly.)

      Like

      1. Just to clarify a couple of things:

        (1) There are a few other players (not many) with below 4% BB rates who some people would characterize as “solid regulars.” For most of those players, I’d dispute just how solid they really were. Certainly none were stars. But to avoid subjectivity, the only one who was (barely) above average as a hitter was Harper. To the extent that the others could be considered even decent regulars, it was because of some combination of defense, speed and positional value.

        (2) While I think that I made this clear, let me say it explicitly: The problem isn’t with the analysis per se, but with the assumptions upon which it is based. In a world where (a) pitchers were unable to exploit poor plate discipline, and (b) where players paid a price in terms of increased K rates to increase their BB rate, the analysis would be perfectly sound. But we don’t live in that world.

        Like

      2. I appreciate the feedback but I also think your analysis is flawed as well. Your taking his AA walk % and projecting it out over a career (despite his higher #s earlier in his career). If you want to do that then lets take his K rate of 8.9% in AA (which was accumulated using the same approach that got him his walk rate). Then we can compare that approach to the major league average and see which would be more successful.
        Franco’s approach of walking 3.9% and striking out 8.9% (600 PA)= 22.2 BBs 53.4 Ks
        Average MLBer’s approach 8.5% walk rate and 18.5% K rate (600 PA)= 51 BBs 111 Ks
        So Franco has 57.6 more contact chances to make up the 28.8 less BBs.
        Assuming a league average of a .300 BABIP and 3.9% HR per contact rate, Franco will get 19.5 hits and using a league average slugging % of .400 would equal ~30 total bases.
        If a league average hitter used Francos AA approach (however unlikely to mirror his career) they would actually improve by 1.2 total bases a year. I think its unfair when commenters bring up historical context using Franco’s AA walk rate assuming that will stay constant. History tells us it will change. Franco’s own history says it will. But I just proved Franco could be a solid starter using his current approach. If he wants to be elite, yes he will have to improve his BB% K% or power. But his floor is much higher than some people think.

        Like

        2. I just think we’re talking past each other. I wasn’t assuming that he will have a sub 4% BB percentage in the majors (in fact I explicitly stated that I believed he would do better than that). I was, rather responding to what I thought you were saying. Maybe incorrectly What I THOUGHT you were saying is that he could succeed with the same approach in the majors that he has been displaying in AA.

          If I’m wrong, and that’s not what you meant, then my bad – but then, your analysis seems pointless.

          If I’m right, and that IS what you meant, then my points stand.

          Now, it you’re saying that you think he can maintain his same approach in the major leagues AND increase his BB rate, well that would be kind of absurd. The idea that a player with an approach that aggressive might walk MUCH MORE often against major league pitching than against AA pitching … strikes me as unlikely to say the least. (To be clear, i don’t think you are saying that.)

          He probably can get his BB rate back up if goes back to the approach that he displayed prior to AA. Whatever disagreements we may have regarding Franco, I would think this fairly simple and obvious point should be uncontroversial.

          Like

        3. And re-reading your post, I realize that you really do think that he can be a successful major league hitter with the same approach. Wow. In fact, you think you “proved it.” You haven’t. All my unanswered original points stand.

          Let me try to explain this simply. You have “proven” that a player who somehow could, in the major leagues, simultaneously have an 8.9% K rate and 3.9% BB rate (higher than Franco’s AA rate btw, for what that is worth) could be a successful major league hitter. There;’s only a few problems with that. The biggest one is that, against major league pitching, if he has a 3.5% BB rate, he absolutely won’t have an 8% K rate. It is far, far, far more likely that Galvis becomes the major league career HR leader. If he is as aggressive against major league pitching as against AA pitching, he will never get a decent pitch to hit. That will have multiple, related consequences. One, his K rate will sky rocket. Two, his BABIP will plummet as he makes poor contact when he does make contact. Three, for the same reason his HR rate will go way down.

          There are so ,many ways to prove the truth that last paragraph, but one of the simplest is this – if it was possible to be a decent major league hitter with a sub 4% K rate, why hasn’t it happened in the past 83 years (I went back further, still couldn’t find anyone), with the arguable border line exception of Brian Harper, who was a FAR better contact hitter than Franco.

          You talk about his floor. Franco’s floor is that he fails to change his approach, and/or the swing problems are real and not correctable, in which case he is a complete bust. Now, I do NOT think that that is a likely outcome – probably less than 5%. But that’s his floor, a bust who fails miserably in a short major league try out. Again not saying it will happen or is likely. He’s much more likely to be a star.

          Like

          1. To be clear, I’m not saying that it’s impossible for a player to have, at the same time, an 8.9 K rate and a 3.9% BB rate. Unlikely, yes, but not impossible. (Ozzie Guillen somewhat approximated that.though both rates were lower).

            Rather, I’m saying two things:

            (1) It’s impossible for Franco to maintain the same approach and have those BB and K percentages against major league pitching. Far more likely that Galvis hits 1,200 major league home runs.

            (2) It’s almost certainly impossible for ANY power hitter to maintain that double “achievement.” If one looks at the very few major league players to maintain a sub 4.0 BB rate, one thing stands out (aside from the fact that none of them except arguably Harper were even decent major league hitters): they aren’t power hitters. The semi sort of exceptions – Shawon Dunston stands out – were not able to maintain good K rates. The combination of sub 4% BB rate, sub 10% K rate, and even decent power, let alone GOOD major league power, has never happened in major league history, and CAN NOT happen in major league baseball.

            Maybe the closest you can get to such a rara avis is Deivi Cruz. Somehow I don’t think that Franco fans see him as the next Deivi Cruz.

            Like

            1. This actually became sort of a fun exercise. The combination of BB rate, K rate and ISO displayed by Franco in AA is, as all of us on both sides of the argument know, quite unusual. The question is, how close has any major league player come to duplicating it?My search was pretty exhaustive (among players with at least 3000 PA), and the answer is, no one comes very close.

              There’s a few guys with decent ISOs along with low BB% and low K%, but not true power hitters, and note that all of these guys were over 4% BB%.. Willie Davis had a .133 ISO (BB rate was 4.3%, K rate 9.9%). And Davis was a decent hitter, albeit a player whose considerable value was more about speed and defense than hitting. Willie Davis, though, is, at the end of the day, not a very good comp for reasons which should be obvious. Gee Walker was another somewhat similar hitter. Again, not necessarily an example that fans of Franco (including myself!) would want to trumpet. Others (all players whose success was based on factors other than their hitter, and none of whom were true power hitters) include Bengie Molina and a player named Freddie Leach. Oh, Glenn Wright actually had the highest ISO at .153, but even setting aside the fact that he played more than 70 years ago, yet another guy that Franco fans are not going to want to cite.

              Like

            2. I know those rates are nearly impossible to maintain (like a 0.00001% chance) and succeed in the big leagues. I was just purely looking at the statistical relevance that that BB% and K% would have. I agree its very simplified and you have to consider assumptions that the pitchers will adjust and pitch to him differently. I just took all assumptions off the table. I guess I used the wrong word in saying “approach.” I guess I meant if you delivered to me Franco after he retired (after winning 8 WS w/ the phils at 3rd) and said these were his career BB and K rates and asked “Was he successful?” I could prove that he was most likely a solid to above average player.

              A better stat to study approach is Pitches per AB, which we dont have. Walks are great evidence of a good approach but can still be distorting, especially in a SSS. As you are aware, baseball is a game of adjustments. There may come a time when pitchers don’t give Franco anything to hit because of his approach but then a time when he stops swinging and starts walking more. But his K% suggests they are still throwing to him (or he can fire pitches in the dirt for HRs Vlad Guerrero style), so until then I hope he just swings away.

              Like

            3. Your last sentence kind of clarified for me, though, where we MAY disagree. And I emphasize may, because, as is often the case, continued discussion reveals that we may not be so far apart after all. If, indeed, “he can fire pitches in the dirt for HRs Vlad Guerrero style” against AA pitchers, I DON’T “hope he just swings away,” because I strongly suspect that he’ll be less successful in that endeavor against major league pitching.

              Like

  9. I actually think it is obvious what to make of Biddle…he is not ready and it is highly questionable whether he will be a MLB pitcher. Everyone has good/great stuff in the show. If you can’t command/control it then it doesn’t matter (See Aumont, Phillipe). I think he has taken a step backward this year. I have seen little evidence that pitchers can dramatically improve command/control. Improve on the margin, yes, but not dramatically. He is currently my #3 prospect and is slipping.

    Like

    1. the one change that I would make to this statement is if we learn that the sole reason for this wildness is due to learning a new pitch. but that his command/control on the other pitches are very good. if that’s the case, I would soften my position a bit. however, most reports on him is that his command/control are not good.

      Like

      1. I wrote a version of this in last night’s thread but will repeat here: I watched last night’s game. I’ve watched most of his starts. My son is a HS pitcher so I am a little informed. When he walks people he is clearly rushing his motion and not completing his delivery. This is extremely correctable by coaches. I think his mechanics got a bit screwed up when he was sick. If you go back and look at that youtube video of his 17k game you’ll see that the front foot lands in exactly the same place for every strike 3. He is not doing that now because he is not completing his delivery. Again, they should be able to correct these things during the winter, especially after he gets some rest. I know that he is tired.

        Like

        2. Those who think it’s easy to fix need to talk to Steve Blass. Or to guys like Martin, Aumont, Dieckman, etc. There is a virtually infinite list of pitchers with good stuff, who never mastered control and therefore never amounted to much in the bigs. This seems to be the pitching equivalent of seeking position players who possess all the ‘tools’ except the hit tool, or the un-enumerated tool, which is the ability to spot they type of pitch out of the pitcher’s hand. As with Steve Blass, some guys lose control and never regain it. Some never really had even average control, and some were always abysmal, apart from good stretches.

          Like

            2. The amazing thing about Ryan is that he never did figure it out. 4.7 BB/9 over his career. He was 40 before his BB/9 regularly dropped below 4.

              Like

            5. Absolutely, but it’s not easy. I’ll grant you it’s easier than learning how to up your FB from 90 mph to 96 mph, but a ton of guys fail because they never had or never regain control after losing it. That’s what makes a Nolan Ryan or Sandy Koufax so special. A hugely larger percentage of guys with stuff they can’t control go the Aumont route than the Randy Johnson route.

              Like

          2. This doesn’t apply to all of those guys you mentioned, but I know that Dubee and other coaches have been critical of Aumont’s refusal to listen to coaching or take instruction, which could be a reason for his inability to improve his control. Diekman is also an interesting case, since I believe he only switched to a sidearm delivery only a few years ago, and could still be learning to repeat it consistently.

            Like

    2. It is a mechanical problem where his release point is off from where it was a year ago. There is speculation about why the mechanics are off, but the end results are they are off and it is something that is easily correctable (and he seems to correct it start to start) so I would not be too worried. The raw stuff is still there and it is missing bats in the zone.

      Like

      2. This. Tough to make those changes midseason. He’ll fix it in the offseason/spring training and should bounce back mnext year in AAA

        Like

        1. Then they should just shut him down. Every additional game of doing it wrong, goes another step toward making it an ingrained bad habit. I still suspect that he is hurt. He really just doesn’t look right and when he has to leave the game very early, by the time he leaves the game, he looks like he is barely able to throw the ball — more a wild lob than a thrown pitch.

          Like

          1. I would really doubt he is hurt. I couldn’t see them continuing to put their top pitching prospect out there if he is in fact hurt. Is he hurt and not telling them? Maybe but I am sure they would have required him to get an examination if they suspected it.

            Like

            1. I never said the team knew he was hurt. But, to answer your question, how many months was Howard trotted out, game after game, and how many steroid injections did he get in his heel before his Achilles tendon exploded? How many starts did Halladay make while hurt? How many relief appearances from Adams? How many appearances by Papelbon while he was hurting? A lot of pitchers pitch while somewhat hurt. Often it is worse than they think and recognition/shutdown/treatment doesn’t commence until it reaches the fairly catastrophic point. I repeat what I said. If you had watched any of Biddle’s exit from the game on pitch count in the first or second inning, I think you might also see a significant possibility that he is hurt.

              Like

            2. Trotting out a veteran player with injury on a team with win now philosophy is certainly different than a prized prospect who is still developing would you agree ? My point stands: I doubt he’s hurt. If he us the phillies have been grossly negligent

              Like

            3. Um…it’s the phillies. They probably have some backwards turn of the century belief in pitching through injury.

              Like

        2. I’m wondering if he doesn’t start next season in Reading. His BB/9 is actually worse this season than Trevor May’s was during his first stint in AA (he repeated with the Twins org). Biddle has been far more effective than May was, but it might be worth starting him in a familiar spot next year.

          Like

          1. I would think you make this decision based on how he looks in ST.

            But yeah, Biddle’s making ranking our #1 prospect this offseason easy.

            Like

          2. I would promote Biddle because pitching in Reading is a lot harder, and stats tend to be worse, than pitching in Lehigh Valley. I think the park in Reading, and some of the other EL parks, are such small bandboxes, that it often produces bad pitching habits from guys who are trying to avoid the long ball. That’s not to say that Biddle won’t need need in a full year in AAA – he might. But I think the odds of him normalizing the walks and improving increase if he’s promoted. That said, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he started next year at AA. He’s a determined guy and keeping him at the same level might ignite a spark in him. Either way, the stuff is there, the body and approach is there, and I expect Biddle to reach the majors sometime next year and to settle in as a solid middle/top of the rotation guy. Probably not an ace (although it’s definitely possible – he does have that kind of ceiling), but a guy who can have “ace like” games every so often. I still think, by the way, that he’s the minor league player least likely to be traded and that will probably hold true once he becomes a Phillie.

            Like

      2. That would be a gift. They have tried to develop a relief corps out of guys who’ve had control/command problems. Out of several questionable arms, it would help if a couple stepped forward to gain a solid place among the 7.

        Like

  11. Anonymous I cant see them winning the division. they have two starters, and no big right hand bat,bad defense in the outfield, no bullpen, and are committed to 112 million in what 7 players, , and we havent heard if ownership is willing to payluxury tax. after lee and hamel, martin stinks, he is a relief pitcher, kenrick is a disaster, cloyd is a joke, how can you make that statement. i hope to see them win, but it aint happening until they unload these bad contracts, and get some balance to there lineup and a bullpen and two more starters at least,and there gm is a joke, you have passion which is great, but passion isnt the answer,talent and a good gm is the answer. imo

    Like

    1. they can win it because its largely a weak division. Atlanta really took fight out of Phillies and Nationals early with their incredible start. I don’t anticipate another start like that next for them. The Phillies still have best 1-2 pitching punch in division and will likely add another arm as I don’t think Halladay is even #3. Kendrick will be dealt. Morgan will join the staff by mid-season. Ache will be upgrade next year (he always takes bit at a new level). Howard will be back and he will be better than not having him. Brown, Howard & Ruff are legit power in that park. They really just need to figure out top order. More than anything there seems to be sense of accountability again with team.

      Like

      1. excuse me but gonzalez and stratsberg, arent bad, and we dont match up with them we cant hit gonzalez ,and wheeler and harvey allready took out our top two starter lee and hamels, this team still cant hit lefthand pitching, and altanta is loaded with them in there pen.so i dont get how we improve with asche a lefthand player who cant hit lefthand pitching, and ruf has 19 rbis with 11 homeuns, he isnt the answer, love you passion ,but right now this team isnt near as good as atlanta or washington.

        Like

    2. roccom, weren’t you going to quit posting here if Dom Brown hit better than .240 with 15 or more home runs? I seem to remember “Brown can’t hit a fastball” being part of your daily rants earlier this season …

      Like

Comments are closed.