This is the courtesy thread for comments and discussion about the Phillies and other BASEBALL topics.
Joe Girardi is in the third year of a three-year contract. There is a club option. I find it interesting that it hasn’t been enacted nor has an extension been discussed, as far as we know. If I learned anything from Moneyball, it’s that a manager can’t manage as a lame duck. I have a solution.
There has been a lot of conversation regarding the lack of development once players reach the Phillies. We have a situation where we should expect the rookies on the active roster to be developed. Joe Girardi stated publicly last season that it is not his job to develop players. I have a solution.
The Phillies went 2-5 against East Division rivals including their normal drubbing by the Marlins. The Phillies cannot win the division or a wild card with a losing record in the division. I have a solution.
Dombrowski and Girardi assured us that they could find enough at bats for Stott and Bohm. To date, Stott has 27 plate appearances and Bohm has 17. Utilityman Johan Camargo has 28 PA. It doesn’t appear that Girardi can manage this issue. I have a solution.
This team was constructed to outscore its defensive liabilities. Bohm’s fielding should not have ever been a factor. The light hitting by Vierling and Stott should never have been a problem. The problem lies where it did last year. The big contract players have to do what they are being paid to do. And not just in one game out of four. Every game requires them to hit for average and power. If they can’t, it’s not the fault of the 8-9 hole hitters. If they don’t it proves that the initial plan was flawed. I don’t have a solution for this.
And now some random stuff.
In addition to the answer I provided regarding the Development List, one of the advantages is that the player can remain with the team. Rehab and most other lists require that the player leave his team. So much easier than sending players back to the Complex.
Jeff Singer was activated to be designated. The Phillies needed a pitcher on the roster for one day. They had no one healthy left on the 40-man roster to recall. Selecting the contract of a player was their only option. It had to be a player they did not think would be claimed off waivers or one they could afford to lose if he was chosen or if he opted for free agency. I imagine Jeff considered free agency, but came to the conclusion that it was not a good time of the season to be a free agent. Most teams don’t have the same roster crunch we have and can take advantage of options not counting for two more weeks. I think this was strictly a business decision that played out as expected.
Regarding the roster reduction at the end of the month, the 13 pitcher limit was put back in place for this season and will go back into effect in two weeks. So, if we still have 15 pitchers, 2 will go down to the minors.
After his 2018 season in which Camargo had an OPS+ of 115, he was not pushed off third base by Austin Riley. He blasted off third base by the offseason acquisition of Josh Donaldson. He became a utility guy and Riley played in LF. It wasn’t until 2020 that Riley moved to third.
Camargo is not this year’s Torreyes. Torreyes will be this year’s Torreyes once Girardi figures out a way to select his contract.
Bohm was unfortunate that his comment was caught on tape and shared on social media. He handled it well afterward. I don’t believe him. I know he hates playing in Philadelphia. So do a lot of guys on the active roster. Each season after the draft, when I meet parents and family at the Complex, the one concern is the reputation of the fans. I have assured them that Philly fans are great. Yeah, I lied. I figured most of their sons weren’t going to make it to the majors so it wouldn’t matter.
Regarding Castellanos and LF. He expressed a desire to play the field and not just DH. Girardi sees him as a DH-only type. I have a solution for that.
I’ll start the pre-draft series of articles for Hinkie and others to post their prospect info around May 1st.
Had it not been for injuries to other pitchers on the 40, Jones and Brogdon would not have traveled north with the Phillies. Neither was ready because they were unable to throw during the offseason. I believe that’s on them.
Did you know that up until last week, Andy MacPhail was back? He was brought back as an advisor during the lockout and was listed on the Phillies Front Office page as an advisor to the owner. Today, I noticed his name is no longer on the page.
The Phillies have several long-term contracts on their active roster. It might not be too long before they morph into a Rays-type approach and start to develop-to-trade to fill in around those contracts. This also resembles the Dodgers’ model.
Key Dates:
- July 15-19, 2022: All-Star Week in Los Angeles
- July 17-19, 2022: MLB Draft
- August 2, 2022: Trade Deadline (6 p.m. ET)
- October 5, 2022: Final scheduled day of the regular season
Transactions:
4/16/2022 – Lehigh Valley transferred SS Ali Castillo to the Development List
4/16/2022 – Clearwater placed LHP Tristan Garnett on the 7-day IL retroactive to April 15th
4/16/2022 – RHP Aidan Anderson assigned to Clearwater
4/16/2022 – Clearwater placed RHP Victor Lopez on the TIL
4/15/2022 – Phillies sent LHP Jeff Singer outright to Lehigh Valley
4/15/2022 – Reading activated LHP Nick Lackney
4/15/2022 – Jersey Shore activated RHP Jonathan Hughes
4/14/2022 – Phillies signed FA C Angel Mata to an MiLB contract
4/14/2022 – Phillies activated RHP James Norwood from the bereavement list
4/14/2022 – Phillies transferred RHP Sam Coonrod from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL
4/14/2022 – Lehigh Valley activated LHP Scott Moss
4/14/2022 – Phillies selected the contract of RHP Andrew Bellatti from Lehigh Valley
4/14/2022 – Reading transferred RHP Noah Skirrow to the Development List
4/14/2022 – Jersey Shore transferred RHP Cristian Hernandez to the Development List
4/14/2022 – Phillies optioned LHP Damon Jones to Lehigh Valley
4/14/2022 – Phillies optioned RHP Connor Brogdon to Lehigh Valley
4/13/2022 – Phillies designated LHP Jeff Singer for assignment.
4/13/2022 – Phillies activated RHP Corey Knebel from the 10-day IL
4/12/2022 – Phillies signed free agent RHP Ofreidy Gomez to an MiLB contract
4/13/2022 – Clearwater transferred LHP Matt Osterberg to the Development List
4/13/2022 – Clearwater transferred RHP Oswald Medina to the Development List
4/13/2022 – RHP Micah Ottenbreit assigned to Clearwater from FCL Phillies
4/13/2022 – FCL Phillies released RHP Mark Potter
4/12/2022 – Phillies placed RHP Corey Knebel on the 10-day IL
4/12/2022 – Phillies selected the contract of LHP Jeff Singer from Lehigh Valley
4/12/2022 – Phillies sent CF Odubel Herrera on a rehab assignment to Clearwater
4/11/2022 – Lehigh Valley placed RF Justin Williams on the 7-day IL
4/01/2022 – FCL Phillies released 1B Matt Goodheart
3/21/2022 – FCL Phillies activated C Edward Barboza from the restricted list
1/29/2022 – Phillies signed FA LHP Juan Amarante
12/14/2021 – Phillies signed IFA RHP Wilmer Blanco
Phuture Phillies 
For those glass half full folks … the Phillies are currently in the 1-8 spot for the 2023 draft, and would have a 3.9% chance of winning the top pick/Dylan Crews. Crews will be an instant top 5 prospect, and future MLB stud. #Lose4Crews!
Jim … in advance of the initial Draft Thread, I put together my first Phillies mock for the 2022 draft⤵
ROUND 1️⃣ Jackson Holliday … is a high ceiling prepster with great bloodlines: son of Matt. The 6’1″/185 LHH SS is the top player in Oklahoma. Holliday has a solid glove and ample arm, but the bat is his calling card. He makes loud contact with a leg lift, bat whip, and launch angle.
Side note ➡ In January, the Phillies hired Dave Holliday to their scouting department. Dave has been a national cross checker & Special Assistant to the GM for the Rockies and Braves … and … he’s Jackson Holliday’s great uncle.
ROUND 2️⃣ Nick Castellanos … will cost the Phillies their second round pick this summer. He doesn’t have a college degree. He hits baseballs … and … he’s worth the draft pick.
ROUND 3️⃣ Ryan Cermak … is a kid rising up draft boards across MLB. The 6’1″/205 CFer comes equipped with all five tools. The Illinois State Red Bird has a lethal stick. The bat speed produces hard line drives, and plenty of in game power. Defensively, Cermak has the speed and tracking ability to cover gap-to-gap in the OF. The arm is impressive (he’s a part time reliever who throws mid 90s). He totaled 33 OF assists in just 68 games during his first two college seasons. In 2022, Cermak has been one of the most electrifying performers in America: .375/.492/.817, 13 HRs, and 5 SBs.
ROUND 4️⃣ Ben Joyce … has the liveliest arm in the draft. The 6’5″/225 U of Tennessee RHP began his career in JUCO (Walters State CC) where he averaged 15 K/9 as a starter. He then transferred to Tennessee, but missed the 2021 season with TJ. This year, he’s throwing out of the pen, and has been lighting up the radar gun. He’s almost always in triple digits, and has hit 103.5 MPH. In addition to the FB, Joyce adds a nasty 90 MPH CH. This year, Joyce has totaled 13.2 IP, 7 H, 5 BB, 26 K, 1.26 ERA.
ROUND 5️⃣ Ivan Melendez … 6’3″/225 1Bman/DH Texas is one of college baseball’s premier power hitters. The Hispanic Titanic (probably the best nickname in college ball) rips the cover off the ball/registers some crazy exit velos. In two seasons as a Longhorn, Melendez has slashed .343/.468/.692. This year, the 22 YO crusher is boasting a .388/.515/.851 line, and has hammered 16 homers in just 134 ABs. Before Texas, the Melendez spent two seasons chewing up and spitting out JUCO pitching. He totaled .393/.477/.822 at Odessa College.
ROUND 6️⃣ Jared Beck … has always been a tall LHP. He was 6’11″/190 as an Iowa high school senior in 2018, and threw in the low 80s. Four years, three schools, one inch, and 45 ponds later, Beck is making a case for himself to get drafted this July. He’s now 7’0″/235, and runs the ball in the low 90s (T mid 90s) with extreme extension. The 22 YO is throwing for Div II St. Leo’s in Florida after stints at Illinois St and Heartland Community College. This season, the towering south paw is at 52.2 IP, 39 H, 21 BB, 82 K. He was also good against (mostly) Div I hitters last summer in the Coastal Plains League when he tallied 25.2 IP, 9 H, 11 BB, 38 K.
ROUND 7️⃣ Jake Pfennigs … is a long, lean, athletic RHP from Oregon St. The 6’7″/215 hurler is a former Idaho HS Gatorade Player Of The Year in both baseball and basketball. Pfennings features a low-to-mid 90’s FB, SL, and CB. So far in 2022, Pfennings has totaled 8.2 IP, 8 H, 4 BB, 7 K. He’s missed some time with a strained Lat muscle in the back of his throwing shoulder. Pfennings is no stranger to the draft. He was a day three selection (Padres) as a prepster in 2018. He’ll turn 23 YO in September so he should come at a discount.
ROUND 8️⃣ Zach Crotchfelt … is a 6’3″/215 LH pitching prepster from Jackson, NJ. He was up to 93 MPH on the summer showcase circuit. He also comes at hitters with two abv avg secondaries (CB & CH). Crotchfelt is an Auburn committ.
ROUND 9️⃣ Justin Miknis … is a 6’0″/195 LHH C from Kent State. The Central PA native (DuBois Central Catholic) has been a stellar offensive weapon in the MAC. In two seasons at Kent St, he’s averaged a .347/.433/.525 slash line. He’s also a good defender (thrown out 43% of attempted base stealers this season. Mikins is no stranger to the draft. He was a day three pick (Orioles) in 2019.
ROUND 🔟 Brett Gillis … is a 6’2″/215 RHSP in his fourth year at the Univ of Portland. Gillis features a 91-94 FB, a big CB, and a solid “splitter”. He throws all three offerings consistently for strikes. This year, the Pilot Friday night starter has registered 24 IP, 22 H, 5 BB, 31 K. Gillis turns 23 in September. He’d be a solid senior sign.
Question??? Why can not the Phillies beat the Marlins????? Every year we lose or have trouble with that team. Thanks Hankie for the mock draft. I do know it’s a baseball site but do you have one for the Eagles too?? They are in a couple of weeks
Rocky … no Eagles mock, but three of my favorites:
David Ojabo (despite the torn achilles)
George Pickens (flying under the radar IMO)
Matt Araiza (Holy Cow! That kid has a lethal leg).
And what a mistake MLB/MLBPA made when they didn’t include trading draft picks in the new CBA. Part of the reason the NFL draft is so popular is the unpredictability trades bring it. Can you imagine how much more intrigue the MLB draft would hold if your favorite team had the ability to trade up?
I wasnt on board with the early draft rumblings that the Eagles were looking to take Ojabo in rd 1, but now that hes hurt, if he slips to them at 51 that would be an incredible upside selection.
I also really want them to take Araiza
I assume the solution is to fire Girardi. I know it’s mine. Never thought he was the right guy. Make Dusty Wathan the skipper now like they should have done 3 years ago!
Really its Girardi fault that we lose every year to Marlins, You really believe that, Did he pitch, did he not hit? Did he not throw out his good starters? just imo makes no sense, what you are saying, in this series,
And Dusty Wathan is a great choice because . . . why? I’m sure he’s a great guy and all, but I have no special reason to have confidence in him (he’s not a good third base coach by the way, for whatever that’s worth).
On the farm – boy it’s ugly so far although it’s a crazy SSS. I thought the two A-level teams had our best prospects (and they do), but they have been horrible thus far. Hopefully things turn around for all our teams – man, what damp rag the first week plus of the season has been on our hopes and expectations at all levels. But it is early – things can change quickly.
The biggest concern I have at the big league level is Wheeler. His velocity is down close to 5 MPH from its peak last year. He’s fine when he’s throwing 95-98. When he’s throwing 94-95 – he’s highly vulnerable. Hopefully, the velocity comes back, but its a BIG concern because he doesn’t have 4 plus plus pitches like Max Scherzer.
Wheeler is behind in getting ready for the season. Will be concerned if his velocity isn’t back up over his next couple of starts.
Expert say the farm was bad,
I don’t know that much about Wathan but I’m curious, and maybe someone like Jim who has a little more contact with players could shed some light, but why could he not do it?
Baseball managers really don’t have that much to do. A great manager is a great manager because of his ability to manage players and put them in the right position to win on the field and in their head. It’s why Charlie was great.
On the field, more often than not, do the obvious. Manage a bullpen, put players in a position to succeed.
Wathan has been around. It seems players like him and he has good rapport. Like, come in and don’t screw it up. Why can’t he do that? Don’t call up Torreyes. Manage Stott and Bohm while not alienating them. Give players confidence.
Seems Brian Snitker of the Braves followed the same career path as Wathan within their respective organizations.
Good soldiers who remained loyal to their organizations and well-respected and known thru out from the minor league players to the major league players they eventually became..
Okay, but that still doesn’t mean he would be a good manager. There are hundreds of guys who are in Wathan’s position – I’m not saying he wouldn’t be a good manager (maybe he would), but there is essentially nothing that we as fans know that would suggest he would be good.
Every great professional manager/coach started that first year in that capacity as an unknown or unproven commodity. Someone along the line pulls the trigger and hires or promotes them.
Yeah. Sure. Got it. But what makes anyone think Dusty Wathan would be the guy you pick over like 70 other similarly situated guys in the big leagues? Nothing any of us here is aware of.
The push for Wathan reminds me a lot of the push for Sandberg.
Jim, I got some laughs out of this weeks posts. Especially on how you handle the parents concerns. It’s a good strategy. That said, I know the rap on Philly fans is bad, aka off .. everyone seems to know that side… but not many seem to the obvious way to win the “phans” over:
1) run ever ball out like you are on fire
2)Show emotions when you strikeout in big moments
3)Dive, slide, spit, and kick up dust all over the field
4) Don’t know less about the game you play everyday than the casual fan
5) if you give a half arse effort expect to get called out for it, don’t whine about it
Bonus – if you want jersey sales to increase- Act like the blue collar worker in a white collar setting – also, not sucking helps
Follow these basic tenants and you’re on your way to a bump free ride in Philly 🙂 … minus any obvious periods of prolonged suckage. I can only think of 1 player who’d ever get a pass on that, and your son ain’t him.
Again, to any parents out here, it’s fairly easy to have your player be endeared by this city, don’t let the media hype you up.
This is a question for Jim. Who is the solution to all of your situations? I am very disappointed in the lack of success that Girardi has had to this point. I really felt he would be a big improvement over Kapler. But basically, the same results. Maybe it is the players, but you cannot fire 25 or 28. Seems Gabe is doing the same kind of managing and very successful right now. It just seems for whatever the reason or reasons the Phillies are simply stuck in the mud since the 2018 season. Almost all have same results and similar performances. After the 3-1 start things looked promising but now right back to normal. Regarding the Marlins it is baffling. But lots of times teams have 1 team that for whatever reason they do not perform well against. It does seem the Phillies struggle with teams who are performing poorly or are predicted to do so. Several have mentioned it is early, but I have thrown this out numerous times. All of these April losses count just as much in the final standings as do the ones in September. Unlike Jim, I do not have the solution for the Phillies woes. I hope Jim does.
Kapler is a very data driven manager. One difference in his two managing stints could be the quality of the data he receives.
I said it last year and I’ll say it again this year maybe there is a player in the clubhouse that sucks all the air out of the room.
Sometimes its the difference between building a team and/or just throwing a collection of high caliber players on the field and saying go get em fellas. And that organically can not be good for young home grown players to come into and try and make their marks.
Its funny I was listening to Larry Anderson on a radio ST broadcast and he prefaced a statement by saying “I’m probably going to get in trouble for saying this but why doesn’t Harper hit on the fields with his teammates. The gist of what he was saying is that BH doesn’t like to take BP on the field.
Its almost blasphemy to criticize the best player on the team and the league MVP.
McCarthy’s preamble yesterday also made reference to BH being the GM as they replayed him talking to the media about wanting Schwarber and then KB or if they couldn’t get him Castellano’s.
DMAR, your opening sentence could very well be on point.
And when the clubhouse isn’t meshing, it’s the manager’s job to address it. Whoever said player might be, Girardi has to shut down the toxicity. Show himself a leader whom players will respect if not like. Speaking of respect, there aren’t many connected to the Phillies history so well respected than Raul Ibanez. Yes, he lacks major league managerial or coaching experience, yadayadayada…but the guy oozes leadership, and with a talented lineup like the one assembled here, his presence might be what the doctor prescribes.
I think I get the position that you are in Jim. I think you are privy to a lot of private conversations you just can’t share.
I know a couple of people in the MLB and about 4-5 times a year I get to talk to them about a lot of different things. I’m a relative nobody so I do get some candid info at these family functions.
For no amount of money would I ever share who they are or what they say verbatim in a private conversation. Conversely I can take said information and use it to form and state my opinions or even raise questions for the rest to ponder.
Look, if Bryce wants to hit on his own, whatever, im fine with that, im sure hes not the only player to do that. That alone I hope doesnt cause any issues. But if hes overall a bad guy and not good in the clubhouse…that is a problem. Granted, he seems like hes overall a pretty good dude but we don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. Would really be a shame if that is the case….Nats did take off as soon as he left
Mr. Jim couldn’t have written it better. The big contract guys have got to play to their abilities and their salaries. The six big contracts on the hitters’ side is about $108M. With the poor farm system, it comes down to throwing big money at the free agents. If they don’t succeed, you’re screwed for years to come. You can’t be giving out big contracts forever without getting good results.
A little over a week into the season and we’re talking about firing the manager?? Come on…
Hawkeye, come on. There is precedent a little more than a year or two into the contract. Not just Kapler. Look back at other no-good managers the Phillies have canned, like Francona? Then, how long did minor league managing wunderkind Rhyne Sandburg last? That said, IMO there is NO way Wheeler should have been left in long enough to give up 7 runs, and historically Girardi’s management of pitchers has been questionable at best. On the other hand there is no way a player like Santana should have needed to be the one to smash a clubhouse TV to stop concentration on video games instead of play. But I would can Girardi, for not putting the players in a position to succeed.
Agree with Hawkeye. The baseball season is a marathon. 10 games into the season amounts to 6% of the schedule. I expect the bats to wake up in Colorado starting tonight. They’ll score maybe 20 runs in the three game series, and everyone will optimistic again.
Now the less optimistic prediction … I’d be surprised if Zack Wheeler doesn’t find himself on the IL in the near future.
Can you say what he does well enough to warrant keeping his job? The team has regressed since adding much better talent. Likewise he continues to favor under performing veteran type players over young players who need time to adjust to MLB pitching (see Bohm vs Torreyes/Didi last year).
The strange (arbitrary) bullpen usage rules he has probably kept us out of the playoffs last year.
DMAR, I understand that it is frustrating, and we all look for answers, but I don’t think that Harper has been anything but a positive since he has been here. I have watched these games, and need to not panic yet, but we are not pitching or hitting well. That is very simplistic, but true, and that is why we are losing games. And, maybe it’s because of the short ST, and we have guys not in their groove yet, like Wheeler. All of his pitches were off, not just his FB. What I don’t like is the built in excuse that ST was short, and we shouldn’t worry, because our good hitters will hit and our good pitchers will pitch. I was excited when we hired Girardi. I am not happy with what I see he is doing. Saving guys for August and September won’t matter a bit if we lose too many games in April and May.
No not at all Matt. BH gives us all he’s got on the field. I feel like though something is trying to be communicated
that’s too very weird random statements one from LA and one from TMac that I heard and thought to myself hmmm that’s weird. Each were about a month apart now.
I like to keep an open mind to things. We think we know a lot from what we watch and how we hear them in small snippet interviews but the reality of what goes on behind closed doors is far deeper and we’ll likely never know the extent of that.
All I am calling into question is we are now on GM #2 and Manager #2 pitching coach #3 and I lost track of hitting coaches….and still we are getting a club that seemingly under achieves.
No panic here from me its just mind boggling
its funny because not just do they underachieve, it feels like its the same exact team every year no matter whos actually in the lineup or on the mound. harper-schwarber-castellanos might as well be john bowker…same type of baseball were watching
DMAR, can you expand on the comments you cite from LA and TMac? I must have missed them, so any details would be appreciated. Thanks.
The Phillies had one of the best managers in the game and let him go. I am sorry that a lot of old heads got whiney about Kapler using, gasp, stats to make his decisions! Look at him now. They did the same thing with Francona – they did a good job of identifying a good young manager but got rid of him too soon. Granted, the Francona firing was understandable at the time, but looking back, connie mack couldnt have done much better with the talent at that time
Kapler is pretty indefensible. He was basically forced out because boomers didnt like his new school methods. Welp, Girardi is a “baseball guy” that they cried for, and how is that working out for them?
Also, its not about the record. The “dont fire the manager over a 4-5 start” crew…its not about the 4-5 start. I dont care if they were 9-0, 0-9, 5-4, whatever…its not about the record. Its about the way he goes about his job. He falls in love with these crappy veterans and refuses to give young players a chance to get comfortable. Bohm’s usage alone is a fireable offense. I bet you see him play Odubel as soon as possible too and not hand the job to Moniak when hes healthy like they should.
Yeah, if you can’t tell from those three paragraphs, I am very out on Girardi. Hes baseball Doc Rivers to me.
Sorry, Dan, Kapler was not good here, and no matter what he does in the future that won’t change. It’s not an “old head” thing. Kapler admits the mistakes he made here. The first time he went to take a Pitcher out of the game early, Posey and the Pitcher talked him out of it. He let them have their way and that went a long way to gaining the team’s trust. He admitted this, I am not making it up. That is one of of number of areas that he had to get better at than he was here. And, no, Dan, you cannot manage successfully by only using “the book”. It is a game played by individuals playing as a team, and a Manager has to know who needs what. Were MacPhail and Klentak the real problems and much worse at their jobs than Kapler at his? Yes, granted. But, that doesn’t make his firing here indefensible. He is not “one of the best Managers in the game.” And, whether or not JoeG is good, bad or terrible, doesn”t change the fact that Kapler was not good enough here.
So I don’t disagree completely about Kapler’s mistakes, but when you hire a manager with so little experience, those are a given, you have to give him time to grow into the role. I think they basically fired him at the time when he was first really ready. I do disagree with your second point- I do think he is one of the best managers in baseball at this point and is showing so far this year that last year was not a fluke.
Dan, he may be better than I give him credit for. I don’t mean to disagree so much with that point. I think he was fired here to give Klentak more time, and that part was wrong. All 3 should have gone at the same time. That was a mistake. Just like Francona, they both learned on the job here.
Haha yup…we get to be the training wheels for all these good young managers – then they go off and thrive elsewhere. SMH.
Most concerning to me is that both Wheeler’s and Nola’s velo is down to start the year. Wheeler’s velo is down from 97.3 mph last year to 94.9 mph this year. Nola’s drop in velo is less, more like 1 mph. Hopefully it is just early season arm strength, but something to watch. Especially w Wheeler as he had injury issues to delay his spring training.
Yup, agreed, and you can say its early season arm strength, but it doesnt seem to be happening elsewhere in the league, so if that is the case then the team did a terrible job of getting their arms ready for the season….toss Brogdon in there too (less important of course, but same velo issue)
DegenDan – In your earlier post you wrote, “…it feels like it is the same exact team every year”. It reminds me of the lyrics to a song – “It’s the same old wine in a brand new bottle”. Now, Mark or Romus or anyone else, what band (duo) sang/wrote that song?
wow ciada…really go back there with Loggins and Messina
Interesting comments by Jim above, as is the ensuing debate here. In my opinion, the comparison between Kapler and Girardi is irrelevant…apples to oranges. Neither was hired by Dombrowski. Gabe was hired by Klentak who was hired by MacPhail who was hired by Middleton who fired Kapler and Klentak before hiring Girardi and then Dombrowski. Where’s MacPhail? Exactly…
Joe Girardi is not a fit here. Good or bad as a manager? Debatable. He’s a name, yes. He’s not Buck Showalter, who may ultimately be the reason the otherwise dysfunctional Mets get as far as they will in 2022. Dave Dombrowski has not given a ringing endorsement of Girardi yet in his tenure, other than a polite yet unconvincing ‘I think he’s doing a good job’.
Better to make a change now (or soon) than later. Ten games into the season and there’s no rhyme or reason to Joe’s strategy, other than to favor the vets over the younger players. No, it’s not all his fault. The big bats must hit. I think they eventually will. But the lack of continuity from game to game, especially in the midst of a bad stretch early, doesn’t bode well. Girardi is managing like he’s trying to figure things out. Realmuto isn’t a viable leadoff man because he won’t be catching (or in the lineup) on most days Stubbs is behind the plate. The fact that Camargo (who I like) has accrued more PAs than either a healthy Stott or a healthy Bohm already this season is a red flag. With 2 or 3 young hitters at the end of the lineup and a proven bunch from 1 through 6, you let them play through adversity in order to get their legs. I get that Joe may be managing for his job in ’23, but he’s proving nothing good so far, including how he handles the pitching staff.
I think that if the team isn’t above .500 by May 1, I would be anticipating a change. Dusty Wathan? Maybe, but I would be more inclined to think that DD will bring in someone in the organization NOT originally hired or promoted by anyone but him. I’m not sure who, but in his second of a 5 year plan, I doubt Dombrowski messes around to allow a guy he didn’t hire flounder much further into the season.
Wow, 10 games in and we have to talk people off the ledge already?
its not about how many games or how many wins/losses…this is just who joe girardi is….his obsession with the torreyes/camargos of the world and refusal to give the young guys legit playing time, fans have had enough of it and the organization should too…you cant develop young talent if they know that one bad game will have them benched for a week for a light hitting vet who should be in AAA
Phillies are looking to win games. Development of talent is secondary at the big league level for the Phillies.
That said, Bohm is hitting this season which is in stark contrast to last season where he played in 115 games and had a .647 OPS. I do want Bohm in there more but I see that Camargo is a legit defensive 3B. So if you want Bohm in there, you’ll get the hitting (hopefully) but you’ll also get the defensive lapses. Last season, Bohm made 15 errors at 3B. He already has 3. I don’t want Bohm to get crushed by the media either.
For whatever reason, players have moved off 3B because they couldn’t field. Castellanos is a prime example. You can argue that the Phillies should have done that already. But even Castellanos spent most of 4 seasons at 3B before he got moved off.
So this a tough balancing act. Play Bohm and hope that he continues to hit but hope that his eventual errors won’t cost the Phillies too many games. That said, I’m not letting Bohm get 3B full time. I would prefer a 60-40 split for playing time with Camargo, until he demonstrates that he can be at least almost average at 3B.
Bohm should not be out of the lineup 40% of the time. He would be better served at AAA than playing 60% of the days in the bigs. Not sure if he DH’s or plays 1b in any of the Camargo starts in your scenario. I just dont get what this org sees in these minor league free agent type infielders…Torreyes last year Camargo this year…they are not MLB players
Clutch Carmargo is a 3.4bWAR player in a little less than 1200 PAs
And the sole year he had over 300PAs his OPS+ was 115
By the metrics, he does qualify as a little better than a replacement MLB player.
You have to have backups on your team because ths starters won’t be playing 162 games. Last season, Didi stunk and got hurt and Bohm just stunk so Torreyes played a lot more than he should have. Again, as mentioned before, the Phillies are trying to win games.
It’s still early this year, and Camargo is playing because his defense is way better and he was hitting a bit. I do expect Bohm to get a few more starts going forward.
It gets beat into the ground sometimes but I do like the saying of trust the process not the result
LOL that said I do imagine Joe and DD pointing the finger at each other. Joe saying to Dave you created this mess and Dave saying to Joe you need to fix this mess
all the while JM and BH are in the corner playing a video game asking if dinner is ready yet
Is the sidewalk open now on the Walt Whitman Bridge?
ROMUS use the ben franklin,
Not high enough.
It’s not about bridges…Girardi has been in doubt heading into the off season. Big picture here…not just a valley which all teams suffer through.
……….it is for him, he can’t swim and I think he was planning to jump.
LOL
Sorry, but Girardi is a major part of the problem. He’s shown this everywhere he’s managed.
All teams are in the same spot with the short spring training. He does not have a good feel for when to take out a pitcher. Pretty much every game I’m thinking the pitcher is gassed, go get’um and Girardi leaves every pitcher out there. Really no excuse with the expanded roster. On the position side it’s worse. Didi doesn’t look good but plays every day. Schwarber is a below-average defender and has always struggled against lefties but still plays against lefties. Stott slips on the bag, leading to a run against the Mets in a close game, and clearly looks gassed but still is moved all over the diamond. Bohm is smoking the ball but doesn’t play. Firing Girardi is the first part of the solution.
Didi is making $15M, he’s going to play. You can argue that is more on DD than Girardi. And when the time comes that he needs to be replaced, DD is going to cut him not Girardi.
Schwarber is most definitely on DD. The Phillies didn’t give Schwarber $79M to be in a platoon. Schwarber is going to play a lot. It’s on him to hit better.
Not sure why you think Stott is gassed. I don’t see that. What I do see is somebody who’s just not quite ready for big league pitching. Stott needs to go down to Lehigh and get consistent ABs. He should be going down in May.
I’ll give you that Girardi leaves his pitchers in too long.
As for Bohm, I would have played him a bit more but definitely not full time.
Ok so who should be the manager?? I know it’s late and the season started but who would you have in your list let’s say list of like three people who should be a manager? Also would it have been better or would there be better candidates in off season? Plus does DD has any people he is connect with you or have people in his tree/history that he uses as a manager. Not sure if I am saying the right thing about Dave D? But does he he someone he usually goes to as a manager is Maddon still with the Angels? Didn’t he win with Cubs under DD??
Also thanks guys for the Eagles draft nuggets
Maddon is on the last year of his contract with the Angels. And he was in Chicago for their WS win, but that was under Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer.
Jim Leyland was DD’s guy, but he’s a special assistant to the Tigers these days.
……and also Jim Leyland has no intention of wanting to get back into the grind of managing in the majors again at age of 77.
Leyland was a good manager but he is older we need a young guy. Is there a college guy or minor league guy they can scoop up??? Guess Kapler was supposed to be that kind of guy but I never liked him. Where are the Boones??? Thanks for the feedback
Harper is nursing a sore right elbow so he’s limited to DH duties for the time being.
Herrera is headed to Lehigh for his rehab and if all goes well, could be activated this Friday (with Muzziotti likely headed down).
Jake Arrieta has announced his retirement. For those that don’t remember (or want to forget), he signed a 3 year, $75M contract and proceeded to give the Phillies 1 decent year and 2 bad ones = total 3.9 WAR.
By the $$$/metric/WAR…Phillies lost about $40M plus in value on that contract.
I’ve said it before, teams will be lucky to get fair value back after giving out costly contracts. Most big money contracts are an albatross.
Jim,
Thank you for the response on my question about the Development List Very informative!
Lots of good responses today. Hinkie says only 10 games. But hopefully we are not at the same discussion 10 games from now. It just looks like there is something missing with this team. I am not sure what it is. But I do think more should lie at the feet of the players. This team should not be scoring 0, 1, 2 runs in any games.
I too question the pitching moves that Joe has made so far. If we can see things on TV surely those in the dugout can see the same. Maybe still lack of confidence in BP but no doubt some have been left in too long.
I just want to see them start winning again on a consistent basis. That is not too much to ask is it? Marlins were 1-4 till Phillies came to town. It is a mystery why Phillies play so awful in so many games. It seems like Phillies never win any close games with them. Like Saturday night or nothing. Think Phillies scored like 17 runs or so in a game last year or year before on them and probably got shutout the next day.
Good morning, Don, I think the problems on offense start with the lack of any lead off production. If we were better there, it changes the way the Pitcher approaches the next guy. Schwarber has disappointed, so far, and lead off has been a big problem, I think, since Jimmy was here. I am probably only touching on one of a number of issues, but that one seems to be a big hole so far.
Good point Matt. A good leadoff hitter sets the table for everything else to follow. Just too many Ks as well. When the ball is put in play there is chance of something good happening. Team had this issue last year and finally they brought Odubel back and he seemed to help for a while.
If Kapler wasn’t the problem, Girardi sure isn’t the problem either. There are no problems 10 games into a season, just people with too much anxiety.
As it relates to Bohm, if he hates playing here, he can always go find another job. These players need to toughen up. I’ve seen baseball games in 25 different cities in this country and at least 20 of them I’ve heard nasty, nasty stuff yelled at home and visiting players. The fans in Boston, NY, and SF are far worse than Philly. The ESPN bash Philly narrative makes it much worse than reality. To hear that parents of kids years away from the majors are worried about it, says more about their parenting and desire for their kids to “earn” a participation trophy than it does about the great city of Philadelphia, it’s wonderful residents, and passionate fans.
The Kapler/Girardi is one or isn’t one the problem isn’t an apples/oranges comparison IMO.
I believe Kapler lost his job because of the Chris Young fiasco and Middleton lost faith In his front office. He thought a veteran manager could overcome the deficiencies of his inept GM. He mistook a weak roster with little depth for bad managing.
Girardi has actually done less with better players than Kapler had. I’m fairly confident last year’s team makes the playoffs if Kapler is in charge.
By FAR the worst I’ve seen at an MLB game was the home opener at Candlestick in 1991. Dodgers – Giants. I took a girl I liked and we sat in the bleachers. Big mistake. The SF Chronicle the next day, in a story about the game, made a passing reference to “the fight-a-minute boys in the bleachers.” It was insane. We steered clear, but there were fights everywhere.
And things didn’t work out with the girl.
lol, I just did a google search to see if I could find that article. Didn’t find it, but this came up from the Washington Post: “The first pitch of the Giants’ home opener hadn’t been thrown yet Monday night and already, out in the left field stands, the first brawl had broken out, with Dodgers fans losing gallantly but unanimously.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1991/04/18/hate-coast-to-coast/b5bedcdc-16a7-42e5-9227-be31c2ce3fe0/
Yeah, we were in the left field bleachers, lol
Never seen Phillies fans act like that — though I’ll leave the Eagles out of this discussion 😉
#Lose4Crews 💪😎
⬇ ⬇ ⬇
First, I thought Nola pitched pretty well. He threw his curveball sparingly and still was able to keep the Rox at bay. And I thought Girardi took him out at the proper time. Now Alvarado didn’t do Nola any favours, but that’s another story.
The biggest concern for me right now is the complete lack of production from Schwarber. Ever since he hit that 1st HR, he has looked completely lost. It’s staggering coming from a veteran who just got $79M.
I think Didi will eventually be just ok (especially if he starts hitting to the opposite field), and the jury was out on Vierling anyways. Herrera needs to be in Philadelphia on Friday.
Agreed on Herrera. He’ll solidify the CF spot for the remainder of the season, and give some pop to the bottom of the line up.
Now what to do about Stott. He’s clearly the SS of the future but for him to get limited ABs at the ML level, I don’t think it’s working out for the Phillies right now. If the Phillies think that they can get away with having Camargo as the only IF sub, it’s probably best to have Stott start at Lehigh and more or less give him SS at ST next season.
I more or less expected a slow start from Stott…it just happens with newbies….perhaps a little time in LHV will serve him well.
Might be a good idea to sent Stott down and let him play every day at his natural position where they plan on playing him everyday post 20222/Didi. Let Bohm play 3B with Camargo as your defensive replacement late in games or if things go haywire with Bohm’s swing. Stott only comes up if he forces his way back into the convo or if Didi implodes.
Romus…I have been watching the same thing with the grandson and his 2 frosh buddies. All 3 are really good but they have been overmatched by the upper-class pitchers. They are starting to get it 7 games in. Last night was the first time none of the three of them struck out. Doing fine in the field playing mostly C, 2B and SS
Their coach gets it. Patience, patience and more patience. Grandson went down one-night last week and pitched for the JV. He hit a ball off the fence in left center. That one hit has totally changed his confidence. Looks totally different at the plate now
I totally agree on Stott with you. LHV could provide a chance to regain that confidence that he needs to be successful.
It’s a bit gutwretching to watch the start, but it is early. I just hate to see them lose to the marlins as they usually right the ship by the end of the season, minus the marlins. That can usually be difference between a postseason birth or not. My opinion.
On another note, Great to see Painter having a strong outing
Eric D, I hope you are right on Herrera. I don’t think he gives us anything. I am very disappointed in his D, and he is mediocre offensively. I am waiting for Mickey to get back. Not because his Dad posts here, but because I was really impressed with the strides he made in ST. I don’t like Herrera at al, but I am a Phillies fan, so I have to root for him.
I’m not sure why you dislike Herrera as a ballplayer. He had 1.8 WAR last season and he was actually positive dWar (unlike most of his teammates). He’s near starter level. He’ll definitely be an upgrade over Vierling (who benefited from .402 babip last season) and Muzziotti (who’s not ready). It’s unfortunate that Moniak got hurt, but that’s the way it goes.
Matt13, I agree wholeheartedly with you. Herrera gives us little to nothing. I think Mickey showed quite a bit in Spring Training. Also, I think that Mickey will give us energy that we so desperately need.
Sorry, Guru, I watch him play and a see a negative Baseball IQ, a mediocre defensive player, and a player that doesn’t get on base enough. I hear you, the dWAR wasn’t a negative number, but I don’t think he is very good defensively, and I expected that to be a strength. So my eyes see something that dWAR sees differently. Do I still hold his off field trouble against him? Maybe, although I believe he deserved a second chance to play. And, I may be wrong about my opinion of his play, I fully acknowledge that. I just don’t like to watch him play.
The Nats started their WS year at 19-31 which was the lowest 50 game start to a season of any team to ever win a WS.
There is my silver lining and/or inspiration to not jump off any bridges.
However the discombobulated roster construction needs to be addressed. You can’t have 3 arses for the DH seat and you can’t bounce around a young player like Stott.
DMAR…good point. I actually think around mid-August that season the Phillies and Nats both had the same record. The Nats went on a tear the last six weeks or so and the Phillies went South as most of the recent seasons have finished.
But those bridges are getting closer. LOL. Agree on the roster construction as well. Lots of square pegs for the round holes. Nola was ok last night but the starting pitching needs to improve as well.
DMAR, they are handling Stott like last top IF prospect Kingery
At what point would Dombrowski pull the trigger on a trade to move a disgruntled change of scenery candidate like Bohm and acquire an upgrade at either CF or SP, both of which are glaring needs. And Odubel won’t be a stabilizer over the course of the season. He peaked 5 or 6 years ago. And waiting another month or so for Moniak to return? Hmm…Arizona’s Daulton Varsho has gotten off to a slow start, he’s 25 like Bohm, and the rebuilding Dbacks may be agreeable to exchange two young promising players. Clearly, Bohm isn’t happy here in baseball Shangri La. Varsho bats L, provides us with a 3rd catcher and some upside.
It depends what you think Bohm might become. If you think he ultimately becomes Hoskins’s successor, you don’t pull the trigger at all.
Personally, I find all the fire Girardi, trade Bohm, demote Stott discussions to be entirely ridiculous 10 games into the season. Maybe some of those things will need to happen, but this is an overreaction to the extreme.
By the way, I’m not really defending them either. Having Camargo, Stott and Bohm share third base when there’s no real opening at DH, 2nd or SS seemed strange to me and does not seem feasible or fair when you’re trying to develop young players. But we know very little more now than we did 10 days ago except that Bohm can really struggle at third.
I don’t think wanting to fire Girardi is a knee-jerk reaction. Wanting to trade Bohm isn’t really, either (although that one I personally disagree with, just from the perspective of getting any kind of value from him). We’ve got more a year’s worth of experience with those two. So anything that’s happened so far this season is just being used to re-affirm certain beliefs.
Personally, I wanted Girardi gone last year. I don’t trust him to handle our pitchers OR our young guys well. He has not assuaged my fears on either of those fronts.
As far as Bohm goes, if one wanted to trade him after last season then now is probably the ideal time in their eyes to do so. He’s hitting well enough that he’s likely reminded some teams of his upside, but he’s also part of a roster crunch and has pissed off some of the fan base.
Stott’s case is less rational for the most part. There’s no reason to worry about a young guy with only 30 PAs in the majors. However, it IS reasonable to want him to get consistent playing time. And with Girardi, who knows if he can expect that… So if the rationale is entirely to keep him from wasting away on the bench, that’s a valid position to take.
I think it’ll all figure itself out over 162 games. One of the corner bats is going to go down at some point whether it’s COVID or an injury. Heck, Harper is already nursing an injury.
I like Varsho….though Moniak may provide the same benefits in CF if given the opportunity when he returns.
Phillies may get caught up in an OF numbers game when Moniak returns and Odubel is ready, which is very soon now..Vierling and Muzziotti are probably headed to LHV
Then there is the Bohm/Stott infield juggling act….not sure thta benefits either yuongster.
I wonder what the plans will be for OFe..Dusty Peterson.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/peterdu01.shtml
….philler?
I would think….@LHV
He’s depth at Lehigh. He’s already 27. His ceiling is as the 5th OF.
Matt M.,
Coming from a fan / sports message board, this is going to sound peculiar and will likely not be received well. However, I feel compelled to mention something as a suggestion for Mickey’s injury that could very well speed his recovery tremendously. Have you heard of using DMSO for all kinds of sports injuries including fractures / broken bones? Here is an excerpt from a book titled “Healing with DMSO”.: When it comes to treating injuries, DMSO has long proven to be an effective remedy. It’s been used in sports medicine to treat strains, sprains, bruises, bone fractures, whiplash and other athletic injuries, and also to treat injured horses. DMSO rapidly reduces inflammation and pain, increases circulation, and speeds the repair process. The results are even better when the treatment is applied soon after an injury. Use a 70 – 80 percent solution or gel two to four times a day for rapid healing.
Rafe
I looked into it a bit out of curiosity. I’m sure your intentions are good, but maybe don’t take medical advice from a woman who doesn’t understand that viruses can spread from person to person.
In this specific case, there’s probably not much harm that could come from trying it. But if a “remedy” has been around for decades and not a single clinical trial has found its efficacy… it’s probably not really a remedy.
…and if the bureaucrats at the FDA haven’t given it their seal of approval, or $$$$ from Big Pharma, it won’t see the light of day.
Generic drugs that don’t make “big pharma” money (or even cost them money by forcing them to lower the price of their brand names) pass clinical trials (and get FDA approval) every day.
There’s nothing inherently capitalistic about the scientific method. So if something is neither a big money-maker, nor scientifically-backed, it’s in all likelihood snake oil. I don’t know where this conspiracy theory about doctors and scientists being con artists came from, but it’s damaging our society. It’s not the people running tests and publishing results that you need to worry about. It’s the ones trying to sell you something. Clinical trials have nothing to do with making money. It’s literally only about finding efficacy and safety.
With all due respect, it’s a bit naive to think an industry as profitable and competitive as the pharmaceutical industry and regulated by the federal government isn’t vulnerable to lobbyist compromise. Your comment is idealistic. I sincerely wish it was true.
It’s absolutely vulnerable to lobbyists. But not in the way you’re insinuating. There’s literally no way for them to stop individual people from running their own trials and publishing the results. That’s what makes the scientific method so great; it’s designed so that the results can be replicated. So once one person has found something, they publish their findings and now EVERYONE can find the same thing.
Where money comes into play is when you start SELLING things. So pharmaceutical companies make their money through advertising and patenting. Neither of those prevent someone from researching the medical uses of something like DMSO. If anything, if DMSO was effective, you would expect a pharma company to latch onto it. It’s exactly the type of product that would make tons of money if it worked; something that relieves pain but doesn’t cure anything is something that you can sell easily and forever. There’s a reason everyone knows the name Tylenol.
Also, the most corrupt aspect of the pharmaceutical world has to do with insurance. You may know someone who has diabetes. Did you know that the person who discovered insulin made his discovery public so that the world could be better off? Did you also know that there are literally hundreds of generic insulins out there that are cheap and equally as effective as the brand names? And yet insurance companies force you to buy the $200 doses to be covered. THAT’S the result of lobbying. There’s where you need to be outraged. It’s not the researchers and scientists working together to steal your money. It’s the middlemen and “entrepeneurs” looking to sell you something.
Kinda like this woman who is making her money by suggesting cures to ailments without ever producing a speck of research to back up her claims.
Drugs need to pass stringent trials and proven to be safe. The only compromise is if there is an immediate need so it could be fast tracked through all the red tape. But make no mistake, it still needs to go through the trials, that will never change. There is no way that a potential drug will skip any part of the trial process. Just the potential lawsuits from that would be staggering.
Once the drug is approved, then the lobbying could start i.e. convince doctors and organizations to use their drug over their competitors. Now just because a drug has been approved, doesn’t mean it’ll be 100% side effect free for everybody. Once you begin taking drugs, it’s just a matter of how much you can tolerate the side effects. As somebody who is taking daily medication, I can attest to that.
Taking un-regulated drugs are dangerous. You may ask why people don’t follow the FDA process, and I’ll tell you that it’s costly to bring a drug from beginning to end. Most don’t make it past trials and that means lost time and money. It’s sadly easier to advertise a drug that works even though there’s no proof behind it. Unfortunately, there’s enough gullible people willing to think that this person has a miracle cure. But if it really was a miracle cure, this person would make WAY more money if it went through the trials.
DMSO…..Russian scientists actually came up with it back in the 60s…..rubbed it on the skin of their athletes…especially their great hockey team players…..when the NHL and the Flyers played the Russians in the 70s Bobby Clarke said the Russians smelled bad…goes right thru the skin to the blood stream and joints….gives one a metallic silver taste in the mouth from what i recall reading.
By now I’m sure they make it in fruity flavors, Romus. Problem is, the grape turns your skin purple.
If you look into medical journal articles on dmso, you will find that it does what is claimed. The reason why it isn’t used is because it cannot be patented and trademarked as it is a natural substance found in coniferous trees. There is no money to be made. Haha. If it did not work, would it be used on prize horses?
Since there are so many doctors on here My family doctor and my heart doctor told me the fourth boster they cant give me a answer, if i should do it, maybe you guys know more,
rocco…..now that is funny.
Watching our affiliates on MiLB. The Fightins are getting their butt kicked..Only two studs; O’Hoppe and Miller. Miller was the only Reading pitcher who cut through the HBP lineup like a hot knife through butter. He’s moving on..
Johan Camargo ⬆⬆⬆
Ser-Ant’ny ⬆⬆
RAJ (in the booth) ⬆⬆ (Like him better than Kruk)
Phillies chances of winning the Dylan Crews sweepstakes ⬆⬆ (They currently sit in the 1-5 spot. That = a 10% chance for the top pick in the 2023 draft … #Lose4Crews)
Graphic Dept @ NBC Sports Philly ⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇ (Give me a break with the new pitch count/velo indicator this season. It’s way too small. Even on a 70″ screen, I have a difficult time reading it)
Hinkie…..”It’s way too small. Even on a 70″ screen, I have a difficult time reading it)”..I thought I was the only one feeling that way….WTF did they make that change….for change purposes only!
Yeah, Romus. It’s horrible. It drives me nuts.
Agree with all your assessments my friend 🙂
With regard to Ruben I wonder how he feels about still seeing many players around the team that came in under his watch. Some good and some bad of course. Hoskins/Nola the most obvious then Odubel is still around as a rule 5 and Quinn is back
I also wonder how he would fared had Middleton took over the ownership reigns in 09 as he was onboarded. Cue the vitriol
I think Middleton has effectively been in control of the franchise since the mid-2000s, regardless of the degree of formal control. I’m not going to on another Ruben rant, but I will say that I like him a lot as a color commentator. He’s good.
I just do not understand the faith people have placed with doctors and “science” in general. They make money off of perpetual sickness and disease. If people are healthy, There is no more business for them. I think it would be accurate to state that most doctors are pill pushers and big pharma hacks. Sure, there are some good allopathic doctors who perform needed surgeries in times of peril / need. However, I would argue that is the extent of their benefit to humanity. Everything else they represent is toxic and detrimental to the health of society. They are loved by most because they rarely tell a patient that they need to change their lifestyle. Instead, they hand them a pill to alleviate the symptom. It is grotesque.
I’m a pharmacist and most of what you’ve been saying is just plain silly. Changing lifestyle is not the solution to every malady out there. Tell a type 1 diabetic to eat less sugar, I’m sure they will be fine. High cholesterol in a lot of people can be a genetic disorder. No amount of diet and exercise in these patients gets their cholesterol low enough and they are at risk of having a stroke if untreated with prescription meds. I’m not even going to get into autoimmune diseases.
Sounds like you may have had a bad experience with a medical professional or 2. You may want to go to school for a few years, and then work in the medical profession for a lot more instead of getting your medical advice from these q-anon type sites.
Sibs, “Silly”, is that all you got? Explain how what I have stated is silly? Why do people get diabetes? It relates to their diet. It isn’t genetic. That is the lazy answer which is given to the layman to explain away all kinds of diseases. Who set the cholesterol thresholds? Over the span of decades, that bar has been reset over and over again. With cholesterol you are once again describing a symptom rather than the cause. Pharmacists treat symptoms, that is it. I think that they are the modern day snake oil salesmen. This will be the last time I respond. We can agree to disagree.
Good, because you have no clue what you are talking about.
Rafe – if I had taken your advice and had not taken cholesterol meds, I’d probably be dead by now (or would be a veteran of a massive bypass procedure). I don’t know why you think you’re qualified to get on here and give people horrible, misguided and counterproductive medical advice, but please stop it. It’s not what we’re here to discuss and, like Skeet said, you have no clue what you’re talking about. There are other sites where you, and other anti-med folks can exchange bad information and whip each other into a frenzy, but please spare those of us who don’t want to hear any of that nonsense on here.
how the hell did this site turn into a medical journal discussion? Isn’t there an international journal of quackery that would be a better place for this.
Still early, sure, but another excruciating loss. SerA with a 3 run Bomb. Just change the name of the RP, and so far we are the same as the last 2 seasons, with different, more expensive, names. I would love to just have an excuse that it’s JoeG’s fault, but the BP needs to get the job done and SerA didn’t.
Matt,
Respectfully, I do think it was Joe G’s fault. To be honest, Seranthony was pretty great. He got 2 quick outs, and then struck out Blackmon. The umpire did not call the very clear strike 3 a strike. The faster we can get robot strike zones, the better. He also gave up an infield hit.
In my opinion, he should not have been taken out. He was pitching fine. A walk that only happened because of a blown call and an infield hit should not have gotten him pulled. Joe G did pull him and Famillia gave up the Cron bomb.
Of course, we’ll never know what happened if Seranthony pitched to Cron, heck maybe he also gives up a bomb. But he should have been given the shot.
I suspect Seranthony was removed based on the # of pitches he had already thrown in the inning coming back from injury and not specifically due to the in-game results.
Didn’t see if Girardi was asked that question or not.
It’s early, yes. The old saying is that a team can’t win it all in April, but it can lose it all. 5 games behind the Mets in last place. The Phillies won their first 2 games and have since lost 8 of 10. Timing is important if not everything. Dombrowski has to be considering his own timeline. Girardi or any manager isn’t entirely to blame for the ills of a ballclub. There are enough veteran players on this roster who need to play better. My concern isn’t today’s standings. It’s where this is trending. Cut and paste lineups daily tells me Joe Girardi is throwing darts on the wall. Going back to last year, he hasn’t demonstrated any consistent plan or strategy. I was on board with his hiring but now see him as a lame duck with one eye open, wincing and waiting for the axe to fall. I think Dombrowski will bring in his own guy at month’s end.
With each subsequent loss the Phils are drawing closer to the Yogi timeline,
…..“It gets late early”
Haha one of my favorites Romus meanwhile the idiot up in the Mets dugout has the Mets sitting 9-3
Yeah….8 full years down there at the Harbor of Baltimore working for an owner that pinched-pennies……and was able to get five straight years of .500 or better ball from a ballclub of players procured on nickels and dimes in one of the toughest divisions in baseball..
When a team is built to outhit the opposition and collectively they don’t hit, bad results happen. It’s early but the trend is alarming. While the talent is there, at least on the offensive side, the team seems to be lacking in the “it” factor – something seems off in the chemistry
Sure, the Phillies are in last place after a dozen or so games. Sure, this overpriced lineup is not playing up to its potential. Sure, the bullpen is just as bad as ever. But, but…..no matter where it goes and how it ends, the Phillies will be in the top 5 all season….when it comes to salaries paid out. Keep the faith, guys. We’re number five! We’re number five!
My bad, guys, Familia gave up the bomb!
There are many here that are willing to ignore Bohm’s defense as long as his batting average is high. But last night’s game is an example of why that’s a problem.
His inability to get Kris Bryant out on his weak chopper in the 7th extended the inning. Caused a need for a pitching change and then a 3 run homer.
v1 … I’m not going to tell you Alec Bohm has been good defensively this season (he hasn’t), but with where he was positioned, nobody (not Stott, not Camargo) was going to make that play. Bohm fielded the ball fine, Because the ball was hit so slowly, and because Bryant runs pretty well, there was no play to be made at 1st base. I was happy Bohm didn’t make a useless throw across the diamond. He, instead, made the more heady play when he faked to 1st, and checked second base (where he almost caught the runner rounding the bag).
If you want to point fingers for the 7th inning collapse, you need to look at Familia throwing a pretty weak breaker to CJ Cron, or to the HP umpire for missing Ser-Ant’ny’s strike three pitch to Charlie Blackmon (which would have ended the inning).
Or point the finger at Joe…there was no need to take Seranthony out at that point he was pitching fine and should have been out of the inning.
Seranthony threw 25 pitches. That’s why he was pulled. He is coming back from injury and that was his pitch limit. I am no fan of Joe, but I don’t blame him for pulling Seranthony or putting in Familia. DD gave Familia $6m this offseason. If you can’t put him in there, then where can you use him?
I knew that you would reply exactly as you did. Always defending Bohm.
The point that you are missing is that his range is so poor that he made it look like there was no play to be made. Impossible to prove whether Camargo makes that play or not. Just not a provable point either way. I believe that an average 3B defender makes that play. I don’t think it was a hard play.
He is a terrible defensive player with poor range. Every play that he barely misses will look like a play that couldn’t be made. But his poor range and inability to throw on the run will cause him to eat balls that should be outs.
v1 … agree to disagree on that play.
For me, range = ability to get to the ball. Bohm was positioned deep (edge of the dirt where it meets the OF grass). He fielded the ball on the second hop on the IF grass (just before the dirt). It was weakly hit (<70 MPH EV).
I just YouTubed the play. According to my stopwatch, Bohm got to the ball in 2.7 seconds. The avg RHH (Kris Bryant is an avg runner) gets down the line in 4.3 seconds. Could Bohm have transferred the ball from glove to hand & thrown three-quarters of the way across the diamond in 1.6 seconds? I don't think so. I think you might have an argument that he should have attempted to bare-hand the high hopper. That was probably is only hope.
Agreed. While anyone can question his range and long-term defensive worthiness at the position, I believe that particular play had more to do with where any 3B would be positioned with Bryant up and the ball being chopped high enough in the air that it wouldn’t have mattered who was playing the position. I felt that way in real-time and more so after watching the game replay.
Yes, exactly. A MLB defender should be able to bare hand that ball and make a throw on the run. He can’t do either. He is terrible at bare hand plays and absolutely can not throw on the run. The best thing that he did on that play was not make it worse than a single. But it was a poor defensive play. IMO Carmargo makes that play. But again, that is not provable either way.
LOL! Sorry to have to do this, v1⤵
Amazing. But this is the major leagues. Not little league. The expectation is he consistently makes that play.
V1again and Hinkie, you two are some of the best posters on here – and it’s hard to watch you guys fight on this same issue over and over again. I tend to be a little more on V1again’s side on this, but I hope I’m wrong and I get both of your points. Nobody is expecting Bohm to be a good third baseman but if he becomes a plus hitter and is okay (below average) at third, we could live with that. The wild card in all of this of course is Camargo. He is a perfect candidate for a late bloomer breakout – some prior major league success and a very under-the-radar outstanding season last year at AAA. Guys who breakout in their late 20s look like Camargo – what a great move by DD. Fantastic.
If Camargo, Stott and Bohm can all play, it will be interesting to see if Didi starts to lose playing time.
I wouldn’t say that we “fight”. We disagree. But I think that we are respectful to each other.
LOL. We might butt heads over Alec Bohm, and a few other topics/prospects, but I think we agree on more things than you may imagine. For instance, we were in lockstep on Gabe Kapler (shouldn’t have been fired) when most everyone else wanted him outta’ here. I actually have a lot of respect for v1’s opinions.
Feelings are mutual Hinkie.
On the whole, I think the team is doing Bohm and Stott a disservice by not having one of them – most likely Stott – in AAA playing every day. At minimum, Stott should be playing 4 games out of 5. If he’s not doing that, he’s losing developmental time and it’s not good for him or the big league team.
Its wild. How many young players are they going to screw up by not just being like “ok, this position is yours and yours for the forseeable future. If you make an error, shake it off, if you go 0-5, you’re still gonna play the next day”
Imagine how bad Girardi would have screwed up Mike Schmidt in his rookie year lol. Just let the kids play…if after 3 months Stott is under .200 or Bohm is making 3 errors a week, then you reevaluate and look to send people down. But for now, just keep the young bats in the line up and let them work on themselves
More than anything, these guys just need playing time and I do think some stability would be helpful. You don’t develop a hitter or fielder by starting him 3 times a week. I think they are being a little greedy here. Send one of Bohm or Stott down for a month and a half to play a lot and the other guy can get the majority of starts in the majors. Over time, who should be playing and where will work itself out. But it’s hard for things to work themselves out when guys are sitting on the bench most of the time. I don’t get it.
I agree that the deployment of both Stott and Bohm to this point into the season doesn’t bode well any more than the Scott Kingery fiasco of 3 years ago. What can possibly be the philosophy behind such mismanagement? Is it the presence of Kevin Long and Bobby Dickerson? Play them or send them to Lehigh.
Moving around position to position was an excuse Scott Kingery made, it wasn’t the reason he failed. He failed because he has a horrible approach at the plate.
I think the approach is to ease these young players in and try to match them up when situations arise they have an opportunity to succeed come up. Allow them to build their confidence up while training with two coaches who have a long track record of MLB instruction with the hope of taking the training wheels off next season for Stott and hoping Bohm has either established himself as a MLB caliber hitter or revitalized his non-existent trade value.
I think it’ll all resolve itself soon. Since Didi is now day to day Stott should start at least today at SS. If Didi goes on the IL there’s his chance to establish himself.
I think most all agree……Stott and Bohm both need regular playing time.
Unfortunately for the next 10 days that probably may not happen, well at least until the rosters are cut back to 26 come May 1st.
I’d prefer they would send Stott down today and bring up another pitcher or role player. Let Stott get his AAA swings in right about.
The only reason I can imagine that they are keeping all of these guys in the majors and primarily at third base is that they think the instruction they are getting from the big league staff is superior to what they would receive in the minors. And if that’s true, the guy I send down (for now) is probably Stott as I think he’s on his way as a fielder and a hitter (amazing approach at the plate) and what he needs more than anything is to play almost every day.
End of the day, you can tell the good teams from the bad ones – good teams find a way to win games. Bad ones find various ways to lose them. When the bats begin to warm up and the pen flounder, the dye will be cast.
I was watching till Cron came up. I switched to check a basketball score. Switched back and it was a commercial so felt got out of the inning. Went back to basketball. Came back just in time to see home run. I turned it off. This movie has played over and over and over in recent years. The worst is that Marlins and Rockies are to be bottom feeders in divisions. 1 win so far. Think I will take some days off. Maybe that will change the fortunes of the team. Hinkie and I may have the correct predictions, but the numbers may be in reverse order.
Mark. I totally agree winning teams find a way to win. Losing teams always manage to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. I think we know where the Phillies of recent times have fallen. Also, to all who say it is early these losses count just as much as those in September.
And, the excuse that it’s still ST is nonsense when all the other teams had just as short of a ST as we did. Hasn’t hurt the Mets, who have a nice 5 game cushion on us. Yes, these games also count. v1, I think your complaint, then, has to be with the higher levels of the team and how it was constructed. Despite Bohm’s poor defense, and I no longer defend it, we did not trade him or send him to LHV. If he is here, he has to play, and be given the chance to make his hitting outweigh his fielding. It’s a waste otherwise. I can’t argue with your judgment on his fielding, his range, his athleticism or any of that. But, if he is here, he needs to play and we have to live with any defensive mistakes.
It has hurt the Mets, just not in the wins column. 3 of their SPs have already had IL stints. It’s true that every team has had the same shortened warm-up, but unfortunately that doesn’t impact every player the same.
I’m not saying to not be upset with the performance of the team so far. But it’s entirely possible the lack of ST has impacted us more negatively than other teams just based on who’s on the team. We’ll see, I guess.
Tomorrow is an off day. Perfect time for a change before coming home to the boos of discontent this weekend. I bring in Raul.
With Didi being day to day, and a RHP starting for the Rox, why is Camargo playing SS instead of Stott? I don’t get it…
I don’t get it either. I think there’s a little desperation in that move, which also isn’t good. Stott needs to play – here or in the minors.
Agreed, makes no sense. Thought it was a no brainer.
The Phillies are in last place! But the funny thing is that only these 4 players have OPS+ under 100:
Schwarber (had a good night yesterday)
Vierling (Played a lot because Moniak got hurt but also had a good night yesterday)
Stott (should be sent down to Lehigh, not quite ready)
Muzziotti (not ready, only up because Moniak is out)
So the hitting has been pretty good.
The starting rotation, which was supposed to be a strength, has seriously under performed outside of Kyle Gibson, who’s pitching like he really wants to go the playoffs.
Just to be clear, as many have voiced patience with an improved roster of talent (and its manager) slumping in April – this manager’s tenure in Philadelphia has not instilled confidence approaching the reputation which preceded his arrival. Granted, even the most formidable teams can slump early on. This is about a manager who hasn’t brought much to the party but an overrated resume.
I expect Stott and Vierling to be sent down to AAA this weekend, and Odubel and probably Torreyes join the big club.
Muzziotti will be sent down first before Vierling.
And if Torreyes comes up, the Phillies will have to make a 40 man transaction.
The Phillies will probably need to DFA a pitcher since they can only carry 13 which opens the spot for Torreyes.
In 2018 Kingery played mostly SS for 887 innings and did a really good job there. He fielded at a .975 rate which is pretty good for a SS. He had 484 PAs but struggled mostly with the bat.
In 2019 he played most of the time in CF. He got 500 PAs, hit .258 and had 19 HRs and 55 RBIs. This kid can do the job if he comes back healthy and gets his confidence back. I’m rooting for him big time.
He needs to fix things as a hitter. He had a tough time with pitch recognition, plate discipline and swings and misses at good velocity and good breaking stuff. He had things to fix for sure – it’s not just his health that’s an issue.
Kingery has missed so much time that other people have passed him like Stott, Maton, Vierling. Kingery has to go to Lehigh and go bananas for him to get a shot at a starting position in ST next season. Not only that, he’s turning 28 next week. Kingery’s ship has sailed. Heck, I would give Dalton Guthrie a shot before Kingery.
Camargo seems to enjoy his new ballclub.
Perhaps Camargo needed a change of scenery.
Yeah….with Atlanta he was not going to be a regular.
He could turn into the Gio Urshela of the Phillies, Gio at 27 turned himself into an impact player after 4 years in oblivion with the Indian and Jays when the Yanks took a chance on him..
Tried hard all afternoon not to comment, but just can’t let what “Rafe” espoused go by. My wife suffered from breast cancer – thanks to doctors and big “pharma” she’s fine today. In 1998 I was diagnosed with a potential fatal, but perfectly treatable blood disease – thanks to doctors I’m still here today. All, (most) of us who follow and comment on this site have on occasion written something foolish (with the possible exception of Romus). Personally I was sure Tyler Cloyd would have won a Cy Young by now and that Carlos Tocci would be roaming centerfield in CBP……..Somewhat outlandish and controversial opinions about the Phillies and their farmhands are fun. I’m sure many of us hold widely divergent political views but we enjoy the back and forth about baseball topics. Throwing modern medicine and pharma companies under the bus just seems to go too far. I realize some don’t believe in climate change, some believe 9/11 didn’t happen and some believe the moon is made of green cheese – none of those opinions, ridiculous as they may be, are that detrimental to others. Disparaging doctors and acting like they are of little use unless in an emergency could encourage others to ignore sound medical advice. Sorry for the rant! As someone who is here thanks medicine I felt like I had to comment.. Back to baseball – a win at last! Hopefully the start of something good.
Agree. Happy to hear you and your wife seem to be doing well, Dave. My wife is also a breast cancer survivor. She just finished 10 years of tamoxifen. That drug helped prevent the recurrence of the aggressive cancer. Hell … even one of my dogs is on medication to help with seizures. It works. He’s doing much better. I don’t get the whole war on science either.
Hinkie….thats wonderful news on your wife. Hoping for life-time full of good year for her and you.
My strategy….DED
1. “D”-…drugs, of the Doc’s prescription variety, not the street prescriptions
2. “E”…..exercise-.get off one’s arse, stimulate the heart and blood
3. “D”….diet- everyone knows the good food, eat it…. avoid the bad food.
Great to hear you wife is doing great, My mom beat Breast cancer when i was just three, long time ago, she lived to 96, Romus your boring The drugs on the street are great, just kidding, But my complaint with some doctors is they just keep giving, pain medicine to people and people get hooked, its a real problem.
Man I don’t want to get caught up in this debate but we must acknowledge science isn’t always good. Science has its evil side. If it didn’t we wouldn’t have all these class action law suits against it.
Science causes a lot of harm to the environment. You can’t just claim the good of science and then try to distance yourself from the bad or worse pretend it doesn’t exist.
I love science I’m fascinated by it but I don’t bow down to it as being somehow perfect and full proof.
I don’t think anyone is saying it’s perfect. Drug companies get sued every day. Mistakes (and worse) are made. Power is wielded, and not always for the best of intentions. That said, in medicine, there are so many procedures and medicines that save and preserve lives in ways that are tested and proven. But for medical procedures and medicine, I’m not here right now. Thank god they were able to cure me of cancer 18 years ago and put me on meds to keep my cholesterol low (my total cholesterol, due to the meds, exercise and diet is 90!!! Without the meds it was around 300. If you don’t think that made a huge difference you’re nuts). My brother didn’t take the cholesterol meds and he had a triple bypass at age 52.
or recently, the incredibly fast development of a variety of covid vaccines all over the world which are at least 80% and in some instances almost 100% effective at preventing major illness. That sure didn’t happen during the historic chorera epidemic, flu epidemic, or other plagues.
Through trial and error, which is basically what science is, has extended our lives by 50+ years and has advanced our society leaps and bounds. I apologize for getting off baseball, but I couldn’t let the stupid comment by rafe go without a response.
That’s a little harsh and very arrogant. You made your point.
Hopefully Odubel comes up on Friday and pushes CF back into a platoon. Not sure where Vierling’s power went.
For the first time since 19 I was happy to buy some tickets. Be and 3 of my best friends will hit up the Padres business person special on May 19.
By then I expect this team to be running like the fine oiled machine it should be haha
Although I do hate the proverbial “get away game” as teams have a tendency to give the better players a day off.
DMAR …make sure you wear your Phillie Phanatic Laplander Dangle hat so we can see you when the cameras pan the seats. 🙂
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRplJ5O3Mpwfcrdm7nhyohoEhNrkMvFPh1Y5g&usqp=CAU
Romus pls wear the hat, when its sunny, your bald head affects the picture,
LOL Romus I am more of a Bucket Hat guy. That day I’ll have to decide between the camo or fire engine red 🙂
.
Phillies … Chase DeLauter
Not a pick I’d make. I’m not sold on DeLauter. Small school OFer who feasts off not great pitching. He went 0 for 5 (5 Ks) vs FSU’s Parker Messick and Bryce Hubbart earlier this season. Messick & Hubbart are both LHPs who should go top 2 rounds this summer.
FYI – Jim didn’t get a chance to provide an update of last night’s Phillies minor league games, but there was some intriguing stuff – like what happened to Jersey Shore.
Well, the team was shut down on offense, scoring 2 runs on one hit and they lost the game 3-2. However, several pitchers from the Jersey Shore staff were on fire. McGarry was electric in an innings-limited start (2 innings). He struck out every batter he faced – six in all. The gun said he was sitting 92-94 and touching higher, but it looked a LOT faster than that and the ball jumps out of his hand with good life. He also has a wicked – really wicked – breaking ball that’s nearly unhittable. There were more strikeouts by the Jersey Shore staff after that – they struck out a total of 19 batters. There’s a lot of risk with McGarry as a starter, but he has TOR potential – something you can’t say about many 5th round picks.
Wow. Thanks, c22! I hope it is OK me posting this public link for s Sports Illustrated blurb on the game to add to your eyes-on description! https://www.si.com/mlb/phillies/prospects/philadelphia-phillies-minor-league-recap-top-prospect-griff-mcgarry-real-deal
Folks, if you want to scout our prospects on TV – you can!!! Get the Milb TV subscription. It’s $49 a year for all games and the amount of coverage and quality of the video just gets better every year – even some of the low minor league feeds are excellent. I can’t recommend this enough. After games are shown, they are archived. Mid-season I take a few minutes some days to go to key parts of archived games from the day before so I can scout prospects. It’s an amazing app!
I hope this will not be a repeat of Spencer….live college arm that dominates early on, in their minor league career, only to show wear after 2 or 3 years.
Why would he be any more of a risk than any other former collegiate minor leaguer? – don’t jinx him! Please
With Howard it was ramifications from a shoulder injury, wasn’t it? Romus, do you know of a resource that tracks drafted power pitchers, or maybe just pitchers, and charts injuries up to, let’s say, they are 22 or 23? I wonder if there isn’t one, why isn’t there? It would be great to be able to see this, and identify if there are trends in terms of types of pitches used, time of season for injuries, correlation by organization, number of pitches thrown per outing,etc.
I(Heart)…Yes for Howard, .the shoulder was first the issue in 2019.
As far as the injury correlation to velo/age/time/org….I have to look for it.
I have found in the past percentage of pitchers needing TJ and their range of their respective velo.
Obviously the higher the velo arm – the higher TJ instances.
But the actual raw metrics I will need to see if there is anything current.
Romus…I still think the 15-year-old here in Indiana has to be one of the youngest kids I have heard of to need TJ. He is a total power pitcher. From age 9 when I first saw him it was hard, hard and harder. I did not see him pitch any last year so no idea if he had started using breaking stuff on a regular basis.
Thanks Romus! I was also thinking a bit about what may be a couple of outliers. Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton were power pitchers, and Carlton also used the slider extensively as I recall. Yet despite their long careers I at least don’t remember them ever having any arm troubles. Carlton used that novel at the time Kung Fu training, didn’t he? Plunging his arm into a bucket of sand – you know, similar to Uma Thurman when she was buried in Kill Bill II? Or am I remembering wrong.
I(Heart)….you are correct on Carlton….he did the hand in the sand exercise, and I think fitness guru Gus Hoefling may have inspired him to do many different types of workouts …like yoga, martial art techniques and mountain hiking.
Atlanta Braves old pitching coach, rockin Leo Mazzone had a theory on keeping arms healthy…Mazzone’s pitching philosophies was that pitchers should throw more between starts (two sessions instead of one) and be able to throw strikes on the low and outside corner of the strike zone…his Brave staff of the 90s stayed pretty healthy.
Romus…looking back simply on my personal playing days which I have mentioned the thing I think I most did wrong was playing SS or CF the days immediately after pitching. It seemed that almost always I had to make a couple hard throws the day after. I knew my arm or shoulder hurt at times, but I dare not tell anyone because I wanted to play.
It is something very different today that back then. Lots of these young kids only pitch today. The best one on my grandson’s team is a PO. He is that as well on the travel circuit. I do know the 15 year old also plays 3B.
Don…..kids are throwing harder more than ever than from the past, and they have many exercises and the machines that help them do just that, along with instructors guiding them thru the exercises.
However, as teenagers their bodies are still developing, and throwing with exertion on the elbow, once that UCL starts to fray….well, they will eventually come under the knife.
The positive side of it…..the medical procedures nowadays are so much better than the past.
So if they go thru rehab correctly they can still come back to pitch another day.
Romus…agree 100%. So many more things available today that was not back in our or at least my day. LOL. You messed up your arm or shoulder back in the early 70s you were basically done. I know.
I always think how Gale Sayers would have been today with all the modern procedures. One of the best running backs I ever saw. Today surgery and a few months later he would have been back on the field.
I am interested to see how the 15 year old does. He is a friend and works out in Winter with grandson some. Hope it goes well. Good kid.
Read the Good Phight article by Leo…..I agree with him on Camargo..
What do we have on Nava a catcher who is 20? i never heard of him
I think Carlton did the rice thing if I remember correctly. But it was something he put his arm in to exercise or stretch or whatever worked for him. Carlton and Ryan are good examples. It would be interesting to see when they started pitching age wise. Gibson and Seaver are two more that I do not remember had arm issues and were power pitchers as well. DeGrom I know it has been said he did not even start pitching till much later. I think he was a SS. I am sure there are so many things one can do especially now to strengthen your arm and shoulder but a certain degree of simple luck comes into play as well. I have often thought of all who were not lucky. Breaks of the game.
Don53 – Billl James puts the pitchers you mentioned, Seaver and Gibson, along with Robin Roberts, Don Sutton, even Clemens, as pitchers who threw more with their lower bodies, legs mainly. He calls them a “family” of pitchers who were dominant due to their mechanics and power of pushing off with their legs. There are many others particularly in the 1950-60’s.
I watched all of those guys pitch and I can assure you that they threw exclusively with their arms – lol.
But, yes, they were really good at generating velocity with their lower bodies and most pitchers pitched like that back then precisely because elbow and shoulder injuries were a kiss of death (frankly, shoulder injuries still generally are). They had big leg kicks (love that style of pitching) and drove hard with their legs. I’m surprised we haven’t seen a little more of that type of pitcher these days. Doesn’t it stand to reason that a big leg kick would help generate power?
RU…Clemens most definitely used lower body. I never saw Roberts. That is an interesting term for them. I wonder where Randy Johnson would fall on any of these metrics. I remember when he was in Indy as a minor leaguer, he had major issues finding home plate.
You mention the 50s and 60s. Back then almost all pitched every 4th day and many pitched complete games on a routine basis. I have no idea if they had bullpen sessions between starts or just rested. They threw a lot more innings than guys today and there were some who threw really hard. I played Summer Travel with a kid who threw in the mid 90s which was really fast at the time. He got drafted by the Giants but hurt his shoulder a couple years later and was done.
Don53- my guess is Johnson would not be in the family of Roberts/Seavers pitchers because his physical attributes allowed him to “sling” the ball with tremendous leverage. Therein lies another group – tall, skinny, long armed hurlers who sling the ball and don’t “appear” to throw it (Ewell Blackwell, Gene Conley), For kicks – just check out Warren Spahn’s stats – and for, catch22 – what a leg kick !!!! Warren was an outrageous hitter so in his off days he must have been in the batting cage !! ?
RU…The Slingers. Very cool. I guess Chris Sale could fall in that group as well. But he has history of injuries. I may be wrong but do not think Johnson had too much injury history. Kruk’s best moment was his AB against him in All Star game.
Warren Spahn!
Holds the record for most wins by a LHP…..and another amazing stat…won more game s after 30 years old than any other MLB pitcher in history.
Romus…Jamie Moyer would be fairly high on the over 30 list wouldn’t he? I think lots of his were after 30.
Hmmm….Warren Spahn….Jamie Moyer….I’m going Sesame Street here – which of these things don’t belong in the same thread?
Warren Spahn is probably the most underrated pitcher of all-time, even though everyone knows who he is. Spahn won 20 games 13 times and threw 7 shutouts in his age 42 season. He was fantastic and was as consistent and durable as a metronome. He was Tommy Glavine deluxe.
Spahn came up in 42 when he was 20 years old. Casey Stengel was his 1rst manager and sent him to the minors because he refused to throw at Pee Wee Reese in an exhibition game. Stengel reportedly said “it was his worst managing mistake he ever made.” I said “no guts” to a kid that went on to be a war hero and one of the greatest left hand pitchers you ever saw. Stengel was fired the next year. Spahn was reunited with Stengel 23 years later on the Mets. He said, “I’m probably the only guy to ever play for Casey before and after he was a genius!” Ahhh, nostalgia.
Don:
30 and older,
…..Spahn -277 wins,
…..Jaime Moyer-235 wins
Romus…Mark kind of dogged my comparison of the two pitchers. 277 vs 235 is not that bad. I only knew that most of Moyer’s wins came after age 30. Just think if Jamile had been great before 30. He would have 400 wins. LOL.
The Braves optioned down their breakout pitcher from 2021, Huascar Ynoa.
They also traded their one time top 50 prospect Sean Newcomb.
The A’s drew just over 4,400 fans at their game yesterday afternoon. In 1999 I was visiting the Bay Area and staying with a friend in July. On a Thursday getaway game, I took the BART from South San Francisco to Oakland for a dollar. The BART travels on the floor of the Bay under water to the Oakland side.
Ten dollar tickets were a dollar. Hot dogs were a dollar. Draft beer was a dollar. Kenny Rogers pitched for Texas that day. I slithered down to a seat right behind the dugout. No one cared. For seven dollars I traveled to and from the ballpark, had 2 hot dogs and 2 cups of beer, and saw a major league baseball game.
A’s are intentionally driving away fans in order to get their public funded stadium. Else, they’ll head to another city, most likely Las Vegas.
That’s living the dream – life can only trend down from there!
Herrera up and Muzziotti to Reading. Odubel could be in the lineup today.
Odubel is on a one year, relatively monetary modest contract…..like most of last season, I think you\ will see a very determined player this season.
He will…in the vernacular …be ‘busting it’
I was pleasantly surprised that he was willing to come back to Philadelphia AND play for such a low salary ($1.75M). This is coming from a guy who had 1.8 WAR last season and he’s still only 30.
Odubel is in the lineup batting 9th. Camargo at SS batting 8th. Bryce is still the DH. This could be the “A” lineup going forward.
I think Didi will lose playing time to Camargo, and Didi will be gone after this season anyways. Odubel will have at least 2 weeks to get hot and fight off Moniak for CF.
Romus….didn’t the Phillies start to play better last season for a while after Odubel was brought back up? I know CF was similar to this season start and then he played ok at least at first. I remember many did not want him back and some felt he was the best option Phillis had at that time.
Don…I cannot recall how the team did when he stepped back into the lineup…it was the end of April like this season
If Stott is not going to play he needs to go to AAA.
Nick Maton is not hitting at AAA so if you feel that his ceiling is a backup IF, then you could potentially call up Maton and send down Stott.
▶ Alec Bohm catches a lot of flack when he fails, but he may be the Phillies best (at least most unsung) offensive weapon so far this season.
▶ I’ve had a man crush on Jose Alvarado since he first came up in Tampa. However, his appearance tonight was just a disaster in every way. You cannot walk the leadoff man (especially in a tie game). You cannot then throw a wild pitch with men on 1st and 2nd (nobody out). And you definitely cannot do a victory scream on the mound after striking out Christian Yelich to end the inning, but after coughing up the go-ahead run.
▶ If Joe Girardi had left any reliever in the game as long as Craig Cousel left Aaron Ashby on the mound, he would have been roasted.
▶ If MLB could just clone Jim Wolfe, there would be no need for Aaron Ashbythe ABS (Automated Ball and Strike system). That guy is a machine behind the plate. Rarely does he miss a call.
Aaron Ashby has nasty stuff. He should be used in high leverage situations. Instead, he’s being used like a piggyback starter which is strange. I’m ok with this, it’s unlikely the Phillies will see him the rest of the series.
I have to give Bohm some credit. He was as bad it gets last season. He has really turned it on offensively this season. He has confidence that he can produce at the ML level.
Girardi just said that Bohm is going to be the everyday 3B moving forward. Which means not much playing time for Stott, especially with Camargo hitting.
Cheers to Alec Bohm for his resurgence at the plate, which will allow us to bear with his defense if he continues.
I’m encouraged by the offense overall. However, I am afraid we’re in for another hot streak/disappearing act season with Rhys Hoskins. Girardi may keep him in the 2 hole for now if runs keep coming, but I hope he doesn’t keep putting him in there EVERY DAY like he did in the past when Hoskins was dreadful for longer stretches and wouldn’t sit out a game or two.
Camargo is a fairly young, cheap professional ball player. Didi’s days here are nearing their end. Camargo may be the best signing Dombrowski has made as Phillies POBO. Re-signing Gregorius last year may be his worst, ironically.
Send Stott down if he’s not going to play, please.
I’m not worried about Schwarber. He’s still on pace for a pretty big homerun tally. And if this lineup heats up as most of us anticipate, it won’t really matter how Joe shuffles the deck. The leadoff spot on a team that projects to pop 250 dingers this season is much less important than one that won’t.
Finally, I can’t wait for Moniak to return…let’s find out what he can do now that neither Vierling nor Herrera are future starting CFs.
Schwarber does start slow for his whole career:
April……422 PAs….slash- .218/.313/.423
May…….423 PAs….slash- .200/.329/.426
Nice win last night, good to see the Phils grind one out. Muzziotti strikes out 4 times last night, great pitching for Clearwater.
Really looking forward to Moniak’s return. I just hope the manager lets him play and doesn’t sit him for a week if he has an o for 3. Give him a decent chance to grab the centerfield job. While spring training can be an illusion he certainly showed enough potential to warrant a fair shot.
He’s going to AAA when healthy unless Odubel is awful
We need Bohm to show power, if he does he will be a cheaper option for firstbase next year, Cause i cant see him playing third everyday,
rocco……how about Bryce playing first base?
He cannot stay healthy playing RF…..plays too hard… ‘a180 Bobby Abreu’.
Now it is his elbow….with airing out a throw to home plate in the second week of the season. I hope he does not need TJ.
For safety sake….Phillies need to move him there next season, and move Rhys before he becomes a free agent..
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✳ William Bergolla Jr … compact, fluid swing from the left side and a knack for slowing the game down at the plate. He stays balanced throughout his swing, helping him recognize pitches well with impressive bat control to produce a high contact rate and line drives to all fields with doubles power.
✳ Nolan Beltran … has grown to around 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, evolving from more of a line-drive hitter into a player starting to drive the ball for damage to his pull side with impressive exit velocities for his age.
✳ Aroon Escobar … impressive bat speed from the right side with an aggressive approach and gives him a chance to develop into a power-hitting infielder
✳ Leny Carela … selective hitter who makes frequent contact in games
✳ Manolfi Jimenez … his LH swing is loose, fluid with good whip through the zone, which along with his plate discipline makes for a promising foundation for a young hitter.
✳ Romel Mendez … There are some unconventional parts to his swing, but at his best he has shown solid contact skills with the physical projection to grow into more power.
✳ Neify Rosario … is a corner outfielder who stands out for his bat speed and raw power. That power comes with a higher swing-and-miss rate
✳ Enrique Segura … lower-dollar RHP sleeper whose stuff is already impressive and should continue to get better as he fills out his projectable 6-foot-2, 175-pound frame.
✳ Lou Helmig … has a huge 6-foot-5 frame with a relatively compact swing for his size and a chance to develop into a power hitter with a strong arm to play right field.
Hinkie….does he rank the Philles’ class?
Is it my imagination or is there a distinct lack of the glove-first, up-the-middle types that we usually bring in?
Hope Bergolla is an exception and ends up having both aspects…..arm is rated a 55, but field they have as just a 50 right now.
Romus … he doesn’t rank the classes.
BTW … more is written on each kid. I just mostly highlighted their offense. For instance, he mentions Bergolla’s “defensive actions and internal clock for shortstop, where he has soft hands and a slightly above-average arm”. Also stated Beltran and Carela have soft hands and avg arms. And Escobar (Ronald Acuna’s cousin) likely remains a 3Bman with a slightly abv avg arm.
Ok Hinkie..thanks for that added information.
I hope, at some point down the road, this class produces some impactful MLB players.
Well pretty soon Stott will be in LHV and here comes Ronald Torreyes
Nice win last night. Yes, Brewers left Ashby in too long but thought Phillies hitters adjusted well. Hit the ball where it was pitched instead of trying to hit it over the fence. JT and Bohm especially with runners on base. Tom even mentioned how unusual in today’s game for a reliever to go a 2nd time through the lineup. For me, Hoskins strikes out too much to bat 2nd.
1B may be a move for Bryce. I saw him make that throw all the way to home when he hurt his arm. I pointed this out other day, but grandson best pitcher threw around 100 pitches Thursday night. He is in OF last night for last couple innings. Fly ball to LF and instead of cranking it out all the way home he throws to cutoff. My son-in-law goes why did he not throw it all the way. I told him easy. He threw around 100 pitches night before. Just my opinion but believe that is where many of these arm injuries happen to the young kids.
Painter & Abel both throwing this afternoon/tonight.
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69 pitches, 48 for strikes (8 swinging strikes)
Abel was very good. Painter even better early: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 5 K (including Jasson Dominguez). FB consistently 97-98.
Painter: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 8 K. He hit 100 MPH in the third inning. WOW!
BTW … 13 swing and misses. Incredible!
Crazy … 4 IP 57 pitches ELEVEN strikeouts
Final line
5 IP 1 hit, 14 Ks 70 pitches 50 strikes
Just as good. THE CLEARWATER STAFF STRUCK OUT 22 BATTERS TONIGHT. 22!!!!!!
That may be the most dominant performance by any minor leaguer in the COVID era. He dominated Jasson Dominguez (#60 on MLB Pipeline’s top 100). For the season, Painter is now at 12 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 30 K. His two season totals: 18 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 42 K. Looks like a top 20 prospect to me.
Very cool to hear that the JS gun is 3-4 MPH slow because I thought McGarry was throwing much harder than the gun that had him sitting 92-94, touching 96, was showing the other day. Turns out I’m right – he was in the mid to high 90s. Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got some serious pitchers on our hands.
And the cherry on the cake – Erik Miller had two scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts.
One thing that was concerning is that McGarry I believe had a full count on every batter he struck out. Glad to hear about the gun being slow.
With pitching being really expensive, the Phillies need to hold onto the big 3 of Abel, Painter, and McGarry. These 3 have elite ability and could be the best group of home grown pitchers that the Phillies have ever had in 1 rotation.
Next pro start today for Abel, very encouraging. Let’s see how Painter does tonight.
Stott needs to be playing everyday at AAA. Maton isn’t hitting a kick but they have to make a move. Bohm needs to play here everyday.
Harper to 1B? You do know there’s a DH now right? He’s not going to 1B. And I think they’ll resign Hoskins and keep him but we’ll have to see.
Hoskins has Boras as his agent. You know they’ll be asking for something like 5 years, $75M+ and you can’t give him that type of money for a 2 WAR player. And he can’t be the DH because Castellanos is there, and his defence is only going to get worse as he ages. I think Hoskins walks.
IMO, Harper should go to 1B next year…his age30 season would be just fine…and more importantly…he will age slower and last longer..
His overtry aggressive nature, which is a good team motivator, however is a health liability in RF, or for that matter in LF or CF.
Bad enough he goes crazy aggressive on the base paths…..Phillies need to rein the stallion in.
Is it possible Painter gets to Jersey Shore by the end of May. Seems like Florida State hitters aren’t much of a challenge for him
He will get at least two more starts there I would think. If he keeps doing this they almost have to promote him. By the way, he just turned 19.
And the cherry on the cake? Miller and Morales had dominant outings tonight too. I don’t ever remember us having this many dominant pitching prospects at the same time. Not even close. And don’t talk to me about the baby aces – that was all media nonsense.
Historically, the Phillies baby their young pitchers and lets them get a minimum amount of innings before they get promoted. But Painter has been lights out and you wonder if he’ll even get to 50 innings before he gets promoted to JS.
Regarding our big 3 RHP, ask Metsfans of the mid 90s and to mid 2010s what can go wrong with power RHP.
Generation K got derailed by injuries, and it was really unfortunate for all 3 pitchers.
I didn’t see the game but it appears Wheeler lost steam in the fifth. He pretty much had no spring training. Did Gerardi leave him in too long?
He went out and everyone thought he was pulling him but left him in and he gave up 2 more hits/runs.
Brewer announcers thought he would bring Sanchez in to face Yelich. Joe’s gut feelings have just not been good so far on when to leave or remove guys. Guys said you could tell balls just did not have the movement as earlier in game. I would think JT should help relay that to manager as well.
Watch some of Lehigh valley last night, taped it and finish this morning, Hall homerun was a laser , The double off a lefthanders fast ball just missed and was a double, I dont know if he is a major league everyday player, but he is big with power, I know one thing Roman can still fly and go get them in center
rocco,
Hall just needs a opportunity with a MLB team…he will not get it in Philly.
A team like the Os or DBacks could be a fit for him where the pressure is not great to produce right away and he can stay in the lineup until he gets adjusted.
Guys like Muncy, Urshela and Turner all were late bloomers, then given chances with other teams. Who’s to say Hall cannot have that chance also.
That would be nice, Romus. Hall’s hung in there and keeps producing.
Remember the days when players came out of high school and went straight to the majors? It won’t happen with guys like Abel and Painter.
I recall it happening with Al Kaline and David Clyde. It seemed back then that position players had a better path than pitchers.
Joe Nuxhall was 15 years old pitching in the majors with the Reds…..whoa….yuongest ever.
Debut: June 10, 1944 (Age 15-316d, 9,733rd in major league history)
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/nuxhajo01.shtml
Of course it was the war years and that had something to do with it….and the kid got demolished in his one inning…the 9th inning mop up.
Romus did you attend Nuxhall first game, i thought you told me you did?
LOL…..but Carl Scheib’s in Philly. (tic)
Looks like Reading needs a new batting coach or some new batters.
Adonis Medina pitched the 8th inning in a Mets loss last night in Arizona. He threw 22 pitches and struck out the side.
I have a question that I think came up last year. Does anyone else besides me not like Rhys as the number 2 hitter. Other than getting some BBs he has no traits of what the 2nd hitter should be able to do IMO. I know this will be knocked but Odubel then Segura to me is a better 1 -2. Have speed and a guy who can control the bat fairly well. I realize Odubel just got back but why he moved Rhys there confuses me. Both Rhys and JT strike out too much, but I would rather JT because of his speed and baserunning. If I am off base feel free to fire away.
I too would rather have Odubel leading off and then Segura. If Odubel would strike out a bit less and put more contact, he would be better at leadoff. Segura should be 2nd, he’s more of a contact hitter and hits the opposite way with ease. Rhys walks a ton but he pulls a lot of balls.
Don, maybe Bohm as the 2nd hitter will work. He seems to hit for average, does walk some, makes contact, and does not strike out much. Segura is a good choice here as well for the same reasons as Bohm.
He struck out at if my math is right , 24percent rate last season
The Nationals are starting Cade Cavalli vs Lehigh today. He was drafted in the 1st round in 2020 (AFTER Mick Abel) The Nationals have a history of aggressively promoting guys. I guess 58 innings was enough for AA even though he was walking 5 guys per game.
Guru…do not forget his amateur innings pitched before getting drafted…115, and he will turn 24 this season,
Granted, he does not have a ton of IPs in the professional ranks.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=cavall000cad
Goo – It really goes to show all that the Nationals have very little starting pitching and that they are willing to go to these extremes.
Conforto…out for 2022…shoulder surgery once again.
https://clutchpoints.com/mlb-news-michael-conforto-will-not-be-playing-in-2022/
So declining the QO cost Conforto $18M, yikes.
He may now have to take a pillow contract for a year in 2023, unless Boras thinks differently.