Open Discussion: Week of April 24, 2022

Weekly Discussion

This is the courtesy thread for comments and discussion about the Phillies and other BASEBALL topics.

Okay, so last week I started the Girardi discussion.  I feel that it was pertinent at the time.  I obviously don’t think that ten games into the season are too early.  Hell, you all started on Kapler after his first weekend, and some wanted his head after his first game.

My contention is that Girardi has had 2 years and ten games.  He is managing the same way so far this season as he did the first two years.  Isn’t the definition of crazy doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?  I don’t think he’s crazy.  I just think he can’t handle the job.

My biggest problem is his stance on development at the major league level.  He is on record saying that development is not his responsibility.  One of the many criticisms of the Phillies over the past few years is that they don’t get better when they reach the majors.  If he’s not going to be involved in the development, get rid of him sooner rather than later.

Now, I don’t think the Phillies are going to fire him, so I’m not going to belabor the point.  I read this week that no manager has been fired during the season since 2019.  I guess he’s safe and we’ll be wringing our hands when Torreyes comes up to replace Stott.  ARGG!

I spent more time on that than I had planned.  I do want to say that after watching the game on ESPN last night, how is Angel Hernandez still getting assignments?  He should be the poster boy for the ABS.  I don’t care what the people who consider themselves purists think, whether they be fans or former players.  The strike zone should not be open to interpretation.  When an umpire goes unchecked, you get a clown show like last night with batters having to swing at pitches out of the zone because the nitwit behind the plate is bad at his job.  I think the worst was the third strike that ended an inning called against McCutchen.

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:

4/24/2022 – SS Ali Castillo assigned to Reading from Lehigh Valley
4/24/2022 – Reading placed SS Kevin Vicuna on the 7-day IL
4/23/2022 – Jersey Shore placed SS Luis Garcia on the 7-day IL retroactive to 4/20
4/23/2022 – Jersey Shore activated OF Carlos De La Cruz
4/22/2022 – Phillies activated CF Odubel Herrera
4/22/2022 – Phillies optioned CF Simon Muzziotti to Reading
4/22/2022 – Reading released C Colby Fitch
4/22/2022 – Jersey Shore transferred RHP Christian McGowan from the 7- to the 60-day IL
4/21/2022 – LHP Zach Warren assigned to Lehigh Valley from Reading
4/21/2022 – Reading activated RHP Noah Skirrow
4/21/2022 – Reading transferred LHP Nick Lackney to the Development List
4/21/2022 – RHP Austin Ross assigned to Reading
4/21/2022 – Jersey Shore activated RHP Cristian Hernandez
4/21/2022 – Jersey Shore placed RHP Christian McGowan on the 7-day IL
4/21/2022 – C Rickardo Perez assigned to Clearwater from DSL Red
4/20/2022 – Clearwater activated RHP Oswald Medina
4/20/2022 – Clearwater transferred RHP Micah Ottenbreit to the Development List
4/20/2022 – Clearwater activated LHP Matt Osterberg
4/20/2022 – Clearwater activated RHP Victor Lopez from the TIL
4/20/2022 – Clearwater placed LHP Rafael Marcano on the 7-day IL
4/19/2022 – Phillies optioned LF Dustin Peterson to Lehigh Valley
4/19/2022 – Milwaukee traded LF Dustin Peterson to Phillies for cash
4/19/2022 – Phillies sent CF Odubel Herrera on a rehab assignment to Lehigh Valley
4/19/2022 – RHP Tyler Carr assigned to Reading from FCL Phillies
4/19/2022 – Reading sent 1B Aldrem Corredor on a rehab assignment to Clearwater
4/19/2022 – LHP Jared Wetherbee assigned to FCL Phillies from Clearwater
4/18/2022 – Lehigh Valley placed LHP Scott Moss on the 7-day IL
4/17/2022 – Reading placed LHP Josh Hendrickson on the 7-day IL
4/08/2022 – Reading placed 1B Aldrem Corredor on the 7-day IL
3/23/2022 – Lehigh Valley placed RHP Hans Crouse on the 7-day IL

227 thoughts on “Open Discussion: Week of April 24, 2022”

  1. What if the players refuse to take the field when Hernandez is the home plate umpire? I’m sure there are ten CBA clauses forbidding something like this from happening, but I feel like it’s time for serious measures. Last nights game was a travesty for both teams…

  3. I’m in agreement with Jim on Girardi. I originally was on board with his hiring. Looking back over his career more closely, I see relatively little to be impressed by. With a couple fairly successful (and brief) stints, he became the “flavor of the month” after managing the Yankees for a decade. John Middleton became more enamored with the Bronx Bombers leadershup and certain individuals long associated with them, so he went after a sexy name instead of a truly more accomplished figure in a guy like Buck Showalter, who’s head and shoulders better at managing a major league roster despite not having the talent level to work with throughout his career.

    So it looks like we’re stuck with Joe. And who wants to root for the team to lose when this roster is as talented as any Phillies club in 10 years, perhaps longer. But a guy who doesn’t embrace both young and older players, but rather manages for his job alone, can’t and won’t be re-upped for ’23. Gabe Kapler didn’t arrive here with a resume. How he presented himself is really what divided his supporters from his detractors, including the Phillies players themselves. He was probably the wrong guy in the wrong city at the wrong time in his career. But Joe Girardi is more a product of a good PR director than baseball acumen, with help from some pretty good coaches standing alongside him.

    Anybody got Raul Ibanez’s contact info?

    1. One of the problems with cutting Girardi is that his coaches are entrenched on the Team. We might need to fire the pitching coach, hitting coach and Thompson. Throw away year.

      1. Whatever you think the year should be I can guarantee you that John Middleton isn’t thinking about this as a throw away year; for him, it’s a go for it at almost all costs year, so until they are hopelessly out of it, they are all in.

      2. Denny…he is on a lame duck now contract , so assume Dave D will give him until late in the season …if they continue to struggle and appear out of a play-off berth….he will let him go and Dusty becomes the interim guy until the end of the season..

        1. Everybody on their Dusty Wathan love or Raul Ibanez love – so bizarre. You have no clue whatsoever whether these guys would be good managers. We all thought Ryne Sandberg would be a good manager – what a disaster that was. There is no chance that Middleton, who hired the most experienced GM he could get, is leaving this team to some middle-of-the-road third base coach like Wathan (that people on here love as a manger for no reason in particular other than he seems to be a good guy) and he shouldn’t.

          1. If you want to hire a guy who hasn’t managed in the big leagues before, he needs to be someone who has a reputation of being a fabulous minor league manager, like Davey Johnson, Brian Snitker or Earl Weaver were before they became big league managers. Wathan does have minor league managing experience, but I never heard about him as a hot managerial name in the minors.

            1. And, just to be clear, I am not saying Wathan would be a bad manager. But what I am saying is that there is no particular reason to believe he would be a better manager than Girardi and there’s nothing that I can see that would elevate him above some of the possible other candidates that would be out there unless you are worried about losing the hitting or pitching coaches and feel Wathan could retain them (forget about the last 2 weeks – Long is an elite coach and, frankly, I think Cotham is doing a solid job – it’s not his fault some of the talent brought in was inadequate).

        2. I think the next in line is LHV Pigs manager Anthony Contreras. He was brought over from Padres by Mattingly and was part of the great Padres minor league program.

  4. A lot of people hate Girardi. The team hasn’t won under him, so I get it. But aside from a really annoying tendency to leave pitchers in a batter or two too long and aside from this stupidness with Stott (he either needs to play or be in the minors), I don’t think the losing emanates from Girardi. The team just isn’t playing well. As for not developing players, it was a stupid thing to say (he probably was just appeasing management who wants to win now), but when a young player plays well, I find that Girardi plays him and he’s willing to give players a new role if the situation calls for it, which is how Suarez ended up starting last year. I found that Charlie Manuel was much more reluctant to play unproven guys, which is why it took so damned long for Utley and Werth to start.

    So, while I don’t think he’s a great manager by any means, I just don’t think he’s the cause of the team not playing well now. And the players seem to like him and play hard for him. Honestly, managers make so little difference in baseball anyway – I just don’t see him as primary cause of the problem and I’m not apologist for him, that’s just how I see it.

  5. Couple things on game last night. It was a great game if as a fan you want no scoring. I had a feeling after the bases loaded 5th that things would not end well. Hernandez is beyond bad. I actually thought the worst was the 1st pitch to Segura with bases loaded. Way inside. Next one a ball but then on the 3rd pitch instead of 2-0 another high inside and Segura pops up. Count would have been 3-0 instead of 2 outs. Then I believe 1st 2 pitches to Hoskins were balls. One may have been called a strike but 5 straight pitches out of the strike zone. Call on Cutch was bad as were several others.

    But Phillies cannot have 16 Ks. Brewers only got 11 outs in the field. Also, Yelich 2 straight games came up with clutch ABs. It is time someone on the Phillies begins to do the same. I was thinking of this last night. It is possible the Phillies may be 10 games out of 1st by the end of April. I remember Hinkie and I thinking with the schedule Phillies could have a great April. That is out the window.

    BTW Hader is all he is cracked up to be. Just filthy.

    1. That game was absurd. I sometimes gripe about a call, but I can’t remember yelling at my TV over balls and strikes, but I did last night. Hernandez called strikes on pitches 3 or 4 inches out of the zone – it was absurd. My view is that MLB wants the automated ball and strike calls, which is why they are allowing the box to exist on tv broadcasts so everyone can see that umpires screw up an unacceptable percentage of calls and the pressure to change this procedure will be too great for the umpires union to resist. I swear one pitch called a strike to Camargo was like 5 inches off the plate. So glad Schwarber went off – he was entirely correct.

      1. The first pitch that Lauer threw to Jean with the the bases loaded. It was at least 2 inches off the plate inside and it was called a strike. I was pissed. Jean handled it pretty well, I don’t think I would have.

        1. My apologies – it was to Segura, not Camargo – worst strike called I may have ever seen.

        2. TV guys said he said something in Spanish. I thought that was the key pitch of game. He then swings at what should have been ball 3 so he would not have a 2nd strike called.

  6. Okay, I wanted to post about this yesterday, but didn’t have my computer on and hate writing longer posts on my iPhone.

    I want to be clear about what are looking at here in our young pitching prospects. This team has, to my reckoning, never had three starting pitching prospects at the same time as talented as these guys. You could look at each one of them standing alone and conclude (if the other two were not around), that he has the best stuff for a Phillies starting pitching prospect since Cole Hamels (the competition would be Spencer Howard – who was dominant for a time, but not quite as electric as any of these three and who hurt his shoulder just at the time he was really breaking out and then never fully recovered [he still hasn’t] – and Jesse Biddle, who was dominant in AA before he developed command/control issues that limited his upside).

    Just a word on Griff McGarry. McGarry has had control and command issues that could limit his upside, perhaps significantly, but let’s talk about the stuff. As a comparison, when I watch Mick Abel, I feel like I am watching a younger version of a full healthy Zack Wheeler. It’s a heady comparison, but the stuff is there to see and I think it’s a reasonable comparison. Abel absolutely has TOR potential. That said, as hard as it may be to believe, McGarry’s raw stuff is even better. His fastball is more electric and has more movement – it is a potential plus plus pitch (70 or higher) – and his curve or slider or whatever the heck it is he throws is nearly unhittable and if he can throw that pitch for strikes it has the potential of being a true out pitch. I don’t know what McGarry will become (assuming he stays healthy) and, due to command/control issues he’s not going to be quite as highly rated as the other two (at least for the foreseeable future – that could always change), but his ceiling is about as high as it gets – if he hits his ceiling, he’s like a young Tim Lincecum or young Roy Oswalt – seriously.

    1. Not sure if I would say that Jesse Biddle’s AA Phillies numbers are dominant. He had a sub 4 ERA but his WHIP was elevated because he walking 5+ guys per game when he was 21 at Reading. This is similar to what Cade Cavalli did for the Nationals AA team last season.

      I’ll give you another comp for Griff McGarry: Freddy Peralta. He’s a little taller but throws an assortment of pitches with big strikeout numbers and balancing not walking a ton of guys.

      1. Biddle started his first year at AA absolutely on fire through the first couple of months including a 16 strikeout performance and I think a few 10k outings. Then, as summer came around, he had control issues and faded.

        2. Folks, you forget about the bizarre experience Biddle had with the concussion caused by getting caught in a hailstorm. Management, then still in the sway of a macho culture, didn’t believe him. He never really got his groove back after that. A year or so later, he tried to tough it out through arm soreness and wound up with TJ surgery.

          Full disclosure: I know the family.

    2. I tend to temper my expectations of all TOR prospects only because of how infinitesimally small the percentage of them that actualize anything close to their ceiling, largely due to two things – elbow & shoulder issues and/or grey matter issues. No matter how electric McGarry’s stuff may be, pitchers who can’t control their stuff, let alone command the strike zone, don’t amount to much more than journeymen relievers – useful but unremarkable.

      1. Injuries are always a concern and there’s always the possibility that McGarry’s control becomes so bad that he’s just a reliever. That said, even as a reliever, he has pretty good projections and, as for control, he seems to be trending up significantly. There’s still a bunch of risk with McGarry as I noted, but the upside is huge.

      2. If you want to be a TOR pitcher, for the most part, you need to have a sub 4 walk rate. Between 4 and 5, it’s a balancing act. Above 5, it’s not doable. Once you’re over 5, you’ll have to change your approach, which will help the walk rate, but it will likely bring down your SO rate.

    3. You forgot Sixto who, to me, is easily the most talented Phillies prospect since I started following the system in 07 or so.

      Painter’s early numbers are nuts we just need to see him do it more, then see what the scouting reports that follow are like. McGarry is still very much a wildcard with his control issues and short track record. It was good to see Abel dominate since his results haven’t always matched the scouting reports so far.

      1. I did forget him – you’re right – until now, he was the most talented prospect since Hamels.

        1. Sixto probably threw a little harder than Painter and Abel (and probably McGarry), but he never threw up the strikeout numbers Painter is recording. But at the time, Sixto was an extremely exciting prospect and, no question, the best since Hamels until this current crop. Hopefully for him, he recovers his past abilities and stays fit (which was becoming an issue for him).

  7. Agree that Angel Hernandez was pitiful/cemented his reputation as one of the two worst umpires (CB Buckner) in MLB last night. What makes Hernandez look even worse is that he’s on the same crew as Jim Wolfe. Wolfe is maybe the game’s best home plate guy. On Friday night, Randy’s brother was like a machine calling balls and strikes. I don’t think he missed a single pitch (and there were plenty of “an inch just outside” or “scraping the black” type of calls he had to make).
    But Hernandez wasn’t the reason the Phillies lost last night. IMO, Odubel needs to call off Johan Camargo on that 9th inning leadoff looping ball to shallow CF, and make the catch. It’s a completely different inning if Jayce Peterson doesn’t reach base. But …. again … that wasn’t even the reason the Phillies lost the contest. It’s all about the bats. You can’t win if you don’t score. Middleton cannot be happy. He went over the cap knowing the club had some other issues (primarily defense & possibly rotation depth), but he knew the bats would at least make his product exciting for fans at the park and on TV. We’re only 10% thru the season, but so far the 2022 Phillies have been anything but exciting. I’m ambivalent towards Joe Girardi. However, if this team doesn’t wake up soon, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Dave Dombrowski use Girardi as the sacrificial lamb used to light a fire under this group. They’re all in for 2022 (despite my #Lose4Crews comments).

      1. LOL! What were the odds that the Phillies would get the two worst MLB umps behind the plate in consecutive games?

        And … happy to admit I was wrong about wanting Hoskins to sit tonite.

  8. Rockies are throwing Kyle Freeland tonight. I don’t care that he’s a lefty. Girardi needs to sit Rhys Hoskins tonight, play Bohm at 1B (despite the fact that he looks comfortable in the field again/he’s making all the plays), give Camargo the night at the hot corner, and start Bryson Stott at SS. Stott needs ABs. He can’t give the club any less than what Hoskins is contributing right now. Not saying Rhys is cooked. Just saying he needs a break.

    1. I did not last year or now understand the logic of Rhys hitting 2nd. Makes no sense to me. Other than walking which he does not do much anymore he has no traits of a number 2 hitter. None. In that spot you have to have bat control and be able to put the ball in play. The inning Segura singled they were holding him on and the entire field was open between 1B and 2B. You have to have a hitter there who can use that to his advantage. No excuse. Also, Harper seems to be getting a free pass. He is swinging at lots of pitches out of the zone especially on outside pitches. I have no idea if his elbow is bothering him hitting but he is off in some degree.

    2. Agreed but I’m sure he’ll be in there.

      I really think Bohm would be a great 2 hole hitter. I’d make another line up change moving forward:

      2B Segura
      3B Bohm
      DH Hoskins
      RF Castellanos
      C Realmunto
      LF Schwarber
      1B Hoskins
      CF Herrera
      SS Stott

      I wish Stott would’ve gotten some at bats against RHP the last few days while Didi is out. I actually think he’s the long term answer to leadoff for this team.

      2. on the – manager doesn’t really do anything topic…isn’t this (best line up)the type of thing a good manager is supposed to recognize?

  9. The Brewers starting pitching is amazing! They basically threw their 3,4 and 5 starters in this series. Burnes and Woodruff finished up the last series they played. What it comes down to is that there is heavy lumber in the Phillies lineup that is hitting for crap. Yet, we’re #5 in salary paid out and almost #5 in the division. Thank goodness for the Nationals!

    1. Their ability to develop elite pitching is truly remarkable. Lauer did a great job but he did give us some good pitches to hit that guys just missed. As you said the big bats need to start producing and producing consistently.

  10. They do have really good SP, and Hernandez was terrible yesterday. But, we still need to score more runs. Hoskins is not a #2 hitter. Don said it earlier. Hoskins’ eye doesn’t seem as good as it was. When Segura led off with the BB, Rhys should have been hitting to RF. He took a pitch he could have done that with, and then hit a Fly Out to LF. The complete opposite of what was needed. And, I am not picking on him. If Bryce is hurting, let him rest a few days. He looks way off. And, is there some reason Stott isn’t already back at LHV, playing everyday at SS?

  11. In an attempt to move the conversation away from the “Dark or Fallen Angel”, and by the way even he knows he’s bad.

    I was wondering after all the times I’ve had to sit and read rants about Nola that not a word has been said about a truly good effort. Kinda like last year, when he truly puts out, the bats go into hibernation or they squander runs by leaving men on base.

    1. Good point Skeet. I thought of this earlier that this was best Aaron has looked in quite some time for extended innings. Sometimes really good for 4 or 5 then but last night he was excellent. A shame to waste that effort.

      Some guys just have to start producing or this is going to be a long Summer.

  12. Thinking about catching the Threshers in Dunedin on Sat. 5/7 if Painter is pitching. Anyone interested? I’m in Orlando

  13. I don’t even know why Stott is on the roster now. I would have no problem with him struggling if he was playing, but if he is just going to ride the pine they need to send him down. What they are doing with his development is ridiculous for a professional organization.

    1. Aron…more than likely happens next Monday when the rosters are reduced.
      Agree….his on-going development requires regular playing time to fulfill that need..

  14. See, guys, the Phils listen to us. Stott optioned to LHV, and Roman brought up. I don’t know what he can do to help, but Stott needed to go down.

    1. How about that…thought it would be next week…..it is good move, Stott continues his development.

      1. Just saw on mlbtraderumors that Ronald Torreyes requested and was granted his release, Someone give Joe Girardi a hug.

  15. At least Stott being sent to Lehigh offers a reason to take a look at the Ironpigs box scores. Up to now when I looked it just appeared to be a bunch of random names with the exception of Hall who seems to be forgotten in the Phillies system

    1. What has Hall done to be part of the Phillies’ plans? He had a .741 OPS at Lehigh as a 25/26 year old. Compare that to .966 OPS for Rhys when he was 24 at Lehigh. So he’s not beating out Rhys for 1B and he’s not hitting enough to be the DH. And he’s only a 1B, he has no position flexibility. So if anybody deserves to be forgotten, it’s Darick Hall.

  16. The Phillies need to string together some W’s. And at the very least, string together some series wins. This static ‘red light, green light, yellow light STOP’ pattern is what sucks the air out of the fan base balloon. Bats, arms, gloves (?)….they have to start finding ways to win close games.

    1. …and bringing back Roman Quinn is nothing short of a billboard over I-95 screaming, “WE’VE GOT NOBODY ON THE FREAKIN’ FARM!!” for the next two years.

      1. For what Roman will be asked to do….you do not want any young prospects sitting around waiting to get in for a brief role in a game maybe now and again.
        And putting Sheriff on the 60day is not a detrimental loss.

      2. No, no, no. This is a move similar to the Singer move. Quinn is a body they can DFA when the need arises who might slip through waivers. And, if he doesn’t? Who cares. Plus, they don’t have to waste another option on Muzziotti. There is a limit on how many times a player can be optioned during the season now. This is a sound business move by the front office. (This is in addition to what Romus wrote.)

    1. … and then of course MLB feeds the Phillies CB Buckner (1B on the list of worst home plate umpires) the very next game after Angel Hernandez (1A). You can’t make this stuff up.

      1. Hernandez and Buckner (whose calls on the base paths I always view to be presumptively wrong) are, to my mind, clearly the worst umpires in MLB. Why would you have them on the same crew? It’s like a cruel joke.

        1. No. Different crews. That’s what makes this so weird. You get Hernandez Sunday night. His crew leaves town. The next crew in includes Buckner, who just happens to be next in line to call balls and strikes.

          Also … couple of notes on Hernandez:

          1. Okay, got it. Just bad luck on the umpire front.

            It’s the same in the NFL. There are crews that call pass interference or holding on seemingly every drive and it makes those games unwatchable too and you know before the game starts that the refs are going to take over and ruin the game in some way and, sure enough, it always happens.

          3. What I’d like to know is what umpire evaluator made the final decision years ago to promote him to the major leagues? I mean, that decision had to rest with someone, no? Or is it a committee voting on these guys? And lastly, have they fled the country?

            It’s kind of like the old George Carlin joke…by process of elimination, somewhere in the world there has to be the very worst doctor. And what’s even worse is that somebody has an appointment with him at 2pm🤣🤣🤣🤣

    2. The strike call to Segura is probably the worst Ball/Strike call at the MLB level that I have ever seen. Some of those other pitches are at least close. The Segura strike 1 call was horrific. Straight out of little league.

      1. Agreed. The Segura call was the first time I ever remember yelling at the TV on a ball/strike call. It was unfathomable.

  18. Contrary to popular opinion, I was very vocally supportive of the Abel and Painter picks. This is the exact reason. If you want elite arms you need to use your first round pick on them. Sure, you can still find an elite arm later in the draft but that is very rare. Most of the non-LatAm signing elite arms are first round picks. Love what I am seeing from those players and very, very happy that they were our picks.

    1. v1 … I was going to wait until the first Draft Discussion Thread to speak to this, but since you’ve brought it up, I’ll mention it now. The Phillies could be in a place to do something that hardly ever happens this July. Top college hitters almost always rise up draft boards leading up to the event. Those top guys may likely be gone by the time the Phils select at 1-17. The best college arms have/are dropping like flies (with arm injuries). After Druw Jones, Termarr Johnson, Elijah Green, and Jackson Holliday, the best HS players are mostly hurlers. Could/would the Phillies become just the third franchise since the turn of this century to pick a prep pitcher with their only 1st round selection three years in a row? HS arms are the riskiest demographic in the draft (because of the abnormal amount of projection and greater risk of injury). Since 2000, only the Royals and Dodgers have gone prep pitcher 3 times in a row:

      ROYALS
      2000 Mike Stodolka (1-4)
      2001 Colt Griffin (1-9)
      2002 Zack Greinke (1-6)

      DODGERS
      2006 Clayton Kershaw (1-7)
      2007 Chris Withrow (1-20)
      2008 Ethan Martin (1-15)

      You can see why it happens so infrequently. The hit rate was only 33% for those two clubs. Brian Barber and Dave Dombrowski don’t seem to be very risk averse. Could they jump into the HS arms pool again in 2022? I think there’s (at least) a decent chance they do.

      BTW … I’ll highlight some possibilities for 1-17 at a later date.

      1. For many reasons, you literally can never have enough pitching. If the team thinks the best player available is a high school pitcher, they should go for it. Putting it another way, would you rather have the next Andrew Painter or the next Adam Haseley? Take the best player and develop him.

      2. At 1-17, if the Phillies feel that the prep pitcher gives the best risk/reward, I have no problem going into that well again.

      3. I remember Colt Griffin came out of nowhere and was hitting 100, which back in those days was a big deal. Crazy rise from out of nowhere to first rounder and then shortly back to obscurity

        1. The majority of prospects fail. As much as we’re happy with the progress of Abel and Painter, it could have easily been the worst case scenario i.e. they can’t throw strikes. And even then, they’re not out of the woods. Many prospects have hit a wall at AA/AAA and never break through.

          From the previous post, the Dodgers are one of the better drafting teams and they missed on Chris Winthrow and Ethan Martin. You just don’t know who’s going to make it.

          1. On the Dodgers……of their last 25 first rounders…they hit on 4 impact players……Kershaw, Buehler, Will Smith and Corey Seager…Lux though has a chance.
            BTW Preston Mattingly did not make it as a first rounder in 2006.

      4. Every team in MLB would gladly trade their first round picks from those three years for either Greinke or Kershaw. That’s my point exactly. If your focused on hit rate then you are focused on the wrong thing imo. It is all about getting elite talents.

  19. Giants beat the Brewers. Burnes was fantastic but the relief corps gave it up. Mr. Kotter used 8 pitchers and they held the Crew to one earned run. That’s something that you can do if you have a lights out bullpen.

  20. CBS has story with Girardi saying he would not mind an automated strike zone.
    Announcers said at end of game Sunday that the 1-0 was the 19th game that ended since CBP opened. The only other I remember is the Carpenter vs Doc game in the 2011 playoffs.
    Any other great games of note like that?

  21. Just had to note that the Mets are living a charmed life right now.

    What are the odds of winning a game where they are shut-out through 8 innings, get a 2-out run and base runner on an error by a 9X gold glove winning 3b and then score 2 runs on an infield grounder that Dom Smith beats out because the pitcher is late covering 1b to take the lead.

  22. Not surprisingly, Painter tops Baseball America’s weekly list of 20 hottest prospects of the past week.

    I’m going to catch some Thresher games this week starting tonight. Any suggestions for guys to watch and report on are welcome.

    I hope to see Painter pitch but, after a Spring of desert-like weather, forecast is majority chance of rain later this week when his turn comes up.

  24. See that Bailey Falter was sent down and Damon Jones was recalled. I’m still trying to figure out what’s so special about Falter. Or Jones for that matter, other than they’re both on the 40, and both are lefties. Six for a half dozen.

    1. Very strange. I think you do this if you want to stretch out Falter and put him in the rotation. And you’re right, Falter is a 4/5 pitcher. He needs his velocity up a bit more.

      Jones has more SO ability, but he needs to rein in his walks. He’s just too wild.

        1. Falter is going to be stretched out as starter in AAA and likely first SP call up when needed. This was needed since AAA has nothing so far for pitching that one would consider to call up. Better to promote Painter from A ball to majors than one from AAA right now

    2. Falter and Jones are extremely different pitchers.

      Falter has had tremendous success in the minors and was dominant last year before he was recalled. He might have a very bright future. Jones has some velocity (some, not a ton), but he’s all over the place in and out of the strike zone. He doesn’t have good control, let alone command. Damon Jones is a classic AAAA pitcher.

      As for Falter’s velocity, it plays up a lot because his release point is so close to home plate. So a 92-93 MPH fastball from Falter looks to the hitter to be 95 to 96 MPH – Fangraphs wrote a whole article about this last year and featured Falter.

      I do think it makes sense for him to pitch more and work to increase his velocity from the 90 range to the 92-93 range – it would make a big difference. But Falter is going to be a starting pitcher in the big leagues and may turn into a very good one.

  25. Our Torreyes nightmare scenario is over. He’s requested release from his contract

  27. ▶ We’ve found the one team who plays worse defense than the Phillies. The Rockies look like an old Bad News Bears movie.

    ▶ Despite the fact that it’s supposed to get cold again tomorrow, the calendar may be turning to hittin’ season. The bats look to finally be heating up. Hopefully they stay hot through this weekend vs the NYMs.

    ▶ Welcome back, O’Double Herrera and O’Homer Herrera ⬆⬆⬆

    ▶ Alec Bohm ⬆⬆⬆ Haven’t heard much from the haters lately (and I’m not just talking about you, v1 … there’s an army of you). He may never win a GG, but you can see he’s regaining his confidence at the plate and in the field. I’ve been a firm believer Bohm was the victim of a crisis in confidence. He needed to clear his mind of all the negativity, and just play instinctively. Since his infamous 3 error/”I hate this f#@king place” game, Bohm has gone 10 straight games w/o an error (he’s made a few highlight plays), and he continues to hit the ball hard.

    ▶ Zach Eflin ⬆⬆⬆⬆⬆ He looks really good. Was mostly 92-95 (T 96 a couple of times early), and commanded all of his pitches well. The knees seem to be healthy. If I was Dave Dombrowski, I’d look to extend him before he gets any closer to the point of no return down the free agency expressway. TBH, it may already be too late. He should probably expect something like a Steven Matz (4 yr/44M) or Jon Gray (4 yr/56M) type of deal, but all it takes is for one team to be willing to overpay you on the open market.

    1. Eflin is still a 3/4 pitcher so he’s not going to get seriously paid unless he delivers something like a 4 WAR this season. That said, 3/4 pitchers don’t grow on trees and he’ll start next season at age 29. 5 year, $90M should get it done and it’s going to be interesting to see if the Phillies will want to pony up that type of money. I seriously doubt the Phillies will able to re-sign both Eflin and Gibson.

      1. Eflin @ $90M, and IMO, over 5 years sounds like it could be a done deal.

        Amazing….I look at the Padres and all the pitchers they have drafted and traded away over the last few years…….Eflin, Lauer, Qunatrill to name a few…and they still are looking for more pitching

        1. Five years might be the goal for Eflin, but that may be optimistic due to the history of his knees. Even if he (and his agent) were to find a club willing to go 5 years, 90M sounds too high IMO.
          This past offseason, Kevin Gausman (110M) and Robbie Ray (115M) were two of just three pitchers to get five year deals. Those guys were signed as TOR arms/#1’s. Eduardo Rodriguez is the other dude to earn a five year pact. He’s getting 77M to be Detroit’s #1 while their young arms grow into that role. IMO, Eflin will probably be signed as more of a MOR hurler. That’s why I comp him closer to Steven Matz (4/44M) and/or Jon Gray (4/56M).
          Like I said above, it may be too late to get Eflin to agree to a Phillies extension because he’s only about 5 months/25 starts away from free agency (and the possibility of finding that one club willing to over pay). He looks healthy so he (and his agent) may be confident he’ll get to the open market in one piece. That said, DD would probably be smart to at least explore the LTX.

        2. As a note, the Rockies gave Kyle Freeland 5 years, $64.5M. I get why they did this: he’s a home grown player, he’s from the area, and the Rockies need to pay somebody to pitch for them. The problem is that he’s already throwing in the low 90s and he’s pitching like a 4/5 pitcher. If you’re going to overpay for a pitcher (which the Rockies have to do), you might as well give it somebody like Eflin who’s at least throwing in the mid 90s. Freeland was still under arbitration. There was no need to give him money like this. Just an odd move by Rockies management.

          1. IMO … if Dave Dombrowski offered Zach Eflin the same contract the Tigers gave Eduardo Rodriguez, Eflin would likely take it. That 5 yr/77M is probably about his ceiling. Just not sure how confident the club is on Eflin’s knees long term. They’ve been operated on twice already.

            1. Hinkie……that is a fair point with Eflin’s health (knee issues),
              IMO, it will come down to an AAV between $15M and $18M….I think the Phillies lean on the large market side of the ledger….$17M or $18M AAV.
              As to the length….4, plus the last year as a mutual option

            2. BTW … the Phillies could always hit Eflin with a QO at the end of the season, and be on the hook for a 1 yr/~19M commitment if he accepts. If Eflin walks, the club would pick up a draft pick. That pick would only be a post 4th round selection because the team is currently over the LTT, but the Phils have a pretty good history with 5th round picks.
              Maybe Dombrowski offers 4/60M, and then uses the QO at season’s end if a deal can’t be struck.

            3. Hinkie…yes forgot all about the QO…..that may be an option Dombrowski may have to use.

    2. Well i will say it Hinkie that kid cant play third, No range, he got lucky on one of the plays, it pops out of his glove into his bare hand, So you can call out us who said, he cant play third, cause he cant,

      1. I’m encouraged how Bohm is swinging the bat. I think the most likely scenario is that Bohm takes over at first and Hoskins is not signed. I’m hoping he can become like Castellanos at the plate.

        1. That’s probably the most sensible approach to handling Hoskins and Bohm going forward. The latter is the cheaper option for several years. Hoskins is now beginning to be too expensive for his profile. He’s streaky offensively, and provides no other baseball skills to justify keeping him around. I believe he’s gone next winter.

      2. rocco…..that may be the Phillies’ plans with Bohm after this season
        I assume Boras and Rhys will reject any Phillies early extension offers and after 2023 he will be gone into the free agency market…who knows Dave D could trade him after this season in the off-season where his value is higher than as a two month rental in July 2023.

        1. I get why people think that Hoskins could be traded entering his final season, I just don’t think it will happen. Yes, Boras will try to negotiate some outrageous contract for Rhys that the Phillies should walk away from. But the reason for this is that Rhys is an average player because of his defense. He hasn’t had more than 2.2 WAR in any season. Not only that, he’s projected to make around $11M in his final arbitration season. Not too may teams would want to trade assets for a rental with those numbers.

    3. I hope I’m not being branded as a hater – I don’t hate Bohm at all. I was (and am) cautiously pessimistic that he can become a passable third baseman, but I’m rooting for him because, if he can’t play third on this team, the only position(s) that he might be able to play are first and left and those spots are taken right now and the offensive bar is way higher there. There’s no doubt that he’s the most valuable to this team playing third if he can hang there so good luck to him.

      One thing I think Bohm and definitely Matt Vierling need to do to progress as hitters is to learn how to turn on, pull and drive inside pitches. Both guys are extreme opposite field hitters, which robs most hitters not named Howard or Harper of almost all of their home run power. With Vierling it’s a huge problem because when he hits the ball to the outfield, he usually only uses about a third of the field from the right field line to the right-center. Ultimately, I think Vierling has a chance to have a decent big league career, but he has a ways to go. In my mind’s eye I see him treading water here for a year or two and then becoming one of the Giants’ or Rays’ best hitters for half a decade. The underlying tools are there with him – it’s just about polishing them.

      As for Zach Eflin, I’m a big fan, but, in my view, you really can’t have more than 3 starters on big money contracts when you have a bunch of those contracts with position players too. I can’t imagine Gibson will be here next year and, as for Zach, if he gets a Matz-type deal that is very workable. 5 years and $90 million (or something in that vicinity) will probably require a long-term (not next year) choice between him and Nola – and that’s not an easy choice to make.

    4. I haven’t commented on Bohm’s defense because I haven’t watched many games recently. Been too busy with my boy’s baseball season. I am currently in the fun zone where both of my boys are playing baseball non-stop all week long right now. For town teams and also club teams. It is a wonderful time to be a parent.

      I am happy to hear that Bohm has improved his defense. Most importantly, he has stopped making errors. So his DRS is only a -1. But his UZR (I.e. his range) is 4th worst of all MLB 3rd baseman. So I guess that is what you mean by “passable” defense. His range is terrible, but he isn’t committing errors. In that respect, he is the same as our corner OFs (Schwarber and Casellanos). Terrible range but isn’t committing errors. As long as that stays that way, it is playable. On his hitting, he started hot 7 for first 10 ABs, but since then has been 5 for 28. His only XBH in his last 14 games was the homer in Colorado. to me though, his biggest improvement has been cutting down on his strikeouts. If that holds, that would be a massive leap in his hitting ability.

      1. v1 … nothing like spending quality time with your kids. Enjoy it.

        Many years ago (when I was young dad), a woman came up to me while I was with my 6 month-ish old son. “Enjoy him”, she said “One day, you’ll wake up, and he’ll be graduating school.” Years later, I woke up on the day he was graduating HS, and I thought about that woman, and how right she was. Today, when I see young parents, I tell them the same thing.

        1. Yes. I think about that often. But there is nothing that I can do to slow down time. I just try to enjoy every minute with my boys.

    1. Every time I’ve seen Jones pitch I’ve concluded he isn’t a big league pitcher now and it’s doubtful he ever will be. He has all kinds of control problems and, unlike Alvarado, his stuff isn’t good enough to pitch effectively while he’s so wild in and out of the zone. I was shocked they brought him up again so soon.

  30. Romus…the Stat Master. Amaze me. Couple quick things. I am like v1 right now with the grandkids in my case game after game each night. After 9 each night when I get home. But it is fun, and I do hope it warms up here in Indiana. BRRRR.

    Hinkie…I mentioned early on that Bohm may have just had that 1st major experience with failure last year. It is hard for some young players to right the ship. Many figure it out and some do not. It appears that Alec has done so at least to this point.

    Finally, someone remind me how long Did was out when he was hit on the right hand recently? I see he played last night. Was it in Colorado? My grandson got hit on his left hand between the wrist and little finger Monday night 1st AB. He stayed in and pitched the next 2 innings but coach took him out when he came up to bat. Last night they sat him out because hand is pretty swollen. I thought Didi was around a week. Thanks for anyone with better memory than me.

  31. Went to the Threshers game last night. As I walked out of the stadium, i thought, How Refreshing. A 7 p.m. game over before 9:25. Got into my car and the Phillies game was still on, in the 7th inning despite starting 20 minutes earlier than the Threshers.

    The difference: a pitch clock.

    I know there are a number of reasons MLB games routinely last more than three hours but as Baseball Prospectus recently reported, time between pitches is the biggest culprit, adding 25 minutes to the average game from their base year to 2014. And I think games have gotten even longer since 2014.

    1. Frank…..next time at the game time the last out of inning and the first pitch at the next half……then compare that time to a game at the MLB level.
      Take that difference and by a factor of 16 multiply it out. (17 if it goes to the bottom of the ninth)
      Therein lies the majority of the time and the difference between the minors and majors.

  32. Romus, I understand and you’ve mentioned time between innings to accommodate advertising before. What disturbs me more is the amount of time lost by pitcher and hitter going through routines between each pitch rather than just getting on with it.

    1. I agree there is that portion of wasted time between pitches, by both pitchers and hitters………and a pitch clock does speed things up.You also have to remember…in an average 9 inning game there could be anywhere between 300 to 350 pitches thrown, so pitchers who have not used a clock in the past, will need adjustments.

      What I have a question on……how does the umpire determine who is the cause of a pitch clock infraction? And is there a penalty for it…or does the umpire just call for a pitch to be delivered, though the batter is not yet properly set up in the box?
      ,

      1. Romus, don’t know how infractions are handled in MiLB or how they would be handled in MLV but a ball on the pitcher and a strike on the batter would seem likely penalties.

        As for pitchers not familiar with a clock, maybe they can be given a grandfather exception.

      2. Romus, when the pitch clock was first used in the FSL the batter had to be set and ready to accept a pitch with 5 seconds left on the clock. So, the batter’s infraction would always occur before the pitcher’s.

  33. Phillies tend to struggle against young, new pitchers. Hope that’s not the case this evening.

    1. No matter how hard you throw, if you groove a fastball to a big leaguer and he’s waiting for it, the ball is going to go for a ride.

      1. A nice few nights for those of us that supported an Odubel return 🙂

        This team’s CORE Harper, Realmuto, Wheeler, Schwarber, Castellanos has a ton of security in their contracts. For me that’s a bit scary.

        I like to look out and see some guys in the mix that are playing for something or have something to prove.

        1. You can look at these things in one of two ways. One way is that they provide the team with security that they can keep these players around in a cost-effective manner over the next 3-4 years (more with Harper obviously). The other way is to see the risk of overpayment and being locked in. These, however, are pretty good contracts for the team. There’s always a risk with pitchers but Wheeler seems to have rebounded and has been a great signing. The others are good contracts where the players won’t be too old when the agreements expire. The biggest risk is on Realmuto, but fortunately, he should still have a lot of defensive value in a few years even if his hitting is trending down by that time.

          So while there’s risk there, I view these contracts fairly favorably over the long haul. There shouldn’t be too many serious overpay years with these deals and that’s a feather in DD’s cap, for sure.

  35. leaving Ranger in too long. Should have been prepared to pull him beginning of 6th

    1. Maybe a more mature Odubel will be the star we always hoped he would be. Gotta say, though, we were really psyched to see Mickey Mo take over this spring. Hope he can still be a big contributor though the roster gets crowded.

      1. It is going to be hard for Mickey Mo. A young player has to go 3 for 4 and play perfect defense every night or else Joe G will play the veteran.

        1. It’s going to be hard for Moniak if Odubel keeps on hitting.

          What do you think FA is? Veterans getting paid because you project their future performance based on their past history. The only history on young players are their minor league numbers.

          As much as we want Moniak to succeed, his ML numbers are not great. Odubel has had a past history of success.

          And again the Phillies are looking to win games. They cannot afford to wait that long for a young player to adjust. You can see how the Phillies gave Bohm less games last year as he struggled. And Bohm got that much leash only because of his performance in 2020. You can argue that Bohm contributed to the Phillies not making the playoffs last season with his -1.3 WAR.

  37. I just read that Realmuto started 10 straight games, that’s ridiculous! I’ve been able to watch a lot of games so far and it’s amazing the punishment Realmuto takes catching. I couldn’t believe when Joe put him at first base the other night to finish the game, let the guy rest! I will say something has changed with the guys approach at the plate, it has really been enjoyable watching them.

  38. If I play my cards right today I will get to see a projected first round pick in Aiden Weaver CB East kid. Playing my protege at Pennsbury High School

    Super excited to see 3 straight wins by the big club. The big tell will be this weekend up at Citi Field. Let’s see what they do there.

    1. DMAR…Mets are hot, though they lost yesterday.
      However….of their 14 wins…..7 were against the Nats and DBacks.
      Phillies do get Scherzer on Sunday it looks like right now….on five days rest.

      1. My 52 y/o philosophy Romus nothing in Sept will be as it was in April. So while I do enjoy all the various knee jerk reactions to that part of the season I keep my eyes out on the horizon.

        I don’t think Wheelers early issues are a big deal…yet! But if that were to persist then I’d say this team is still not complete enough to win the division. One of those last playoff spots sure.

        The LU is good and will get even better. The BP is so much better the only item IMO is will the SP hold up for 162. And every team in the league usually has that ?

        1. Yeah DMAR…a long season will invite many changes.
          Perhaps Joe G is thinking along the same lines…having Falter stretched to start in case Wheeler , or whoever, comes down with an injury.

      1. Speaking of Eric Gregg … Happy Birthday to Kevin Gregg (Phillies vice president of baseball communications, and Eric’s son). They just mentioned a surprise party for him on the telecast.

  40. I am thrilled that we won, and have a nice little streak going, even against the Rockies. But, Rhys Hoskins is not a #2 hitter, period. And, I am not one of those on this site who want to trade him, or see Bohm replacing him at 1B, and I know he is streaky, but we need a guy with bat control, who can put the ball in play, who can hit behind runners. Not only does it hurt the lineup to bat him there, it hurts the player. I believe that. I believe he feels certain expectations batting second that he just can’t do.

  41. Facing a lefty on the mound, both Odubel and Schwarber are sitting for Quinn and Vierling.

  42. According to the Phillies pregame show:

    2022 Phillies record after 19 games … 9-10
    2008 Phillies record after 19 games … 9-10
    1980 Phillies record after 19 games … 9-10

    So there you have it, the Phillies are going to win the World Series this year! 😃👍

    1. 2022 Phillies record after 20 games … 10-10
      2008 Phillies record after 20 games … 10-10
      1980 Phillies record after 20 games … 10-10

      … and LOVE the powder blues; wear them often.

  43. V1 – I remember that WS game. It was embarrassing. In the game with Maddox, once Mad Dog knew Gregg was giving him that strike, he went there over and over and over again. In my opinion, Maddox was one of the top 5 pitchers of all time and Gregg was one of the worst 5 umpires of all time.

  44. I know we like to bemoan poor draft picks, but, wow, Amaro nailed our first rounds picks in 2013 (Crawford) and 2014 (Nola). 1st division regular shortstop and frontline starting pitcher, you can’t ask for more than that.

    1. Could have nailed 2015, except Cubs’ Theo threw him a curve ball at number 9 and took Ian Happ……so Ruben went with the HS hitter…..Randolph.

      1. Yes, Happ at least made it to the bigs. But Happ is only starting to break out this year. In his previous 5 seasons, he’s not even starter level.

        1. I’d rather have him over these last five years then the number one pick the Phillies had in 2015.

          1. This is an interesting question. Would you rather have a bust pick that flames out in the minors, or a prospect that’s putting up backup WAR?

            In the first scenario, you know that the busted pick won’t be helping you at all so you’re looking elsewhere for a solution. In the second scenario, you’re waiting forever for the prospect to break out but they never do and in the meantime, giving you middling WAR.

            So which one is better?

            1. Good question…..middling WAR in the majors does give the team flexibility….in the financial benefit aspect, since the player is on a entry level contract. And in his case, he was able to play quite a few positions…though his dWAR probably negates somewhat and anchors his overall WAR
              Now the busted pick , cannot help out all, but up thru his 3rd or maybe into his 4th year in the system, he was not expected to help anyways..And though there was lack of progression, the thought is to stay the course in the hope of a better outcome. Now once year 5 rolls in and there is goijng to be no value, the team must shift gears on any expectations from the pick..

              And on value……the pick of Happ has ended up with trade value if they ever were to use it.

    2. I remember that Aaron Nola draft. There were a lot of rumors about the Phillies drafting Nick Gordon, son of Flash Gordon. Would the Phillies have selected Nola if Gordon was available?

      As for JP, good for him. The Phillies couldn’t afford to wait for him to develop. And as I recall, Jim mentioned that there were other issues with JP.

  46. Roman Quinn steals 2D and 3rd, and comes home on Sac Fly. It seems like I have waited for that for years! Joking aside, good for him!

  47. Very encouraged by Alec Bohm’s performance. I am one of the many who’s insisted he’s not a future 3b. But his confidence at the plate right now may carry over to his glove for a while.

    After winning the first 3 games of this series, it’s refreshing that the Phillies didn’t make this one their usual getaway giveaway. Now on to New York to play an actual major league team with what may be MLB’s best manager, a good early test for this squad. My first recommendation to Joe G is to PLEASE get Hoskins out of the 2-hole. The biggest reason the Phillies swept the Rox had more to do with the Rox than the Phillies, or where Rhys was batting in the lineup.

    1. Agree…..put Hoskins down in the 6th or 7th slot. May even take some pressure off him to produce.
      Additionally, his RISP drives me crazy. I have little confidence in him when he is in that situation. His TTO in those incidences are Pop-up, BB or K

  48. I agree, guys. As I stated earlier, I like Rhys, but he is not a #2 hitter. Our team, 4 hits, 7 runs, great that we swept the Rockies, but they gave so many outs away, that I cannot say we have turned any corner. Record wise, sure, I will count every W, but we need to play better, especially Hoskins and Schwarber. Wheeler’s outing was very much a good sign.

    1. Agree Matt, nice to get the wins, but the Rocks are not a very good baseball team, in fact it wouldn’t surprise me to see some people get fired. Actually, there are probably a couple of 3 A teams better than this one, I didn’t really think we played that well. If you remove all the gifts they gave us they would have been close contests. Their infield can really kick the ball around.

      1. Skeet…..for 8 consecutive years they have probably one of the the best defensive third basemen in MLB history, and now………..

        1. Yep, you are right, I actually felt bad for the guy and the thought crossed my mind that our situation at 3rd might not be as bad as I thought.

  49. Eagles/Howie Roseman gives up 1st and 3rd round picks for a former SD Padres 19th round draft pick … AJ Brown. #FlyEaglesFly

    1. Not so. Brown was drafted before both Miles Sanders and JJAW. But they could have taken Brown instead of Andre Dillard, which would have been just as good and meant they never needed to take JJAW to begin with.

  51. I think people are not looking at the Rockies series and what’s going on with the team in the right way.

    With very few of their hitters hitting particularly well and most of their pitchers performing below average, the team is at .500 after 20 games. When this team and its hitters get really hot and as Wheeler and Suarez settle in, watch out.

    As for the Rockies not being good, so what? Great teams demolish inferior competition to pad their records and any 4-game sweep is an enormous accomplishment. Not beating bad teams these last few years was our weakness, so this is a positive development. Now we need to start beating teams like the Marlins and Nats – that will be the real test. Still, very encouraging.

    1. Agree Catch. I mentioned early on that Rays last year went 18-1 vs Orioles and 4-0 vs Phillies. 22-1 vs 2 teams. They won division easily. Played only 500 or so against all other teams. It is very important to beat the teams you should beat. That has been an issue for Phillies in recent seasons.

      The warmer weather should aid both the hitters and the pitchers as we go forward.

      1. Don, not to be smart, but if the warm weather benefits both hitters AND pitchers, what’s the advantage of warmer weather?

        1. “……..what’s the advantage of warmer weather?”….the gals in the stands wear less clothes. 🙂

  52. I believe Romus made reference that Giants had a ridiculous record vs Rockies and Dbacks last season as well. Dominate who you should dominate.

  53. Let’s not lose sight of the Rockies having a 10-9 record – beating the WS champ Dodgers twice, the rebuilt Cubbies twice, and the Tigers twice. They weren’t playing Orioles and Nats. While they are not a bad team, they certainly are not a good team. I will take what was offered and hope the Phils can build on this. Rockies 3B McMahon, had a reputation as a good fielder ????? The key was the Phils put the ball in play, didn’t K, and kept the pressure on. 7 runs on 4 hits yesterday and a slew of small ball plays !! Phils have to lead baseball in sac flies !

    1. The Rockies are not a bad team but they do have their share of issues. Bryant having issues with his back at age 30 is not great. Brendan Rogers, their #3 pick back in 2015, has not developed and now he has seriously regressed so far this season. The biggest concern is Ryan McMahon. The Rox gave him 6 years, $70M coming off a 4 WAR and GG caliber season. He was brutal in the field and his hitting wasn’t that great either.

        1. The Rockies are mismanaged but they do spend some money which is more than can be said about other teams.

            1. For sure they are stupid. No way I would give that type of contract to Bryant or Freeland.

  54. Outscoring Colorado 32-9 is a good start to regaining their footing in the division. The Phillies play the Mets 7 of their next 9, with 2 games versus the talented but so far underachieving Rangers in between. 6 wins would be nice, but we may have to settle for 5 unless the starting pitching can go deeper into games and the bats continue to heat up. (I would switch Bohm and Hoskins in the lineup, Joe…but that’s just me.)

    1. Against a tough righty in Megill, I would have
      1 Herrera cf
      2 Bohm 3b
      3 Harper dh
      4 Castellanos rf
      5 Schwarber lf
      6 Realmuto c
      7 Gregorius ss
      8 Hoskins 1b
      9 Segura 2b
      …and let this ride for the time being.

      1. Rhys whom I’ve always really liked is by far the most frustrating guy to watch hit. I can’t remember a guy standing out so much for taking pitches right down the middle as often as he does

        or even the rate at when he does decide to take a hack how few of them he squares up

        I’m all for taking pitches and working pitchers in fact I preach it but I always have my kids especially my damage hitters thinking about getting that 1st pitch FB down the middle and being ready to pounce on it.

        We flip toss endlessly with a specific count in mind as well as specific pitch type and location we’re looking for

      2. Phillies will face Scherzer twice in six days ..Sunday, then next Friday at the Bank…….golly gee….that will be fun.

  55. A lot of talk was made during the LO about service time manipulation. Taking a look at some of the vaulted rookies that broke with their big clubs suggests in many cases teams are correct to send their rooks down for a few months to get their feet under them

    Witt for all his hype is hitting a paltry 206 under a 553 OPS. Looks like Mondesi is out for the year with a torn ACL so Witt sliding back to SS will be something to watch.

    1. Out of the 2019 first round, Alek Manoah is looking like a keeper. Last season, the Blue Jays took a chance giving him some starts and he delivered. Manoah only had 9 starts (35 innings total) in his minor league career.

      1. Guru….he was at the Blue Jays Alternate Site in 2020….teams used that for intensive training and intra-squad games for their select few top prospects.

  59. Well, they weren’t the Rockies were they? Hoskins now under the Mendoza line and batting 2nd? Schwarber, also, but at least he walks. A no-hitter, heh, heh! I’m beginning to think Nola should sue for non-support.

  60. Now back to our regularly scheduled MINOR LEAGUE programming – Darick Hall had a massive night during a double header. 3 homers and 2 doubles. 9 homers for the year. Let’s see where he is a month from now but maybe he really is having a breakout year.

    1. If the incumbent is still under the “Mendoza” line in a month and Hall is still mashing, bring em up……………..and Romus said “I’ll vote for that”! After all, DD has to figure out what to do with one or both of them in the not too distant future.

  61. How do we “not show up” especially vs the Mets? End of April today and despite the Rockies sweep. We are not hitting nearly good enough. And, Hoskins cannot bat 2d!

    1. I’m frustrated that they seemed to return to swinging for the fences , even with 2 strikes. Tough game to watch.

  62. Any MM updates???? Been sometime since he got hurt. I am curious to see if he turned the corner.

  63. Hey Rocky and all.. Talked to Mickey yesterday am and he had gotten another x-ray . healing well. Going to start gripping bat now and start hitting as soon as next week. It will b 4 weeks this Wed so maybe he will be a little ahead of the 6 weeks. He is ready to play, however it starts. I always say, everything happens for a reason! And like I told him a while back, you can’t worry about the things you can’t control. My branch manager once told me that when I was a 20 yr old stock broker. Stuck with me! Enjoying watching Phillies but wouldn’t mind watching Mick play! Haha

  64. The jinx of Philadelphia sports, continues, Thursday it was a great day, Sixers win, Phillies win and sweep, And Howie makes two great moves, Next day, Embid is done, Phillies get no hit, Flyers end miserable season with no hope to get better for a long time

  66. Baseball Gods laughing at me. I thought, during ST that this team wouldn’t get shutout … well we know how that has gone, and I’m not even talking about the no-no

    1. Tomorrow is Scherzer…..they may come out tomorrow smokin’ at the plate for all anyone knows.
      They face Walker tonight….there will be determined batters looking for some revenge.

  67. I’ve been a solid listener to NPR for getting my national/world wide news for the last forty years. They rarely speak about sports but all Saturday morning on the hourly updates they kept reporting how the Mets had no hit the PHILLIES. Every freaking hour! I guess they can kiss my sustaining donation away.

  68. Bailey Falter only thru 37 pitches in his start to stretch…..but he made them count…26 strikes faced 7 batters….5 Ks, no hits, no BBs

    1. Bailey Falter is, by far, our most underrated young player. He has a chance to be a really solid starter for a long time.

      1. Both Bailey Falter and Cris Sanchez are 25. During their limited time in the bigs, I consider both of them to be 4/5 pitchers. They both have their issues but they have the tools to be 3/4 pitchers if all breaks well. That said, even though I think one of them will get a shot in the rotation next season, you hope that they can tread water until a better option comes along. Hans Crouse (age 23) is also in the mix, but he’s been having a poor start at Lehigh. I also consider Hans to be a 4/5 pitcher.

    1. Wow he made a good stop, Hinkie you sound like the people who post, Knapp had two hits, We watched him for five years have a negative war, hit 214, so he got two hits, he still cant hit, So Bohm made one play he still has no range,

        1. Romus i need that site who shows defense, I love to see him be our everyday third basemen, if he can make the routine plays it would be great,

          1. rocco…one is the SABR Defensive Index Rankings….it is too early for that right now….usually they will have a mid-season ranking then an end-of-season ranking.
            But if interested 2021 is finalized.
            https://sabr.org/sdi

        2. Yeah. He may lack foot speed, but his sheer length allows him to reach balls you may not think he could get. That play last night (above) showed range.

          And people need to open their minds/opinions to the fact than Alec Bohm “may” be a serviceable defender @ 3B (at least for a few more seasons). Not to beat a dead horse … but … (especially with young players, but not always limited to young players) guys sometimes suffer from a crisis in confidence. It’s possible/likely IMO Bohm’s biggest defensive obstacle isn’t his glove or arm or feet, it’s what sometimes goes on between his ears. IMO, he’s capable of making the routine plays at the hot corner (sometimes even more than routine plays). What he hasn’t shown so far is the ability to put a bad play behind him. He has a history of not being able to move on from an error. One bad play becomes a week’s worth of challenges for him (most likely) because he’s thinking too much about his initial error. I could be 100% wrong on this … but this has been my theory all along.
          I believe the whole 3 error/”I hate this f@(king place” game may have saved his season (possibly his career w/the Phils). Not the fact that he botched three plays in one night, but the way he handled the comments caught on video, and especially the way the fans reacted (standing ovation) the next time he walked to the plate. That likely made him comfortable/helped him clear his mind/turn the page. Since then, Bohm has gone 14 games w/o committing an error, and he’s been one of the team’s most steady bats in the lineup.
          I also give credit to Didi Gregorius, Nick Castellanos, and Rhys Hoskins as teammates who go out of their way to counsel Bohm when he’s in a dark place. I’m not telling you he’s going to remain perfect in the field forever, but hopefully he’s become better equipped to handle a misplay.

          1. People are so used to people not accepting responsibility for their words/actions that Bohm completely reversed the narrative by eliminating the story from gaining oxygen.

          2. Plays like this can be seen in two ways:
            1. he stopped a run from scoring
            2. that ball was hard hit. a MLB 3rd baseman should be able to get the out at first.

            While opinion #2 is probably accurate, it doesn’t mean that the current version of Bohm isn’t playable.

            the version of Bohm that takes a lot of walks, doesn’t strike out a lot, hits the ball hard, doesn’t make errors and costs us under $1m per season is good enough for this team. The pickings are slim at 3rd base. There really are not a lot of great 3rd baseman out there. I really like Camargo. Personally, I prefer him over Bohm and I think that Camargo makes the out on that play above. But the version of Bohm that we are seeing right now is a productive MLB player on a rookie contract. A major upgrade over last year’s version of Bohm. But it is still early in the year, so let’s see how it plays out.

  70. Hey, the Phillies might not score any runs tonight but at least it won’t be a no hitter.

  72. Rocco – I was the one who posted about Knapp. I don’t think you understand sarcasm. On the night when the Phillies were no hit, I wrote that EVEN Knapp had two hits meaning the Phils couldn’t get one but a light hitting cast off got two. I wasn’t insinuating that they should never have released him. You should broaden your humor, perhaps.

    1. No problem. Just use that as a example, A lot of people post about guys we got rid of like they are stars, Yes i do need a sense of humor, i will work on that,

  73. I’m not in the same galaxy as opinion-changing on Girardi, but hasn’t the Phillies bullpen been a pleasant surprise?

      1. I don’t think there’s a huge talent difference right now. I mean is Knebel, Dominguez, Familia, Hand that different from Neris, Brogdon, Coonrod, Bradley? Not significantly, imo.

        Last year we gave way too many innings to Hale and Kintzler, who was cooked. This years versions – Nelson, Norwood, Bellatti – have been used much less and actually been effective. Maybe there’s a talent difference there but all those guys are unproven in the majors. To I(Heart)’s point, that is a pleasant surprise.

    2. I(Heart)…..I think Dave D did a good job, so far, on the bullpen construction.
      Seranthony’s return was an added plus, and hopefully Brogdon will come around this season….and Knebel looks real, along with Nelson and Norwood.
      With Familia I do have concerns and not sure he can be consistent…..and then there is Alvarado.
      It is like I have gone back in time 30 years with those same emotional roller-coasting feelings….as experienced with Mitch Williams.
      Alvarado is now my Mitch.2.

      3. I do think this bullpen has much more talent that past couple seasons. One of the things that stood out last night was using Alvarado in the 6th. That was huge inning. I know one holds their breath when he comes in but when he throws strikes,
        he is almost unhittable. I know that is not the case. The game could have got away at the same time.
        Just looks like more depth and so far, they also throw strikes.
        Familia does concern me some as well Romus.
        Met announcers made reference that last night was the 13th time in first 23 games that starters had thrown at least 5 shutout innings to start game. That helps bullpen.
        One other stat they threw out Mets were 12-1 when scoring 1st. 12-2 now.

  74. Romus,………..It’s May 1 and Hall has 10 dingers to his credit already. I think he’s hitting .292. Prognosticate for me. What’s going to happen with him? Is DD getting calls? Phillies have too many 1b types, a good many on the ML roster IMO. I promise not to hold you to it. 🤞

    1. I’m guessing he stays put. Darick Hall is going to be 27 in July. Who’s going to trade anybody of value for that? Now if he does hit 50 HRs, then you put him on the 40 man at the end of the year and you look into trading Rhys during the offseason.
      Which one do you choose:

      1. Rhys is going to cost $11-12M for 2023 and give you say 2.5 WAR.

      or

      2. Hall is going to cost minimum salary and you don’t what know what WAR he will deliver

    2. Skeet/Guru……..Hall’s value at this point is probably a Comp Balance Pick from a small market team….tf in fact that trade avenue of opportunity still exists with this new CBA..
      If Hall is still here after the season, maybe he does go on the 40 and they move Rhys and his salary….that would be a savings against the threshold.
      And quite frankly I appreciate Rhys’ contribution over the last 5 years, but he probably needs a change of scenery…he has plateau in Philly….and I cannot believe how his RISP production has really tailed.
      I would go with Hall…at least his defense would plus…..and I can also see the power…the BA may be in the 240ish range however.

      1. Listen, I am really happy about what Hall is doing, but if you think the Phillies are just going to swap out Hoskins for Hall and leave it at that, you’re nuts.

        First, Hall isn’t even going to get a chance unless he has a dominant season in AAA. So far, so good, but, as 26/27 year-old with a very average-ish statistical history, the whole year needs to be excellent for him to get a whiff.

        Second, even if he gets a chance, he’s going to have to earn every plate appearance and they are not handing the job over to him, even if they get rid of Hoskins. He would probably battle for time with Schwarber and others and would only become the every day guy if he was superb.

        Stranger things have happened, but the Phillies aren’t just handing over first base to Darick Hall – Hall needs to be outstanding in the minors and majors to earn that shot.

  75. Morales is still torrid…..Ked four batters of the six he faced today…..threw 21 pitches..

    1. Looking at Morales, its the walks that kill him. if i am looking at the same guy

  76. This Sunday Night Game is definitely a Mets broadcast. They bragged about Scherzer like Bob Gibson so I’m glad he gave up 4 earned runs in 6 innings, I know he is good but it was all NY.

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