399 thoughts on “Open Discussion: Week of May 29, 2022”

1. Joe needs to go. It’s clear this team has zero heart and zero motivation. They need a real leader.

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   1. 1st Memorial Day that I didn’t watch or care to watch the Phils… Actually got hooked on College Baseball this weekend, and didn’t miss the boys. Sad.

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2. And Moniak recalled today with Faltet going back down as expected. Let’s go Mickey!!

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3. This team needs a shock. Would anyone trade JT and bring up O’Hoppe? It would be radical

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   1. No not at all. Everyone goes through stretches and JT is but I fully expect he’ll be better than this over the remainder of the season and next year. Having said that, if there is a time in 2023 or 2024 where JT’s value is high and O’Hoppe or Marchan are clearly ready to be the guy, I’d pull the trigger on a trade at that point.

      For now, I’d put JT up in the 2 hole for a week or two and see if that doesn’t get him going a bit.

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      1. I mentioned this a couple days ago, but JT already seems to have gotten going. Excluding his one pinch hit PA, he’s on a 6 game hitting streak with a .400/.500/.700 line.

         So yeah, wouldn’t mind him moving up in the order. Although with our luck, that just means he’d start slumping again…

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         1. JT shows no emotion to anybody. Never throws it back to the pitcher hard, never gets the team pumped after a strikeout, nothing, mono-tone back there. I watched the dodgers series from great seats for two games and the difference in excitement from Stubbs to JT was striking.

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            1. That is quite literally the definition of anecdotal evidence.

               Besides, you don’t need to be emotional to be a leader. Are we forgetting Chase Utley? Dude acted like homeruns were walks. But he was acquired (and retained) by the Dodgers for the express purpose of being a leader and mentor.

               I’m not saying JT is or isn’t a good leader. But not being exuberant isn’t an indicator either way, and can actually be a plus. Getting too emotional often leads to guys pressing too hard or even getting ejections. JT could be that calm, reassuring presence that keeps his teammates head in the game.

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   2. You can’t do that this year. The Phillies would have to eat a ton of cash.

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4. Welcome back Mickey, best of luck!!!!

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5. In 2021, the Phillies were the worst defensive team in MLB…the 2022 Phillies are on pace to be dramatically worse defensively.

   Defensive runs saved:
   – 2021: -54 (worst in MLB by 13 runs)
   – 2022: -24 after 48 games. On pace for a – 81

   Outs above average:
   – 2021: -20 (7th worst in MLB)
   – 2022: -20 after 48 games (worst in MLB). On pace for a – 68

   I do not believe that they can out hit that poor of a defense. Changes need to be made. There are three major areas where we can make changes that have an impact:

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   1. 1 Their outfield defense is truly atrocious. Castellanos is a -8 DRS. He is a DH. So is Schwarber, who has a -2 DRS. We need Harper to get back badly so that we can move Castellanos to DH. We also need to prioritize defense in CF. If Moniak can play good defense, then he should get the job regardless of how he hits. If not, then Quinn should be our everyday CF. Our corner OFs are so bad that our CF’s offense doesn’t matter. We have to prioritize defense in CF.

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      1. You make it sound like Quinn is a poor man’s Jackie Bradley Jr. and he’s not even that. Quinn’s dWar is just ok, he doesn’t have elite defense and his career dWar of 0.5 bears that out (JBJ dWar 9.9, Buxton dWar 7.6). Heck, Odubel’s career dWar is 3.1.

         As long as Herrera or Moniak’s defense is in the zero range, they’ll be fine because their hitting is so much better than Quinn’s.

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         1. Agreed 100%. Herrera should be penciled in there and let him go. Moniak’s first AB today is vintage Mickey Moniak, look a hot mess on anything off speed. Shocking to me how so many people thought he would be a savior (not so much on here but Twitter has been insane) bc of 39 spring (and an awkward spring for pitchers) at bats and a few rehab games. He’s a 4th OFer at best, he’d be cut if not for being 1-1.

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            1. I’m not going to sell you Mickey Moniak looked fine on breakers … but … Odubel??? Have you been watching him lately? It’s beyond me why any MLB pitcher would ever throw him a FB (or even a strike). Girardi (for however long he’s going to be here) needs to keep an open competition in CF.

               Yency Almonte got Odúbel Herrera to swing at a slider between his legs. pic.twitter.com/7VUmB8JyQr

               — Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 15, 2022

               … and then there’s the defense …

               https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1529635057882865665?s=20&t=f3UmyHZSDnv6TgPtUbg6gw

               I’m not saying never play Odubel. Just saying keep looking for the hot hand. And there’s a chance Girardi never finds a hot hand (or even warm hand).

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               1. Odubel will have some ridiculous ABs where he looks really foolish, but he’s still an established hitter. Yes, swinging over a slider that went betwen his legs is an all-timer, but people seem to be forgetting that he has a .792 OPS this season which would be THIRD on the team behind Harper and Stubbs. He didn’t luck into that OPS.

                  Now, I still believe that Moniak should get the lion share of the ABs in CF so that we can settle once and for all whether or not he’s starter level. How many games will that take? I would give Moniak CF until the all-star break. He needs to be at least a .700 OPS by then.

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               2. As ridiculous as he can look at times, Doobie does have some interesting and mixed messaged metrics.
                  ISO .225 –good
                  BABIP .333 – little luckier than normal
                  OBP .298 – too low
                  wRC+ 117 – good
                  Krate-26%-bad
                  BB%- 4% – bad
                  30 games—-fWAR of .6 -good, a projected 3WAR player
                  …….he is after all this, still an enigma in a player.

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               3. Correct, he’s look bad on breaking pitches but he doesn’t look bad on them what seems to be EVERY AB. Moniak has ALWAYS looked lost on off speed or breaking balls, ALWAYS.
                  I know I’m in the minority but you aren’t gonna have all stars at every position, so I don’t mind that Herrera isn’t tearing the cover off the ball at all times but he can get white hot, and has proven he can hit at the ML level.

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         2. Well said, Guru. Quinn is a mild defensive upgrade over the other options and his metrics suggest that. He constantly misreads fly balls but thankfully has the speed to outrun most of his mistakes. He occasionally dazzles you with a throw but overall, he just doesn’t perform at a high level defensively. Combined with his inability to hit or even get on base, there’s a better chance he’s DFA’d than becomes an everyday starter. There’s a reason he’s been let go twice in the last 6-7 months.

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            1. I swear I didn’t see the waiver wire before typing what I did about him being DFA’d. It was a necessary move.

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   2. 2 The other disaster zone continues to be the left side of our infield. Shortstop is bad, but not a trainwreck. SS has a -8 DRS but our range stats are good. Our SS get to a lot of balls. And our SS do not make a lot of errors, 3rd best fielding percentage in MLB. I said last winter that I would have invested in one of the top SS on the market, but that is the past…right now, I think our best option is to start Stott and leave him there. Don’t worry about his hitting. Just have him play good defense.

      That leaves 3rd base. I am sure that some will chastise me for continually harping on Bohm, but honestly I have nothing against the kids, I just look at the data. And the data all points to Bohm being a disaster at 3rd base. Bohm’s -10 DRS is the worst in all MLB. Not just the worst 3rd baseman. All MLB, all positions. His -8 Outs Above Average is tied for worst in all MLB. His fielding % is second worst in all MLB. His Range Runs are 4th worst in all MLB. He is just a really bad defensive player. But what about his bat? His hitting stats taken at face value are very mediocre imo. A .318 OB% with basically no power is not very impressive. But even that .315 OB% is inflated by luck. Bohm has a .333 BABIP which has largely been inflated by his 9 infield hits, which is the second most in all of baseball. If a player who is not fast has a lot of infield hits, that is luck. If you normalize his infield hit rate, his OB% drops well below .300. He isn’t walking because pitchers are not afraid to throw him strikes. And his K rate has been rising considerably. In May, his K rate was 25.4% and his walk rate was 3.4%. That’s terrible. I am not being mean here. Just objectively looking at the stats. I just don’t see a good major league baseball player. IMO, Camargo is an excellent defensive 3rd baseman. He has a +1 DRS and a +3 in OAA at 3rd. He provides an immediate upgrade defensively. He also has a higher OB% than Bohm and more power (although Camargo’s bat is nothing special). Camargo has a 0.8 WAR in only 37 games played. That’s a 3.5 WAR pace. Pretty good for a role player. If you truly believe in Bohm’s bat long term, then you need to trade Rhys and move Bohm to 1st. I don’t see a 1st baseman’s bat in Bohm. No power, low walk rate. Not the slugging type 1st baseman profile. Personally I would trade Bohm asap. As I noted, I would have traded him this off season. I don’t think that he has a defensive position. And his bat is not special enough to be a DH. The longer that we show the rest of MLB this reality, the lower his trade value goes imo.

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      1. Bohm is an enigma. We know how bad his glove is so I won’t go into that. His hitting is a mystery. He clearly has the power, but it seems like he’s so worried about striking out that he lets the ball get so deep that he has no choice but to poke it into RF. He needs to trust his eyes, recognize the pitch, and then attack. When Castellanos is on, he really attacks pitches. There’s no reason why Bohm can’t do that. He’s too tentative. You can even cheat on the first pitch from time to time. If you miss, it’s only strike one.

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         1. I like this and agree

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   3. 3 I also believe that we badly need a managerial switch. This team plays with no energy or passion. And Girardi is a bad game manager. Changes need to be made and made quickly. As Harper said perfectly…”I hate it when people say it’s early,” Harper said. “I don’t like that because you’ve got to play, and it’s not early because these guys (the Mets) are playing the way they are.”

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      1. Good job, V-1, you were 3 for 3 today with a homerun. Hope you have a good holiday!

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         1. vi, agree. Great analysis and very plausible sounding solutions to get us the best realistic results.

            Final note: Go, Mickey Mo

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      2. V1, awesome posts and analysis. I was thinking along the lines of could you take Hoskins out of the lineup and put either Schwarber or Castellanos at 1B, then play the other one in LF, with Quinn in CF and Moniak in RF. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like either of them have ever played much 1B in the big leagues.

         I agree about Stott – sit the kid down and say – 1) You are the everyday SS, 2) Go catch the ball and don’t worry about your offense, and 3) I’m going to likely bat you 9th everyday, so any offense is just icing.

         I know Castellanos was a bad defensive 3B so I’m assuming him playing 3B would be bad, but what if you had Rhys at 1B, Castellanos at 3B, Stott at SS, Quinn in CF and Moniak in RF? Would that be equal or worse than having Castellanos in RF with Bohm at 3B?

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         1. From what I saw of Schwarber last year in Boston he was a worse 1B than LF. Castelllanos has never played a MLB game at 1B and the last time he played 3b was 2017

            I know the defense has been bad and is bad but no defender is going to catch balls going over the fence.

            Grin and bear it. Hope the 4 big bats that aren’t clicking yet get it going and let the chips fall where they may for this season. Because you’re pretty much stuck with JT, Schwarber and Castellanos.

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            1. He had never played 1B before though. Let him learn on the sidelines for a month or two and ease him in. Getting Schwarber acclimated to 1B this year might be a prelude to seeing if he could move there next year (when we could put Castellanos or Bohm at DH and improve defense elsewhere).

               They have to think creatively and moving Hoskins while he has a little value might not be the worst thing.

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6. LOL…..
   “1) You are the everyday SS, 2) Go catch the ball and don’t worry about your offense, and 3) I’m going to likely bat you 9th everyday, so any offense is just icing.”

   …that also could have been done with JPC in 2018.
   But Joe G, like Gabe in 2018, needs to win now….this is not a market and team where the young players can play and can wait for them to develop at the major league level..

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   1. Well he’s neither winning nor developing the young guys. So something needs to change. That’s how you get stuck in a mire of mediocrity with no hope of escape.

      I also disagree that this isn’t a market where a team can develop young guys. The Sixers literally built a brand out of that exact concept. Philadelphia is fully capable of embracing The Process. But the team needs to actually commit to and execute it. We can be sold on believing in the young guys. But the team needs to actually stand behind them. Because if the manager doesn’t trust them to improve, why would the fans?

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      1. Oh I am not in disagreement……but the truth of the matter is that the teams and city do not want to wait…..and the by-product is, they end up waiting anyways..

         BTW….the Sixers concept was good until the league forced Harris’ hand and rid them of Hinkie and they ended with two clunkers in Colangelo and Brand, who liked Kapler , found ways to throw a wrench into the works…..and now with the Sixers, you have a team stuck in early round exit playoff purgatory…with their one big aging superstar’s window closing…

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         1. Yeah, the league definitely did not appreciate what the Sixers were doing. Thankfully, the MLB is much more understanding. They have even allowed the Pirates, Marlins, etc. to exist for the sole purpose of not spending money on their teams for decades at a time.

            But yeah, I don’t necessarily trust the Phillies (as an organization) to successfully rebuild. But they definitely need to do something different than staying the course.

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            1. The issue was that “The Process” became larger than life and it was more or less celebrating tanking which the league did not approve of. That’s why the NBA squashed that issue.

               The Pirates and Marlins just go about their business and don’t draw attention to themselves. They don’t say they are actively tanking or keeping costs down even though everybody knows they are. So these teams fade into the background.

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   2. I have been thinking about JPC a lot lately, because I was very, very wrong about him. I never thought that he would hit at the MLB level. I was wrong. He has become a very good hitter.

      The trade wasn’t a disaster because Segura has been a very productive player for us. But you would much rather have JPC. I was wrong.

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   3. It worked with Kevin Stocker in ‘93 in the middle of a pennant race.

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7. See nothing in Knebel’s arsenal that says closer. Guy is basically a 1 pitch pitcher and the other team knows it.

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8. And if that pitch (the CB) is not working and he has to rely on his FB, it’s curtains.

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9. It’s easy to say don’t worry about somebody’s offense until he goes out there and hits below the Mendoza line with no power. Day after day after day. Stott doesn’t need to be the everyday SS at this point. He needs to be in LHV. It’s hard to remember the last time he even hit a ball hard. Bring him back next year or September when the team will need a telescope to see first place. And Stott has never shown that he is some great fielding SS.

   Same with CF. You need some production. This isn’t the 1960’s when you could get by with a non hitting SS Wine/Amaro or a catcher that couldn’t hit a balloon Dalrymple/Triandos (for you old timers). Today the last out was made on a ball in the dirt. You don’t need an all star at every position but you need some production.

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10. MM 0-4 welcome to the big leagues. Not like spring training or AA. Oh well only one game I am sure he will pick it up.

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    1. What I didn’t like about Moniak’s ABs was that he was swinging over the back foot slider again and again. By his 3rd AB, I realized what the pitcher was doing. On his last strikeout, I’m not even sure he saw a fastball and he struck out on, you guessed it, a back foot slider.

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       1. This is who he is.

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11. Let’s see. Knebel pitched last night and this afternoon. According to Girardi’s “Jaba’s Rules”, Knebel won’t pitch tomorrow. Lucky for us!

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    1. Don’t worry, we’ll still get to watch Norwood and Familia come into a tie/close game while Seranthony waits for Girardi to remember that he exists.

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12. We are a losing team. We will find a way to lose. No hitting or lousy D, Pitching off night or BP failure, it doesn’t matter. Losing teams find a way to lose. I knew the weaknesses coming into the season. But, I expected more juice, more fire, or energy or whatever you want to call it. The team was flawed from the start, and I have no clue how to fix it. And my belief in Dombrowski has turned into a lack of faith.

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13. lucky in south philly They play full pad football over the summer, so i get to see my grandson play and my granddaughter plays softball, cause its may 31st and this team is cooked,

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    1. rocco…enjoy the grandchildren and their sporting activities.
       As far as the Phillies…..I recall what Joe Pa use to say after a big lopsided loss or even a big blow-out win…….” a team is never as good as it appears, and never as bad as it appears”

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       1. Romus that is a subject for another day, My Penn State team under franklin,

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14. I love what Knebel said in his own defense, “I wouldn’t say it’s a tough month for me. I’ve just had two bad outings in a row. Two solo homers, that’s it.” I think you have to add these two bad outings to the four games that he has already lost. Can you imagine the reaction if this had been Hector?

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    1. For sure, Hector would have been shredded. Hector has had his ups and downs in a Phillies uniform, but he’s been way more good than bad. I have no issues with Hector.

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15. Final high school report. The game yesterday seemed like a replay of the Phillies season to date. I thought it would be a low scoring game. Two good teams. Totally wrong. Kids scored 10 runs against the #2 team in Indiana. But lost 15-10. How did that happen.

    4 errors. 2 were crucial by Sr. pitchers. Allowed 8 unearned runs.
    8 BBs. I think all 8 scored. Phillies issue all season.
    12 runners LOB. 10 in first 5 innings. Twice multiple runners scoring position less than 2 outs.
    Both times take called 3rd strike. Sound familiar.
    Multiple 0-2 or 1-2 poor pitch execution. 4 or 5 hits including a GS on an 0-2 pitch.
    Pitchers being left in for 2 or 3 too many batters. Familiar ring to that?
    But maybe the most Girardi move of all. By far the kid who has been the best pitcher all season does not pitch at all. This kid has been the Wheeler of the team. He threw 3 innings last Thursday. Unless he had a sore arm no idea why he would not pitch in the most important game of the season. He played 1B entire game so think he was ok.
    4 Freshman had 7 hits in the championship game. All at least 1 hit.

    So now as Rocco mentioned above it is on to the travel season. Grandson begins 1st tourney at Grand Park on Thursday. 42 teams from all over the Midwest. Grand Park is the absolute nicest facility in the Midwest. Plus, it is only about 15 minutes from my house. All fields are turf.

    Thanks to Matt and Vi and any others who have made nice comments on the kids. Even though they lost like Vi said it is the enjoyment of watching them play something they love to play. Grandson dove for a popup near dugout yesterday almost making a great catch. A little more effort like that on the part of some of the Phillies might produce some better results.

    I told the grandson last night even though they lost it was a great season. The 4 freshmen so improved and now they will hit the remainder of the Summer against 15-year old’s rather than 17 or 18.

    I am so disappointed in the play of the Phillies.

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16. Don, I really enjoyed the recaps of your Grandson’s season, and it sounds like he had a really good one, despite the loss. Yes, I thought I was reading a recap of many of the Phils’ losses! I look forward to reading how well he does against the younger Pitchers in the travel league.

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17. I know there are 40 man implications and what not, but why not give Appel a shot? That final relief spot – Norwood isn’t the answer. Why not start trotting people through? If you aren’t convinced its Morales (and honestly, they should be giving him a shot as well) then churn someone through and see if they stick. Get Appel in there. If he bombs, move on. Maybe they love Kent Emmanuel (though no injury update) but a 29 yr old isn’t neccesarily a “hold a roster spot for” type of guy. Emmanuel, Damon Jones, Ryan Sheriff all could get kicked off it, not to mention that we have 3 CF’s on the 25 man and Vierling in the minors. You let it play out currently but space could be made there as wel.

    I do find that I’m happier when I repeatedly tell myself that I don’t care about the Phillies.

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    1. Just to let you know, players on the 60 day IL don’t count towards the 40 so you don’t have to worry about them. So yes, you can DFA Damon Jones for Appel.

       But not sure why the love for Appel. If he was throwing 95+, he would have been in the mix already so I’m assuming he’s not. Yes, he’s performing well at Lehigh but DD traded for Norwood so he has some leash. And Norwood is younger and presumably has better tools than Appel.

       If Appel comes up, he’s probably doing low leverage situations and maybe even long man opportunities. So even if Appel comes up, he won’t impact the Phillies as much as you think he would.

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       1. any idea what Appel’s velocity is? I’m not saying he’s the be all/end all, but he has an ERA under 2 and Norwood very clearly looks like not the answer. And Appel is easy to move on from if it doesn’t work out.

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       2. Guru…..” players on the 60 day IL don’t count towards the 40 so you don’t have to worry about them.”…….two could come off the 60IL in 2/3 weeks …JoJo and Marchan that could be pushed to go on it again…the others not sure if the Phillies add them again…Conrod, Sheriff and Emanuel…they may be DFAed

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          1. If you add Romero or Marchan, you can’t DFA people on the 60 day IL because they don’t count against the 40 anyways. You would need to DFA somebody that’s on the 40.

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             1. Let me clarify….that is not what I am saying.
                All five will be coming off the 60IL soon.
                When they do….they technically get placed back on the 40….but of the five I can only see JoJo and Marchan remaining on it.
                The other three administratively will be placed back on the 40, then yhey have to be DFAed….unless the Phillies plan on keeping Sherff, Coonrod and Emanuel on the 40 and DFA other players.

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                1. I get the feeling that Sheriff, Coonrod, and Emanuel will stay on the 60 all season. And if not, I can see only Coonrod being retained. The other 2 will get activated and then DFAd.

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18. I just listened to Power Alley on the MLB Network and the announcers just eviscerated the Phillies. Poor fundamentals. Horrible pen. Bad at bats. Lack of enthusiasm. Curious they went soft on Girardi and DD. Really? One manages the team and the other constructed it. Classic case of “old boy’s network.” At this stage of the season and already being 11.5 back of the Mets, Duquette feels there is no way the Phillies will win the East. Ferrin and Duquette intimated for the money this may the worst roster they’ve ever seen. So that’s how our Monday is starting..

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19. Last year 25 of the 30 teams had an OPS over .700 and the worst team OPS was .670

    This year only 15 teams have an OPS over .700 and the worst team OPS was .606. There are 7 teams with an OPS under .670.

    The MLB really messed up with the new baseball. The game needs more homers and more scoring. Also, we picked the wrong year to go all in on hitting and forego defense. DD really missed the memo on this one. The ball is exasperating our defensive deficiencies. Hope they change the ball back soon.

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    1. I sort of hate the juiced ball, but this current run environment also stinks. The pitchers have just gotten too far ahead of the hitters. I’d be willing to entertain lowering the mound or legislating out extreme shifts, which are two things I’ve been reluctant to support.

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20. This team is maddening. I had cut the cord on cable a few years ago, as the only thing that we couldn’t get was live sports… well with the Phillies sucking again, I’m going to cancel. I can see them turning it around, but more in a 2nd WC spot. Thats the only way they can salvage the season IMO… Get that spot, and get out of the 1st round.

    At this rate, trading Nola and Hoskins is looking like a possibility. Schwarber to 1st. Rush Abel and Painter to the bigs. If not Nola, Gibson is gone.

    I’m glad the Phillies spent money, but it just seems like a better plan was in place.. like:
    Sign Siemen
    Trade Bohm & others for Chapman
    Sign Bryant or go for broke by trading for Reynolds
    Trade DD

    Hard to complain on the offseason signings, i just wish they pushed total bases & defense to the front of the table. They might not be hitting so many solo home runs… while making the field feel like an ocean to opposing teams.

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    1. I don’t think I would categorize signing Bryant as a “better plan”! As far as trading some of these guys, one has to assume that someone else wanted them. The sad part of it now is that based on their performance probably no one is interested. I sure would like to know what was being bantered about behind the scene. Actually thought DD would have a blockbuster, but he didn’t. Maybe yet.

       It will be interesting to see as we approach the deadline if we are sellers or buyers. My thoughts are, I believe DD thinks this season is still salvageable, thus we are buyers. I’m not sure myself, but a few more games like we’ve just witnessed would convince me to 🧨 it up! Maybe he’ll opt to tweak it.

       Fix the clubhouse (chemistry), buy some energy, get rid of some of the duplicate pieces (DH). Acquire some average reliable position players. Move pieces that will prove expensive in the future, guys that have not matched performance with salary.

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    2. Siemen: .197 and 1 hr (7 yrs/ $175 million)
       Chapman: .200 and 6 hr
       Bryant: .270 and 0 hr (7 yrs/$182 million)
       Reynolds: .212 and 7 hr

       Castellanos: .263 and 7 hrs (5 yrs/$100 million)
       Schwarber: .188 and 11 hrs (4 yrs/ $79 million)
       Bohm: .269 and 3 hrs

       So instead of 14 yrs and $357 million, prospects for Chapman, we have 9 yrs/$179 for Cast/Schwarber and a rookie contract for Bohm for more production. I’m frustrated with the team but if you’re evaluation decisions right now, it’s hard to pick your scenario. Like, I get the defense thing but I’m not sure where the home run moves were that they passed on.

       Now, complain all you want about Familia (4 era and 1yr/6 mill) and letting Neris (2 yrs/17 mil and a 2.11 era) walk.

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       1. Probably the only “homerun” move that we missed out on was Correa. The fact he signed for as little as he did in Minnesota means we likely could have had him. Only reason we shouldn’t have gotten him at that price is if he literally refused to play in Philly.

          I understand that we view Stott as the future for SS, but A) he signed a contract that will likely end up being 1 year, and B) move Stott to 3B or 2B in the meantime. Segura has been good, so I’d prioritize 3B. But also, we could probably trade Segura to offset some of what Correa would have cost.

          Anyways, talent has never seemed to be the Phils’ issue. Players (and coaches…) always have success before and after being in Philadelphia. There’s something else that needs to be fixed.

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    3. Rushing Abel/Painter to the MLB would be a bad mistake that could potentially ruin their careers..

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21. How is it that Morales is still at AAA (context: he’s throwing well and the bullpen is imploding)? Seems criminal that he’s down with the way the bullpen has looked.
    Ps someone mentioned they were wrong about Crawford, you can mark me down as wrong as well.

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    1. SSS but Morales has a 8.4 BB/game at Lehigh, and 12 BB/game in the majors. If we’re concerned about the bullpen walks, Morales will be adding to that.

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       1. With a whip of 0.92, giving up less than 4 hits per 9. And as far as SSS goes, there’s only one pitcher in the Phillies pen with more innings this year than Morales. But I know what you’re trying to say, I get your point, kinda. But there’s still no way I’m not bringing him up. I’d guess/hope within the next week or 2 he gets called up if he keeps throwing how he as been.

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22. https://www.crossingbroad.com/2022/05/phillies-minor-leaguers-are-pissed-about-living-in-hotels.html

    Just to further make people pissed

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    1. Time for the Middleton group to sell their portion of the franchise.

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    2. I had no idea between homestands the players in Reading have to vacate their belongings from the hotel. What a bush league move by the Phillies.

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       1. 💯% Agree with you, Hawkeye. That’s just embarrassing.

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          1. Mediocrity is the high water mark for almost everyone in the Phillies organiztaion.

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23. Almost 15 years ago the Philies had another catching prospect who made the BA Top 100 list.
    They traded him to the Cleveland team in a package deal for Cliff Lee.
    Offensively they have some similar metrics…..this could also be O’Hoppe’s fate with Dave D.when he comes to dealing and wheeling.

    O’Hoppe….277/.344/.473….20%-K….8%-BB
    Marson…….267/.364/.379…18%-K….13%-BB

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    1. Romus i have room for a player on our pickle ball team,

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24. Romus, I really like O’Hoppe, but if he helps us get the next Cliff Lee, good luck to Logan! Why don’t I have any confidence that happens?

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25. Romus, I really like O’Hoppe, but if he gets us the next Cliff Lee, then good luck Logan! Why don’t I have any faith that happens?

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    1. matt:
       Was the same with the other BA Top 100 catcher….Travis d’ Arnaud to the Jays for Roy H.
       That will probably be something Dave D will have to make a decision about this off-season..

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    2. Of course the Phillies could try to do a Josh Donaldson with O’oppe…..convert him from catcher to 3B if he is athletic enough to make that transition..

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26. So sorry I posted twice, my screen went blank and when I refreshed it, I didn’t see my post. Old, fat fingers!

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27. Lou Marson was just one piece of the Cliff Lee trade need to trade a lot more to pull off that type of trade again. The pieces were Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson. So who would the current other pieces be??? Carlos Carrasco be Abel? Jason Knapp be Marchan? Donald be Maton?

    Also what pitcher would you target as the cliff lee piece in a current trade. Just a question I thought since someone made a comparison with Logan as the Marson piece. But that Lee trade was a hell of a lot more then that. Lee was awesome and a great Phil. Was worth it

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    1. Yes I am aware of that trade entirety……..my point was O’Hoppe will probably be traded…and in a package deal if or when it comes to it..

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       1. Well he would be a small piece in a Lee type trade

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          1. That all depends on the trading partner….the other GM may insist he be in the deal if it ever comes about. There are many teams now who are set at catching with young veterans, and there about a dozen or so who have catching prospects ready to move up to the majors. So the market is not a large one out there for teams who are in dire straights for a catching prospect.

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28. The Phillies traded for Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays for Kyle Drabek, Travis d’Arnaud and Michael Taylor.Dec 15, 2021
    Kyle Drabek was supposed to be a can’t miss pitcher with a pedigree as his father and as Doug.
    That was at the time also a lot to give up for Halliday.

    Who once again a stud Phillie

    RIP Roy

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    1. The Blue Jays had no choice but to trade Halladay to Philadelphia as that was his preferred team. My buddy, a Blue Jays fan, really hated the trade when it happened. He thinks if Halladay opened his choice of teams, the Blue Jays would have gotten a much better haul.

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29. I may be wrong, but my recollection is that the present day O’Hoppe is more highly regarded than the Lou Marson of the Lee trade. I am trying to remember the D’Arnaud’s rep a the time. I do recall it being a very good one. No question, a trade netting Lee or Doc, or any position player of that caliber would require a package that O’Hoppe would be a part of. I don’t know who that player might be, and I didn’t think that Reynolds or anyone else that was a potential trade target was worth the type of package that Doc and Lee commanded. And, as happens often, the prospects being sent the other way, did not have quite the careers that were anticipated. Carrasco and D’Arnaud have had very nice ones, however.

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    1. It’s hard to make direct comparisons due to eras (and different depth/strengths of prospect classes), but Marson was a top-50 prospect in baseball for some by the time of the trade. D’Arnaud was considered by many to be the best catching prospect in all of baseball.

       O’Hoppe is currently on the up-swing in his prospect status, so he’s very similar to Marson’s trajectory at the time of the Lee trade. But I wouldn’t yet put him in the D’Arnaud category.

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       1. Marson was 66th on the BA Top 100…2009
          d’Arnaud eventually ended up 17th at his highest rating on the BA Top 100..2012

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30. Yes Matt I do get nervous trading Prospects but the Phil’s don’t do a good job with prospects anyways lol

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31. Think Drebek got hurt.

    Matt I don’t like trading prospects makes me nervous but the Phil’s can develop them anyways

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32. Didi and Marchan are at Lehigh.

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33. Kingery at 2nd and Didi at SS. Didi hit HR leading off the 1st inning.

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    1. Wayne,……………..How long a leash does Scott have? When do you “cut bait”? He is striking out a lot. I understand, we are paying him millions anyhow, does that mean we carry him to the end of the contract or do we acknowledge this isn’t working and release him. When is his time up with the Phillies?

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       1. Kingery is not taking up a 40 man roster spot. His contract is a sunk cost. If the Phillies feel that he’s blocking somebody, he’s gone. Unfortunately, he’s not.

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34. Interesting, if Dominic Smith of the Mets is optioned to AAA with a -7 DRS and Adonis Medina is brought up, why can’t we do that. We have guys with -8 and -10 DRS. We can’t do that because we don’t have anyone to bring up …………. at any position. Very sad state of affairs IMO. Poor MLB roster and nothing behind it.

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35. Moniak gonna Moniak.

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36. Pirates now have a better record than the Phillies. ↘

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    1. It’s unwatchable baseball. I tune in with hope every time and within a few innings my stomach is turning.

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37. Segura just got diagnosed with a right finger fracture. No idea how long he will be out but pretty sure he’s headed to the IL. This team is going down hard.

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    1. Didi will be back soon. Stott to 2B. But will miss Segura.

       Kyle Gibson the other day said the Phillies are the most talented team he’s ever been on and that they will turn it around. Hope so, but looking more like a losing team than a winner with lousy bullpen, atrocious defense and a weaker line up than advertised/hoped for.

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38. Here’s a statistical comparison of two third basemen in their ages 23, 24, and 25 seasons:

    Player A: 1069 PA, 27 HR, 74 BB, 256 K, .246/.301/.392 for an OPS of .693 and an OPS+ of 92; poor fielder, who produced an aggregate total of -0.2 WAR during those three years.

    Player B: 782 PA, 14 HR, 58 BB, 188 K, .273/.327/.380 for an OPS of .708 and an OPS+ of 95; poor fielder who produced an aggregate total of -1.0 WAR during those three years.

    Player A is Cody Asche and Player B is of course Alec Bohm.

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39. I turned game off going to 10th. I just knew something crazy would happen.
    I just saw the highlights on MLB now.
    Do the Phillies work at finding new ways to lose daily?
    Familia was not even remotely close to covering 1B.
    What an absolute waste of a lot of $$$$$s.

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    1. Once they did not score in the bottom of 9th I turned it off too. I could not bear knowing how they lost yet again

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40. 121/2 out at the end of May. Creative ways to lose every day. Little leaguers, no disrespect to them, are taught that Pitchers have to first on a ball to the first baseman. Of course, Familia forgot. Add the obligatory HR given up by the BP, awful production with RISP, and here we are.

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    1. Matt13…I think it was you that looked up the Grand Park facility when I mentioned it back a while ago. Does not matter. Matt this is for you or anyone who cares to look up. The Anderson Herald Bulletin newspaper has 2 great pics of my grandson on Monday. My daughter sent these pics last night. The first pic actually turned out to be the Key play of the game. Pic kind of shows kid out at 3B. Ump called him safe to load the bases. 2nd pic is next batter who hit a really high pop up in front of pitcher’s mound that pitcher 17 calls but losing in bright sun and grandson makes diving catch around the pitcher. I thought it should have been an infield fly with bases loaded and only 1 out but none of the 3 umps called it. But they were not the best either. Not Angel Hernandez but not far off. I would post the pics but unlike all of you I do not know how to get them from my phone to the site here. I think you will enjoy the pics if anyone cares to take a look. The following batter after the popup hit a GS. He would not have come up. Also, grandson team would have led 9-7 going to top of 7th rather than trailing 12-9 simply on call at 3rd.

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       1. Tuesday paper. Article with pics.

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          1. I just looked it up, Don, great pic of your Grandson, Jarrett hanging on to the ball after a near collision with the Pitcher. Your Grandson looks tall for a Freshman! Wishing him the best going forward. It has been fun to hear about him.

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             1. Thanks Matt. The pics were really good for a local county paper. Both were really good plays on his part. He is really good defensively. He has made huge strides hitting as did the other 3 Freshman. I told him Monday evening he has probably found his spot for the future. Once coach put him there, he did not move. That is the position he has played the least in travel stuff, but he has really strong arm. As long as they keep him out of C I am fine. He should be their number 2 pitcher as well next year. Coach did a great job with him this year. He only pitched 3 times. Till move to 3B he played 2B after he pitched 1st game. Prior he was at SS. I have always told people that his absolute best spot is 1B. But he is too good to play there. He is tall. Almost 6’2″. Needs to fill out some and get stronger but he will get there. He starts travel ball at Grand Park at 9 tomorrow morning.

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41. Jayson Stark, “Phils run differential is -15 from 9th inning on, -30 from 5th inning on. BPs and Defense win games late. That is not what the Phillies do.” Sounds like v1 and others on this site. The little things matter, hitting with RISP, moving runners, hitting the other way, basic fundamentals. We do all of that poorly.

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42. Likely? Not particularly. But I hope that Dombrowski (who’s not without culpability himself here) has been setting a timeline, and that by June 1 (that’s today) if things haven’t turned around, then Sam Fuld would assume the role of interim manager, and at season’s end, resume his GM duties under DD who would then hire a permanent skipper. This is not all Girardi’s fault, but (1) his mishandling of the pitching staff despite the rotation being among the better ones in MLB, (2) the utter lack of energy or showing of a sense of urgency is unacceptable, and (3) we’re not getting rid of the big ticket players on the team, and the rest of the roster is going to be names on a roulette wheel anyway. So, with all the organizational issues to be addressed, Joe’s firing would be the first immediate action, then the trade deadline, and then the off season. I would begin seriously listening to offers for Hoskins, Segura, Suarez, Eflin, Gibson, Bohm…

    For the long term, this team still needs a bonafide major league 3b, either 2b or SS (assuming Stott will be given the opportunity to nail one down), a bonafide major league CF, and as always, relievers. 1b can be manned by Schwarber. How much worse can he be than Hoskins.

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43. Irrelevant …the definition of these Phillies.
    As for Joe…maybe take a page from managers like Jim Riggleman in 2011 and Mike Hargrove in 2007, and call it a day in Philly.

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    1. Romus, one of my biggest pet peeves is these media fluffers who write about how Joe G isn’t worried about his job…
       1. Who cares whether he is or not? What’s that got to do with the price of gas in China?
       2. Why should he worry? He’s getting paid through the end of the season, and worst case, he returns to a TV studio to analyze what he’s been overrated for.
       3. There are plenty more media angles to cover than the rhetoric of a lame duck manager.

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       1. mark……basically he gets a hefty $$$ pink slip in four months.
          Unless he wants to captain the ship while it goes down with the crew, then fine for him. But I see no reason for him sticking it out for four more months. Not sure he will want to manage again anyways as he approaches 60 years old. He will get his baseball related gigs anyways.

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          1. i just wonder who is moveable out of the veterans, that could bring us prospects, I feel bad for Bryce i know he makes a ton, but the guy should ask to leave, its a hopeless situation, total rebuild is the only answer with some one who knows what the hell he is doing,

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             1. rocco….’who is moveable’…..position players—-probably Rhys and maybe Segura. I guess Bohm is a veteran now of three years, so maybe him also.
                Do no expect any haul in return

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    2. I think basically its time to punt…..again. And if its inevitable that BH needs surgery lets get it done so we might salvage next year.

       I’m not defending Joe but I honestly do not believe firing him changes anything about who this team really is. I still do it though!

       I don’t know how you get out from under any of these contracts but you damn sure better try.

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       1. DMAR, agree on Harper. Of course that would throw up the white flag for 2022 but the front office would be doing the fan base a disservice by pretending that the Phillies are playoff relevant.

          My one hope is that this season is similar to 1979, when Pete Rose joined and that first year was bad, Ozark finally got canned and Dallas Green took the reins. And the rest is history…but 2022 has become a slippery slope. Why prolong the inevitable?

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44. Poor roster building has brought us to this situation. We have DH’s at RF, LF, 3B, 1B. SS and CF are ok, while 2B and C are the only plusses on defense with good offense. Oh wait 2B is now injured – uhg! We do have the best fielding DH in Harper but his arm is shot. maybe have him play RF and underhand to the infield

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45. This unexpected crap out is making me question who might survive the road to their eventual playoff run. I’m getting the feeling it’s going to take longer than:

    Nola & Hoskins have, which just happen to be most of all their homegrown players of the last decade. Certainly the most successful of the developed players so far.

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46. Interesting that they pinch hit for Moniak with Herrera with the bases loaded and nobody out. Why not just start Herrera if they (Joe) has such little confidence in Moniak? This tells me Joe has been ordered to start Moniak and really doesn’t want to.

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    1. Moniak got pinch hit because he struck out twice already. He’s had 6 ABs with 5 strikeouts. In that situation, he needed somebody to not strike out.

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       1. Regarding Herrera being pinch hit for Moniak, to see it, I was very irritated. I realize that he struck out 5 out of his first 6 plate appearances. However, Jake McGee throws around 90 percent fastballs. Moniak has been seeing sliders, curves, and changeups. That is the book on him. He needs to adjust. Taking him out in that situation is not good for his confidence and as a result is not good for the team. If Moniak comes through in that situation, it would have been just what this team needs. With Moniak up to bat, the amount of energy that could have been injected into the team in that moment could have helped turn the season around. Again, in my opinion, Girardi made a poor decision.

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          1. I agree with your point, and it would be in the best interest of the team that Moniak be allowed to bat in that situation. However, Girardi is in “save his arse” mode, only trusting his own M.O. and go with the veteran. And that’s more painful since his replacement may have very well let Mickey face the lefty.

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             1. It is pretty clear Moniak is not ready though. He had success in Spring Training against pitchers who were minor leaguers or were working on things. His week in AA proves nothing (look at the BB rate). He just needs some sustained AAA before he gets promoted. Wishing on a dream rarely works.

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47. Hinkie wrote how the Pirates now have a better record than the Phillies. They are now 21-27 with a payroll just under $75M. The Orioles, who play in arguably the 2nd toughest division in all of baseball, are 21-30 with a payroll of about $65M.

    Then there comes our boys playing at 21-29 and paying the players $237M. They contended for a playoff spot the last two years without the new signings. Money can’t buy you love as the Beatles sang. It seems it also can’t buy you the wild card.

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    1. Yeah. They currently sit in the 1-9 spot for the 2023 draft, with a better chance of winning the draft lottery (2.7%) than winning the division (2.3% chance according to Fangraphs). And by the end of the day, it’s possible the Phillies could shimmy their way on up to the 1-6 spot (with a 7.5% chance of winning the lottery). #Lose4Crews

       The better/optimistic news: the Phils have the second easiest strength of schedule left in MLB, and Fangraphs still gives them a 19.1% chance of making the playoffs.

       IMO, the players bare most of the responsibility for this disastrous start, but Girardi’s gonna’ have to be fired/the sacrificial lamb if they don’t turn this thing around real soon (like this weekend soon). This is a “win at all cost” season, Dombrowski is going to play every card in his hand (with the possible exception of trading Painter or Abel).

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       1. I realize that this suggestion would garner much ridicule by some on the board here, and I get why, but how much would Nola fetch on the trade market should the Phillies be 15+ games out at the deadline? I would say, A LOT.

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          1. mark … yes, Nola would bring back a pretty significant return. Dombrowski could expect a very similar return to the one Derek Falvey got when he sent 1.5 years of Jose Berrios to Toronto last summer. In that transaction, the Twins got Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson. Both were in AA. Martin was a former 1st round pick (5th overall), the Jays #2 prospect and a top 50 overall prospect. Woods Richardson was a former 2nd round selection, and Toronto’s #4 prospect.

             So … you’re looking at something like this⤵

             Yankees get: Aaron Nola
             Phillies get: Oswald Peraza and Luis Gi

             or

             Yankees get: Aaron Nola
             Phillies get: Jasson Dominguez and Beck Way

             or

             Cardinals get: Aaron Nola
             Phillies get: Matthew Liberatore and Masyn Winn

             or

             Rays get: Aaron Nola
             Phillies get: Taj Bradley and Curtis Mead

             .

             Having said all that, I’d be surprised if Dave Dombrowski is a seller instead of a buyer this summer.

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             1. I’m not sure Berrios is the cleanest comp, as he would be two years younger when the trades were made (27 last year vs Nola 29 this year), plus Nola has over 300 more innings pitched in the majors than Berrios at the time both trades would potentially occur. That’s significant. The two-year age difference was enough for the Jays to push their chips in on a trade and then turn around and sign him for seven years.

                I don’t see that here and don’t believe the Phillies would get comparable value, although it only takes one GM to go overboard in an attempt to block another team from getting him at the trade deadline. I do agree with your very last sentence, however. In my opinion, Nola is much more likely to stay with the Phillies and get a two-year extension next offseason than get traded.

                The Phillies love Nola and he loves playing for them. He takes the ball EVERY fifth day at a time when that’s not a given. Yes, he had his struggles last year but is on pace for a 5.0 WAR this year. He has a below market salary this year and next for a #2 starter and if you don’t believe me, try signing someone his equal during free agency for $16M.

                The Phillies have 99 problems but one of them isn’t Nola. I understand why Mark asked the question but I don’t believe it’s anything that the Phillies are even contemplating.

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                1. How can you make that statement? Nola loves thm and love him, What is said in public and private is too different things Second Nola moving on for prospect who can help us rebuild would be great, It scares me to think what he might want in this contract I am not willing to pay him top dollar, He isnt a ACE,

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48. “Nationals GM Mike Rizzo: “We Are Not Trading Juan Soto”

    And let the speculation begin.

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49. I see Didi and Maton coming up and Stott going down and Segura to IR.

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50. How ironic that since the day they added a 6th starting pitcher to help save late season bullets with Bailey Falter, the Phillies haven’t won a game. The stopper goes tonight. He won the last game on Thursday. Let’s hope he’s rested…for what at this point, don’t ask.

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51. I just hate how the franchise, Joe G specifically, handles young players. Stott going down, that dude needs to play every day. He kept the game alive last night with a good piece of hitting that nobody else on the team would have done, fighting a ball off his fists for a double the other way.

    I get that he has not been great, but that is the thing with young players – sometimes they are going to struggle and you have to give them time to adjust to MLB and remain confident. The way Joe G runs his ship is if you don’t produce immediately, you get benched for a veteran. Look at Mickey Moniak last night: I fully understand that he has looked bad since coming back, but hes not going to get better if you pull him every time you can. Joe pulled him vs a lefty for Odubel WHO IS ALSO A LEFTY! And of course, Oduble hits into a double play.

    Sure, MM may have struck out there, but in the case of him, and Stott, you have to keep giving them reps and trust that after a month or two, the game will start to slow down for them. You can’t have these young guys come up and have them playing in fear that they are going to be replaced anytime they dont succeed. They lose their confidence and start playing not to mess up instead of playing to do something special. You can make a good case that this is why Bohm is suddenly a singles hitter as well.

    I’d gladly let Stott (and Moniak) play every day and hit .220 this season if it gets him accustomed to big league pitching and ready to roll next year. You have to allow these kids to learn on the job and can’t have them afraid to have a bad game or a bad week.

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    1. Teams, and especially managers, that act in desperation only get results commensurate with the way the team has been playing. If the veteran lefty bat coming off the bench was a Wade Boggs or Tony Gwynn in that situation, then by all means. But Odubel Herrera? The best to hope for there is that he swings at a pitch between his feet….

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       1. Its funny I look at the AL, the ROY favorite right now is Julio Rodriguez. If I recall he was like 1 for his first 23. I think of how quickly Joe would have benched him or the team would have sent him down if that happened in Philly.

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       2. Odubel has a career .271 batting average against LHP over 793 plate appearances. He basically has no handed split difference over his career.

          Moniak has never hit LHP well at all throughout his career. He is clearly over matched at the MLB level so far this year. He knows the slider is coming and he still can’t put the ball in play.

          I am no Girardi fan and think that he should be fired, but right there, Joe has to do the best that he can to win the game.

          If that hurts Mickey’s confidence, then he will never make it in the MLB. This is the big boys league. Perform or get benched.

          The more controversial managerial decision was Kapler pinch hitting for Longoria against Nelson. That took big balls and it worked out well for the Giants. I loved that move by Kapler when it was made. I thought, wow, great gutsy move by Gabe.

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    2. Maybe its on the players. Maybe they should be prepared when they get here to put up some numbers. Nothing earth shattering but show you belong.

       When Hoskins got his promotion he made it count. By now we know he played over his head but it got him a really long leash.

       Same for Bohm however when he didn’t continue his performance he was basically banished to AAA for the latter part of his 2nd season.

       I’m not totally disagreeing with you. I’d much prefer once a decision is made this is our future they ride or die with that guy for two full seasons. Just saying it would be refreshing to see a young prospect take a bull by the horns.

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52. MLB Pipeline lists Andrew Painter as the 2nd most likely pitcher to win the Pitching Prospects of the Year award.

    https://view.mail.mlblists.com/messages/16541014256200eb516419366/raw

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53. I don’t get the philosophy, at all. I am not arguing about Stott getting sent down. He hasn’t played enough, IMO, and should have been sent down a while ago. These young kids need to play every day. The same with Moniak. If not up here, then every day at LHV. Sitting up here does a disservice to the player and the team. Moniak should have had a chance to hit last night. I don’t care about his first 6 ABs. The Manager is desperate to win when it comes to young players, but manages for October when it comes to the BP. It makes no sense. We should have 5 more Ws if Girardi managed the BP with his eyes instead of his binder.

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    1. The philosophy is that you develop in the minors and you play to win in the majors.

       Platooning a rookie against a veteran LHP is not a rare approach. I have no problem with that decision. You play to win. Mickey will play again, but in that spot, you need the best hitter to try to win. Odubel has a career .271 batting average against LHP. He isn’t perfect, but far better option than Mickey.

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       1. v1again,
          For all the reasons I described above, I wholeheartedly disagree. You cannot describe Jake McGee as a standard veteran LHP. He is anything but that. His repertoire consists of fastball after fastball. I feel much more confident with Mickey up to bat versus that type of pitcher rather than the fidgety Odubel Herrera. Also, who will the team be more likely to rally behind and for which to be happy, Mickey…that is pure speculation. The fans for certain share that perspective. The fans perspective / energy / mood should at times be taken into account. This situation is one where thinking about things from the perspective I have outlined makes some sense. Again, Jake McGee almost exclusively throws fastballs. Girardi again in my opinion shows that he is out of touch with the mood…likely intentionally as to attempt to make unemotional decisions. Perhaps he is doomed to fail as no matter the decision the outcome could be the same….

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          1. I have never seen Jake McGee pitch before last night that I can recall. But his Fangraphs page says that he is a 2 pitch pitcher – Fastball and Slider and throws his slider 17% of the time this year. His pitch values are much higher for his slider than his fastball. Pretty confident that Mickey would have seen all sliders that AB if he stayed in. That is all that MLB pitchers are throwing to Mickey until he proves that he can hit it.

             https://www.fangraphs.com/players/jake-mcgee/7550/stats?position=P#pitch-type

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             1. This is the first year in many that he has thrown a slider….and it is still just 19 percent of the time. That is a percentage that is much less that average. I have seen him pitch many times. He is a fastball pitcher. That is his bread and butter. It is how he has made his living. This year is an exception.

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                1. Brooks has it different on his slider usage since 2016…two years he stopped throwing it…;14 and ’15…because of his return from TJ surgery
                   https://www.brooksbaseball.net/outcome.php?player=459429&b_hand=-1&gFilt=&pFilt=FA|SI|FC|CU|SL|CS|KN|CH|FS|SB&time=year&minmax=ci&var=pcount&s_type=2&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=06/01/2022

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                2. Correction…..the second surgery in 2013 was not TJ , but a cleaning …the TJ was 5 years earlier.

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          2. “The fans perspective/energy/mood should at times be taken into account.” Laughable and naive. As a fan who has been attending games for almost 60 years, I can tell you for 100% certain that I never want my team to make a baseball decision based on what the fans want/think/believe/hope/pray. The opinions expressed on this board are perfect examples of why the Phillies (or any organization) should and do ignore the fans’ input.

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       2. Well if they were playing to win you start Odubel and leave Micky at AAA to continue working on his game.

          I agree with you. At this time Odubel is the better hitter.

          They clearly aren’t thinking clearly about their direction, who they are as a team and what they should do AGAIN to right their ship.

          I’m not faulting DD or JM for going the FA route. They took a swing and missed. Mostly because of the unforeseen injury to BH which no one could have predicted.

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    2. MM belongs everyday at AAA he is not a minor league player

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54. I have a much bigger issue with pinch running for Castellanos than pinch hitting for Mickey

    both times removing Nick Castellanos for Quinn as a PR, so the guy hitting behind Bryce Harper has zero power and a .300 career OBP https://t.co/nxCjzOnQkA

    — keithlaw (@keithlaw) June 1, 2022

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    1. v1,
       That was another bonehead move. Castellanos is not slow. You cannot expect to score more than one run there. In fact, putting Quinn in means that you are thinking that you may only get one run. That was Girardi’s thinking as the Giant’s best reliever was in the game. Knowing that is the case, you know that it is likely that there is more game to be played. If there is more game to be played, it is likely that Castellano’s spot in the order will come into play again. Risk / reward just isn’t there…I understand that you need to first score the run to prolong the game…However, Joe’s calculus was off as Castellanos likely scores on most singles.

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55. Inquirer has a new piece on Mark Appel. It says he’s throwing in the mid to upper 90s. So…..

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56. What has happened. Cristopher Sanchez and Nick Maton brought up and Quinn DFA and Segura to IL.

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    1. Segura is out 10-12 weeks which is a bummer. But this is a huge opportunity for Maton. He’s still only 25, and you figure he’ll get a lot of starts at 2B. His glove is not the greatest, but it’s serviceable I think. If he can show that he can do it, the Phillies migh consider declining the team option on Segura.

       As for Roman Quinn, he’s an average glove who can’t hit. Good luck to him wherever he lands.

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       1. And, of course, he’s at short tonight, with Camargo at 2B

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       2. Even if Segura returns in 2022, forget him as a trade chip at the deadline. And no, I would decline his ’23 option, not because he isn’t a good player but that salary MUST be alotted elsewhere, especially with Stott and Maton in the fold. I wonder if Kingery will get one final call…

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57. I still think Quinn adds something to the team, clearly they do not. But, I don’t agree with a lot of decisions they make.

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    1. A smart team will bring Quinn in, and ask him to use his legs more than the Phillies have. He should bunt like half the time he comes to the plate. Drop it and run. He’d get on base a lot more that wY. And once he gets on, he’s a menace to the pitcher, and an asset to the next batter (who will see mostly FBs).

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       1. Hinkie……he probably is a poor bunter….attempts-41, hits-15. in over 500 MLB PAs.

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       2. But when you think about…..that is a .365 average…perhaps he should have went up there to bunt every time since the defense was looking for it a lot.

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       3. he has Tampa Bay written all over him tbh. Hes a classic case ofa guy being good if you dont ask him to do more than hes capable of. There is definitely a spot on a good MLB bench for quinn

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          1. Yes, Quinn is a luxury for a good team with pieces already in place. Speed and late inning D, occasional drag bunt situations, just keep him away from sharp objects in the clubhouse.

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             1. And to think Ruben and his team scouted both Mookie and Roman….and decided to go high on the kid from Florida ilo of the kid from Tennessee.
                Of course BA had Roman at 73 on their draft list….Mookie was not even in the top 150.

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58. Marchan back from 60 day and assigned to LHV. This is why Quinn had to be DFA’d.

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    1. Segura can go on the 60 though. They have one more move in mind. Maybe Appel?

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59. I believe Quinn/Moniak is strictly a DD decision. Just speculation, but I believe the way they have been used that Girardi likes Quinn but doesn’t like Moniak. When you think about it, Moniak has done nothing in the three years Girardi has been here. Not in the minors or majors except for this spring training. Moniak has given no reason to Girardi to have faith in him. And about the first thing any baseball fan knows or should know is that spring training means virtually nothing.

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    1. Amen brother all the people that were like MM turned the corner because of spring training. He is worthless awful first overall pick.

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    2. Amen brother all the people that were like MM turned the corner because of spring training. He is worthless awful first overall pick.

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    3. Moniak is 24 I think the door on his career is still open

       But DFAing Quinn reminds me of Billy Beane In Money Ball fighting with Howe all the time to start Hatteberg at 1B instead of Pena who was a K machine at the time.

       Finally one night he says to Howe start anyone you want but you’re not starting Pena….I traded him.

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       1. DMAR…. hah…..they built a legend out of that Money Ball movie and that Beane assembled metric team of 2002……the issue…..their pitchers on that team were exceptional and the reason for their success….Hudson, Zito and Mulder were a combined 57-21 with a combined WAR of 19, then throw in all-stars on the left side of the infield like Tejada and Chavez.

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          1. Agree Romus. The joke in the movie was they basically ignored that what made that team good was the 3-headed monster rotation of Hudson, Zito, and Mulder.

             The real credit Beane should get is for drafting 2 of those 3 starters in the 1st round of 1998 and 1999.

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60. Maton starting at SS and Camargo at 2B.

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61. Harper scratched tonight with forearm soreness. I think the organization’s narrative is beginning to take form…tomorrow is an off day. Girardi gets fired, Harper placed on IL (perhaps 60 day to go ahead with surgery?) and all kinds of shifting from the original blueprint. Maybe Romus’s favorite minor leaguer Darick Hall gets the call!

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    1. id be in favor of all this. DFA norwood and familia too. Get Morales and Appel up here.

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    2. We’ll see how clairvoyant I am. At 9:01 AM yesterday I posted that if BH is going to need surgery just do it now…

       Not sure what time they announced they were keeping him out of the LU.

       Didi is due back soon I’m assuming…

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62. Bring up Hall! Bring up Hall! But first, put him on the 40 man roster.

    The Mets just swept the Nationals and outscored them 28-5 and shut them out the last two games. They are now 8-2 versus Washington this year.

    Last year the Phillies were 13-6 against the Nats. It is probably why they were able to contend with Atlanta into the final week of the season.

    If the Phillies are going to do anything this year, they need to have the same winning percentage or even better against Washington but with the way things are going, they will probably play them the way they play Miami.

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63. Bohm to DH, so Phillies are running out the best defensive infield of the season.

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64. Looks like Nola is falling apart.

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65. Another sweep in the works. I don’t know why I torture myself with this team.

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    1. Oh you of little faith!

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    2. MM belongs everyday at AAA he is not a minor league player

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66. Jim are you Ok???? No joke I hope you’re all right. I do hope all is well with you. You haven’t posted on a while hope nothing is wrong.

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67. See Skeet, all they need is me to give up on them! I thought this was a loss as soon as Nola gave upnthat 3 run HR

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68. Maton’s the man.

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    1. Maton opened up his stance and he looks like he’s trying to generate some pull-side power. He had a .822 OPS at Lehigh which would be the highest of his career. If this adjustment works for him, all the better for the Phillies.

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       1. Maybe your right .Maton had the same stance at LHV. The kid only hit 299 in college his last yr, only once hit three hundred in a semi pro league i believe, So i have no hope he is a good enough major league player,

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69. Cristopher Sanchez came out for the 7th inning and mowed down the Giants. He looked poised and nasty. He was throwing 95 sinkers. He showed me something. I think the Phillies should just leave him as a reliever. He’s just not consistent enough as a starter. If he goes back to Lehigh later this month, leave him for the 7th or 8th inning and see how he reacts.

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    1. Hes one of those frustrating guys because he 100% has ML stuff. I fully agree that they may just wanna make him a pen arm at this point, but we have to be ready for him to have implosions there every now and then to. The new three batter rule kind of stinks for him bc hes a dude who you can tell after one batter if he has it that day or not lol.

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       1. I agree, I’m not expecting him to be lights out to start. The Phillies have given him shots to be a starter because 95 from the LH side are hard to find. But his command is just not good enough to start. I think it’s time to for him to be a full time reliever. And I think he’s better than a long man.

          However, I would prefer that Bailey Falter stay a starter. He’s clearly had better success as a starter. And he’s nowhere near as nasty as Sanchez as a reliever.

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70. What does anyone know of Noah Skirrow? Looks like a good sized kid putting up really nice numbers in Reading over 7 starts so far….

    I either wasn’t paying attention to his mentions or he’s just flown under the radar. He’s got a WHIP of 1.12 and 42Ks over 33 IP

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    1. Pitching in AA, 33 Innings, the 42 K’s and only 8 BB, 1 HBP, 2 WP, only 1 HR and an ERA of 3.00. I don’t know much about stuff but at age 23 in AA that is not too shabby over 7 starts.
       Other under the radar prospects: Ben Brown, Matt Seelinger, Ethan Lindow, Rodolfo Sanchez and Gabriel Yanez. check out their stats. Link below

       https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/minor-league?pos=all&level=0&lg=2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,14,12,13,15,16,17,18,30,32,33&stats=bat&qual=y&type=0&team=&season=2022&seasonEnd=2022&org=26&ind=0&splitTeam=false&players=&sort=23,1

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       1. Might take a a little longer than the average prospect, but I think Lindow becomes a solid major league starting pitcher, maybe by 2025. Just my opinion…

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71. With the Angels coming to town would anyone consider a swap of prospects that struggle in their call ups and by that I mean Adell for MM? MM from Cali Adell is from NC.

    Adell right handed MM lefthanded maybe the change of scenery would do them both well. I’d like to have a right handed bat to compliment Herrera in CF and if they do decide to shut down BH Adell can play solid in both CF and RF

    Thus you allow Castellanos to go DH full time or go back to swapping with Kyle in LF

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72. Whatever the possibility or probability that Girardi may be fired, I hope one win doesn’t alter the thinking process of the POBO…I would like to think someone of Dombrowski’s pedigree isn’t swayed by daily ebbs and flows. This team is disjointed and without effective on field leadership.

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73. DMAR – I’d jump on that trade even though I like Moniak a lot. However, I do not think the Angels would do it. Adell has torn up the minors whereas MM has not even come close.

    I knew the Phillies had it in them. One in a row! WooHoo! You can do it, boys. Seriously, I hope this come from behind game gives them a little confidence that they can lean on.

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74. This should brighten up your day

    https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/phillies/phillies-prospects-hao-yu-lee-clearwater-threshers-milb

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75. Padres released Robbie Cano. Any interest on the Phillies part with Segura out…??

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    1. ….I didn’t think so. Nor do I.

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    2. Have you seen his numbers? Guy is done.

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    3. nope, none, nada, zilch

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    4. No-to-Cano

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    5. if we want to go all in on putting out the worst defensive team of all time, Cano at second and reunited with Girardi is the next move to make.

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76. Lol Who cares, they should pintch hit for MM. The guy is a AAA player at best should be happy at AAA making 200-300k a year. No a big league player. It’s time to realize he is just not a major leaguer

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    1. Rocky, we get it. You don’t like Moniak. Stop making a fool of yourself.

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       1. Fool of myself?? Look back at your post on how awesome MM was in spring training and that we would get daily updates going 2-4 in AA. I mean he was a number one over all pick you should expect more. I wish he could play

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          1. You’re doubling down on your ignorance, because I never said any of that. At most I said I was happy he was doing well and a believer that he has a future in the majors (I never even said a starter; just a major league contributor).

             Also, no one will ever take you seriously when you claim someone in AAA is making 200-300k a year with a straight face. The average salary in AAA in 2018 was 15K. It’s gone up a little bit since then, and some players obviously make more than the average. But the only players making significant money are on major league contracts.

             If you’re going to trash talk young guys for chasing their dreams, you can at least educate yourself about the topic beforehand.

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             1. Dan K want to talk about ignorance. He was a number one overall pick and ignorance do you realize what MM signed for? So yes he is making that in AAA. Plus why are taking this so personally Dan I never came out and said you said those things. You came out and attacked me because I am just stating facts about MM. And I was just pointing out if you look at previous threads throughout the previous sent threads people are talking about how good and how great he was in AA during his rehab posting his stats and people were talking about in spring training how are you turned a corner because he was performing well I apologize for you for taking it personally but unlike you I didn’t personally attacked you so get your facts straight.
                Make In 2022?
                Feb 16, 2022 — Reportedly, the salaries of Minor League Baseball Players in the US range from $19,910 to $187,200, with a median salary of $44,680. Care

                So your right to meet salaries roughly $45,000 a year but still if MM is making between 150,000 and $200,000 a year which based on where he was picked should be the range is in I don’t know about you but $150,000 a year is not about salary I have a nice day Dan you’re such a lovely person

                And Jim I thought personal attacks weren’t allowed on here

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                1. Oh my. You really don’t understand contracts at all.

                   1) What teams sign draft picks for is a SIGNING BONUS. That signing bonus doesn’t have to be a lump sum, necessarily, but it is NOT their salary. That is money he has already made. His AAA/MLB salary has no bearing on it. None.

                   2) You said, and I QUOTE, “Look back at ->YOUR POST<- on how awesome MM…" I'm not sure how far along in your English education you are, but the word "your" indicates possession of the person you are talking to; in this case, me.

                   3) You stated no facts. You have made multiple ignorant, unfounded claims. But no facts. We literally don't know what MM's salary in AAA is. We know he makes approximately the major league minimum when he's on the MLB roster. We know what his signing bonus was. We have no other indication of any of his financials.

                   4) Draft position has nothing to do with AAA salaries. Those people at the upper end of the spectrum? Those are vets that are in AAA for major league depth, or guys recovering from injury. MM is still under his rookie contract with the Phils, so they have no need to pay him any more than the minimum for his services. It'd be like you saying a rookie in the MLB is making $4-5M a year because that's the average salary in the MLB. No, they make the minimum. Even the top prospect or #1 draft pick in his rookie season is making the minimum.

                   So in conclusion, you don't know what you're talking about. I get it, you want to vent your frustrations. The Phillies are meant to be an escape for you, and here they are disappointing you once again. Don't take it out on a 24 year old young man who is working extremely hard trying to follow his dreams. If you feel compelled to comment on a recent development or have a conversation regarding him, that's one thing. But literally all you are doing is saying he's bad, with no information to back it up, and trying to tear him down as well as anyone that is cheering for him. That's toxic behavior that helps no one and contributes nothing.

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                2. Hey Dan

                   Mickey Moniak Salary

                   Mickey Moniak’s annual compensation is $570,500.
                   For this year and his signing bonus was 6.1 million in 2016.

                   Mickey Moniak compiled a career batting average of .250 with 37 home runs and 264 RBI in his 877-game career with the Lakewood BlueClaws, Clearwater Threshers, Reading Fightin Phils, Scottsdale Scorpions and Lehigh Valley IronPigs. He began playing during the 2016 season and last took the field during the 2022 campaign.

                   So he makes 500k a year. He made 6.1 million bonus and he is a 250 hitter in his minor league career.
                   With a whopping 37 HRs in that time like 6.1 homer runs a year over that period of time. Also just 44 RBIs per year. That would be 2022 minus 2016 is six years. Then you divide his 37 career HR by the six years and get 6.1. Since you’re yes you’re so concerned about grammar and about spelling and math. You can also break up the 6 million bonus if you wish. Dose not matter he makes and made a ton of cash and is 250 hitter in the minor league. I also said yes I wish he would be the answer to center field. But based in his performance it doesn’t look good.
                   Now you will say hey he was slotted for 9 million bonus. Yes sure he was and he should have taken that too.
                   But this is an example of why the Phils are bad.
                   They have a bad bad team and made many bad player choices.

                   I am glad you’re you’re you’re sticking up for him but he should have been a second round pic.

                   There are expectations on being number one overall.

                   The Phillies are flawed throughout the system. They did not spend money wisely.

                   They have holes all throughout the team.

                   I am so glad you enjoyed attacking me calling names shows your just such a great guy.

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    2. What’s the matter, Rocky? Did Mickey not sign your baseball? Did he not play catch with you? Your obsession is quite strange

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       1. It Matters a lot troll because I would love to see the Phillies win for a change because I’m tired of this team being a big tease because it’s time to wake up and realize we need better players we need something to change here for us to win. It matters because for so long the Phillies had drafted horrible people and made mistakes part of the reason why we’re in the situation we’re in. I have nothing personal Against MM I would love for him to solve the centerfield position for the team but it’s just time to MoveOn there’s no other option I know. If you wanna know the truth I almost would love to see them just stick him there all season let them stay there all season see what he ends up hitting see if he can really do it or not this is crap and the worst part about it is the Mets whom many pic to finish towards the bottom of the National League east look like one of the best teams in baseball plus the Mets manager seems to be making all the right moves. I personally don’t understand and hey I’m probably wrong and you’re all tell me I’m wrong why someone comes to the Phillies becomes a manager and all of a sudden they’re no good and then they leave and they become a better manager I’m not here to attack anyone or fight with anyone I’m just a frustrated Phillies fan and quite frankly we should all be

          I would rather see a team with a bunch of real young players with a big upside then high price players that are not performing.

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    3. Enough…

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77. Change of subject matter……….is it me, or do you guys think that Kingery is striking out a lot of the time?

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    1. It’s not you. He’s got a 37.5% K rate in AA thus far.

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78. He is really messed up from what i have seen of him. Cant believe this was the same kid we saw 2 yrs ago, terrible approach at plate/ I saw him swing at some pitches a least 5 or more inches off the plate, He is the type who will go to Rays or Marlins and be good, I cant believe its not us who messed him up,

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    1. Rocco, if I recall, didn’t he have a level swing in his early days coming out of college? And a year/2 in, he starting swinging with the sabermetrics “loft swing” … He’s like 5’2” trying to him bombs :). To me that’s what happened. Baseball killed the .300 hitter. Not saying he was a .300 but it’s basically more desired to be a .240 hitter with hrs than a .300 hitter of yesteryear. Kingery was trying to survive/move up in todays games. Money wise he robbed klentak.

       I hope he makes it back. It would be nice to have a person who can actually get on base so the team could stop hitting solo home runs all year!

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       1. Someone got into his head that he needed to add more power to his game to become a major league hitter and his swing turned into a disaster. There are conflicting stories of whether it was the Phillies coaches or his hiring a personal swing coach that made the swing changes but either way, he is completely screwed up.

          Even when he was hitting, the real question was his ability to read the strike zone and do a better job swinging at strikes. Now he neither reads pitches or has a swing that allows him to hit anything other than mistake pitches.

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    2. rocco….I was wrong on him .
       Everything about him was exciting to see…speed, glove, even the plate power was now there, then it went south
       Four years ago I thought the Phillies had their 2nd base all lined up for the next 5/7 years to come.

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79. I’m a chime in on this. I want to discuss Crawford, Kingery, and Moniak. I’m not going to say I’m 100% right. None of Us are, but Ultimately what I’m looking for is a period of time when a player “gets it” . Look at Crawford. He would struggle in the beginning of a level, basically every level, then start to have a strong few weeks of handling the level w/ great stats. Then get move up, struggle again for a half the season or more, then “master” the level. I say master lightly, but that extended period of success is what I’m looking for in development terms. Rinse and repeat Through all levels. That pattern continued, even now in majors. Looks like will be losing that trade long term. Moving on, Kingery. Hot spring, lost it at some point. To me, it’s in his head. Let’s fast forward to Moniak. Hot spring , before then He’s struggled, but he’s had great weeks as well. Why I’m bullish on him vs just hoping he’s turned the corner… he had a plan, he put it in place, we saw the results. He figured something out. He was raking in ST, on legit fire. That’s enough for me to have him play out the year. Plus he has success at AAA last season. To me, He maybe pressing since coming back . That team clubhouse right now is likely tense. That’s was an unfortunate break at the end of ST, because it killed his momentum. He did start of ST rough, so give him time. In another 2’weeks of games I’m not concerned with the results. After that I want to see him get back to the place he was in ST. Let the cards fall where they may on him. Personally I think he figured it out, and he’s a starting player. Where he goes from there, will see. His mindset is in the right place. Let him sink or swim, personally I think he’s going to swim. Of course I can be wrong but he needs the full season to show what he has.

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80. He was a line drive hitter, hit to the gaps. He had speed and good D, and was an exciting player to watch play. Remember Scotty Jetpax? He is not anywhere close to that guy today. I don’t know if the team screwed him up, or he tried to change his swing on his own. I have never read the story. But, I agree with Romus, and thought we had our 2D baseman and I bought into the Dustin Pedroia comps. It’s sad to watch him play now.

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81. Yeah he seemed like someone that was going to help the team. He really fell off the cliff. Total shame. He was exciting player. I do hope he gets a second chance somewhere. He was fun to watch when he first came up. Remember that draft he was a second round pic and baseball people said he was a steal. Looked like a steal at then time. Shame

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82. Matt13…I love baseball. But fluke things happen. I was watching when Segura got hit the other night. He knew right away something major was wrong. It appeared on TV that he just got the bottom three fingers on his right hand lower than they should have been and of course that is where ball hit. So probably best defender and one of top two hitters is now out for a large part of the rest of the season. I have no issue with bunt in that case other than they would have walked Bryce as they did later to face Nick and eventually Roman.

    Fast forward to yesterday morning. Grandson up for 1st time in travel ball. Gets hit flush on left wrist. He finished game but did not swing well. Sat 2nd game icing. Still some swelling this morning. This is nearly same location as few weeks back that had him sit out couple games then. I told Mom she needs to make a trip to Dick’s for a guard. Tonight, they play the Black Bulls who he played with for several years. Best team. They have like 20 kids on roster. Several are pitchers only. That is the separation from other teams.

    Just weird how these fluke things can have major impacts on one’s season going forward.
    One other quirk of Bullpen deals. There are 42 teams from all over Midwest. These 2 teams are like a mile apart from home sites. Stupid. But they do this all the time.

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    1. Hoping for a quick recovery for him, Don. When doe his school year end? My Grandkids in Florida ended yesterday, and my Wife who teaches up here in Pa goes until the 17th.

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       1. Thanks Matt. He is tough kid. He had a foul ball come off bat and hit him below eye few years back in Chicago. Overnight visit to ER but he played next day with huge black eye.

          Kids got out of school last week on Thursday. My other gets out today.

          This is beyond weird. The coach he has played for all but one year since age 8 just recently got the high school Principal position at Carmel one of the top two size schools in Indiana. So, he had to give up this team. Thus, yesterday was first day for new guy. Then I get on and see that Joe is gone. I am not surprised.

          Back to the kid though. He is very similar to the previous coach. He even left the Bulls to come back with him. His one year with the other guy did not go well. That guy seemed to think Jarrett a difference maker. He is really good and a winning kid. But he is not what that guy thought. Guy even told people it was like having a 1st round draft pick with Jarrett. But the two things that stood out from that year either 12U or 13U was this guy decided Jarrett could be his star pitcher and catcher. Twice he caught late games one night and then because of team losing he had him pitch like the 8 or 9 o’clock game next morning. Neither went well and he put all the blame on the kid.

          So, when the principal guy got his Superintendents license done, he came back but to a rival organization basically still at same location. So, Jarrett jumped at opportunity to go back with him, and things have been well since. So, it will be interesting to see how this Summer plays out. Carmel principal father is in baseball Hall of Fame here in Indiana so big baseball family.

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83. OF….John Andreoli traded from LV to Minn. meh

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84. Wow! Girardi out, and Thomson is Interim Manager. Just happened.

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85. And Joe is gone. Rob Thomson named interim manager.

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86. The Phillies had to do something. I get the retort well “you don’t make a move for the moves sake “ but the current situation wasn’t tenable and it felt like Girardi had lost the team.

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    1. Agree. I have been sort of indifferent on Girardi. The players are to blame for the losses, but for the Phils … the future is now. Something was needed to shake things up. There’s still plenty of season left. As I mentioned a few days ago (further above), they have the second easiest remaining schedule in MLB. Fangraphs has them still with a 21% chance of making the playoffs. For me, the club appeared ready to go on some kind of winning streak, whether Girardi was managing, or not. This may be uber-optimistic, but I could see them winning 16 of their next 20 (including Wednesday’s win over the SFGs).
       And … BTW … I’m still not a big believer in the Mets. They’re an older team (who are likely to wear down), with a history of not taking care of early season leads. Just my opinion.

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       1. Generally I think it’s more a fault of the players than Girardi, but the one area where I think Joe genuinely had a noticeable (bad) impact was the ‘pen. If our relievers look average or better for the rest of the year, then moving on from Joe was the correct move for that alone. We’ll see, I guess. I’ve jinxed a couple pitchers already this season. Hopefully they do go on a streak. I’m supposed to go to the “father’s day” (even though it’s the week before) game with my dad and it’d be nice if they could win.

          I agree with you on the Mets. I’ll believe it when they’ve mathematically made the playoffs. Every year they’ve looked like they’d be good and every year they weren’t. So yeah. Let’s see where they are at the end of the year.

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87. Really not surprised. When you’re 4th in payroll and under .500, somebody has to be the scapegoat.

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    1. True. This is a 1st for DD though, so it’s somewhat surprising. Getting swept by the Mets did it. That’s what fired him. Then kapler coming in with his crew … man, like kicking a dead horse.

       Frustrating to see where team is, knowing they should be much better.

       Following question – what’s happens to the hitting guru now? He was supposed to be a huge upgrade

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88. What was Bobby Meacham’s job? He is gone also. He was close with Girardi, I know, but so was Ron Thomson.

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    1. Assistant Coach. I’m pretty sure I saw him working with infielders before the owners’ strike was settled. Along with Bobby Dickerson and Larry Bowa.

       Interesting timeline:

       December 2017 – Thomson named bench coach
       October 2019 – Girardi hired
       January 2020 – Meacham hired

       I was under the mistaken impression that Girardi hired Thomson.

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89. Gotta wonder how much of a say Bryce had in this. Not saying he called for his head or not, I’m just curious to understand what his role was or wasn’t in the decision… since he’s in a rare position to be here longer than the manager or GM

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    1. Too much. Tough to manage when a player has a “bat phone” to the owner. Harper’s pulling himself from the lineup the last game probably didn’t help.

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       1. Thanks Jim, you can sense that’s the case. Unique position for any manager to be in.

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90. And, believing this is he right move in no way absolves DD from responsibility for putting together such a flawed team. Defense does matter, a real lead off hitter does matter, but, being able to read your BP, and see who was hot and who was not, and make moves by your eyes, not a binder, also does matter. And, we have not seen a big Dombrowski trade yet. And, one is coming, I am sure of that.

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91. Let the longterm speculation begin. At season’s end, you know that Dombrowski will want to install his guy, whoever that might be…

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    1. I actually wonder if they’ll have Fuld handle the manager search. It’s seemed from the start that DD came in to get them over the hump while grooming Fuld to take over in a couple years.

       The former doesn’t appear to have happened, obviously. But having Fuld take care of a manager search while DD can give him advice and sit in on meetings seems ideal if they really do want him to eventually run the show.

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    2. Mike Shildt?

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92. This team is poorly constructed and it cost Girardi his job. Now Girardi did do some things to scratch your head especially with bullpen management but a lot of this falls on the players/GM aswell. If only a few players could hit higher than the Mendoza line things may have been different.

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    1. How was Girardi putting his players in a position to succeed? Girardi totally mismanaged his bull pen, his line ups, and his game day decisions. He is overpitching his starters and that will catch up to them later, if not earlier.

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93. Stuff like pinch-hitting one LH batter for another especially when the second has no plate discipline should raise questions for any GM who is not in a coma.

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    1. Girardi had his issues but this was definitely not one of them, and it definitely didn’t get him canned.

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       1. Here is one of my issues, Guru, in Girardi’s published remarks after being fired there are all sorts of reasons he gave for the team’s lack of success, things that “just happened” none of course due to his performance or his team preparation over the past couple years! Of course it is too early to have true data, but I am ecstatic about the shake up in the team that prepares for the draft, and if that is an indicator of what might come from the next managerial choice….. bring it on!!!!

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          1. Once guys in the booth, (McCarthy, Kruk, Davis) and then in the post-game, (Barkann, Ricky Bo) start questioning managerial moves that do not work as the team stumbles……that is an onus a change of winds is coming.

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             1. Romus, you’re right. i mentioned this in a post a few day ago that when the broadcasters, who are Phillies employees, criticize moves, Girardi might not make it to the Fourth of July.

                It will be interesting, if Phillies play well for the rest of the season and make the playoffs if Thomson will get the job. I wouldn’t rule it out.

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94. Ronald Torreyes might be watching closely where Girardi lands, to understand where he might surface in the big leagues next.

    Any wish list suggestions for manager? If I remember correctly, some of you have called for Dusty Wathan recently.

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    1. For me, I’d rather focus on who DD might hire as a manager vs who I want DD to hire. You figure any of his previous managers, or former players on previous teams turned managers would get consideration first.

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95. I tend to think this was Dombrowski’s working plan all along – wait until June 1, which he did. Waited on announcing until today due to the team’s ALS event yesterday.

    As for who DD eventually hires, who’s out there? Meaning, an experienced guy with past success.

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    1. …whoever DD might hire in the off season, I can almost assure you that it won’t be anyone with sentimental ties to the Phillies. Chase Utley may not have the slightest interest, and he has no coaching experience, let alone managerial. Dombrowski won’t risk his legacy on such a hire. Mike Scioscia has no ties to the organization, but is a native Delco boy. However, who knows exactly what DD is looking for? If Thomson were to succeed in turning this roster toward a wild card berth, he would have to be considered. Short of that, I have no idea who compares to what they could have had as manager before DD was brought on board…Buck Showalter and Dusty Baker are now spoken for. Middleton was a day late and quite a few dollars short in waiting to fire Klentak when he had him fire Gabe. Should have axed both in one fell swoop. And since he hired Girardi instead of the apparently unfavorable look of any Baltimore/MacPhail connections to Buck back in ’19, he now appears to be standing in the rain at the bus stop after the last bus already pulled away.

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96. Let’s hope the next long-term manager doesn’t develop an insane crush on retread AAAA infielders who take at-bats from the guys who will determine the club’s actual future.

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97. I think it is actually more important that DD have a plan to fix the holes in the team, or no Manager will make this work. I don’t have any idea how to go about doing that, however.

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98. Girardi firing is not unexpected. The interesting part of the move today to me was also getting rid of the “coaching assistant” but no other coaches.

    Was Meacham that much of a Girardi poodle that they thought he would be a problem in the clubhouse moving forward or was he disliked by the players but remained because he was Girardi’s guy?

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    1. Yeah, it does seem kind of odd to fire the manager and only one member of the coaching staff. Usually it’s only the manager or cleaning house (almost) completely. It’s possible I just don’t remember when it happens and it’s more common than I think, though.

       I am sort of surprised that Long is still here, though. Not that it’s necessarily his fault, but when so many premier hitters are struggling at the same time I would have expected him to be in hot water as well.

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99. If they win (and I think there’s a pretty good chance they will), Rob Thompson will keep the job. If they don’t win/make playoffs, I’d put Eduardo Perez at the top of the list to be the next manager. Carlos Beltran would be another interesting/dark horse candidate. I don’t think Dombrowski would care about his role in the Astros’ trash can scandal.

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    1. Beltran isn’t someone I had considered, but he probably should be on the list.

       I also imagine they’ll make a call to Maddon to see if he wants to come back to the east coast.

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       1. Do either the Angels or Maddon have an option year on his deal?

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          1. Not that has ever been reported. Unless they’re just super good at keeping secrets and/or there’s some very complex contract language that reporters couldn’t decode, he’s in the final year of his current contract. And I’m honestly really curious what they’ll do if they don’t make the playoffs/have an early exit this year.

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    2. FWIW, Jorge Velandia was the internal guy who made it to the final phase of interviews during the past two manager searches. I don’t know if he still has interest. He was a special assistant to the GM during those searches. He’s been an assistant GM since December 2020.

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       1. The distinction there reminds me of Dwight Shrute and the assistant to the regional manager and assistant regional manager running joke in The Office.

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100. All I can find is that Meachem was a Coaching Assistant. I have no idea what his area of responsibility was, if any. I just find it odd that he was the only Assistant let go.

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101. FWIW…it is Rob Thomson….without the ‘p’

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     1. …………yes, the “p” if you will, is a silent “p” as in Thomson. Much like phew, the manager is gone!

        Now does this event herald the blowup, remake or the tweak? When is the magical date to begin the beguine? Do we sweep the clubhouse of the cancerous lesions at the same time, as in clean sweep!

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        1. Outside of the impending FAs, who can you realistically trade?

           Nola will likely bring you a haul. Personally, I wouldn’t do it because pitchers like Nola don’t come around often and he’s plenty expensive on the open market. Can’t trade Segura anymore now that he’s hurt.

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           1. I must be the only one on this site, Who would move Nola in a minute, You cant pay him big money, he is a three four type, If i can get a couple of pieces like a young outfielder and a pitcher i do it in a heart beat, Teams see his lack of velocity and know he has to be perfect to win,

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              1. Nola is more of a 2/3. Eflin and Suarez are more of a 3/4 pitcher.

                 Nola has had success without an elite fastball. This means that when he ages, he should still be very effective. Nola has 1.5 WAR, which means he’s on track for a 4 WAR season, which is no joke. You absolutely keep Nola for as long as you can.

                 The Dodgers gave up Josiah Gray and Keibert Ruiz as the main pieces in the Sherzer/Turner deal. Those guys are 2 top 100 prospects. How are they doing? Gray has 0.2 WAR and a 5+ ERA. Ruiz has .688 OPS and 0.7 WAR. Crazy thing is, you likely won’t get Gray and Ruiz for Nola…

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                 1. The thing with trading stars for prospects….prospects will rarely ever perform up to the stars level/WAR…initially.
                    Normally teams are banking on those players developing after a few years….in the long term.
                    Rizzo is looking 2 or 3 years down the road for those guys….and keeping his fingers-crossed that they will come around.

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                 2. iF He is a 4 war at end of year, I Will admit i am wrong, But if you think Ben Davis knows baseball he said it too he is a 3/4 type, I been saying it for yr, i loved to be proven wrong,

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                 3. @Rocco, Ben Davis knows his stuff, but in this case, he’s wrong. Why? If Nola is a 3/4, and Nola is better than Suarez and Eflin, does that mean that Suarez and Eflin are 4/5 pitchers? Then what does that make Falter, since Suarez and Eflin are better than him?

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                 4. Guru…speaking of Falter…excellent last night…6 innings, 9 Ks, 2 BBs, 6 hits allowed and two earned runs…78 pitches, 56 strikes…Game Score of 60.

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        2. Let’s hope Hoskins tears it up between now and the deadline…I would then move him for whatever you can get. Otherwise I don’t see who you can trade for anything worthwhile. I would trade Nola in a rebuild but Dombrowski isn’t here for that.

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           1. There maybe quite a few teams at the top or near the top of their divisions that would take on Nola, for their play=off run….however what can you expect to get from them!

              There have been times that ‘superstar’ trade for 3/4 prospects has not turned out quite as expected for the team trading the star player. Prospects do not always develop…and some develop late and have moved on to another team.

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           2. Can we get a AA pitcher for Hoskins or is that to high?

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              1. i like to get that guy Garcia from giants,

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102. While the players cost Girardi his job – it looked to me like he slowly lost the team from some of those disastrous final inning losses. Whether you use your best bullpen pitcher 3 days in a row or not – sometimes you just have to win the game. Joe’s non- bending methods gradually caused confidence in him to be undermined. Next up….

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103. For Bryce…. he is rolling 7/11.
     Manager number 7 in 11 years.

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     1. Also heard speculation that Joe G lost the team when Schwarber got tossed by Angel Hernandez while Girardi stood by and watched.

        …whatever the case, the onus is NOW on the players to put up…

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        1. Yeah…..too many impactful veteran ballplayers making up a large chunk of the salary structure to be so far behind and so inconsistent.

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     2. Romus maybe i don’t understand, 10 starts, 5 quality starts by nola, that is a ace or two??? How is he a 4 war? end of subject for me just dont see it, three yes,

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        1. rocco…..yeah , Nola is inconsistent.
           Right now the top 5 pitchers for WAR are:
           1. Alcantara • MIA 2.8
           2. Perez • TEX 2.8
           3. Lopez • MIA 2.7
           4. Cortes • NYY 2.6
           5. Fried • ATL 2.4
           Nola is sitting at 1.4WAR so far for 11 starts
           By starts and Game Scores….6 of 11 starts 55 or over…which is good.
           3 of 11 below 50…which is poor
           and 2 more starts between 50 and 51…mediocre/MEH.

           So far…he is probably a tweener- 2 and 3 …not an ace or number one.

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104. Lineup for tonight: Stott at short, Moniak in center. No Odubel or Camargo. Definitely no longer Girardi’s lineup!

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     1. My guess is DD informed Thomson that the kids are playing, at least until the deadline.

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     2. It still makes no sense to play Moniak over Odubel, whether it’s Girardi’s call or not.

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        1. Be careful Hands you can’t criticize MM here they get upset about it.

           And great name underrated Flyer

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           1. Rocky…….it is not always the critique of a player…..it happens quite often over the years…..it is however, the ‘how’ the message is delivered or posted ……be it with vinegar or with sugar.
              Or as some would say….with tact or without tact.

              Further,, Jim has been running the site for almost a decade now…..and over the years he has met and become friendly with many of the player’s family members……and they have been known to come on the site to see how the boys are doing….and also to post of their sons or grandsons.
              So you can see it can become uncomfortable for Jim , who has established a relationship with the players’ family members, if people post on here some attacks on their son that can be a little overboard..
              You can understand that correct?

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              1. Yes I get it and your correct. Thanks I did also say just keep him in and see if he can do it. I also said more then once would love him to solve the cf hole. Thanks again I get it

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           2. Yeah to be clear it’s not so much a criticism of Moniak (though he does deserve some criticism like any other player would be subject to) as it is an acknowledgement that Herrera has been one of our best players this year, is talented and has some track record of success.

              I’d like Moniak to get everyday at bats I just think it should be in AAA at this point.

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              1. I am so tired of watching Odubel. He is not very good as he is very streaky, does not get on base, is mediocre to below average at center, and for team chemistry is likely is a net negative. Moniak showed a lot this Spring. Perhaps you did not watch his at bats and assess his swing. He looked like a different hitter. He reminds me of my nephew in the sense that he has grown into his frame slower than most. Essentially, he now looks like a man whereas before he looked more like a boy.

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                 1. Moniak has looked like the same hitter in his few at-bats since he’s come back- swinging over backfoot breaking balls and rolling over pitches on the outside part of the plate. It’s crazy to me that people still put stock in spring training stats. We’ve seen it over and over again that they often don’t translate to success when real games start. MM has developed physically but still has a lot to show as a hitter.

                    Herrera is only behind Harper and Schwarber among regulars in wRC+ and he’s 5th on the team in WAR even though he has like 100 less PAs than the guys ahead of him. He’s on pace for like 3.5-4.0 fWAR in a full season’s worth of PAs. His defense is also not as bad as a lot of people make it out to be.

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              2. You overrate Herrera, Handzus. He would have no role on a winning team. His D is subpar, he makes dumb mistakes, routinely, and he is not enjoyable to watch. If we had added a CF in the offseason, which was one of the items on DD’s list that wasn’t filled, he would not be back here. Moniak has a possible future, and earned his spot, except for injury, out of ST, and deserves his chance. It may not work out. But Odubel has no future here. I believe that if Mickey doesn’t earn the job, then this off season will see us add a CF/lead off hitter.

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                 1. If you don’t like Odubel, that is fine. But as a baseball player, he’s near starter level. Does he make dumb mistakes, sure, but nobody is perfect. His D is NOT subpar, the numbers bear it out with a career 3.1 dWar. And if you don’t like watching Odubel, that’s on you. Your dislike of Odubel is clouding your ability to see that Odubel is an acceptable ballplayer. Saying that he has no role on a winning team is ridiculous. Just because Odubel has no future with the team, doesn’t mean he can’t HELP the team. Segura has no future with the team either. Kyle Gibson too. Doesn’t mean that they can’t help a team win now. And not sure why we’re focusing so much on Odubel. He is very clearly, and I can’t say this enough, NOT the reason why the Phillies are under .500.

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105. Imo Bryce is key to season, If he has to be shut down, fire sale i really believe, i Am watching kane couunty cougar because my neighbor signed with them, Randolph our first round pick is on the team, I don’t know the history of other teams, but Randolph, MM, Haseley Collier, Greene and not one made it, amazing

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106. Surprised and impressed to see Dombrowski suddenly appear at the beginning of the broadcast tonight. He mentioned the players being “tight” which is in line with what Stark was reporting earlier. I know folks here complained about how laidback Girardi seemed, but coaches perform for the public. Manuel was said to be much sterner behind closed doors.

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107. What’s the nickname they’re using for Rob Thomson? “Topper”??

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108. Bryson!!!

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     1. #Angels 0 @ #Phillies 4 [B2-1o]:

        Bryson Stott homers (1): fly ball to RF (3-run)

        Hit: 356ft, 98.7mph, 40°

        Pitch: 79.4mph Curveball (RHP Chase Silseth, 4)

        — Home Run Tracker (@DingerTracker) June 3, 2022

        https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1532869987588788225?s=20&t=LXYtZQr1xUKqBfUGb4fC2A

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109. See this is HR night.

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     1. You cant throw down and in to a lefthander, its there sweet spot

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110. Barria had only given up 5 runs this year before tonight and they were all HR’s.

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111. Nick Maton laid out for a pop up and came up grabbing his shoulder and was replaced my Carmargo. Hopefully this is just precautionary and that he could be back soon with treatment.

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112. Made mistake on Barria , he gave up 4 runs and 3 were HR’s.

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113. Jeez, could just be a coincidence, but firing Joe seemed to wake up the team for sure. We’ll have to see if it’s just them realizing they got someone fired or maybe celebratory… but hey, it’s nice to have a win like this for once.

     And of course, congrats to Stott on his first MLB HR. Here’s to many more.

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     1. and to Mickey M on his first MLB hit!

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        1. Well… first MLB hit of the year. He’s gotten 3 in each of the previous two seasons in his limited time on the roster. He’s still looking for his first double and triple, though.

           Hopefully this is the start of both young guys going on a roll. Would be awesome to have two prospects do well for the big club at the same time.

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114. I got home from the travel circuit to see the Phillies up 10-0. It is truly amazing that simply firing the manager can cure all that ails the Phillies.

     The hitters hit.
     The fielders fielded.
     The pitchers pitched.
     The BP had a clean inning including Ks rather than BBs.
     The fans were in glee.
     The announcers were happy.
     The announcers said the post-game show guys would be happy.

     Even more importantly it now appears there is light at the end of the tunnel for the 90 wins that Hinkie and I predicted for the year. I think the Phillies need to go only 67-43 to reach that mark.

     I am only Kidding with these remarks but sometimes one simple change can ignite a complete turnaround. We have all seen it before. Hopefully this is the spark that can do that. Some want the young kids to be given the chance to see what they can do. Maybe they can bring the energy that is needed to get the vets on track. That move going with the 4 freshmen for the grandkid team over the upper-class guys seemed to provide that spark. Team went from 1-4 to 18-10 finish. Maybe Phillies can get the same turnaround as well. Let’s hope.

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     1. Don…hope the grandson team did well…his team finished on a high note for sure..
        As for the Phillies….some of the veterans said it best…they felt the responsibility for letting Joe down and him getting released.
        Harper took it upon himself to say something to that effect….though his performance and production has been superb, and more than one can ask for.
        And agree….let’s see if something good does come about for the remainder of this season..

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115. Romus…I actually thought last night I was watching Joe manage at times. They were playing best team in Indiana and one of best in Midwest. Bulls Black. This is the team he played several years with. His team is 1-2 so far. But two losses are to the 1 and 3 teams in pool play out of 42 teams. No luck in the so-called draw.
     Game is 1-0 after 2 innings. Coach decides to use a couple of the lower pitchers in relief. Sound familiar. 4 HBPs and 4 BBs later scattered with a few hits it ends 10-0. Bulls had their stud pitcher on mound. He is really good. But as though kids coach game up. This is new guy. Regular coach just got principal job at the most prestigious high school in Indiana. So, he gave up team. Who knows how this plays out?
     Told Matt13 grandson got hit on left wrist 1st AB on Thurs. Sat out game 2 and did not play in field last night. He will probably pitch a couple innings today. They have to keep him under 36 pitches today to pitch tomorrow. Team today is very similar to them
     There were a few games in the last couple weeks watching on tv from afar here in Indiana it really did not seem that the Phillies tried to win the game.
     Romus if you go to the Anderson Herald Bulletin on last Tuesday you can see a couple pics of the kid on defense. One of the plays turned out to be the key play of the game. Appeared to be out on a tag but ump called runner safe. One out after next play which is other pic kid hit a GS. Inning would have been over.

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116. Romus…just an FYI on how this travel stuff plays.
     Grand Park beautiful facility. 32 all turf fields. 8U-17U. Teams from everywhere.
     Tourneys run 3-5 days.
     Teams who have most, and best pitchers win the most.
     2 to 4 Pool games. 4 Pool games this week.
     Bracket is elimination.
     Pitchers are on pitch counts.
     1-35 no days’ rest. So kid could pitch an inning or two each day.
     36-60 requires 1 day off. Kid on grandson team was at 60 so had to go out to be able to pitch Sunday.
     61-80 2 days off.
     81-100 3 days off
     101-120 4 days off.
     Team grandson played on Thursday used same kid all 7. He was best but surely over 81 pitches. Thus done for weekend. Some throw their best early to get good seed. Some hold best back for elimination. Some have enough to do both.
     Grandson is top pitcher so no more than 35 today or maybe not at all.

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     1. Plenty of rules limiting pitchers and pitch counts.
        Wonder…if your grandson was ambidextrous…….how would that work?
        …..one day RHP…next day LHP
        Is it the arm that youth baseball are worried about or the body?

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        1. Well if it’s like when I played over a decade ago, those rules were actually mostly in place to prevent the coaches from only using a couple pitchers exclusively. They were, of course, ostensibly for protecting young guys’ arms. But if that’s all it was about, they would also limit how many days in a row a kid could pitch even if the pitch counts were small, and also account for warm-up pitches.

           Looking back, it’s odd how some of my coaches were more competitive than some of my teammates over the years. It makes sense for the kids to be; they’re the ones playing and potentially even trying to make a career out of it. But outside of their own children potentially getting scouted, the coaches never had anything to gain by overworking us.

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           1. Dan…yeah Dan.
              The competitiveness of some of the coaches ..usually fathers, was intense at times.
              I did coach my youngest son’s team in Oklahoma.
              I saw that…I told the fathers of sons on my team who were helping me……lets let the kids have fun I know my son was one of the bettr one with a couple of the other dads’ sons…but they were a few others on the team that needed more guidance.
              My oldest played in the league out there that had AJ Hinch come thru a year or two earlier.
              But you are spot on……too many times the kids are pushed a little too hard.

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              1. BOOMER SOONER!!!!

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              2. Bulls as example. Some are same some are different on coaches.
                 Dads coach till 15U. At that point the Bulls guys are the coaches.
                 I looked this morning for Rolen’s kid. Did not see him listed. Maybe they moved from area.
                 Lots and lots and lots of POLITICS involved. It seems the coach kid fall in two categories. The best kid. Or in some the worst kid. That is when things get interesting.
                 There is no doubt in many cases the coaches are on ego trips. The worst coaches as a whole that I have seen come thru GP are from an organization in Cincy. At one point they were actually barred from coming over. I am not sure if that still in force or not.
                 Romus you will like this. Tom Thacker from Kokomo owns ProX at GP. Also, Kokomo has a mini-GP. It is either 4 or 8 diamonds. I think 4. But some games are funneled up there. Tommy Underwood. Tommy had no role in the ball diamonds sadly.

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117. These are National Federation rules. Until like 2017 or so things were based on innings rather than pitches. That is an interesting question. I have seen lots of games but never seen that yet with a kid.
     I actually believe rule is more for the arm. An example and I believe his high school coach took this suggestion to heart. It says when the kid is done pitching use him in a position that is appropriate for saving arm. As soon as grandson went to pitching. He started 3 varsity games coach move him from SS to 2B. He stayed at 2B till one-night 3B pitched and coach moved him to 3B. He had great defensive game there, so he stayed and 3B became the 1B. Which was somewhat a waste because that kid is really good defensively as well. Also, best pitcher and coach last Monday in Sectional final did not use him. I have no idea why that happened.
     Take a minute and go to Indiana Bulls website. Take a gander at the facility. It is beautiful.
     This is for anyone. I know Matt13 has. Teams come here from all over the country. A really good Pittsburg team was here a couple years ago. Texas and Arizona. All over. I told my daughter last night that field they were going to play on was beautiful. They all are.

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     1. Don…it is certainly does appear to be quite impressive .
        https://www.indianabulls.org
        https://www.indianabulls.org/bulls-south-north/

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118. Kid who had the TJ at 15 is on Bulls Black. He was there in shorts like he was couple weeks ago at high school game the two kids’ teams played.

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119. Guru, I couldn’t reply directly, but to your post. My response to Handzus saying there is no reason to play Moniak over Herrera, and I think there is. To see how Moniak plays. You like Odubel, and I respect your opinion. I don’t. but I still root for him to succeed when he is wearing a Phillies’ uniform. I absolutely do not blame him for the team’s poor performance. There are plenty of players to blame. I don’t think he’s much of a help, but that’s my opinion. I don’t think he would be the starting CF for a successful team. Not that he is the cause the team wouldn’t be successful. Gibson can get re-signed, and I think helps the team. Same with Segura, who has been a good player for us. Odubel was brought back because Dombrowski did not get the CF he wanted to get, whoever that may have been. And, I think he will attempt to do that this off season, assuming like many who post here do, that Moniak does not win a job. I am not trying to be kind because his Dad posts here. I really believe he deserves a chance to see what he can do. If he is unsuccessful, then we need a CF going forward. That won’t be Odubel. Again, IMO. Much like the Girardi/Gabe argument. Believing Kapler deserved to be let go does not change because Girardi wasn’t good. It just means we need a new Manager who is not Gabe or JoeG.

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     1. matt….Bryan Reynolds may be an easier get than he would have been this past off-season if continues this pace for another month….slashing after 200 PAs….225/.317/.410
        So were talking back in Jan…Painter, Rojas and one more prospect for him then.

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        1. Romus, I didn’t want to do that then, and although Rojas’ hitting has been subpar, I would be very unhappy without Painter. I don’t think Laureano is doing much either. I delusionally envisioned Rojas in CF late 2023 in CBP, and I may have been a tad optimistic!

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     2. I don’t disagree that Moniak deserves a chance because he definitely does. If he can help the team, I’m all for it.

        For me, I try to keep my emotions out of it. I’m good with Odubel (and even Hector) not because I like them, but because their numbers say that they are good. I mean, you don’t just luck into 13.6 career WAR. Sad to say, a lot of players will never even come close to that. So when somebody calls out Odubel for stuff that doesn’t make much sense, I’m not disagreeing it because I’m a fan of Odubel, it’s because the numbers say otherwise. You can dislike Odubel all you want, that’s your choice. But perhaps you can see the other side of the argument, and take a closer look at the numbers, and see why me (and others) say that Odubel is not as bad as you think he is.

        I’m not saying Odubel is the future. Heck, I was surprised that he didn’t get a better offer elsewhere. But giving $1.75M for Odubel, that’s really good value for a near starter player. He can definitely help the Phillies win this year.

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120. I have not seen all the posts but just saw on CBS that Lindor fractured his finger at hotel mishap. Maybe fortunes for the Phillies are changing. That is big loss for Mets.

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     1. Lindor IS playing today. He took batting practice and all is a go.

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121. I did not read article. Just said Lindor had fractured finger in headline.
     I guess quick healer. Not like Segura injury.

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122. Was at the ballpark last night and it was a lot of fun. Put $25 on Stott and $25 on Moniak to homer, figuring if one of them did, I’d get a nice payday, and Bryson came through for me! It was a good vibe too.

     Look, I know some of you will disagree with me on this, and I fully respect that not everyone buys this, but I am a vibes guy. Don’t get me wrong, I fully support statistics and consider myself a student of the “new age” era of baseball, but there is still something to be said for a dark cloud hovering over a clubhouse holding people back. Removing that cloud can unlock a lot of things in the rest of the players.

     For instance, Stott….could it have been a sheer coincidence that he homered last night? Absolutely. But maybe knowing that the veteran-obsessed manager who is just looking for reasons to pull you from the lineup is gone allowed him to relax a little in the box.

     I have seen teams improve by way of addition by subtraction before, and I do think that could be the case here. There is still work to be done in plenty of areas, but I can say that the team I watched last night looked rejuvenated and looked just altogether different. Granted, I thought the same thing after opening day when they mashed, but Im hoping this is the beginning of them being legitimate competitors the rest of the way.

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     1. Statistics is not new age. It’s no surprise that pitchers with low ERAs give the teams the best chance to win. It’s been that way in the 80s, it’ll still be that way now and in the future.

        You can have vibes, but not when vibes completely override statistics. They need to work in concert. You can give Stott a leash, but you can’t give him that the whole season. The Phillies are trying to win games. Not only that, there’s also no guarantee that Stott will be able to hit ML pitching now or in the future. So you have to have some balance here. At a certain point, the responsibility needs to be on the player to get the job done. Vibes will not help that.

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        1. If you look at his body of work, he is actually a very high floor type player, meaning he may not be a superstar, but he is also not going to stink. He may never hit .320, but he will surely be a .250 or better hitter in the ML.

           Perhaps where we disagree is I believe when you have a rookie with promise, you do have to give him a leash. It takes time to adjust to ML pitching, and replacing a guy with johan camargo every time he goes hitless isnt going to allow him that time to adjust.

           Look at the mariners, their top prospect Julio Rodriguez broke camp with the team and started out 6 for his first 42. But the team kept playing him and didnt instantly replace him with some veteran backup, and he just won rookie of the month for May and is a top ROY candidate.

           Ideally, when you have a lineup with guys like JT, Bryce, Schwarber and Castellanos in there, it gives you some leeway to allow the young guys to take some time to adjust. If you don’t allow that, you are going to mess with the players development and mess with his head. and even worse, it could lead to another team getting him and giving him an actual opportunity and having him thrive there.

           Looks like overall I am just willing to be more patient with younger players than you are, which is just a difference in philosophy. But have a look at Mike Schmidt’s rookie year stats if you want a good example of why you have to just stick with a kid with talent.

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           1. I’m perfectly ok with giving rookies time to adjust to the league. However, the Phillies are in win now mode. They can’t let the rookies take 3 months to adjust. And if Stott was hitting .250, that would be a different story. He’s hitting .160 and his WAR is -0.4.

              As for the Mariners, it looks like their philosophy is to let their rookies take their lumps. It looks like it has worked out for Julio Rodriguez. However, working against your argument is the other Mariners rookie: Jarred Kelenic. Kelenic was a top 5 prospect. His career WAR is now -1.9.

              What does that mean? That means that nobody knows what kind of player Stott will turn out to be. Giving Stott more leash will only accelerate what type of player he was meant to be (good or bad). Giving him more leash will NOT make him a better player.

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              1. Guru, you’re right but when you are as far back as the Phillies, are, maybe you can’t still call this “win now” time. Sure, they might play themselves into contention…. but by the time true elimination came, the opportunity to see how players fare might be lost. And, it is not like the Phils are sitting Rogers Hornsby so that Bryson can get his ABs!

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     2. Granted, if you played Stott 5 or 6x a week and come mid season hes still hitting .160, fine, ill concede then you may have to do something if you want to win games now. But not how Girardi was doing it where these kids were scared to have a poor game. And yes, we can sit at our computers and say things like “the kids should be tougher than that and if the kid is allowing that to impact his play, then hes soft” but like it or not, that is just how it is – they are humans at the end of the day

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123. Nick Maton is not in the lineup today. I think best case, he’s getting treatment and back in the lineup on Tuesday (Monday is an off day). Unfortunately, in the past, I have gotten injured falling down with my arms in a superman pose (to brace yourself). I only ended up getting physio about 2 weeks later and I was able to recover after 1 more week. Let’s hope that Maton recovers a lot faster than I did.

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124. Phillies have to pay $630K as a luxury tax penalty. Word on the street is that Romus told Middleton that he (Romus) would cover it. I guess Romus and Rocco are doing pretty well at their lemonade stand.

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     1. ciada……you bet,
        …Rocco and Romus Hard Lemonade is a killer.

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        1. I hope you aren’t putting vodka in it, I think that stuff is sanctioned.

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125. Romus…….I believe you might be right, we shouldn’t trade Schwarber until after June, it appears to be his month. Stars in their courses and what not.

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     1. Skeet…his Aprils are horrific thru his career…come June thru Sept he has a higher ISO…….he does tend to have an injury tweek or two near the end of the season however….hopefully this year he will get thru scathe free,

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126. Alec Bohm needs to relax at the plate. He’s just too tight at the plate and it looks the weight of the world is on his shoulders. He took it out on the bat rack and the rack won.

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127. At the game tonight, KS almost led off vs first pitch with another HR, hit the top of fence in RF. Bohm hit one to left of 401 sign that Trout ran down. Phillies bats did nothing 2-7 innings, Wheeler gave up about 5 soft contact singles, he owned Trout tonight. We were in the HOF club, I prefer closer to the field but looking at all the stuff inside was cool. Long day little an played two 10U travel games starting at 9 and we got to be back there tomorrow at 8. Got to the park at 5 for autographs but little man was tired of waiting at 6:30 and we went to our seats. JT with 3 doubles, seems to be heating up. Going for the sweep tomorrow, btw Ohtani can motor, easily scored from 1b on a double, I thought Nick C would have a shot but no chance.

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128. Bryson Stott has graduated off the Phillies top 30, Jean Cabrera is in.

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129. It’s such a chore getting back to .500. That’s the first step. Braves are now at .500. Gotta a feeling that they are about to fly.

     To Romus: I think that the Phillies are going to move on from Hoskins. He’s playing so poorly and is lost at the plate.

     Soooo, next year they bring up Hall and platoon him at first with someone like Camargo.

     Saves money and Hall can’t do much worse than Hoskins. He can possibly be the Phillies version of Alonzo.

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     1. ciada……I’d hope Darick Hal would have moved onto another team by now, but now rather see him in Philly at first base…even though he is a LHB.
        Rhys I think sees the hand writing on the wall if he continues to struggle.
        Also the Philies would save some money under the Lux.Tax, if they could move on from him. Not a huge amount,, but every little bit helps.

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130. “Gotta a”? Come on! And I even proof read it! Oh, well.

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131. I have not heard one comment, correct me if you have heard otherwise, from a player praising or thanking Girardi. Their silence tells you everything.

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     1. Harper’s statement did not thank/praise Girardi, just alluded to the blame of his firing. Harper told reporters:

        “I think it definitely falls partly on the players. In all sports, any sport, the coach gets the dagger. It’s usually partly on the players and partly on the staff, as well. As much as it’s on us, it’s on him, as well. It’s on both of us and at this point he took it.
        “It all comes down to winning, and we just haven’t done that. As a team, there’s blame on us, as well. There’s not just blame on Joe. We haven’t played to the best of our ability. We haven’t done the things to be the team that we should be.”

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        1. I agree with Harper

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     2. Many players said he is a good man and they respected him as one, as a manager of a MLB team seemed to be his undoing.

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132. Harper thanked him but definitely didn’t stick up for him.

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133. I was struck by Rob Thomson’s consistent referral that he “has the players backs,” and that he will not spend his time on as much preparation but walk around and spend time trying to figure out how players are feeling, whether they are injured or not, and how he can help them. That would seem to be in sharp contrast to what was going on ???? Just sayin’ I think Rob gave us part of the answer. Recall = even last night after Bohm lost his battle with the bat rack, Thomson was right there in the beginning trying to say something to him. Joe would have had his head in the binder.

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134. Last night: O’Hoppe with #10, a grand slam and Painter 9 ks in 6 IP. Be still my heart…

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135. Was reading MLB Rumors about big 5 FA shortstops who signed big contracts, only 1 of them is hitting over .250 .

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     1. That’s slightly disingenuous. Baez and Semien are severely struggling, but Story and Seager have been decent even though their averages are low. Story still has a .327 OBP (decent) with 9 HRs, 7 SB, and a .223 ISO. Seager is doing a little worse than Story overall, but is still bringing the power (11 HRs, .196 ISO). Either one would have been a vast improvement over what we’ve had thus far; granted they’re still short of their (very lofty) expectations.

        Correa is kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum. His batting average has been mostly hollow (and his fielding has been below average). But he’s also on the shortest contract, so I guess it sort of evens out.

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136. MLB Trade Rumors mentioned that the Phillies might be interested in a FA SS. I don’t think the Phillies will do that, I think the Phillies have high hopes for Stott.

     The article also mentioned that the Phillies will have money to spend because of their impending FAs. I’m expecting these FAs won’t be re-signed:

     Gregorius $15M (replaced by Stott)
     Knebel $10M (replaced by Dominguez as closer)
     Familia $6M (replaced by Morales)
     Hand $6M (will be too expensive, replaced by Romero/Sanchez)

     That’s a savings of $37M.

     Jean Segura has a team option. If Maton performs well, the Phillies might roll with a Maton/Camargo platoon at 2B. Savings $14M

     Rhys Hoskins is looking at a $10M arbitration number. His defense has improved, but his offense needs to be in the .850+ OPS range. If not, we can let him walk. Savings $7.7M

     New total savings $58.7M

     Note that I didn’t mention Gibson or Eflin. I think the Phillies will sign 1 but not both (Falter taking the open spot). I think the total spent will now go to 1 pitcher, so no net savings.

     Obviously that savings number will likely go down with arbitration numbers (Suarez and Dominguez will get raises), but you figure that there will be more than enough money to go after a CF.

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     1. The reason the Phils may be interested in a free agent SS this offseason is the same reason they were theoretically interested last offseason: elite SS are hard to come by and Stott can be moved to 3B or 2B to accommodate one. Even more so this upcoming class because Segura can come off the books if they want.

        Jean’s been very good for us, but if you’re spending $17M on one player, you would definitely choose Trea Turner or Xander Bogaerts over him. Which is not to say I think those guys will “only” get $17M, but you see what I mean.

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        1. I don’t disagree, but why move off Stott when you don’t have to? CF is a more problematic position, unless you feel comfortable rolling with a platoon of Moniak/Vierling for next season.

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           1. Availability for one. You can only upgrade a position if there’s upgrades to be had. The upcoming class has Nimmo… and no one else worth mentioning for CF. So it’s much more likely that our CF solution has to come from within the organization or via trade.

              SS, on the other hand, has multiple options. That doesn’t mean it’s the route the team has to take, but it’s an easier path.

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              1. It’s an easier path but I think it’ll be the way more expensive path. Anyways, we’ll see what happens.

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              2. There is noboidy within the organization that can be a starting CF or even a platoon CF at this point in time.

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     2. GIbbys been as advertised, solid veteran who is gonna give you 6 or 7 and give up 2-4 runs every time out. But if you are only signing one of those 2, its Eflin no question

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        1. Degenerate:
           Eflin is already signed for 2023 for $15M under a mutual…signed last month.
           Unless he goes on a Cy Young roll these last 20 or so starts and leaps higher on the starter leader boards….. he should want to be back
           .https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/philadelphia-phillies/zach-eflin-19954/

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           1. good good, eflin is a real solid 3-4 IMO

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137. Odubel getting the start today against a LH pitcher. So there’s a platoon in CF then?

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138. O’Hoppe homered in the second inning. It’s going to be very hard not to promote him this season. However, Lehigh has a logjam with Wynns, Marchan, Sands. Something has to give.

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     1. Its a good problem to have. For some reason, this team seems to be very good ad getting catching talent developed lol. I am not sure Sands or Wynns are anything more than organization depth, but Marchan and O’hoppe are both MLB potential starters. You can make the case that Sands has that potential as well.

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     2. Perhaps they should think about letting O’Hoppe have a few reps at third to see if he can adapt….he is a plus athlete.
        I think a better athlete than what Donaldson was who started gtting a few reps over there at about the same age as O’Hoppe

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139. Roman Quinn has cleared waivers and has elected FA.

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140. Angels….last year’s draft…20 selections…all pitchers…..one HS, 19 college arms.
     I guess pitching was their only objective.

     https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?team_ID=ANA&year_ID=2021&draft_type=junreg&query_type=franch_year&from_type_jc=0&from_type_hs=0&from_type_4y=0&from_type_unk=0

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141. Rojas starting to heat now…last 33 ABs..10 hits.

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142. Didi off IL, Maton on IL.

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143. What good is a game tieing grand slam by Harper if the $10M closer is going to give it up ten minutes later? Where’s Brandon Workman when you need him? Geez!

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     1. opening batter walk is pretty inexcusable. Letting(??) the batter steal second almost as bad. Thank goodness for Bryson!!!!

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144. ROB THOMSON MANAGER OF THE YEAR!

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     1. Maybe the Phillies should fire the manager before the beginning of every series!

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145. Just saw the high(low)lights of the Angels 5 run inning. Bohm has got to charge that ball and get the sure out at first base. Sometimes he doesn’t think out there.

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146. Harper on Stott's walkoff home run: “I’m so happy for the kid, man. What an at-bat. What a situation for him. Being able to put our trust in our young guys the last couple days, and really let them just play… it’s been great. And it paid off today.”

     — Alex Coffey (@byalexcoffey) June 5, 2022

     This quote from Bryce says it all. Man, they really didnt like that guy. As many of you bring up, firing the manager does not solve everything, but seeing this coming from Bryce tells me that it certainly changes the way the players feel when they go to work every day.

     Think the next moves are finding a taker for Rhys (hes just so bad in every aspect of the game, and please dont give me the ‘he walks a lot” nonsense) and removing Knebel from the closer role.

     Were heading in the right direction though!

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     1. Unfortunately, Rhys is not going anywhere. He might start losing ABs though if he doesn’t get hot.

        Knebel won’t be removed from the closer role yet.

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        1. Why do you say either of those things? What has Rhys done to keep his job on either end of the ball? And why would knebel get to close even one more time? They showed with Joe that its June 1 and people are gonna start being held accountable….hopefully that translates over to the players as well. There is just no reason Knebel should get any more high leverage situations when you have Seranthony ready to take that role…are we really gonna keep throwing him out there “because he was a good mlb closer three years ago?”

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           1. one thing i was thinking….lets just say hypothetically they trade Rhys, maybe for a lockdown reliever and a prospect (not getting anything else for him at this point)….could Bryce hypothetically play first base, where he won’t have to throw aside from very rare force plays or relays?

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              1. Bryce probably ends up at first in 3 years or so anyways, might as well let him get a small taste and feel for it now.

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              2. Bryce can’t throw period. He’s not playing 1B.

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           2. There is still a lot of baseball left to be played. As a veteran, Rhys has a leash. He can carry a team when hot. The Phillies can only play Hoskins at 1B or DH. Besides that, there isn’t some hot shot 1B prospect at Lehigh waiting. If Rhys loses his job, you might as well trade him or cut him, and you won’t get much.

              Knebel hasn’t been great but he hasn’t been putrid either. DD gave him $10M to be the closer, so he has some leash there too. Knebel actually has a higher WAR than Kimbrel and Raisel Iglesias. We need to give Knebel more time. There is a lot of baseball left.

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              1. Few things. First off, we may just disagree here and that is fine, your knowledge of the game and the phillies is top notch, I am just quicker to hold people accountable and make changes. But you are technically not correct about AAA…Darick Hall has been great. Sure you may not want another rookie in the lineup, but it is hard to imagine he’d be worse than Rhys right now. Rhys has realistically never lived up to what he showed his rookie year its not like this is just one slump. But I will give you that I understand that he is a vet and will probably have to be playing like this through july to be moved.

                 The Knebel thing though, I just have to agree to disagree. I dont care what he was paid to be, he just doesnt have shutdown stuff anymore. Playing players based on what their role was supposed to be is part of why fans hated Girardi. Make him the 7th inning guy maybe…is his contract more important than the clear skill difference between him and SEranthony?

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                 1. Darick Hall has been performing well, but he has slowed down a little already at Lehigh. I’m not saying that he can’t hit at the ML level (nobody knows), but for him to get a shot, Rhys will have to get seriously hurt or really stink. Rhys is not at that level yet.

                    I do believe that Seranthony will eventually be the closer, this year or next. All I’m saying is that Knebel hasn’t been Brandon Workman bad. If Knebel feels that being demoted is not warranted, we might have an issue. Same with DD who gave him $10M to be the closer. The manager still has to manage the egos somewhat. This isn’t fantasy baseball where you can demote players here and there and not see repurcussions. I just would give Knebel more time to work things out.

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                 2. Dan…I agree with you on Knebel. I am not big on his as the closer going forward long term even this year. I think he has too much Hector in him at this time.
                    Walks and then big hits. People can agree or disagree. I respect all opinions.
                    Seranthony and maybe down the line Brogdon may have closer material. He is so stoic. Never smiles. Kind of eerie. LOL.

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147. It was a bizarre game that the Phillies tried to give away to the Angels. The craziness:

     1. Bohm checking 2B not realizing that Adell is a fast runner
     2. After throwing out Trout on a spectacular play, Stott boots the next ball and allows the runner to get to 2B
     3. Maddon brings in Iglesias for a 5 out save and implodes in spectacular fashion
     3. Leadoff walk by Knebel to Suzuki on 4 pitches (C’mon man)
     4. A playable ball that Rhys should have at least tried to knock down but couldn’t
     5. Didi wasn’t even supposed to play, had to play when Camargo tweaked his ankle, and hit an opposite field single against Iglesias
     6. Even at 27 pitches and 2 outs, decides to take out Iglesias and brings in another pitcher who serves up the game winning HR to Stott

     Maddon is going to get roasted for bringing in Iglesias for a 5 out save and then taking him out vs a rookie hitter who didn’t have a hit at that point.

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     1. I was trying to figure out Maddons logic in pulling Iglesias. At that point, it was his game – get out the rookie or dont but it should be up to him. When i saw Maddon coming out I assumed there was a lefty he was gonna put in which would have at least made some sense, but it was some frisbee tossing righty, seems like exactly the type of guy Stott would want to face

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        1. I told my son they brought in a lefty as I was looking at my IPAD, he is arguing “no they didn’t”, I said of course they did because Stott is LH, it’s the only reason you pull Iglesias.

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     2. Maddon may get the ‘Girardi virus’ before the Sox get to LA tomorrow…..may be catchy.

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148. Two slams in two days for the Phillie org.
     O’Hoppe with the first yesterday.
     https://www.milb.com/video/o-hoppe-rips-first-grand-slam?t=milb-top-videos

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     1. That was an impressive HR. It wasn’t a mistake pitch, O’Hoppe turned on a high and slightly inside fastball. Not sure how O’Hoppe got to that ball like that.

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        1. So far he has hit at every level they have challenged him to….I will be interested in seeing how he does eventually against those sometimes crafty Triple A pitchers.

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        2. Painter needs to be promoted to Lakewood. Get a half year in there and hopefully start next year in Reading. That would be some interesting Reading rotation with Painter, Abel, Brown and McGarry.

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149. All aboard the Phillies Express! Have some fun guys. Hope this is contagious for the team.
     Baseball is a kid’s game. So much better when the players are having fun.

     Romus…quick kid tidbit. Team played on the College Field. First time I had seen game on it.
     GP calls it the ESPN field. Kid throws 3 hitless innings. Coach takes him out after 3 innings. Close to 60 pitches and he had not pitched since May 2. I was fine. Game was 0-0 going to top of 4th. His team scores 3. I am guessing the first 3 innings were under an hour. Then the bottom of the 4 happened. 3 pitchers later, 2-hour time, and 10 inning rule 13-3 game ends. They scored 13 runs. I do not think I have ever seen that happen. They never got the 3rd out of the inning. Unbelievable.
     Also, team that beat his high school team on Monday won the Regional and are big favorites to win the State title now.

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     1. That was one long inning for sure.
        And technically never came to a close…..called off due to the ‘mercy’ rule ( or 10 run rule)…bummer.
        The kids must have felt bad also…….the kids on the short end of the stick that is.
        You do not see that rule much often in tournament games because teams are so balanced.

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150. It was weird. But I found out this was not really a tourney. All teams were just allowed to play 4 games. Kind of like Spring Training. The thing that was really noticeable for grandkid team was it appears many of the kids have not played. He is only Varsity player and played nearly 30 games. However, a couple are JV and Freshman players. I have no idea on the other kids. But this Spring in central Indiana there was a major umpire shortage, and many JV and Freshman games were cancelled. Kid pitched really well. Team had 3 others do well also but as they go forward some of these others are going to have to step up if they are to go very deep in tourneys. You have to play so many games in such a short period of time. Teams who stockpile the pitchers are the ones left standing most often.

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151. Phillies have a really BIG hole to try to climb out of but at least this is a start.
     Smoltz commented that the last 3 WS champs were under .500 after 50 games the last 3 seasons. Also, he said the key is to simply qualify for the tournament. If you can be one of the 12 teams it does not matter whether you win 105 games or 84 games if you qualify. It is 0-0 at that point. Get hot at the right point. Said no one would want to face Wheeler and then Nola and the lineup the Phillies could send out. Agree that much improvement is needed but I am all for giving the young guys a chance to see what they can do. A team just has a different energy vibe if the young guys are contributing.

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