243 thoughts on “On to the Playoffs (Phillies Discussion)”

1. Agree that it is important that Orion can gho 2 days in a row. Glad he is on the Roster, and understand the usage of the Slider. I heard the announcer in the booth, Ben D. and Ricky Bo both call for more FBs. Minor question, Jim, do the players on the taxi squad get paid more $, and do they get per diems?

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   1. When I see Darick or an insider, I’ll ask.

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2. Also, am I alone in thinking Lorenzen is a better candidate to come out of the BP than Walker? Both Suarez and Sanchez are ahead of Walker in myRotation, and his 1st inning problems make Walker a suspect BP arm, while Lorenzen has successfully pitched out of the BP before. It is not a Lefty vs Right thing as both throw from the right side.

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   1. I think you’re worrying too much. I think Walker is the long man in the playoffs, and if he’s in the game, it’s probably because the Phillies are getting blown out. You don’t want to see Walker/Lorenzen in the game at all.

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   2. You also asked about why not Marsh vs Luzardo for tonight. Luzardo is all kinds of nasty on lefties. If Marsh is going to play against a lefty starter, I would rather him play tomorrow night vs Garrett (who’s also pretty nasty himself).

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   3. Walker is not a playoff player, in my opinion. He starts only if it’s absolutely necessary, because he’s almost guaranteed to give up 4 runs in 6 or 7 innings. Not bad in a June start against Colorado, but pretty bad when you’re trying to win playoff games. And you can’t put him in in relief because he’s terrible for 2 innings until he gets his command going. Not a Taijuan Walker fan. He’s fine for what he is, but, like I said, he’s an expensive luxury teams with good farm systems avoid.

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3. Both good points, Guru. And you are correct. I do worry too much despite trying not to. But overall, I am very optimistic.

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4. Man, Lorenzen had a big fall from grace; get traded to a playoff team, pitch a no- hitter, roughed up as a starter, reliever, then back of the bullpen pitcher, and finally inactivated. He will be a real affordable free- agent.

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   1. He should be affordable, but he’ll have his share of suitors. He’s still only 32, so I could see him getting 2/22, 3/30 as a starter. Even the cheap teams can afford that.

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5. Jim – I hear you on the glass half empty mid set being a Phillies Phan, but the tide has turned, it’s okay to start being a half full kind of mindset now! 

   I think Pache is a steal, going to make decisions tough someday but for now… between him and Rojas, the OF Defense is on lockdown.  I believe will see him as part of the bullpen moves.  Marsh, Rojas, Pache to close out the games with our bullpen.  What an advantage, and a much welcome change after last years OF defense. 

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   1. Are speckled Trout or flounder running right now? I guess beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, huh Tac.

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6. Ricardo Perez…assume Phillies do not wnat to release Perez, since because of his age and talent he may be gobbled up quickly by another club and they will determine how to manage the player’s situation..
   But, on the other hand, the longer he is kept on the suspended list, without participation in assorted Phillies directed camps, his development is delayed.
   I will be curious to see what the Phillies decide with his situation in 5 months from now when spring training begins.

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7. With regards to Perez, was it ever disclosed what he is/was suspended for and for how long ?

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   1. I think Jim said the organization is not willing to let it be known. Not for comment, but I understand it was not what the speculation said.

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      1. Ok, thank you…..wasn’t sure and I apologize if I shouldn’t of asked

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8. Took a closer look at Eflin’s numbers and he had the best year of his career! He stayed healthy, career high in innings pitched, WHIP, FIP which lead to the highest WAR of his career (3.5). It’s good that Eflin was able to have a season like this but disappointed that he couldn’t do this for the Phillies.

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9. Sadly, I also am a “glass half empty” person and hate to see the current weight of savior placed on Orion. Pitching in MLB, much less the playoffs, is hard enough! Even if he is a statistical disaster in every future appearance this year, what he has done should be viewed as an incredible achievement!!!

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   1. I do think Thomson, if it comes down to needing a RHP reliever, will go to SerA, Hoffman, or Kimbrel before Orion K. when it is a critical situation.
      And why T Walker was added for this series surprises me…..I’d would have had Lorenzen for this series and have T Walker lined up for the best -of-five series next….if they get to it.

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10. Hopefully it won’t matter, but if you can’t even send Schwarber from third on a ball to the right field corner, then he needs to be out of the leadoff spot. A double and a deep fly ball should score any major league player.

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    1. Bad decision by the 3b coach.  Have to force him to make a perfect throw.

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       1. Agreed. My issue isn’t with Schwarber himself, but if they have so little faith in his speed that he can’t even be sent in nearly perfect scenario, he needs to be hitting after the heart of our lineup.

          I really don’t understand why they held him.

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    2. I was there in suite 21 (3B Side) looking straight at it. I was someone’s guest so I tempered my distaste for that decision.

       Worse case was you had Turner on 3B with 1 out if Kyle doesn’t make it…

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11. Didn’t work but liked that send too.  Stay aggressive and keep the pressure on them

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    1. Also agree. I send there every time. They got him, but it was barely and basically a perfect play. If the throw was even an inch off target, he’s safe. Just good baseball all around.

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12. Really don’t want to see Kimbel in the 9th.  He scares me.

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13. Wathem has not been good tonight.  Tried to stop Harper and he scored easily.

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    1. Yeah he is about 50/50 on his decisions. With this team, we don’t need a 3rd base coach.

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    2. I think Wathan is probably a very good “baseball man” and he is apparently well-liked and respected as a baseball person. But good God, he is a horrendous third base coach and always has been (I’ve been complaining about him for years). He almost cost the Phillies two runs last night and definitely cost them one. Bryce Harper completely ignores his direction at third, which leaves the path for others to do the same. He has no credibility in terms of telling runners when they should go home or hold up and he gets it wrong way more often than he should.

       They need to shift him to another role. I am sick of a base coach costing the team this many runs. It’s stupid and unnecessary. Enough is enough.

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14. Great game overall and awesome atmosphere for DMAR to experience. Kimbrel was a little scary, but other than that our pitching was dominant. And our entire lineup contributed.

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    1. That cute little balk move nauseates to me to no end, also the chicken wing or karate kid setup, but as long as he can save games I’ll cut him the slack. DMAR had a great game to see, place was hopping!

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15. What a fun, high energy team. They play 100% every inning. Such great baseball.

    One interesting comment from the booth, they seem to think Harper is a 1B going forward. I hope that’s true. I love him at 1B. So athletic there. I would still try to trade Castellanos in the offseason and replace him with a good defensive RF.

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    1. I think everyone assumes Bryce will move there eventually. He’s too athletic to be a full-time DH. Just a matter of when he wants to make the switch permanently.

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       1. Let’s stop the talk on getting rid of Nicky C, where would we be without his bat. Top RBI guy and his defense can be tolerated.

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          1. His trade value just keeps soaring!…….LOL

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          2. He’s really not that good and he’s overpaid. I’m fine if they move him and, in fact, it’s better if they did – while he still has market value.

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          3. No offense, but I’m convinced anyone that says he has tolerable defense actually watch him play defense (live; it’s harder to tell on TV).

             He’s good at not dropping balls hit right at him, but everything else about his defense is bad-to-terrible. It’s easy to remember his highlight reel plays, but you’re turning a blind eye to the many, MANY balls he didn’t get to that even a lot of people in the stands could have run down. So many of his, “good” plays are really just routine plays that he made look harder than they are. The only reason he’s not our worst defender by a mile is because we also have Schwarber. In all of baseball, he’s rated as the FOURTH WORST DEFENDER at any position, bailed out by only Schwarber, Vlad, Jr., and Profar.
             As for where we’d be without his bat, roughly the same place if we replaced him with another slightly-above-league average bat. Unless you hit crazy amounts of homers, or your name is Bohm (who seems to be a magnet for 2 out RBIs this year), RBIs have way more to do with being in the middle of a good lineup than with any individual skill. There’s a reason Jose Abreu has more RBIs in fewer games this year (90 RBIs in 141 games) with the Astros than he did last year with the ChiSox (75 in 157 games). And it’s not because he’s hitting better (.237/.296/.383 with the ‘Stros, .304/.378/.446 with the Sox).

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          4. Nick is a 1 WAR player getting paid $20mil a year who does not look like he will age well. I hope that he has an amazing playoffs and we can find someone who will take his contract off our hands this off season.

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             1. I am hopeful Cody Bellinger and Boras exercise the mutual option with the Cubs and go to free agency. That could be an aternative club for Nick C. and if the Phill ies pick up 25/30% of Castellanos rmaing contract then he becomes more attractive.
                Also heard Cubs may trade for Mets Pete Alonso, especially if Bellinger bolts. Stearns was tactfully non-committal on a LTC for Alonso, who is entering his last year with the Mets on his arb contract.

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                1. The Cubs almost made the playoffs but I don’t think they’re that close. Bellinger is a lock to be gone, I think Stroman is opting out. Their pitching is the weak link.

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    2. I agree Castellanos should be traded. But I would put Harper back in right for now and try to sign Hoskins to a 1-3 year contract (or another bat-for-sale type of guy – no deal longer than 3 years and preferably a one year deal), with the plan to move Harper to first when that contract ends.

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       1. The issue with Rhys…is his agent……I doubt he will accept anything less than four years on a LTC. It very well may be Rhys’ last opportunity for the last big payday.
          And if Rhys comes back….cannot see Nick Castellanos coming back also.
          Obviously it is the lineup contructon issue looming.

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       2. I’d rather have Nick in RF than  Rhys at first, Rhys is just awful at first and their offense is a wash.

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16. Really exciting game and atmosphere! This fanbase is really an advantage! I think Rhys throwing out the 1st pitch was great, I am a fan, but also think it’s a sign he isn’t coming back. I agree, I send Schwarber in the 1st inning, I agree with sending Castles and no one was stopping Bryce. Now Nola is going to bring home the W tomorrow!!

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17. The more Harper plays and plays at average- to- above average rated defense at first base, the more awkward it is going to be with Rhys’ free agency situation.
    Harper says he enjoys playing there…..more action thru-out a game I suppose.
    Dombrowski and Middleton are going to have to figure something out.

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    1. Agree with Matt, that it is stacking up that way with Rhys. Too many 1B men. “Adios mein lil capitan”! Good win last night…..another due tonight. One comment, IMO the fish did well to pickup Bell.

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       1. Skeet…just realized that Dombrowski/Middleton/Fuld only have about five weeks to make a decision on Rhys situation……5 days after the last WS game.

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    2. This team has more flaws than a projected WS champion should but who gives a darn at this point 🙂

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18. I appreciate and like Hoskins but, if it comes down to Nick in right field or Hoskins at first base (based on where Harper will play) I go with Nick. Both hitters are streaky yet productive and have limitations on defense. I think we tend to forget because of not seeing him play how poorly Hoskins plays defense. Geez, just scroll back on last year’s comments to get a sample.

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19. I couldn’t be more thankful to my buddy for taking inviting me. One of his vendors called him last minute said he had 2 spots in the suite he couldn’t fill.

    I of course offered to drive. Which required some gymnastics. My car is a six speed manual so I knew that Eleanor wasn’t going. The wife has a Jeep and she works 4 miles away so we had to do a quick swap of our vehicles.

    One of the best things about my wife is she can drive stick. Very Sexy….Sorry!

    We’re in Bucks County so traffic getting there was as you’d expect. About an hour and ten to get there. Normal game night would take us 35 minutes.

    Also included a parking pass in lot S. I’m used dropping quite a bit of coin on a few beers and some food but this was comp’d completely.

    Weird that the host left around the 7th inning but we stayed until the very last pitch.

    One thing that kept catching me off guard was if you looked up to watch the TV it was delayed by a half second so you hear the crowd roar but the action on the TV doesn’t reflect that.

    Leaving wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be either. Everyone was in a good mood because of the win so I’m sure that provided an added level of patience.

    What else…

    I go to quite a few concerts but last night I smelled more ganja than I have at any of the concerts I’ve been to this year LOL.

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    1. DMAR…….everyone in a good mood because of the win….and let’s not forget the ganja!
       Glad you got to experience a great time.
       Call yuor buddy…see if you can go tonite……you may be the good luck charm.

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       1. Haha that is a long shot Romus but we’ll see…

          The other thing that stuck out was how choreographed the whole game was. Every BP move and corresponding PH answer seemed decided before it ever happened.

          Josh Bell wears us out from the left side. Hopefully tonight we look to flip him around to RH with Soto (late in game if necessary). I didn’t understand why we didn’t set up for that since they had him and Chisholm back to back.

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          1. The problem with using Soto is that… well, we’d be using Soto. In addition to his inconsistency, he just isn’t that effective against righties. He’s an absolute menace against lefties, but righties square him up just fine. If we want to flip Bell around, it’s gonna have to be Alvarado or Strahm (neither of whom have significant platoon splits).

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             1. True those two would work in that part of the LU also.

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    2. Yeah, boxes are quite a bit of a different experience than regular seats haha. Glad you got to enjoy them. Also, if I remember correctly, the special lot you got to park in is easier to get out of by a significant amount.

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       1. Dan a part of me felt shame being in a box. I’m more of a man of the people type of person.

          Hard to know about the lot. I usually park in K leave out the side turn right on Pattison to left on 7th and go down Packer Ave so I can get on 95 N off of Front. That is always easy.

          This S lot took you out to Broad to 95 N. I don’t normally attend games with that volume of people so which is easier I’m not sure. It just wasn’t as difficult as I had prepared for so you’re probably 100% correct.

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          1. Hah, I’ve felt the same way every time I’ve been in a box. I’m always out of place because the other people in the boxes are always wearing like, a Phillies polo and slacks. But I’m there decked out in a jersey, t-shirt, hat, and shorts. The way I see it, it’s even better to have some of us in those boxes. Because what’s more Philly than an every-man drinking beer in a place with champagne?

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    3. Let him drive Eleanor for a 3 minutes m, should be payment enough.  Good taste. 

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20. Hi Jim! What did you think of the big win last night? Also what about that kind of playoff atmosphere?! Was that cool or what?!

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21. Glad you had a great time, dmar. My Wife and I got there early, and there was a really good band playing outside the Stadium. No clue what their name is, but they were very good. Our exit was much like yours, and we got out much easier than I anticipated. I had much more trouble leaving an Eagles pre-season game last year. Sat indown the LF line in the first evel so had a great view of Schwarber on 3rd and the fly ball to RF. I couldn’t believe Schwarber wasn’t sent home. It was hit far enough and the RF was turned a bit so it wasn’t an easy throw, and I turned to the scoreboard expecting to ss a 1 for the run scored, and was really shocked that Schwarber was still standing on 3rd. Fortunately that didn’t come back to bite us.

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22. View this post on Instagram

    A post shared by phillies (@phillies)

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    1. For those of us not on Instagram, what did the post say?

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       1. It is a hype video that the Phillies put out.

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       2. You can watch it without being on Instagram. The play button should work on his post there, it’s just an embed.

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23. Eflin starting game 2 for the Rays in a must win game and just got lit up. Oh well…

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    1. Less than 20K at the game yesterday in Tampa…..not sure if it even reached that number this afternoon.
       I think the CLW Threshers could draw that many for their playoff game if Baycare could hold it.
       What is it with Florida MLB teams and attendance!

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       1. A big part of the problem for the Rays is the Trop itself. It is just not a baseball stadium. It doesn’t feel like one when you enter it, and it is absolutely miserable getting there/inside for a game.

          Hopefully the new stadium will be much better planned/designed since it’s specifically for the Rays.

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          1. Well, the Tampa/St. Pete/CLW area has about 3M population and growing wit plenty of transplants……so maybe the better situated, suited and smaller cozy ballpark is the answer.

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             1. Romus, the problem is that everybody in Florida is from somewhere else and they root for their home teams. Somebody actually conducted a survey to prove that. My sister-in-law spent many years in Atlantic City and was married to an AC native. They developed a network of friends from “up north” Every social gathering was a South Jersey reunion. These people aren’t going to root for Tampa or Miami teams.

                We’re surrounded by midwesterners. Twins, Cubs, Vikings, Ohio State banners and flags are on houses and lawns everywhere. They aren’t going to root for the Rays, either.

                Finally, I’ll speak for myself. My wife and I go to baseball games — Clearwater Threshers when they visit Ft Myers, Phillies spring training when they’re visiting Ft. Myers, Sarasota or North Port, Marlins when the Phillies visit.

                I get my daily baseball fix on MLB.com watching the Phillies on my computer or listening to the radio guys.

                Tampa where?

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                1. Frank…..yeah, I see that…majority of tranplants in the area……so many at the Rays games are probably rooting for the ‘opposing’ team.
                   Not sure what the answer is.
                   Over the last 2/3 years, Florida is getting an influx of younger generation couples…my cousin for one, and their children may turn out to be Rays/Marlin followers someday.

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             2. Why does Major league Baseball insist that there be baseball in Florida. No one cares , yet they spend money to feed owners for being in Florida, Marlins small salaries and get money from MLB. Makes no sense,

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                1. If they want a team in Florida, the only feasible are is Jacksonville. More natives and they might be able to build a fan base. But it is not sexy like S FLA.

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                2. Denny……Orlando would also have a large market….but the demographs of the fanbase may be similar to Tampa or Miami.

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24. Nola not particularly sharp but has worked way through 3innings.  Going to need to score some runs tonight.

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    1. Well they scored some runs and Nola settled in with his command and a little help from the umpire.

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25. This umpire is BAD. It’s worked out in our favor because we’re swinging out of the zone anyways. But man, this is not a good look for human umps.

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26. Bryson freaking Stott channeling Rhys and the Flyin’ Hawaiian. Awesome!

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27. Kerkering is so impressive. Just an elite bullpen arm. Two exceptional pitches. That slider has to be an 80 pitch. Reminds me of Brad Lidge in 2008. They knew the slider was coming but they couldn’t lay off it and couldn’t hit it. I can’t recall a better bullpen arm that we drafted.

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    1. Great view of his nastiness!

       Orion Kerkering, 98mph Two Seamer & 88mph Slider, Overlay. pic.twitter.com/TZnr6QiAAK

       — Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 5, 2023

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       1. So now we just need to see Thompson is not afraid to use him in a high leverage situation.

          I might have the most confidence in him right now. More so than Kimbrel and more so than Ser’Anthony.

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       2. Also regarding Kerkering I always loved the cliche when opportunity knocks open the door…

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28. ciada…..my apologies, I was wrong.
    I thought they re-seeded after each series was completed.
    That is why I thought the DBacks would face the Braves.
    I guess MLB knows what is best.

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    1. Was wondering this as well. It’s just not making sense to me that the team with the 1 seed doesn’t play the lowest seed that comes out of the WC.

       Not that I’m afraid of the Braves at all…

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       1. Baseball doesn’t re-seed because there’s so little time (relatively speaking) between each series. This time all the wildcard rounds ended after two games and every team has two days to deal with travel and accommodations. But imagine if a series went to game three. That would mean the three teams still alive wouldn’t know where they’re going for the next series until tonight. Three teams, two destinations, one night to sort it out. Now imagine both series went the distance. It’d be utter chaos.

          Also keep in mind when you travel, do you book your hotel a day in advance? By not re-seeding, each team in the first round can book their hotels at the location of the second round, and the loser can cancel when they’re eliminated. If they re-seeded, all four teams would need to book their rooms at BOTH locations, and then six of those eight reservations would end up being cancelled. It’s not exactly the same for teams as for you and I, but it demonstrates the point. The NFL re-seeds because they have much more time between games. But baseball keeps on rolling.

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       2. Not sure if my longer post will go through eventually, but basically: baseball doesn’t re-seed because there’s so little time between each series. If they did, the 4 first round teams would each need to book accommodations at BOTH locations of the second round.

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29. Harold Reynolds said something last night that I truly thought was amazing. He said something to the effect that just once he would like to see the person in the FO come out and take the bullet for a move that gets made on the field that was their call not the Manager’s.

    The Jays are getting roasted for pulling Berrios yesterday LOL

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    1. It seems they wanted the LHP pitcher in there ….Kikuchi?….well the rules state…he must face three batters….and Correa was the third I beleive and we know what happened after that.
       Jays window is slowly closing…..2025 sees many of their young stars ‘ contracts coming up….Vlad Jr is basically a 1B/DH now…Bichette will probably stay around on an extension if they choose to meet his $$$ demands.
       I thought they had a real chance to move on to the ALCS or WS.

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       1. Seems to me they could go scorched earth this off season and make an attempt to start over.

          Chance for us to maybe pick up some bargains. Alek Manoah has been in the dog house for some time.

          Gausman has 3/$68 left on his deal…

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          1. A lot of Blue Jays fans (including my buddy) are calling for a complete overhaul of management. The Blue Jays are in a bind. They have 3 young stars (Bichette, Kirk, Guerrero) and 2 of them seriously regressed this season. Worst yet, Kirk made Gabriel Moreno expendable and he’s now looking like a star in Arizona (even though that trade brought back Varsho who’s near elite defensively).

             They also have money tied up in Springer, Bassit, Berrios, Gausman. This $200M+ payroll got them a first round exit. I think the fans would revolt if they tore this team down so I think their window is 2 more years (until Bichette is a FA). They need to find a way to re-sign Chapman and to get a quality starter like Aaron Nola. The problem is that most FAs don’t want to come to Toronto so they have to overpay for most of them.

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    2. DMAR….hypothetically and speculatively……..how many GM’s direct the field activities from the box? What % do you think do it? I remember Maddon indicated he was miffed because the GM called down to yank Trout! ……and to what extent micro manage their managers? I can see some mgrs as buckling to the pressure, others like Martin, Leyland probably tell you put your phone in a dark rancid storage!

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       1. Skeet that’s a good question. I don’t know if you can put a percentage on it properly as I believe there are varying degrees of the FO being involved in “in-game” decisions”

          The call down from upstairs saying do this is probably almost nil

          The script for what the FO wants a manager to do in a given match-up and inning is probably 30%-50% or higher.

          We’d have to sit here and pick it apart manager by manager. I’m sure Chris Young gives someone like Bruce Bochy as much discretion as he wants.

          The Jays probably give someone like Schneider none and that is why he is there.

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          1. I’ll add to that Kevin Cash who somehow manages not to get fired after years of a bunch of head scratching playoff decisions.

             Which tells you a lot. He probably does what he’s told to do, takes the punches and doesn’t rock the boat.

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          2. I don’t think that the FO is necessarily calling the dugout during the game to make moves but rather that the strategy is set before the game between the FO/coaching staff as to how it will be managed. In the case of Berrios, they were talking early in the game about how the Jays had a plan in place to have him go through the line-up once and then go to the lefty when they hit the left handers the second time through the line-up.

             It looked bad because Berrios was cruising along but they stuck with the game plan anyway. What Reynolds was referring to was having the GM step up and take some blame for creating that game plan and not deviating from it based on game flow.

             That’s one of the dangers of living completely by analytics and not reacting to what’s happening on the ground.

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30. Not sure if you heard on the broadcast last night but Nola made a mechanical adjustment a few weeks ago with his stride foot positioning and it contributed to his improved starts since then…I just find that interesting that a guy like Nola, who has been so great for so long goes through a rough patch and many here think that he is washed up and we should dump him. instead of thinking that maybe there is a mechanical issue that can be fixed. Dude has been an exceptional starting pitcher for 8 years. a true home grown star, who is battle tested in big games. we need to resign him.

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    1. It does take 2 to tango and I think about him a lot like the Cardinals probably thought about Adam Wainwright.

       And with all those things being true you can’t make emotional decisions. It doesn’t work.

       I hope we do bring him back at a fair number. What is a fair number? LOL I have no idea. Thus far his career earnings are close to $60 million.

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       1. Wainwright is an interesting case. He had elite years at age 31 and 32 and then fell off a cliff for the next 6 years. There’s no doubt that he’s a Cardinal legend but St. Louis gave him a 5 year deal for his age 32-36 years and it was a disaster.

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    2. I like Nola, but he benefited from a lot of balls that were called strikes (the umpire was awful). At the end of the game, he was hovering in the 89-93 range. I don’t remember if he threw more than 93 for a strike. He’s been durable his entire career but as he’s hitting FA at age 31, I wonder if all this is going to catch up with him. He’s likely to get at least a 5 year deal, and I’m worried about giving him that. I want no part of 6+ year deals.

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       1. he got a few pitches that were balls. no doubt. but that doesn’t discount what he did. 7 IP with 3 hits, 1 walk and zero runs in a playoff game is exceptional. He hit 94 in the 7th inning to get Jazz out.

          but you are right it is all about projection. imo he is the kind of pitcher that can age well. he doesn’t rely on velo. he moves the ball well and commands it.

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          1. The list of pitchers who are/were close to mid-30s and don’t rely on velocity AND are 3+ WAR are very limited. Greinke is obviously one of them but he’s a unicorn at this point. Kyle Hendricks is pretty much done. Marcus Stroman has declined (hmm, maybe I don’t wan’t to sign him after all). If we’re paying Nola to be 3-4 WAR pitcher and he gives us 1-2, that’s going to haunt us.

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          2. V1, exactly. If the umpire is giving you a pitch off the plate, you pitch to that spot (and try to expand even more) until you don’t get the calls. Nola did his job. He commanded the area outside the zone because he was getting the calls. That in no way diminishes what he accomplished last night. He had to have darn good command to take advantage of last night’s strike zone.

             I can think of one or two former Braves starting pitchers who made it to the HOF without having to throw a strike over the plate. Still irks me.

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             1. Playing to the zone you’re given is absolutely the smart thing to do as a pitcher. And Nola’s command of his breaking stuff especially seemed excellent.

                I’m still a little worried about his fastball command. He seemed to lose where that was going more than a handful of times last night. But he’s absolutely starting to earn back some of the trust I had in him. And I’ve always been on board with bringing him back at a reasonable cost. I do fear, though, that there are at least a couple teams that will tremendously overpay for any pitching help they can get.

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                1. First of all, I found 3 of your comments in the spam folder. Don’t know how they got there. They’ve been approved.

                   Second, regarding Nola’s fastball, maybe they were waste pitches. I’ve noticed (and complained among my circle of baseball peeps down here) that Nola and most of the Phillies pitchers are terrible at waste pitches. They are hardly ever close enough to induce a swing. So, like, why bother. Anyway, Nola’s pitch count was in such good shape, I never had time to worry.

                   And, third, regarding spam. I stopped checking the folder because we rarely get any spam. During my hiatus, I closed comments on all old posts that attracted spam. Then I closed all the old posts. That’s why I close a post to comments when I publish a new one. That worked and spam comments dropped off to zero. So, I’ll have to keep checking for valid comments.

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             2. Exactly.

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       2. Five years would be the max IMO for Nola….and @ $28M AAV.
          But do not know why he rejected their offer 7 months ago.
          My guess it was about the length and not the AAV….John Middleton is a very charitable owner and does not go cheap.

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          1. So that is exactly my problem with the Nola extension. Did he turn down 5/$140M? Was it $130M/5? For all we know he wanted 6/$180M

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             1. matt….yes, and we will never know.
                The Phillies still need to slap on a QO, they only have 5 days after the WS to make the decision. They then can negotiate with him as with the other MLB teams.

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    3. The theory I saw most often was actually that it was mental/mechanical, but the cause was the pitch clock. Which actually would have made a lot of sense, as that is something that he may not be able to adapt to in a single season (or even at all). To me, there being a mechanical issue in his delivery also makes sense for why he was struggling. But the worrying part of that explanation is how long it took to FIX the issue. Did it take them almost an entire season to notice? Or did they notice it a while ago and he just couldn’t implement the fix until just now?

       But also, while he battled last night and had a great performance, he still wasn’t quite vintage Nola. His command (especially of his fastball, it seemed like) wasn’t as sharp as we’ve seem from him traditionally. His breaking stuff looked great, though. Didn’t seem to leave many of those hanging, and that has been his biggest problem by a long shot this year. I’ve always been happy to re-sign him at the right price this offseason, and that remains true. But I don’t want us to outbid all offers, because I still greatly suspect someone is going to massively overpay him.

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    4. I also, heard he said he was throwing his change harder, FWIW.

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31. v1, just speaking for me, but I want Nola back. The issue is at what cost? I can’t believe that we gave him an unfair offer this off season, so clearly he wanted more than what we wanted to spend. There is a limit to what I would spend, and it only takes 1 team to overpay him. I don’t have any idea of the #s involved. I don’t know the cost of signing Blake Snell, for instance, vs the cost to re-sign Nola.

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    1. Blake Snell will probably end up top 5 in Cy Young voting (if not top 3). He’s going to get seriously paid. Carlos Rodon got 6/162 last year at age 30. Blake Snell will be a FA at age 31 and but should still top what Rodon got.

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       1. Don’t you think Rodon is a cautionary tale for GMs this offseason? You’re always bringing up WAR. Rodon pitched to a negative 0.8 bWAR this season.

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          1. There’s cautionary tales everywhere, but people are still getting crazy paid. It only takes 1 GM who feels that Snell can be a missing piece of the puzzle.

             Let me set the record straight, I don’t want to give crazy deals to FA pitchers into their 30s. Outside of Max Scherzer, most of those deals don’t end well. I’m predicting Snell will get paid, it doesn’t mean I want the Phillies to give it. I definitely didn’t want the Phillies to give Rodon big money last year and thankfully they didn’t.

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             1. Well, brace yourself. Snell was on the Phillies trade deadline wish list. I think he’ll be on their offseason radar.

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                1. Just wanted to reply here just to make it easier to see, regarding the spam;

                   Appreciate the work. For some reason my longer posts get flagged about half the time. Maybe it’s the way I write that makes it seem like it’s automated, haha.

                   I’ve been trying to be more concise to alleviate the issue, but I still get flagged for reasons I haven’t quite figured out yet.

                   Sorry for giving you more work to do.

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                2. Someone is getting a lot of $ from us. If it is not Nola, then I think Snell is next on the lust. There is no Painter slotting in at #2, we are not putting Ranger there then just adding another Walker, and we are definitely not doing nothing.

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                3. Just resign Nola. We have poor grades at signing FA pitchers, except Wheeler. Sign him, all smiles and let’s keep the family intact!

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                4. matt…if Nola ends up somewhere else, then that will be one less team not in the Snell Sweepstakes.
                   I like the Phillies to go after Snell, my only concern if they do sign him, there could be three LHPs in the rotation, and that plays better against opposing teams with power LHBs in their lineup…but the Braves , with the exception of Olson, come at you with plenty of power RHBs

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32. I enjoyed both games the last two nights. I too was a little concerned on Tuesday with Kimbrel in the 9th but it played out ok.
    On to the Braves. Think it will be a good series. Phillies will need some luck but that is always needed this time of year for every team.

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    1. Don……Phillies will march thru Atlanta like Sherman and his cavalry….but the Phillies will be on the Orion Express.

       Also, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Phillies/Orioles World Series….could see another edition. If so, maybe have Carlton throw out the first ball at the opener….and hope for better results.

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       1. Think John Denny won game 1 of that series but Phil’s fell short from their out. I have not really figured out how to use this site at the moment.

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          1. Word Press may have made some modifications last month…..you are not alone.
             For me to post, it kicks me out, and then I have to re-input my password with every entry.
             Nothing is ever easy anymore.

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             1. I am only able to post from my cell. I am able to read posts with my IPad, but unable to post from my Ipad. Whatever they screwed up, it sure was a dosey!

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                1. Jail cell?

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33. Yes, Atlanta has had the best record in the League, and a terrific lineup. Yes, Strider and Friel are really tough Pitchers. But, I have a good feeling about this team. I believe we win this Series, and move to the NLCS, and I am looking forward to a great outing by Ranger on Saturday.

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    1. I am just a huge Ranger fan. I think he is going to have a very long and super productive career. They need to do a good job here scouting their own player. He is an ascending pitcher in my view and now is the time to lock him up before he becomes far too expensive to keep.

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       1. I think there’s a very good chance the Phillies sign Snell this offseason. Looking down the line, this team will probably have Wheeler (I am betting they extend him this offseason – 3 years, $100 million or so), Suarez (or Sanchez), Painter, and Abel (he’s so underrated by those here) in the rotation. Snell would be a perfect addition to that group – very different from all the other players and dominating in his own right.

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34. Romus – I don’t think there are any reseedings in any sport any more.  Once brackets are set, that’s it.  I hope Strider is a little tired like he was last year.  Fried has to be a little rusty, I imagine.  I think the Braves are lacking a bit with their starting pitching.  Two great games against the Marlins.

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    1. The NFL still re-seeds because they have a week between games.

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35. To take care of business…Phillies will just have to win at a .579 % over the next 19 games…..11 wins.

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    1. Romus, I was thinking that last night. It is now the first team to 11 wins. However you can get there. I think the Phillies has as good a chance as most of the teams left. Was anyone else besides me surprised Tampa went out so meekly after I think 99 wins?

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       1. Don…after winning 29 of their first 37 games or so…..they incurred numerous injuries…including their ace at the time…..the Os storm right by them.

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          1. Not to mention their former SS. What a freaking nightmare. The one time the organization goes out and spends a boatload of money to keep their homegrown talent around for a long time, and he goes and does that…

             I know both the teams and fans have to be supremely disappointed with how their season ended, but in the long run I hope they can see how awesome of a year it was considering all the circumstances.

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36. In the category of what its worth. Took a 6 hour car ride and listened to baseball non-stop – MLB, Schein on Sports, Mad Dog Russo et. al. With the exception of Russo, who says Braves take Phillies easily, all the experts ( 7 of them) including Harold Reynolds, says no team wants to play the Phillies especially at CBP. Not only are the Phillies a really good team, but they have an October mojo that makes them even tougher, an experienced and battle tested lineup, and Harper who mirrors the fans with his angry, gritty, get it done charisma. Their fans provide a palpable homefield advantage. All said they are more than capable of beating the Braves and running the table after that. I am merely reporting – not waving the pom poms. Let’s hope it all plays out !

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    1. Win at least 1 in Atlanta then CBP really comes into play.

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       1. I have been thinking the same. If the Phillies can win one and let’s hope it is game 1 then the pressure really falls on the Braves. Sorry if my posts make no sense. I sent 2 yesterday that did not go through. Seems my best option is to reply to someones post. Really no idea what I am doing. But looking forward to Saturday around 6.

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       2. Yes, for sure, but it’s nice to know that Wheeler could, if necessary, pitch game 2 and game 5.

          As you watch this series you know, for certain, that the Phillies are not going to go cheap on their second starter next year. There’s no way that happens. They will either sign Nola or another big name free agent.

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37. It’s always good to hear from you Don! I feel good about this Series, knowing full well that the Braves are a good team. I just have a feeling about our team.

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    1. The Braves are terrific, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the Phillies can beat them. The guys on the postgame show said whoever wins this series will win the World Series. They could easily be right.

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       1. Two key pieces that got them over the hump a couple years back…Freeman and Swanson…are now gone.
          Olson is a great player in his own right, but have to see if he is clutch like Freeman had been with the Bravos.
          And Arcia has the good glove, however, still needs to be more consistent at the plate.
          Nevertheless, going to be battle royale.

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          1. Hi Matt13. Awesome to see your posts as well as everyone else. I visited with Romus yesterday. Still never know for sure if post shows or goes to the Cloud somewhere. But seems if I reply to someone it shows up.
             Here are my thoughts on Braves vs Phillies. Both teams are really loaded but I think the Series will turn on some lucky play by one or the other and who has someone make a huge contribution like Stott did Wednesday night.
             I am hoping for Phillies but really see this as one that could go either way. Guy on CBS has Braves as 1 and Phillies as 2 in his Power Rankings. Both teams are built for the playoffs. I really think the outcome of Game 1 may be crucial.

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38. The Phillies just made another correct move and designated Suarez to start game 1. I can’t say it will work out, but it is the right move.

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39. Looking very much forward to this series and also believe these are the 2 best teams left in the playoffs. I’m also still looking at our minor league players. I saw that First baseman Dakota Kotowski has been named the 2023 Florida Complex league MVP. He is 23 and was wondering if he is a legit prospect.

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    1. Assume he starts at CLW next season, and if his production continues at the same rate as it was in the FCL, he will get to Jersey Shore early on…..late May/early June….and then does well at JS and then also gets a late season Sep promo to Reading, all within his age 24season, I can see him as a top 30 prospect…probably more than back-end
       Because of his advance age, and if keeps the production up thru the next 2 levels, can see the Phillies promoting him rather quickly….though doubt it is an Orion Express up to the top of the mountain. But why not Reading in Sep for a few weeks of AA ball pitchig!

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       1. “……..probably more likely back-end”

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       2. Ahhh . . . Romus at it again planning rapid and multiple promotions of all of our prospects, including 23 year-olds. Not everyone is Orion Kerkering, Romus.

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          1. Odds are strongly against Kotowski becoming a top 30 guy, but if he can do it, more power to him.

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          2. LOL…….he does have a plus bat…..for A ball right now.
             It will be difficult for him to keep it going up the ladder of levels, and odds ar aginst him, but who knows.

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40. Thank you both for the insight

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    1. Just an FYI. Phillies vs Marlins game 2 replay is on MLB Network right now if anyone is interested. Phillies have just scored the first two runs.

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    2. Phillies vs Marlins on right now on MLB. Game 2. Just scored first two runs.

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       1. Wait, TMI I want to see it. Don’t tell me the ending.

          Lol

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41. I’m enjoying the playoffs, but since you guys are peeking into 2024, here are some random thoughts:

    Phils need to extend wheeler’s contract, I’d do it now for price certainty.

    If Nola handles the braves this series… he’s definitely back imo (if he wasn’t already). I think he’ll want to be back too, that I did question before. If he liked Philadelphia, but I think that’s clear now.
    How could he NOT want to be here … after all the other years?

    Snell… maybe the pitching FA signs of Schwarber & Castellanos?
    Let Hoskins & Kimbrel walk, trade castellanos (not because he stinks etc, but to free up money). Resign Nola, and bring Snell on board. Move Kerkering into a high leverage bullpen spot… or maybe trade walker instead of castellanos.
    Wait for Painter,Abel, McGarry, and Sanchez to battle out the 5th spot.
    Marsh, Rojas, Pache, with Weston and Crawford in the wings, have the OF covered enough to trade Castellanos. It’s a more balanced team vs a heavy offense imo.

    That said, I want the Phillies to be Stridor’s playoff nightmare. Take GM 1, and tell me they don’t start pressing. They would be in their heads.

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    1. I’d be shocked if they signed Nola and Snell. Pitching is an organizational strength, even with Painter out for a year and, believe me, he’s coming and when he is right he’s going to be a beast.

       Abel is on the verge of being a really good pitcher. We don’t talk about him here nearly enough. We should. His ceiling remains extremely high and I think he’s turning the corner. He could easily end up being a dominant big league pitcher too. Probably not right away, but he has tremendous upside.

       Agree on moving Castellanos. It will be a little heart wrenching, but he’s way overpaid and the money is best used on other things.

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       1. Snell is LHP. I’m a huge Ranger believer and, after finding Sanchez intriguing 2 years ago (big lefty with easy delivery) I am a fan now and have no problem with him as #5. 3 LHP in one rotation probably not ideal.

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          1. If we are going to a 6-man location, 3 rhp & 3 lhp, it works.

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42. Arizona Fall Leagye

    10/5/23 : Scottsdale 3 (3-0) Glendale 2 (1-3)

    RHP Christian McGowan made his first appearance. He started and threw four scoreless innings, three hits, one walk and two strikeouts – forty pitches – twenty-six strikes

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    1. When it comes to MLB teams sending prospects to the AFL…position players being sent are normally on the cusp of MLB exposure or Triple AAA seasoning before their MLB debut.
       That is why I find it so intersting that the Phillies sent Gabriel Rincones. He has yet to face AA pitchers in the minors, however in the AFL he will face quality prospect AA/AAA pitching.
       The Phillies must ceta nly believe they have a very high profile prospect/future star in the making.
       And so fas so good in his SSS there in the desert.

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       1. At least this AFL we have Phillies management running the team. Our players will get more opportunities to start and play more often. In the past I noticed that we were more second team.

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          1. Denny…..Rojas and Carlos De La Cruz both shined last year, the year prior Bryson Stott and Logan O’Hoppe were big bats ….once they proved they could produce, they got a lot of exposure after a few weeks there.

             The one guy I thought would be selected and was apparently over-looked was Reading OFer Ethan Wilson.

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             1. Guess I was more aware of the pitching, but as a Philadelphia fan, “we get no respect. “

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43. Looking forward to this NLDS. IMO, these two clubs have the best rosters in the tournament. The pressure is all on Atlanta tonite. Spencer Strider is the Braves only “sure thing” amongst their arms (starters or relievers). Phillies have Wheeler and Nola going in games 2 & 3. Nola will again be on extra rest (6 days). We have no idea how Fried’s blister condition is. We can’t even be sure it is just a “blister” problem.
    The Phils game plan for game one: be patient in the box. No first pitch swings. Look at strike one. Make a concerted effort to up Strider’s pitch count. Keep the game w/i striking distance by the time the Braves go to their pen. Atlanta’s relievers are that club’s achilles’ heel. Phillies offense should do damage late in games this series.

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    1. Hinkie…agree…Phillies need to get to their pen.
       And maybe Strider’s Sep results will continue for another week…in 5 games, 27 IP in Sep….27 hits, 17 runs and a 5.6 ERA and WHIP1.3….Braves outscored most of his opponents.
       And of his 5 games in Sep….two were plus…both against the Phillies..they have seen him enough now.

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44. If Nola walks, would you give Giolito a one year reclamation contract hoping that the Phillies staff can help him find his prior success for say, ten mill?

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45. I don’t see Snell and Nola here. One or the other, sure. I hope catch is correct and Abel is as good as we hoped. I don’t see him ready yet, and I need to see dominance at LHV, but come 2025 we may get him and Painter ready. But I don’t think DD leaves a void for next season so if we don’t re-sign Nola, I believe Snell would be next on their list.

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46. Kyle Wright done for the year, so we won’t get to tee off on him.

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    1. Dan K…Braves seem lately struggle with keeping young arms healthy…..Soroka, Anderson, now Wright.

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       1. Rays, too. They’re good at finding them and replacing them, but not keeping them healthy.

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47. What goes around, comes around, the thumbs up, thumbs down exercise is back! I remember what temper tantrums it generated the first time….let the games begin! 😊 👍 😠 👎

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    1. Yeah, we’ll see how this goes. We seem to be a lot more mature since I returned from my layoff.

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48. Dakota Kototwski was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2022. He hit 24 HR as a 4-year junior at Missouri State in 263 plate appearances. He played RF thru his college career with a couple of appearances in LF.

    He arrived in Clearwater and split time between the FCL and Threshers making 10 of his 11 starts in RF, the other start was at first base. He hit incredibly well in the FCL but it didn’t carry over to Low-A. But, both were extremely small sample sizes.

    In 2023, the Phillies decided to convert Kotowski to a first baseman. He played 1B exclusively this season with a handful of starts as DH. That would explain and possibly excuse his assignment to the FCL in 2023. As a 23-year-old, he led the FCL with 15 HR in 179 plate appearances. Again, after a late season promotion, he hit much better in the FCL than he did with the Threshers. But, again, his Low-A sample was extremely small.

    Whether or not he is a “legit” prospect I will leave to you guys. His inability to carry over his success in the FCL to Low-A is not yet a concern for me. However, his high K-rate through the years is.

    95 K in 263 PA at Missouri State in 2022 (36.1%)
    10 K in 35 PA in the FCL in 2022 (28.6%)
    13 K in 34 PA with the Threshers in 2022 (38.2%)
    50 K in 179 PA in the FCL in 2023 (27.9%)
    10 K in 24 PA with the Threshers in 2023 (41.7%)

    If he’s going to advance to higher levels, he will need to make more contact to be promoted let alone be considered a “legit” prospect, I think.

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    1. That definetly is a concern……I did not bother going into the weeds with his metrics….but a high K- rate is a death knell for a batter.
       A 28% K-rate, second year in the FCL, and also at an advanced age, is not a good thing.
       He will certainly have to improve that metric.

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       1. Dakota will be 24 likely starting at Clearwater. At age 23/24, Darick Hall was already at Reading. Dakota has to absolutely rake this season to be considered a legitimate prospect. His age is working against him.

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    2. Thank you for that information. Guess it’s a wait and see how this year goes for him

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49. The Phillies will carry 13 pitchers into the LDS. Michael Lorenzen is added to the LDS roster replacing Weston Wilson.

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50. Suarez out in the 4th? WTF! Let the guy pitch. Shades of pulling Wheeler in the WS.

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    1. I actually don’t have a problem with this. The relievers are well rested (2 days off) and they’ll have tomorrow off.

       Seranthony brought the gas and it worked!

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51. I think umpiring is going to be a problem this post-season as it has all year. 4 innings and the guy at 2nd base has had 2 calls overturned already and Hoffman had Ozuna struck out. I hate to see this in the fall showcase. They got to get a better handle on it.

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52. And Turner can’t lollipop that throw to second base.

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53. Kerkering got the jitters facing the likely NL MVP. But Trea saves the inning with a tremendous grab to start a double play, much like Jimmy Rollins getting the double play to finish the regular season back in the day.

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    1. I’m not sure if he was missing spots or if he was specifically just throwing pitches out of the zone to see if he would swing or let him walk otherwise.

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       1. Kerkering looked like he was mondo careful with Acuna, those sweepers weren’t even close. And the fastball he threw was close enough to be called a strike but wasn’t, all outside. He wasn’t walking Acuna on purpose.

          Although he fell behind some hitters in the previous inning, he still got balls in the zone. Acuna saw none of that.

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54. Kershaw is still getting it done at age 35 but he got rocked by the DBacks early and often. He threw 35 pitches, 6 earned, got 1 out and was yanked.

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55. There is no doubt that the Braves can hit, but their pitching next season could be dicey. Wright is out until 2025.

    Strider
    Morton (the Braves should exercise the team option at $20M but he’ll be 40)
    Elder (his SO is low at 6.6 and his FIP is 4.42)
    Fried (only made 14 starts and he’ll be a FA in 2025)
    Shuster/Soroka/Smith-Shawver

    They also drafted Hurston Waldrep in the first round this year and fast tracked him to AAA already which is crazy fast.

    It’s usually not their MO to give big FA contracts to pitchers but you figure that their offense (which was historic this season) will regress in 2024 and will have to carry the team.

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56. With so many ‘100-win , first- round bye teams’ losing opening divisional series’ over the last few years,
    I envision MLB to make some sort of change to the play-off format again.
    The only alternative I can see right now,
    elimination of the off day(Monday) after the regular season ends and have the wild card teams play straingt on.
    The delay for the four bye teams cuts out one day,
    plus wild card teams are put in a pitching pinch with one less day of rest.
    Right now wild card winners come in battle tested and ready to go…while bye teams are well rested and perhaps have less momemtum.

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    1. I don’t think this is going to change. Obviously that off day helps the wild card team but don’t forget, the Marlins would have had to play Monday if it mattered. So you can argue that it’s a buffer to get the regular season done.

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57. One of my sons always suggests this strategy going into a playoff series; let your lesser slotted pitcher go against their#1, then the rest of your starting pitchers are going against their lesser slotted pitchers.

    It wasn’t planned this way for the Phillies but out of necessity it will work out this way. Looks like great strategy.

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    1. They could also make the Divisional series’ best of 7 games ilo of best of 5…..but MLB did not want to do that since it would extend the season further into November……though additional revenue is always an incentive when push comes to shove.

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       1. Romus, Bob Costas has given different times his revision ideas of the playoffs. One of his is the LDS series be 7 rather than 5 games. He has a bunch of other ideas as well. One is a one game playoff of some wildcard teams. I forget the exact, but he has done it a couple times on MLB tonight. Who knows how this plays out but with best of 5 it puts lots of pressure on the home team if they do not win game 1. I am not sure if Costas play extends the season any. I really enjoyed the game last night. Lots of great plays. SD two Ks with bases loaded. Turner and Stott. I wonder how fast throw to Harper was. Seemed like one of the fastest I have seen in a long time.

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          1. Don…..yeah. MLB probably will do someting….the bye teams were the best teams thru-out the seaon, then the last few years, many are out right off the bat.
             I can see ownership and management of some of these teams pushing to make some type of change.
             I do not know what they canl do….but I see them doing something.
             This commisioner does not hesitate on making changes.

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             1. I agree with some tweaking being done. Costas play has many phases. Playoffs as they are really just a free for all and who gets hot and who probably gets a lucky bounce or hit along the way.

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                1. I would shorten spring training, or bump
                   It up earlier to make the playoffs need 15 wins vs 13. I think this is the fairest, as the most complete team “should” generally win out a round

                   5 GM series
                   7 GM series
                   7 GM series
                   7 GM Series

                   Though I like the current format as it’s benefiting the Phillies

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             2. How about they allow the 1 seed to choose their opponent and then the 2 seed can chose their opponent

                the remaining teams play out on a seed by seed basis…

                Think about the intrigue and drama that would cause…

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          2. Costas is a joke. If all he wants is Division winners to advance, why have the wild card round? Just shrink the playoffs to 4 teams per League.

             Facts: Phils series – Strider threw a great game, Phils were better. Dodgers series – Kershaw is cooked, Dodgers have limited pitching.

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    2. That won’t happen. First, could you image being the coach that has to explain the strategy to the players? We’re saving Wheeler for later? What? And what happens if the Phillies lost? The media would have a field day. Second, having your best pitcher start early ensures that he’s going to pitch again in the series likely on regular rest.

       So in 2008, the Phillies should have held back Cole Hamels?

       Winning the first game (especially on the road) sets the tone for the series and increases your odds of winning the series.

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58. If Phillies win Monday, do you think Strider will start 3rd game on Wednesday with 3- days rest?

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    1. Probably not ……they cannot afford to lose many more starting pitchers to injury. He is close to 200 innings already this year…max out for him.
       The only way would be a quasi bullpen session start…..50/60 pitches as the ‘opener’, then he comes out.

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       1. All signed to 2030 and cheap

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    2. Over Bryce Elder, who was an all-star? I doubt it but you never know if they’re down 2-0. But if he does, he’ll be on a pitch count.

       Strider’s arm is gold. The Braves need to preserve it for the next 5 years minimum since he signed an early deal. He’s about the same size as Roy Oswalt but throws much harder so durability will likely come into play as he ages.

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       1. About Bryce Elder: Since the beginning of August (10 starts/53 IP), he’s clocked in with a 5.26 ERA & 5.06 FIP.
          The Braves lost what I termed an “almost must-win” game last night. You can throw “almost” out the window for Monday’s game 2. Atlanta must have the next contest. Max Fried is a tough customer *if he’s healthy*. The bottom line for the Phillies is their pitching staff (as a whole) out dueled Atlanta’s ace (Strider). The Phils are now set up with Wheeler & Nola (who will be on 6 days rest) with the opportunity to close out the NLDS.

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          1. Elder is going to have to get involved one way or another, it’s just a matter of when. It’s going to go down in these scenarios for game 3-5:

             a) Elder, Strider, Fried
             b) Strider(short rest), Elder, Fried

             The Phillies will obviously counter with Nola, Suarez, Wheeler on regular rest.

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59. That double play saved me from a heart attack…. Thank you Turner!

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    1. He felt bad that he didn’t get enough oomph on the previous flip to end the inning for Ranger, so he at least wanted to preserve the shutout.

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       1. Next time you see him, tell him it’s all good!

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60. file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/bb/11/C5763551-363F-4D65-9AD8-193FBC018EF9/ssstwitter.com_1696781347625.mov

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61. Alot of controversy over not reseeding the teams so # 1 plays # 6 and so forth. Maybe that is changed or they offer other “winning” teams’ concessions. But let’s not forget that every year Houston has been sitting waiting for its next opponent to finish and every year they end up in the next round, or winning it all. So I don’t buy it completely that sitting for 5 days cools your team to be less competitive. Also, Braves worked out etc. – I know its not the same thing – but its not like the teams with byes did nothing too.

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    1. RU, I forget from last year. Apparently, the Dodgers were the 1 and Braves 2 if format was like this year. I thought the Phillies would play the Dodgers. I did not pay attention to the Bracket Challenge that was posted.
       The one thing about the current format is it fits a team like the Phillies. At present this team is made much better for the playoffs than for the 162-game season. True on the Astros but they were really fortunate to get by Seattle last year in the LDS. They just have a lot of good players who are clutch players to boot. I think the present format is exciting.

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62. Most years experience wins in the playoffs then health…

    The Phillies are very fortunate to have both right now. My hope is KLONG can get Rojas to settle down at the plate a bit. He’s got to stay in the zone and try to work some BBs or at least get ahead in some counts.

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    1. Not sure he will be able to turn aound Rojas in the next two weeks, it may have to take the off-seasn for Rojas to make his adjustments working in the cage at the Complex or in a basbeall facility, or winter ball if he intends on playing this season in the DR. Last season was only 5 games with Licey..

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63. My hope too, he’s in love with an eye level fast ball…….but I think he’s going to figure it all out and be ok!🙂

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64. Great game on Saturday and I’m looking forward to tonight’s game. The Phillies pitched well and played very good defense. They, for the most part, worked the count very well and got themselves pretty good pitches to hit vs. a very tough starting pitcher. If they keep playing like the past 3 games, I think they’ll advance. Stott’s hit to left was clutch as was Harper’s HR. They got a little lucky with the CI but sometimes you make your own luck when you put pressure on the defense. One little thing to pick on… Trey Turner opting to flip the ball to second for a force out instead of making the play to first was puzzling on 2 levels. One, I thought he should have just thrown to first… not sure if the runner would have been safe or not but I guess we’ll never know. But… when he did decide to flip to second, Bryson needed to become a first baseman and put his right foot on the bag and reach with his left foot and glove hand to accept the ball ASAP. Instead, he waited at the base for the ball and the runner beat the throw. Bryson is usually a high baseball IQ guy so I hope this is a learning experience for him and we won’t see that again.
    Go Phils!!!

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65. Does anyone have some confidence-boosting stats or observations for tonight as to how/why the Phillies will hit Fried (other than potential blister and layoff)? He maybe doesn’t own the Phillies like Strider, but he’s pretty damn good. The way I see it, this could be our second pitchers duel in a row and I think the Braves are going to try to attack Wheeler early. What are the Phillies going to do to have success?

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66. Just sharing what is giving me confidence. Wheeler on the mound, and I expect a big time game from him. And, I am predicting a good game from Alec Bohm. I know I defend him a lot, and yes, his ABs vs Strider were not good at all. His last K was on a Pitch that started 2 feet outside and went to 6 feet. Even the announcers said “that was a guy guessing FB there.” But, something tells me he gets a key hit tonight. I have a lot of confidence in the team, and the way Trea Turner is playing small ball gives me a lot of confidence.

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67. JT Baby!!!!!⚾️⚾️

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68. The home plate umpire has been pretty good so far. A couple of obvious misses, but mostly very consistent and correct.

    The 1B umpire, on the other hand, needs to be investigated for taking bribes/betting on the Braves…

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    1. I know Dan I think he missed just about every check swing call. Yikes…

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       1. Wasn’t he the same guy in game 1 that kept getting overturned on replay at 2b?

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69. Turner makes the near impossible plays then tends to muff the easy ones. Our boys better tack on a couple in the final two innings because the Braves have awoken. A bit worried about Kimbrel.

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70. Can we please stop using Alvarado for the bottom of the order? He’s our best relief pitcher by a mile.

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71. Absolutely sick to my stomach! Anyone get flashbacks to Cliff Lee blowing a 4 run lead to the Cards in 2011? I hate losing on crap breaking pitches when we were beating them with heat. Splitting only sounds good but we had this game. Should have been a 6-7 run lead! If D’Arnaud hit a Wheeler FB out, ok, but that hanging slurve? Then Hoffman tried to trick Riley? Throw the ball by him, don’t try to be cute. I hate cute! Just sick!

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    1. Matt, I was absolutely thinking that as the game wore on. My 2 cents. This was a game the Braves won. They made some great plays and clutch hits in the last 3 innings. But this too was a game the Phillies lost. Lots of games are really not this. Phillies needed more than 4 runs going to the last 3 innings. Had chances to add at least a couple more. Most likely could have added a 2nd in the first. Even announcers said Rosario in left has a weak arm. Plus, there were other chances. Seemed Phillies got hits when no one on. Harper and Stott come to mind. This is a really tough loss because Braves were on the ropes. The 2 errors were killers. The first allowed Acuna to get up in the bottom of the 6th. Otherwise, he does not even hit. I agree that the 2nd woke the Braves and their fans up. Not sure they thought they would ever score till then. Shame to completely waste a great outing by Wheeler but now we see what team is made of. Game 3 I think is a must for the Phillies now. We all have to realize that the Braves are a really good team. I mentioned luck and non-star. Braves had both. If last ball is a foot higher, it is a 6-5 Phillies lead. What a crusher that might have been. Or even if the ball got down in right center it is a double with Harper scoring. Sometimes luck is involved. We got to keep our chins up. Simply best 2 out of 3 now. Go Phils.

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72. Think that first run they got on the botched cutoff was a real game changer. Braves were really pressing as the scoreless innings kept accumulating. That play seemed to pop that balloon.

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73. Would have liked to seen topper buck some convention and bring out Sanchez in the 7th with short leash to alvarado.. some soft change ups in a 7/8th innings leveraged spots with the Braves backs on the ropes… I feel this would have been the play but also feels like Sanchez is the insurance for Nola and they weren’t going to ever cash that policy/claim.. sad.. should be 2-0… that was a gift we flushed down the toilet

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74. We will now see just how resilient this team really is. I suspect that whoever wins game 3 will win the series. As awful as that loss was (and it was, for sure), we hoped for a split when the series started, it’s best of 3 with our team have the HF advantage, we have our two best pitchers going in 2 out of 3 games and the team has bounced back from losses like this all year. Now, Topper’s decision to pull Ranger looks smarter than ever. I absolutely go with Ranger in game 4 – it’s 4 days rest, but he only threw about 55 pitches. If we go with Taijuan, chances are we lose the series.

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    1. Agree…..Ranger is ready…52 pitches on Saturday was like a between -the -starts bullpen session.
       Sometimes JTR’s pitch calling for certain batters puzzles me…MLB hitters, rarely hit hi-velo with two strikes in the count….they cannot get over top of it and with two strikes in a bad position to begin with in their heads. JTR prefers to try slow breaking balls, and it appears in the zone….a recipe for disaster with MLB hitters.

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       1. I know you don’t want to abuse Alvarado there but I would have left him in to face Acuna and Albies. then I would have gone to Kerkering if he got those two outs.

          Hoffman against Riley was not a good match-up and I even said to the wife that he better not throw anything down and in. Riley is a guy you also need to pitch in or above the hands.

          And again I hate what they are doing to Marsh

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          1. DMAR……Marsh? You mean the platooning vs the pitcher?

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             1. I agree with Dmar, Romus, I think Marsh should play. I am not sold on Pache the hitter. I think Marsh has earned the right to play most games. An occasional Randy Johnson type lefty, sit him, but not for every left handed Pitcher. And, that was a bit tongue in cheek about Johnson, but unless the LHP is outstanding, Marsh is my LF. I think Marsh is an outstanding defensive LF, and I trust him at bat vs a lefty more than I do Pache.

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             2. Correct Romus I’ve said it hundreds of times here he deserves to be in there every day

                Not withstanding the occasional day off in the regular season…

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                1. DMAR…my gut reaction is….it will be next season with him in LF and Rojas manning CF.
                   Hopefully in four weeks, we will at least partially know the outcome of the Hoskins/Harper/Castellanos situation for 2024.

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75. matt13 I’m with ya.
    I was at game 2 of 2011 NLDS vs Cardinals and I was at game 2 of 2023 NLDS vs Braves. (And I’ve been at many big postseason games before and in between, last being game 3 of 2022 WS vs Astros. Lest anyone think I’m a jinx, lol.)

    I started getting feelings of dejavu in top of 6th when we couldn’t add to the 4-0 lead. Stott’s error allowed Braves first run of the series and I couldn’t shake that the sleeping giant had been poked awake and a Braves comeback was inevitable. The stadium had felt like a library for several innings but was suddenly stirred and expecting the Braves to do what the Braves hitting often does, find a way to win.

    Overall, the Phillies got what they wanted, a win in Atlanta and now have home field! …But they let a golden opportunity slip away.

    With the Braves unsure of game 3 SP, Aaron Nola and our hitters have a chance to reset the momentum. One game at a time guys!

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    1. Same too many missed chances to tack on the additional runs. You had to know the Braves were going to score at some point they are just too good offensively.

       Not one to look too far ahead but the D-Backs appear to have that series in hand. A WS is very much within this teams grasp.

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76. John, that was Turner’s error, and I still don’t get how he missed it. It appeared his glove was turned the wrong way! But you are correct. I was not happy with the runners we left on, and our failure to add on. We should hit their BP. That unearned run gave them life, and we should never have thrown those 2 strike breaking pitches when we were getting them out with FBs for 15 innings. But they have to bounce back, and we know they are capable. CBP will be a madhouse, and I will be there, and we have a rested Nola. Time for him to earn himself about another $25-30Million! We can and will re-take the momentum!

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77. 300 million dollar players won us a game and lost us a game.
    The games are at the bank now. No one thought this was going to be a sweep. We hoped, but I wasn’t fooled by the baseball gods. You KNOW they love to torture Philly phans …. But I think they hate braves fans more.
    Buckle up, this is going to be wild.
    Both Bryce knows he’s gotta do better, and same with Turner.

    This is the WS of this years playoffs if you ask me. The 2 best teams remaining. I foresaw both the Phils and Braves blowing a game. Inglesias is hittable. He will caught one up to us if given the chance … Castellanos was inches away from making that true.

    Phils win, they will be even more focused now. I think they started smelling themselves a bit, but now… it’s on …

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    1. This is the most competitive series for sure. I think whoever wins this, blows by Arizona (I doubt that series even goes 6 games) and wins the WS. Every match-up after this one (if they can get by the Braves), I think, clearly favors the Phils.

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78. This next game probably shouldn’t determine Nola’s future with the team (I would be reluctant to sign him no matter what), but it easily could. If he pitches like a hero, they will probably pay him like a hero, even though that’s probably not what they should do.

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79. The Phillies lost that game because a) they couldn’t pile on runs vs Fried and b) Trea’s errors. Watching Trea butcher some balls makes me realize how lucky we were to have Jimmy Rollins there for all those years.

    I don’t have a problem with letting Wheeler staying in there for another inning. He was rolling and he threw a hanger to d’Arnaud. It happens. If he got taken out and the reliever threw a hanger, we would be upset wondering why Wheeler was taken out.

    As for Hoffman, Wheeler was gassing vs Riley. Even Seranthony gassed it against Riley. Hoffman’s out pitch is his splitter and he used it in the previous game a lot and he got the job done. Perhaps Seranthony should have been the guy out of the bullpen. But I get why Thomson went to Hoffman, he’s been dominant all year.

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    1. Turner is an above-average shortstop, but Jimmy was just about the most reliable fielder I’ve seen in my entire life. He made some spectacular plays but he was automatic on the routine and slightly more difficult plays. Over time, it was so impressive and showed amazing athletic ability and constant awareness.

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       1. In a Phillies uniform, JRoll was the best at SS. He was so automatic on routine plays, it was boring. You knew you could rely on him.

          Outside of a Phillies uniform, in the last 10 years, Andrelton Simmons and Nick Ahmed. Those guys can really pick it and Simmons had a cannon at SS.

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80. And one more thing on the Phillies. I would be very surprised if they just folded. They have come back strong time and again after rough losses and moments. I think Topper is right that they are resilient and, while they may lose, I doubt they do so tepidly.

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81. No offense to this site, I love it so much, but does anyone know if there are similar interactive sites for the Eagles. Sixers snd/or Flyers?

    Thanks

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82. Denny:
    Flyers…..https://www.broadstreethockey.com
    Eagles….https://www.bleedinggreennation.com

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    1. When I get done here in the morning, I go to the Eagles blogs. They also include Inside the Iggles and the EaglesWire (that one is very good and assembles commentary from other sites). NBC Sports Philadelphia also has excellent Eagles coverage – more of it than the Inquirer for sure – there’s always a new story.

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       1. The Eagles sites sound good…..I just do not have the time to go thru plenty of the sites/blogs…let alone comment on the articles. So basically when it comes to the Eagles and even the Phillies also…I will head over to PhillyVoice. They have mostly all Eagle and Sixers articles….the occasional Flyers and a daily Phillies article in season.
          https://www.phillyvoice.com/sports/

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83. Like everyone else on the site, I’m hoping for the best the rest of the way. My biggest concern is that Acuna and Ozuna haven’t begun to hit yet. Nola is the guy, when he is not “on”, tends to leave a few pitches up in the zone that end up over the walls. Here’s hoping that Nola is “on” and Acuna and Ozuna don’t start hitting again until April.

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