136 thoughts on “Phillies Discussion 8/25/2025”

1. I’m jumping in a little late her bc I was away for a few days… and maybe I’m just an old curmudgeon but…

   Why don’t the Phillies play no-doubles defense with a lead in the 9th inning? The Duran loss was due to a double down the right field line (Crews, I think) followed by a semi-line drive hit to Marsh’s left which scored the runner fairly easily. Then the batter takes 2nd on the throw home… steals 3rd… JT’s throw goes into LF and we lose the game. This all could have been avoided had Harper been playing close to the line.

   Then…if I’m remembering correctly… we had a lead the next day and one batter hit a ball down the RF line followed by a ball down the LF line resulting in runners on 1st and 3rd when we could have ended the game. We didn’t lose that one but I almost had a vein pop in my head.

   Seems to me something similar happened vs. the Red Sox too but again… I forget the details. Bottom line is this… it takes 3 singles to score a run. It only takes 2 hits to score if one of them is a double. Not sure why the Phillies don’t take doubles away by playing Bohm and Harper closer to the lines. Maybe it’s “analytics” but I wish some reporters would start asking the manager about this some time.

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   1. That’s funny – I was thinking the same thing as I was watching yesterday’s game.

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      1. Catch & Andy ……. I told Don the other night when Duran pitches, I believe I would play 1B and 3B on the line and give the batter the middle of the infield. With his stuff most hitters will be late no matter from which side they hit.

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         1. Analytics answer to guard the lines late inning defense : An advanced, analytics-driven defense positions infielders based on the specific batter’s tendencies and pitch type, rather than defaulting to a general “guard the lines” strategy. Data on where a batter tends to hit grounders provides a more precise alignment. 

            That’s why organizations hire the data driven smart people – to be smart and predictive. 🤓

            Steve Potter

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            1. Chris Wheeler , the TV announcer, late in winning games, always proclaimed the ‘no doubles defense’. Come the 9th inning protecting a lead…he was right on cue.

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      2. Catch, I went to yesterdays game and some fans said that they finally were covering the corner bases better. Maybe they heard you and Andy!

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2. jim – any potential updates with a Painter or Crawford call up? Will either happen?

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   1. They are not coming up.

      I pointed out in a comment earlier this week that Painter is approaching an innings limit the Phillies set in the spring. Anyone who has seen him pitch lately has seen that he is not ready to pitch against major league batters.

      If Crawford was coming up, he’d already be up. They would not have wasted a prospect on a .250 hitting Bader at the deadline. During a pennant chase is not the time to bring up a rookie to give him a sniff or see how he does. Crawford will need to play every day. He’ll do that next season in the Phillies outfield.

      BTW, not necessarily for you but for others, while it is correct to say there are major differences between the majors and the minors, Rojas’ better hitting may be attributed to his jettisoning the hitting style “forced’ on him at the major league level in favor of the approach that got him there in the first place.

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      1. That’s very interesting about Rojas. You hear about overcorrections happening all the time in sports and that players often succeed when they return to their original approach.

         I’m not sure if it’s correct or not, but, when he came up, Dom Brown had this little hitch in his swing that, I believe, allowed him to generate tremendous power. But it created a perceived hole in his swing. The Phillies “fixed” that hole and eliminated the hitch, but Dom Brown never was able to replicate that power again (and, I was surprised he didn’t go back to that approach when all else failed). I’m not sure things would have gone differently has they not “fixed” his perceived problem, but it’s more than possible.

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         1. From my weekly notes regarding Johan : “He has revamped his swing, adding a higher leg kick and a more open stance.” This was discussed with him by coaches and an “advisor” who watched him come up thru the ranks. Just an FYI though he did have a bunt single this week as well.

            Steve Potter

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         2. Believe he had like 27 HRs or so that one season by All Star break. May not have had that total rest of the time he played. But he was on one of the games one night this year and believe he is a coach in the travel circuit now.

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            1. Close; he had 27 total in 2013, 23 in the first half. 12 in May alone.

               And if we’re only counting MLB numbers, for the rest of his career he hit only 15 more.

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      2. Andrew is scheduled to start on Thursday for LHV in Omaha. In Spring Camp they set a goal of thereabouts 130 IP for the season, he’s currently at 97.  After this week LHV has three more weeks of play – Anthony Contreras said in his press interview last week that there’s no longer a limit on how long Andrew can go in a game – it’s entirely up to performance. That being said if he averages six innings over say four more starts that puts him in line with the ST parameter.  I think the organization would prefer to see him finish the year strong at the AAA level rather than force the issue in the show at this point. Depends however on how things go this coming week.  From my perspective I don’t believe he comes up this year but we shall see.

         Steve Potter

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      3. Yep. Why fix it if it is not broken. Seems to happen in many sports. Good luck to Rojas doing what he does best. Believe Kingery was good and then they changed him. Never worked out after.

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         1. Nope. Kingery went to an outside batting instructor. He made it to the majors based on changes but wasn’t able to maintain his early success. He resisted any instruction from the Phillies when he was struggling and never regained his early form.

            I have a canned response that I post whenever someone wants to blame the Phillies for his disappointing career but I’m on my cell and don’t have access to it. If I find it I’ll post it for you.

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            1. I hope jetpax hired a better wealth manager than he did a batting instructor.

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      4. thank you! Sorry if it was a repetitive question. Not on here much these days.

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3. Andy + Catch – I concur with both of you. Andy, I don’t know if a reporter asked this same question to Thomson but the manager did remark on it. He claimed they have checked the stats over the past few years and the stats showed that hugging the lines didn’t show that many balls had gone there so they decided to play everything straight away.

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4. As far as next season’s outfield goes, I believe what the Phillies would ideally like, not saying they’ll do this, is to play Castellanos every day in right field, have Crawford and Rojas split CF, and have Marsh and a power hitting right hand hitter platoon in LF.

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   1. God, I hope what I’m reading above don’t come to pass. It’s a loser’s mentality to bet against success. If Justin Crawford exceeded your realistic expectations for the season, you give him a greater challenge or you call on the carpet everyone in the organization harboring unrealistic expectations.

      An outfield with Crawford and Rojas platooning makes no sense. An outfield with Marsh as more than a backup makes no sense. A winner’s mentality is to bring in everyday outfielders,competent against all types of pitching. Currently, the Phils have none.

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   2. That power hitting right hand bat has to be Otto Kemp….who else can it be -hah! If they leave Otto on the 40, then assume he will be given the chance in ST. Though Wes Wilson could still be with the org…..but he probably will not be on the 40 , so he will look around the league to find the best opportunity for himself.

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5. To Andy and Catch – on the no doubles defense. I think it was on the Cure-All Insurance post game show the other evening that they pointed out that during Duran’s entire major league career he has only allowed 4 balls to be hit over the 3b or 1b bag. 3 of them occurred in those 2 games ! The remark was directed to the sheer randomness of the event and I think Topper THEN commented that for that reason, “they don’t consider it worthwhile to defend.” Just repeating what he said…

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   1. Thanks for the replies, guys. I’m sure the Phillies coaches have thought it through and glad Topper addressed it. Not that I agree with it but at least he has his reasons. Hope it doesn’t bite us in the playoffs!

      Go Phils… let’s get 3 from the Mets!

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6. Phillies have to avoid the sweep….winning one game still keeps them 6 games up….then they play the Mets four in Philly two weeks from today. And please, just pitch around Lindor……do not give him anything to hit.

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   1. Romus. That is my thoughts as well. Ruff mentioned at least 2 wins. Kind of like the Brewers vs Cubs. They bookended 2 wins. Cubs only gained 1 game. 1 win here does the same and uses up 3 games. The one thing to be concerned is the batter for the 2 seed. All wins will be important to gain that.

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      1. In the pre-game, Topper mentioned the possibility of going to a 6 man rotation. Joe Ross? Andrew Painter? (2 things wortjy of hate are Word Press and the Iron Pigs website. We ought to be in the 21st century).

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   2. They can’t beat the mets. This is a,sweep.bedt shot was tonight.

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7. Don, here it is. This was a response to a comment in November 2023 that blamed the Phillies for Kingery’s plight, “… Phillies prior management ruined him”.

   Since it looks like we will have Scott Kingery to kick around for another year, let me try and dissuade you of the “Phillies ruined Kingery’s swing” misinformation that has been on this site for years.

   Back on March 3, 2018, Matt Gelb reported in an Athletic article (https://theathletic.com/260546/2018/03/03/how-scott-kingery-with-his-remade-swing-could-be-in-the-majors-as-soon-as-april/) how Kingery transformed HIMSELF from a 5’10”, 180 pound infielder with .388 slugging percentage in 2016 into one capable of producing prodigious opposite-field homers in 2017.

   Richard Schenck, a former college player, had researched how to transform a player’s swing into an Aaron Judge type swing. He tried his new theories out on a minor-league player named David Matranga. There were immediate results but they came too late in his career. Matranga retired and became an agent for PSI Sports Management. Kingery is one of his clients.

   Matranga suggested a meeting between Schenck and Kingery. Kingery listened and implemented Schenck’s suggestions. Kingery posted a .304/.359/.530/.889 slash in AA and AA in 2017 with 29 doubles and 26 HR. He made the Phillies out of spring training in 2018.

   “After the season I had, I was like, why doesn’t everyone hit this way?” Kingery said. “You have to buy into it. It’s just so different. If you don’t buy into it, you can’t fully understand it. You can’t get it. It feels weird. It feels uncomfortable. But if you make it your natural swing, you start to realize it might be the way people should always hit.”

   After a terrible 2018 in which he slashed .226/..267/.338/.605 and 8 HR with the Phillies, Kingery started 2019 in AAA. The Phillies wanted Kingery to return to the athletic style that made him a prospect. More line drives. More speed. Less thinking. He must recalibrate his swing path to achieve that. (flatten it out)

   “To Scotty’s credit,” hitting coach Joe Dillon said, “he knew he needed to make some changes and get more consistent.” We all know that he wasn’t able to correct his deficiencies in seasons since.

   In a March 29, 2021 article in the Athletic, Matt Gelb reported “But there is one thing Kingery wants to make clear: He does not regret making the changes he made — with an independent hitting instructor he met, not on a recommendation from the Phillies — before a breakout 2017 season in the minors.”

   “No,” Kingery said. “Those changes got me a big-league contract before I ever took a step into the big leagues. You know what I mean? It’s hard to just look at that and say, ‘You know, I regret ever changing my swing.’ I was a line-drive hitter, a groundball hitter. And the game changed. And those weren’t the guys that were becoming the superstars, the guys that were getting paid. Those were the guys that were coming off the bench. They’re defensive replacements and stuff like that. Those weren’t the guys that I was watching going, ‘I want to be that guy.’ So, the game changed. I always knew I had power. I also knew I was fast. So I would do a lot of bunting, a lot of stealing bases, a lot of line drives in college.

   “The year before I made the changes, I was in the Florida State League, and I led the league in doubles. But I had three home runs. … I was able to find this swing change that really clicked with me. And I think the reason it clicked with me is because my swing was so natural and athletic coming out of college. It was just what I’ve done. I grasped onto a few things really quick and they changed my swing for the better. Then I had an incredible 2017, and it was the line drives combined with balls maybe I caught a little bit better that became home runs. Because I’ve never tried to hit the ball in the air.

   “I think the more I started just practicing that swing, it got too far to the point where it wasn’t what I wanted it to be. And that’s what I’ve been searching for the past year and a half because I know it’s in there. It came out in the minors. It came out in 2019. Like, I know it’s there. But I would never regret changing my swing. Because, I mean, it got me to where I’m at.”

   So, Kingery went outside the organization to change his swing, got immediate results that got him a major league contract, couldn’t maintain the offensive output he generated in the minors, couldn’t revert back to his original swing, tried and couldn’t regain the offensive output from the minors even while the Phillies wanted him to “level his swing”, and doesn’t regret HIS decisions.

   Kingery is not the martyr that his fans would paint him to be. He’s exactly where one goes when one doesn’t heed advice from his coaches. And, he accepts that because he got paid.

   I will repost this every time somebody blames the Phillies for Kingery’s situation with the Phillies.

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   1. He also did get Covid sometime in 2020 and that sapped his energy for awhile along the way. I had him pegged as the Phillies version of Dustin Pedroia when he first came up…boy that was a goof up projection.

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   2. Jim. Thanks. That is great info. I knew something happened but could not remember the details. If he is all happy, I guess it worked out the best for him. Big contract before ever playing is security. He is not the only one this has happened for in baseball.

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   3. Jim,

      You may have insight here. Im curious if Kingery sought coaching outside the organization in part bc he didnt trust the development inside the organization. I cant recall the specifics of what was happening at that time – but would he have witnessed the Hasley situation and did that create a lack of belief?

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      1. The article was probably more clear than I was. Kingery saw that the type of hitter he was became a bench guy, that he needed to be more than a guy who sprayed the ball between the gaps, that the guys getting paid hit HRs. His agent had been the first guy the outside instructor worked with. That paved the way to an introduction.

         The Haseley timeline had Haseley drafted the summer that Kingery had already transformed his swing into one that produced more power in 2017. Haseley was drafted in 2017.

         I don’t know what you mean by the Haseley situation unless you mean the avalanche of horrid language that was directed at him in CF at CBP. Matt Moniak told us the vulgar language directed at his son. I know Herrera was also the recipient of similar language. Darick Hall heard same as he progressed thru the system, especially in Reading. Haseley was more sensitive than most having come from VA in the ACC. Is this what you are referring to? The a$$hole, often times inebriated fans in the CF bleachers who scream all kinds of sexual and racial epithets even at their hometown players. I use the term fans sardonically.

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         1. Ah, I had my timeline’s all wrong. I was thinking poor hitting development during that time.

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            1. I think they were still doing Driveline hitting at the time. I think the basic concept of lifting the ball was the same.

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8. very sloppy game tonight. Seem to have mental issue with playing at Mets

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   1. Lethargic group tonight. Do you think JR has any idea where his pitches are going?

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      1. Yes! Row 3, section 302.

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         1. I’m sorry. I think this is the funniest comment I’ve ever made.

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            1. Yes, I laughed out loud – it undoubtedly was!!!

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   2. Harper’s play on the Soto rundown made me want to barf.In a best case, no Little Leaguers were watching. At this point, Romano is a ‘white flag’ in any situation. Weston Wilson is a less expensive alternative.

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9. i can’t understand Romano.

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   1. I’D leave him in for the rest of the game and DFA him @ 8:00 AM tomorrow.

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      1. You gotta pay him regardless. I’d option him to Lehigh Valley and make him pitch there.

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         1. It would be hilarious to do that if we could.

            Alas, the best we can hope for is to put him on waivers and have the Nats claim him.

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         2. That might be a great option, Jim, but I’m thinking that the DFA is the best part of this deal that could be translated as “money well spent”!😉

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10. Jordan Romano needs do be released tomorrow to prevent Thompson from ever using him again.

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11. Three things you can count on: Death, taxes and the Phillies to bring out the best in the Mets. They cannot beat this team. Lackluster play and squandering scoring opportunities is just not going to get it done. To me, Harper’s bone headed play set the stage for this poor showing. Lose by ten runs. They should be ashamed. Plus, you lose the first game of a series with your ace pitching.

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    1. Turner is having a great season, but last night, top of the 4th, Phillies up 3-0, first two batters on base, no outs, 3B Vientos playing back on Turner, why not force the issue with them, and bunt on Senga down third…with Turner’s speed it will be a bang – bang play……but he swings early and pops it up. Then Schwarber and Harper cannot do it. At that point they could have changed the whole complexion of the game and routed Senga building up perhaps a 4/5/6 run lead.

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12. Regarding swing changes, it is my strong opinion that a hitting coach would never make big changes to a swing of a hitter that is performing well. Almost always it is the player that requests help. Maybe it is simply they want more power like Kingery’s example. But I completely reject the view that a big club just messes up a hitter’s swing on a whim.

    The gap between MLB pitching and AAA pitching is the biggest gap in baseball. An absolute enormous difference. Just because a player can hit in minors doesn’t mean it will translate to MLB. There are so many metrics that they look at that we don’t.

    If a good prospect doesn’t make it at the major league level it is on him and him alone.

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13. I think the big difference between minors and Majors, you might faced a future major league pitcher. One a week maybe lot of older guys who lack the stuff to pitch h in Majors. So it’s tough imo to scout that

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    1. rocco….then I heard Ron Darling just say the other day during the Braves/Mets game…..the difference between a MLB player and a AAA player is just a hair in skill level…..that is a thick piece of hair.

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       1. That was probably true back when Ron Darling was playing but today, the difference, especially the pitching, is significant.

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14. Maybe there will be a silver lining from last night. Last week Mets pounded Nats in game 1 and then lost games 2 & 3. Hope for history repeating.

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    1. True….teams seem to slump in the next game, bats go cold, after large run scoring wins…or maybe it just seems like it is the Phillies that do that.

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15. I thought and said yesterday these 7 games against the Mets remaining would be the most important of the 32 that remained. Last night was not a good omen.

    Chris is the Ace now and he came up small as did the offense but we come to expect that.

    As stated above the Harper run down was pathetic. It all seemed to unravel after that.

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16. How stubborn does one have to be as a GM to leave Romano on this roster?

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17. Also, the physical mistake of lollipopping the throw to Stott and him not making the catch and tag is somewhat acceptable, but the mental mistake of Harper waiting an extra second to throw to second base in absolutely unacceptable.

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    1. Does anyone know why Bryce looks so miserable playing baseball now? He does not look like he’s having any fun.

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       1. Maybe because he’s not the face of the league anymore? He’s hitting .263? He’s made 1 all star game in the last 6 years? He’s not a top 20 player anymore? He’s not even the highest salaried Phillie?

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18. Rich. Agree on the rundown. As Kruk mentioned we were taught once you see the runner turn the ball needs to be thrown. As LL you are taught not to run the guy to the next base. That was a big momentum play. Mets got that 4th run which they would not have got. I am not sure even if Stott caught the throw he gets Soto out. I had just got home and tv was on MLB channel and Darling had mentioned that he felt Marsh threw to the wrong base on ball to LF. He said throw should have gone to 2B. Not sure if that guy scored or not. Mets had just tied it at 3 when I got things on.

    dmar. With 6 games to go it is important that Phillies hold serve with at least 3 wins. Mets have a really difficult schedule in September, but you do not want the lead to get down to a game or so.

    Saw after game on Sunday that Braves with all of their issues went 8-5 for the season vs Mets.

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    1. I’m wondering how the Phils view their reliable pitching corps for the remainder of the season they expect to have.

       To me, barring injury, it’s Sanchez – Suarez-Nola-Luzardo-Walker

       Then Duran-Kerkering-Strahm-Robertson-Banks-(Alvarado) -? – ?

       Lazar may get the call for Alvarado for any post-season play. But who subs in for Romano and Ross?

       Sanchez, Suarez and Luzardo are approaching peak innings pitched for a season. A concern? I think so.

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       1. Yeah, maybe it’s a concern, but they’ve been pretty careful about not letting guys go too long in any game and getting them rest whenever they need that.

          I can’t imagine that Romano will still be around come the postseason, but I didn’t think he’d be here now, so who knows? Even if he was, it’s unlikely he’d see any action in any game they had a chance of winning. If it were me, I’d replace Romano with Lazar or Johnson – it’s pretty easy fix. This team has five pretty decent or better relievers for late innings and at least one long man in Walker. I think they’ll be okay without having to use Romano in any game critical situation.

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19. Hard to believe but Jordan Romano has -1.6 WAR as a reliever AND he’s still on the roster. This has got to be a record for a reliever in a season. Usually by -1 WAR, they are either cut or demoted.

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    1. He’s definitely competing with the Taijuan Walker 2024 season for the worst full season I’ve ever seen. He’s just not a big league pitcher right now, but unlike Walker was, he’s not signed past this year – so what gives? It makes no sense.

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       1. DD pride.

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          1. That’s definitely what it is. You don’t want to show everybody (including your boss) that you messed up big by giving Romano $8.5M by cutting him early. Same with Max Kepler.

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             1. Pretty sure that secret is out!!

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             2. At least. for a brief time, Kepler in August came alive….295/.311/.500…….OPS.811…shame he could not do it for the first 4 months.

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20. Has there been any news about why Alex McFarlane has been moved out of the starting rotation? His last 4 appearances have been out of the bullpen. He had a decent run of success prior to this. Maybe they are trying to limit his innings?

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    1. Innings limit would be my guess. He’s already at his career high in his first year back from injury.

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21. ESPN ranks our system #21 in baseball.

    Preseason rank: 17

    SS Aidan Miller, RHP Andrew Painter, and CF Justin Crawford are all in the upper minors and seem like they were off-limits for trades the past couple of trade deadlines. They could be the homegrown infusion of potential impact talent as the major league roster ages.

    I liked the 2025 draft crop, with RHP Gage Wood and LHP Cade Obermueller as potential quick movers and RHP Matthew Fisher as a great value. CF Dante Nori and 2B Aroon Escobar are also notable arrow-up prospects this season.

    https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/46070464/2025-mlb-prospect-rankings-update-farm-systems-30-teams-mets-dodgers-mariners

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    1. They have the Padres last at 30……by next year they will be back in the top ten. They have no problem identifying top Latin talent, but more importantly, but then getting them to sign with them….three of the top 40 this year.

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    2. On the Phillies Show today: farm director Luke Murton said that they are very happy with Miller’s work at SS, but next year they will be trying him at 3B and 2B.

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       1. They pretty much have to do that because Trea Turner isn’t going anywhere (and his fielding this year has been excellent) and both Stott and Bohm are getting to the end of their rookie deals. If he can hit and stick at any of those spots, it’s a huge plus.

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          1. I agree 100%. Turner’s range at SS is still pretty good.

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             1. Turner has been surprisingly good at SS this year, likely the outcome of more work on that part of his game.

                Miller will likely be in AAA next year so learning 3B/2B maybe needed to open a path for him.

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       2. Well that settles that.

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22. Now that Ross is gone and Romano on the IL the Phillies called up Trivino and Robert with Trivino taking Ross’ 40 man spot. I don’t believe Lazar is allowed to come up for another week or so.

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    1. IL my arse.

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       1. But he has right middle finger inflammation!

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          1. I have no doubts that Romano has been involved in MANY middle finger injuries this year.

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    2. Should have put Romano on the IL, for whatever they could come up with, earlier this month. He needs to gather himself and maybe come up with a solution for his issues. When he goes to rehab at LHV he will have the opportunity to find out what is wrong.

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23. The Mets are doing it again. They’re not throwing strikes and we are swinging at everything.

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    1. He’s definitely throwing strikes. He’s making JT and Castellanos look silly, but other than them pretty much all of the swings out of the zone have been close to the zone (and DEFINITELY close enough for this terrible ump to call a strike).

       Not to mention he’s thrown more than 30 pitches IN the zone through 4 innings.

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       1. I think you know what I meant. With 2 strikes he’s expanding the strike zone and we, more often than not, are fishing. He threw 4 of 5 out of zone to Harper and he just swings, swings , swings. Did result in a single though.

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          1. Honestly, you have to expand the zone as a hitter with two strikes. Especially when this ump has called strikes on pitches as far as 3 inches out of the zone. If you can foul it off, better to do that than run the risk of the ump taking the bat out of your hands.

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24. Soto still giving up runs for the Phillies.

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25. RT will never learn with Kerkering.

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    1. Or that platoon advantages don’t matter if the players you’re bringing in can’t hit/pitch to begin with.

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    2. Kerkering needs another pitch in his arsenal. He’s been figured out.

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26. Anyone might know who the pitching probable is for Wed, Sept 2nd game for “The Pigs”? Probably attending,

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27. Nice golden sombrero JT

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28. The umpire came in with the assist on that last one. What an awful game he’s called.

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29. Crawford 2 — 4 with HR #6 so far tonight. The “Ole C Slap”!

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    1. Final stat. 3 — 5 HR .331

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       1. Nobody is “down” on Crawford. But the difference between him being a good player and possibly being a star is his ability to put the ball in the air more frequently. This is not picking on him – it’s reality. Matt Winkelman describes it best here https://philliesminorthoughts.com/can-justin-crawford-help-the-phillies-now/

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          1. By the way, I’m not even saying he should TRY to loft the ball more. I don’t know if he should or not. I’m concerned about him changing his swing in a way that actually does not help him. Similar to the Kingery discussion we’ve been having all week.

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          2. That was a thorough analysis for sure…..what surprised me more about Justin C., than the GB rate, was that he has not barreled up a FB all year yet. I find that unbelievable. And oddly, his reverse splits against AAA pitchers…..vs LHPs is .369/.404/.512 though a SSS with only 90 PAs.

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30. There’s just something about this Phillies team that makes you scratch your head.

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    1. Unlike the last 3 Phils’ seasons, the Eagles are coming off a SB win. If the Phils want to retain fan support to the extent they’ve enjoyed it, the Phils need to be more energized. RightNow there are some high priced players on the Phils who lack a ring and raise questions if they’llever winone.

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    2. Their vibe has all the earmarks of a team that just lost their best player and probably like many of us realized they have little to no shot without him.

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       1. I disagree with this. Losing Wheeler makes it harder for them to win, but they absolutely have a shot without him. That doesn’t mean they will win it all, but they are right in the mix and, the last two games aside, have plenty of pitching to do that, and one would hope, enough hitter. And it’s more than a puncher’s chance – they should be right in the mix.

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          1. I agree they have a chance but a big part of me doesn’t believe that this lineup, as is assembled by RT on a daily basis, has any chance to win 3 or 4 series. They will inevitably do what they have done the last two days over the course of a playoff series and boom! Their done. And will probably bring the majority of this team back for a 5th go around.

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             1. Your points are well taken. And it’s baseball and there is a lot of parity. Even the Dodgers are only 4-1 to win it all and the Phillies and Brewers have the next best odds. There’s no prohibitive favorite this year.

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          2. I agree. I just had this conversation with a friend. Nothing should really change for the rest of the pitching staff. They only need to approach games as they did all season. The pressure is on Phillies management to come up with a solution for the 6-7 starts Wheeler is missing down the stretch, 5-6 if they were really considering going to a 6-man rotation.

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31. All I wanted was one at Citi…..tonight is the last day to do that.

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32. The Mets really rocked Spiderman. After two so-so showings against the Nationals, the Mets welcomed him to the NL East. Hope this debacle versus the Mets wasn’t a showing of what’s to come for Duran in the future. There was one shut down closer in last night’s game and that was Diaz.

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33. I’ll give Don his due for this. He pointed out that last night we lost to the mutts on 4 consecutive singles 3 of the 4 were ground balls the kind Crawford hits. Our half of the inning was concluded by two guys trying to launch the ball and k’d in the endeavor.

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34. Now 5 remaining against the Mets. Win 4 of those and the calculus tilts back in our favor…

    If we somehow keep the Mets from making the playoffs that can be my Super Bowl LOL.

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35. Win in Citi today, Mets only gain a game. Been a brutal series, but in the end, Mets need the sweep.

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    1. If the Phils thought they had the right mix, you wouldn’t see the roster moves made yesterday. The team might get a shot of adrenaline by adding Crawford anywhere in the lineup. Can’t help noticingthe Mets aren’t short on adrenaline.

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    2. I was just thinking that myself this morning. Take today’s game and it’s really much less of a big deal. But the CitiField issues are real – it’s a combination of being away, that ballpark being pretty bad for power hitters, and the Mets just matching up well against the Phillies. They just have to power through this – there’s no other solution here.

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       1. Here’s where this could be a challenge – IF the Phils fall flat v. Mets in Philly, or in the upcoming Dodgers, Brewers series.

          Those 11 games over the next three weeks will be the difference between Bye and Home Field and Bast of 3.

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36. Miller reaches the 50 SB plateau

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    1. Wonder what Miller’s sprint speed is now…in HS it was recorded at 6.88-second 60-yard dash time.  This time indicates he is a fairly fast runner, with a time that would translate to a respectable, but not elite…..now stealing base is an art, but more than just sprint speed, but it helps. I am sure he is stronger and faster than three years ago.

       Also, if he has been recorded his time this year from home to first. The MLB average for a RHB out of the box, I think, is still 4.3 seconds to first.

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    2. In my post below article closes with 50 sbs was his goal.👍

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37. I didn’t get what I wanted, but FWIW this interesting.

    https://www.milb.com/news/how-phillies-no-2-prospect-aidan-miller-is-developing-his-5th-tool-baserunning

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    1. Best part of the article is the quote from Miller, who said he wants to be five tool player and wants to work on the little things. That shows a lot about his work-ethic, approach and maturity. It bodes very well for his all-around future if he can hit (and walk) enough to make his other tools that more valuable.

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       1. that much more valuable I meant to say.

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    2. Good article on Miler’s base stealing skills…Phillies could have two guys at the top pf their future line-up in Crawford and Miller that get on base and stretch it into a ‘double’ from a walk or single. Miller’s success rate is well over 80% which is also very good.

       Hah…”Peanut butter and jelly has become a staple.”….that can be considered by many as the normal minor leaguer cuisine.

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       1. Also normal in-game snack at the major league level.

          If you’ve ever seen a guy eat those uncrustables (the things that look like small pies or a round piece of bread), those are just peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And there have been a lot of guys eating those.

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          1. Landon Dickerson was eating one on the sidelines of an Eagles preseason game. I was wondering if it was new. It isn’t – it’s been around a long time, but the kids who ate those things are now growing up and still eat them – that’s why we are seeing that more of this with big league players.

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             1. I’m definitely going to try one now!

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                1. I’ve only ever had the grape jelly version and it was about as good as you’d expect.

                   But apparently they have like 6 flavors of jelly/spread, including a hazelnut spread version (so Nutella). That one’s probably addicting.

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                2. I guess it is a quick- boost- me- upper, with a scrumptious taste……I still do it the old fashion way.

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                3. They probably have a lifespan similar to a twinkie. Hard pass. Haha

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38. Going way back to something fighterflea wrote Tuesday in the AM about Kerkering needing to add another pitch to his repertoire. He’s throwing his fastball and the sweeper curve, I believe, but when he came up, wasn’t it because he had that wipeout slider? Has he abandoned that pitch?

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    1. His sweeper was always his out pitch. He will sometimes mix in a regular slider, but the sweeper is his bread-and-butter.

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       1. Maybe it is mix between a sweeper and the slider…..a sweedler.

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39. If I were a reliever at any level,Id use my downtime to experiment. With some starting pitchers with as many as 7pitches in their repertoire, it’s hard to see a reason why a reliever is content to get by with 2. Kerkering can’t pinpoint his sweeper sometimes which makes him a lot easier for hitters.

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    1. Some people just don’t have the ability to throw certain pitches. So would you rather have a better mastery of your two elite pitches? Or sacrifice some of your time mastering them to add “show-me” pitches to your repertoire?

       If he were capable of throwing more than two pitches at a major league level, he’d likely be a starter.

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       1. I’d say if Kerkering doesn’t give hitters more to think about, then we’ve seen the best of him. Being a 2-pitch pitcher in the majors at a minimum requires consistent pinpoint control of those pitches.

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40. Houston, we have a problem. The Phillies just stunk it up and were swept by the Mets. The lead is down to 4 games. They now head to Atlanta to face an improved Braves team for four games while the Mets play a floundering, of late, Miami team. By Sunday night, this could be a one game lead.

    I don’t believe Walker pitched all that poorly tonight. If he doesn’t whiff on that bunt, if Bader takes a better route to the fly ball (or am I mistaken?), and if Bohm doesn’t butcher that ground ball, I think there is a lot less damage. No matter. They didn’t hit for sh*t and Schwarber is in a funk.

    So Rocco, tell us again just how bad this team is.

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    1. Ohils wouldn’t have scored if they’d played a double header. A rookie in his third start in the majors showed all the poise, Can’t imagine what that feels like unless you remember Marty Bystrom or Art Mahaffey. The team got rick rolled. Losing respect for the vets and how they approach the game.

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       1. Houston we do have a problem. Needed 1 game, got 0. Now the Braves, with the Brewers, Dodgers and the Mets again over next 2 weeks.

          Really proves the value of Schwarbs. Had a bad series, and so did the Phils.

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41. I’m closing this thread to start a clean one for the Braves series. It can be found at Phillies Discussion 8/28/2025 | Phuture Phillies

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