Phillies Discussion (4/29/2026)

Other Stuff

The Phillies relieved Rob Thomson from his managerial duties and asked Don Mattingly to become the interim manager for the rest of the season.

This is your Phillies Discussion.

I’m still suffering from “romus disease”.  Doing this on a cell phone is difficult.  It is definitely a WordPress issue. When I got through a couple weeks ago, WordPress asked several questions and I tried to explain my problem. Even gave them my email address. Haven’t heard from them since.

Please tap the breaks on your expectations of Aidan Miller. Even if the guy from Philly Voice was right (he isn’t), Miller isn’t close to a promotion to the Phillies.  Think about it. He’s still experiencing back discomfort.  The last time I saw him take ground balls in March he wasn’t even throwing to a base. He dropped the balls in a container next to him. He had all of 38 plate appearances at Lehigh Valley last season. THIRTY-EIGHT.  Even if he begins hitting against live pitching tomorrow, he’s still going to have to spend a good amount of time at AAA.  And he’ll probably be on the hitter’s equivalent of a pitch count when he begins his comeback.  Plus, I don’t understand why so many think he is some sort of Messiah for the big club. His minor league career shows nothing to indicate we should have such lofty expectations. Being the Phillies top prospect is kind of like being the tallest munchkin. It carries more disappointment than success. I suggest we wait until we hear something solid about his rehab. Like an assignment to an affiliate AND him playing a position while being in the lineup on consecutive days. If that affiliate is Lehigh Valley all the better but a start at a lower level isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Go Flyers!!!

Important Dates

  • February 16, 2026: Beginning of new waiver period (February 16 – April 24, 2026). Outright Waivers secured on or after February 16, 2026, remain in effect for 7 days or until 5 p.m. EST, April 24, 2026 (the 30th day of the 2026 season), whichever is earlier. MLR 10.
  • March 26, 2026: Active rosters reduced to 26 (13 pitchers) by Noon ET
  • May 2, 2026:Florida Complex League starts
  • June 1, 2026: Dominican Summer League starts
  • July 11, 2026: 2026 MLB All-Star Futures Game, Philadelphia PA
  • July 12-13, 2026: MLB First-Year Player Draft, Philadelphia PA (Phillies drop 10 slots)
  • December 1, 2026 (11:59 p.m. ET): MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement expires.

Note: These dates will be used unless/until notified differently.  (Note that there are many more dates to add from Spring Training through the end of the 2026 season and calendar year.  I will add when I have accurate dates for them.)

143 thoughts on “Phillies Discussion (4/29/2026)”

  1. If Miller’s issues are similar to one David Wright or Kris Bryant I’m afraid he will fade into the what could have been category before ever logging some MLB time.

    Personally I prefer not even talking about it because it hurts too much.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. If it is diagnosed as chronic, and will flare up regularly…then move him to the OF. Scott Rolen also had to deal with it and was able to stay at third base, though he claimed the astro turf at the Vet was the culprit for his condition.

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  2. Mentioned to Don53 yesterday that WP must have you out of commission or you would have commented on the firings and subsequent promotions. Sorry WP has your delivery messed up. Agree with your assessment on Miller, I think PP Phans are so desperate for help on the big club that it’s full speed ahead, ready or not!

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  3. Daniel finished off the last thread with a note on Andrew Baker’s .75 WHIP. He’s been interesting for a few seasons in that he can top out in the triple digits.

    Obviously he is a potential BP piece but at 26 time is running short. He’s always been able to K batters but his BB/9 near 6 holds him back.

    But yes great start for him 9.1 IP 15Ks over 2 BBs

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  4. On Miller, it’s a tough break from him. The way Bohm & Stott are currently playing, he likely would be forcing a callup now if he himself was hitting the way most think he can at AAA. I do think he will recover. He is young, and sports medicine is pretty advanced. Luckily with baseball there is lots of built in recovery times in a game. Let the kid figure it out. Figure out whats the acceptable tolerance level, and expect a flare up for time to time. I’d think if Embid and Utley could play with their injuries, Miller will find away. Not to say his is not worse or better, but that there is a way for him to have a productive career towards his abilities.

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  5. With Miller, we just don’t know, so there’s no reason to guess. And while he’s no messiah, he’s the perfect fit as a middle infielder at a position of current great weakness for the team. He’s also a top 10 MLB prospect, so, he’s potentially a big deal.

    On Baker, the good news is that, as a reliever, the door is nowhere close to being closed on him if he’s truly made progress. MLB history is full of hard throwers who struggled for a long time before finding their way in the bullpen in their late 20s or early 30s- including Tom Henke who was a wild minor leaguer until about age 27 and then turned into one of the best closers in baseball for the next decade and even Jeff Hoffman who turned his career around. Very encouraged by what Baker is doing.

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    1. Miller is still only 21 and the Phillies will take it super easy with him. Contrary to our thinking, there’s no rush with Miller, even though Bohm is not hitting well.

      Since Baker is a reliever, age matters less. We all know that most relievers’ careers are short and volatile. If Baker can come up and be effective for a few years, we’ll take that.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Hi Jim. I hope you are doing well. Glad to see you were able to put a new post up. Maybe it will bring some good fortune for the Phillies. No idea if this will post or not but thought I would try while I was in. I never have the same issue it seems but rarely can get in. Hope for more Phillies win. Let’s play 2 today!

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    1. Don….Word Press seems to be hit and miss anymore. It still does it to me every once in awhile….asking again for a password. I really do not want to call the computer service guy again, since he said it is not my system but the issue lies with the WP site itself and our connection. My email….romus1@verizon.net…if you ever need to contact me.

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      1. Ty Ro.us used your email, to meet women. Bertha is going to text me. Let me know what she is like

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      2. Thanks for posting and thanks Steve for putting it together. Obviously, the players’ ages at their respective levels plays a big part in how excited some of these numbers make us. Ferrebus in particular is exciting as is Fererra (not on this list) but who is holding his own at CWater at 18. Nori seems to be building off of his WBC success. Heredia is a guy who has had hot streaks before but he’s still young. A couple of pitchers look good but McFarlane should be at LHV in May. One other note, Pan is back and has pitched a couple of times. I’m sure Steve P can update us on him.

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        1. For sure age matters when it comes to prospects. But this early list highlights the lack of depth in the system. All of the promising prospects are young and in the low minors. Miller is still hurt, Escobar has scuffled at Reading. Nori (age 21) is doing well at Reading but he’s not Corbin Carroll (who had 24 HRs in the minors at that same age). Unfortunately, Nori is not even Alek Thomas (who had 18 HRs at age 21).

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          1. I had no idea how well Alek Thomas played as a minor leaguer – he definitely had a more heralded minor league career than Nori has had thus far, but you really don’t know – Nori could be a much better major league player than Thomas (I can all but guarantee he won’t be a better player than Carroll who may be a burgeoning superstar and is already a bona fide star).

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      3. Beltran was an exciting international signing but had done nothing in the minors up until this year. Are you buying the breakout?

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  9. The Phillies are streaking!!! TWO in a row! Three of the last four. They won the series with the Giants. Get out the brooms.

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  10. Glad to see the bunt is back in the arsenal, it was missing for such a longtime. It doesn’t get the headlines or the sweetiepies, but it wins ballgames.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Agreed. When you’re struggling to score runs. You got guys with high SO tendencies & low OPS… time to admit the bunt may not be so bad afterall… Plus with the speed on this team… one bunt could potential move a player 2 bases with a Steal & a successful bunt.

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  11. Hoping team builds off these 3 wins. Returning from Miami 3-3 for the week would be a huge let down.
    Welcome back Murray.

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  12. I know you shouldn’t believe in luck, but Stubby promoted and the team starts playing decently again. I hope the club finds a way of keeping him when JT comes back. I’m not dissing Marchan although his .085 batting average is hard to take, he calls a good game. Even if they send back Reyes for a while the team still has backup in LF and 1st base if needed. Three catchers gives plenty of flexibility and Stubby still can run and can play other positions, and he has a positive presence in the clubhouse.

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    1. Keeping 3 catchers will be tough because the 3rd catcher will almost never catch. Not only that, most backup catchers can’t really hit that well, that’s why they’re backups. More likely than not, backup catchers will have minimal power. Assuming that the 3rd catcher will be Stubbs, he’s LH and the lineup is already LH dominant (Schwarber, Harper, Marsh, Stott, Crawford).

      The more likely scenario is that the Phillies DFA Stubbs and hope for the best.

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      1. Agreed. There is no chance and no reason for this team to carry two back-up catchers, especially with Stubbs, who, quite frankly, does not hit at a major league level. My sense is that he has now become an organizational guy and will probably move into management or coaching when it’s clear he can’t be a major leaguer anymore. I think there’s a chance he’ll forever be a Phillies guy, like Dallas Green or Milton Thompson. Ya gotta love Stubbsie, but you don’t have to keep him on the active roster.

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  13. I always wonder why on sacrifice fly, guys never do what giants center fielder did. He caught the ball almost off the ground hoping guy left early .

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  14. Wheeler with a good outing ……. Bowlan not too stellar a return, Alvarado par for the course, Stott dinger off of a lefty, Schwarber with a Golden Sombrero with 1 oakleaf cluster, Moore insurance that Marchan doesn’t have the lowest batting average on the club, and Keller 2 saves (1 by the umpire) . A WIN is a Win is a WIN, just not comfortable with more than a 1 run win!

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    1. Seems I saw some of this before. LOL Romus I added you as contact and sent a test. Let me know if you got it. Never sure what happens these days. BTW 3 days in a row I have got in. Coincides with the Phillies hot streak. Keep it going.

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  15. So who’s available to pitch tomorrow? You figure Alvarado, Bowlan, Keller, Kerkering are out tomorrow because they’ve pitched the last 2 days. So you have Shugart, Banks, Mayza, and Richards.

    Whatever happens, Painter has to get 5-6 innings, even if he gets bombed.

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      1. I think he’s working on his “sweeper” right now trying to get more 11 🕚 to 5🕔 movement on it. He has 2 holes cut in the barn, throws the high heat through the 11 and then comes back through the 5 with the swerve. Thinks he’ll be ready for the series after the Marlins …… doesn’t like the high humidity…. sez he can’t get the bite he wants.😉

        Liked by 1 person

  16. Bullpen is a mess, Alvarado looks lost and Keller looks nothing like the guy who was unhittable last year. Hopefully Duran will be back soon. Also, while he doesn’t play much, Moore is a total zero and won’t be around for much longer. There are better options at AAA, hopefully. Kemp is finally starting to get some hits down there.

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    1. During last nights game they said that Duran said he’s feeling fine and would throw today but didn’t know if he would have to go to LV for a game or would just be back in the lineup but said he thinks he should be back soon.

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      1. I saw that too but the Phillies will take it very easy with Duran. He’s probably still a week away.

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  17. Kemp is up to .290 at LHV, and seems to be playing a fair amount of 3B. At Reading, Nori is batting 3.13 and Rincon, after a slow start, has really come on and is hitting more like he did in spring training. If Rincon can continue that, we might really have something.

    As a Kemp fan, I was disappointed with his performance with the big club this spring, but asking a young player to play 1-2 times a week and expect him to be productive is just stupid.

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  18. What was the first season where all 162 games in a Phillies were televised and still exist in the archive? For example, if there was a Phillies Roku channel, could they show all 162 games of the 1977 season?

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  19. The big news of the day is that Realmuto got activated but Dylan Moore got DFAd and NOT Stubbs. So the Phillies will go with 3 catchers. For me, this is a mistake. That means that Reyes is the 4th OF and Sosa is the backup for 3B/SS/2B. Stubbs is the primary pinch runner? The 26 man roster is unbalanced.

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    1. Maybe ……. but the needle on Moore’s gauge was at rest …… whether playing or sitting.

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        1. Moore made good money in baseball, considering he was a lifetime .204 hitter. Ditto for Stubby, but anyone that can play behind the dish and can still run decent plus play other positions deserves compensation. Everyone believes they can do better, but believe me they can’t.

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  20. Just like to point out if Schwarber can accumulate 2 more consecutive K’s he will be elgible for his 1rst Silver Leaf Cluster.😊 Good we had the club mascot or we would have been no-hit! When they lay down, no-one can out play them.

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    1. Good point oldruff. Hope they can get back on that horse today and play like yesterday never happened.

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  21. Career stats:

    Player A: .213/.275/.345 for a career OPS of .619 and an OPS+ of 69

    Player B: .215/.293/.309 for a career OPS of .601 and an OPS+ of 67

    Player A is Marchan, and Plaver B is Stubbs. The conclusion: it doesn’t much matter who the backup catcher is, they both stink. Marchan is a better defender at catcher (though Stubbs isn’t bad), while Stubbs is a better baserunner and can fill in in left field.

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  22. McFarlane with another 1 inning save. He’s up to 9 innings and only 1 run allowed. I expect him back in Philly (for more than to just sit on the bench for a game) at some point his year because these journeyman arms aren’t cutting it (other than Shugart who will stick around). Any word on how Pan looks as he’s coming back from TJ? He put up a nice zero yesterday with 3 Ks at CWater as they bring him back slowly. Also, can Ferrebus catch adequately or not? He’s hitting great but he’s at DH an awful lot for a legit young prospect who needs his reps.

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  23. No doubt that Alex McFarlane has the look of a late inning reliever, but his walk rate is still at 4.8. You can get away with that if your stuff is super nasty but your career is going to be very volatile like Brad Lidge (with a career 4.3 walk rate).

    If the goal is to make Ferrebus stick at catcher, there’s no reason why Will Vierling (draft pick but 2 years older, .551 OPS) is getting more reps at catcher. This means that Ferrebus is likely ticketed for 1B/DH when he reaches the bigs.

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  24. Chris Paddack used to be a top 100 prospect and while I understand that he’s going to get chances, he’s now 30 and he’s just as bad as Taijuan Walker. He has middling stuff, his command is not great, and has almost no deception with his pitches. Outside of his rookie season (which is looking like an outlier), he’s been replacement level his entire career. The Phillies just teed off on him in the first inning.

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    1. Well, that’s going to tamper my eyebrow raising on Stott’s HR today then. In my mind… it didn’t really happen. He needs to do that against QUALITY major league pitching, and occasionally against the top tier pitching … aka what he’d see during the post season. Maybe not off a teams #1/#2… but he needs to be able to crank one off a team’s #3/#4 & fair amount of bullpen arms for me not to want look for an upgrade. He needs some pop + his contact, low SO, improve BB rates. His defense will make up for a good bit but he’s gotta pick it up. He’s fighting for his Job imo. As is Bohm …

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  25. So, yesterday Schwarber had 8 K’s in a row, today the Red’s hurlers issued 7 walks in a row, believe setting a new MLB record. Luzardo had a good day and Shugart looking like he could be useful and everyone hits. Tomorrow perhaps Nola turns in a good one.

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  26. Luzardo has righted the ship. Fingers crossed that Nola can do the same.

    Weird that it’s May, getting to close to a quarter of the way through the season, and no Phillie has a higher batting average, or more homers, or RBI, or total bases, than Mickey Moniak does.

    Also, since the Phillies gave/sold him to the Marlins for cash, Tyler Phillips has thrown 99 innings with a 2.45 ERA. Whoops!

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  28. I like that they kept Stubbs. Maybe I am in the minority but he impressed me in ST playing some LF and some 3B.

    I feel like he’s an extra coach on the bench and a guy that even if he only plays once or twice a week can still give you an excellent AB.

    The Reyes situation though (again draws my ire because young players cannot give you their best with only sporadic play). De La Cruz would be better suited in that role IMO.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The only way keeping Stubbs (who is well, well below average major leaguer and even a below average back-up catcher) on the big league even for a short time, makes sense is if they are trying to figure out whether they are going to keep him or Marchan and if they want to risk having Marchan claimed by another team – and that might be what is going on here. Otherwise, having two mediocre back-up catchers on a roster for more than just little bit of time (a month, tops) is foolish and speaks to their poor overall system depth with position players. You have to separate Stubbs the awesome guy, with Stubbs the very mediocre player (sorry, it’s true). And they have plenty of coaches, they don’t need to waste another spot on the roster with a coach-like player.

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      1. Marchan is not a mediocre catcher. He’s a mediocre hitter.

        Stubbs so far shows a real lack of judgment for challenges.

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        1. Agree with the clarification on Marchan as a catcher, but, right now, he is a bad hitter and thus, a below-average back-up (average at best), with perhaps some additional room for growth. Why you would keep him and Stubbs on the same roster when Realmuto is healthy is beyond me. Mystifying.

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        2. The only thing crazier than giving a 35 year old catcher a 3 year contract is not acquiring a capable backup as insurance against his pending injury risk.

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        3. No offense to you or Marchan, but he is not a mediocre hitter. He’s a weak hitter.

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        4. I think our challenges overall lately have been sub par. Luzardo should not be challenging anything. From memory he’s challenged 2X and wasn’t close on either one.

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  29. Looks like I will get to see Painter Thursday night. I’m pretty excited about that. Every outing is a learning experience for him to grow into what I think he may become one day which is a top of the rotation pitcher.

    Saturday you can fret about the bases loaded jams he got himself into but I was focused on how he got himself out of two of them with no damage and I believe there was a 3rd where he got out of it with minimal damage before they had to go to a an RP.

    His command still isn’t where it needs to be yet but the stuff is there and its really good. He threw a handful of really good CUs so hopefully it will get better with each appearance.

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    1. Agree completely.

      Some people here are sort of already writing Painter off (the theme is “I thought he was going to be good, but he’s getting hit around, so he’s probably not very good”) and I think that’s a huge mistake. Very few pitchers arrive on the scene as Paul Skenes has or Tim Lincecum did; dominating from day one. Most pitchers, even ones that become truly great, develop over several years, improve their command and figure out which pitches work and when. Tarik Skubal wasn’t great right away, neither was Justin Verlander or Max Scherzer or Bob Gibson (who had a negative WAR his second year in the big leagues).

      I must say that, on the whole, I’ve been very impressed by Painter and believe his future is incredibly bright due to his good command and his deep repertoire of pitches. If I had to compare him to anyone, it would probably be Verlander or Wheeler.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Someone mentioned Adam Wainwright as a good comp too and I think it is. Painter could easily become another Adam Wainwright. Painter throws a little harder than Wainwright, but people forget that for around a 5 year period, Wainwright was one of the 5 or 6 best pitchers in baseball and compiled 43 WAR over his career – he’s not quite a HOFer (in my view), but he was really freaking good and is 8th among the Cardinals’ career WAR leaders which, given that team’s storied history, is massively impressive.

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        1. I was comping Waino’s back half career to what we might expect from Nola on these final years of his contract.

          I think what you saw from Nola last night and his game before could be a lot of what you get. From what start to the next flip a coin.

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    2. There are a lot of similar parallels between Max Meyer and Andrew Painter: both first round picks, both top 50 prospects, both had TJ surgery, both right handed. You could argue that Meyer is finally putting it together at age 27. Andrew Painter is 23. It will take time for him to be who he’s supposed to be. Even if Painter is a 3/4 pitcher, there’s still value in that.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Very true. I view 3/4 as Painter’s likely floor, 2/3 as a his likely outcome and his ceiling is still an ace. I’ll take that any day! But remember how long Zack Wheeler was a 2/3 before he finally became an ace for the Phillies at age 30. I can take a while.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. DMAR….he may have to come up with an out pitch. A splitter could be on the table for him. Three years post TJ so the arm may be able to handle that pitch, though I know orgs do not want pitchers that young doing it. My neighbor’s son, is at Triple AAA Sugarland with the Astros org, and is ready to be called up and he also has had TJ, but the splitter is not what they want him to do from what I understand. Painter more than likely is prepared to make necessary adjustments. I just hope that they are fruitful.

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      1. Splitter or change-up he just needs something out of the same tunnel with velocity differential….

        And of course and it seems so obvious to say he has to keep his FB out of the middle of the plate which goes for just about every pitcher.

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  30. Has anyone gotten eyes on Spikerman at Jersey Shore? More walks than strikeouts this year, .868 OPS, appears to have 50+ stolen base potential (in 94 career minor league games, has stolen 49 and been caught 3 times)

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I used to go to Trenton a lot to see Reading back when Trenton was a Yankees AA affiliate. Since then I try to get out to LKW at least once or twice a season now. I usually wait til June to see if one of the more touted prospects from CLW gets called up.

      Waiting this year to see Wood when he gets there. I’ll add Spikerman as someone to pay attention to as well.

      Silly as it might be to develop an opinion on seeing a guy once or twice in the minors LOL.

      As it was it was only a couple of seasons ago I say Crawford Miller and Reyes at JS and thought on Crawford he wasn’t as good in CF as I would have hoped; Miller was hurt and I didn’t know it but I remember thinking hmmm he doesn’t stand out to me at the plate; and Reyes was impressive and had me thinking he could be a 4th OF in the MLB one day or right side of a platoon.

      I mean we watched Casty for how many seasons making $20 million so its not a stretch to see certain MiLB prospects and think could he give that type of production for a lot less $$$.

      Liked by 1 person

  31. Catch, Dmar, Guru ……… give you guys all a “like” on the Painter discussion and liked the comparison to Wheeler who is the complete “picher”. I thought I saw a little of that in Painter his last outing. Needs to become more economical with his pitches and a few need some work, but as you all pointed out he’s 23. I think a 2/3 is his destiny.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. If Painter becomes a 2/3 I would be ecstatic about that. Those type of pitchers don’t grow on trees. 2/3 pitchers still command 20M+ per year.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. He has that type of talent. He absolutely could still turn into that type of player, even coming off the TJ surgery.

        Liked by 1 person

  32. People tend to get overly excited about raw talent and the “Bigs” and physical calamities along the way tend to leverage those expectations down to more realistic levels.

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  33. ESPN gave grades after the 1st month of the season and to nobody’s surprise, the Phillies got an F. They mentioned that Harper is the worst defensive 1B in baseball. Not only that, they mentioned that Crawford hasn’t looked good in CF (which is true). However, I didn’t even know how bad Crawford was until I saw he had -0.7 dWar!!! We’re barely over 20% of the season! Crawford will have to be moved to RF next season.

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    1. We saw an elite defender in CF when the Cubs ripped the Phillies: PCA. PCA has elite speed, gets to a boatload of balls and has an arm to stop runners in their tracks. PCA’s dWar is already 1.2!

      Seems that the Phillies have been searching forever for the next Shane Victorino….

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  34. Janson Junk goes for the Marlins tonight. What a great name for a Pitcher.

    “Here comes the windup from Junk”

    ”Junk Strikes him out”

    “Junk readies/ Junk sets, the windup”

    lol

    Liked by 2 people

  35. Tarik Skubal will be undergoing surgery and will be out 2-3 months. So who’s going to line up and give him $375M+ this offseason?

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Surprised you are back already. Don told me you rode “Spirit” to the derby and were thumbing 👍back ……. did you hit the big one?

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      2. rocco…..just loose bodies in his left elbow. Go in take them out and then he rehabs. So need for the Phillies to give up on Nola so early in his contract.

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    2. I’ve no idea what the Tigers were offering but I’m sure it was plenty. What I am surer of is that with that contract and a good financial plan neither he his kids or his grandkids would need to worry about finances.

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      1. They ask Lee as I recall about the pressure of playing in a Major. He said something like, “that’s not pressure, having a $20 bet on a hole and $5 in your pocket, ……. that’s pressure”!

        Liked by 1 person

  38. Good news, Jhoan Duran will be activated and available for tomorrow’s game.

    Lo and behold, Nola threw more knucklecurves than fastballs and had no choice but to lean more into his changeup and it worked. That’s the only he can survive in the bigs.

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    1. That is why I comped him to Wainwright. That’s almost all he threw those last few years of his extension.

      He threw it so much that when he did dot an 88-90 MPH FB on a corner it probably looked like 95.

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        1. Have any Phillies pitchers during his tenure received less run support than he has. Seems like run support for his starts has been traditionally sparse.

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            2. Romus ….. couldn’t find the stat RS/9 for him, but found a discussion where they were discussing the lack thereof of run support for him over the past 4 years (discussion 2025). The conclusion was that if he had AVERAGE league run support over those 4 years he would have accumulated 15 more wins. Speculative as no stats were included, but it is believable to me.

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      2. Adam Wainwright is a Cardinal legend, but he was replacement level from age 33-38. Coincidentally, Nola’s final year of his deal is his age 37/38 season. Let’s hope that Nola will deliver more WAR to the Phillies than Wainwright did for the Cardinals.

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  39. What is Bryan Rincon’s ceiling at this point? He is currently white-hot in Reading after having a decent showing in spring training, but not really hitting much any prior year. I know the defense is graded very well.

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    2. ive heard some brayan rocchio comps. previously his bat was the issue, and he seemed like the standard 2010s phillies prospect like galvis and the like. but the bat coming around is huge and its not crazy to think its real. hes still 22 so its very possible he got legitimately better with the bat and it isnt a fluke. hes definitely increased his value a ton in a month though.

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    3. His glove/arm is legit so it all comes down to his bat. He’s hitting now and he’s still only 22 but hard to say what his ceiling will be if he’s only started hitting well this season. I think if he ends the year at around .280, there could be something there. But he’ll need to prove it again at Lehigh.

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      1. I’m hoping Rincon is Larry Bowa with of course more power.

        I know he’s trying , but Turner doesn’t cut it anymore at short he’s certainly no J-Roll.

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        1. I love Jimmy, but by age 30 he was average (although he did have one good year at age 35). Jimmy still had his glove though.

          Trea had an excellent year last season at age 31/32 but he has declined a lot this year. And even though his range is still decent, his glove has declined too. There’s still time for Trea to bounce back though.

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        2. Turners ABs are so frustrating anymore. The constant flailing at pitches away and way off the plate are painful to watch. Even the Double he pulled last night he was so far out in front of it.

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          1. It’s funny, I’ve never seen a guy who is good enough to lead the league in hitting (twice!) so frequently look bad on pitches. He also is crazy variable in the field. It’s weird but after over 3 seasons, I’m still not sure what to make of Trea Turner. How is that even possible?

            As for Harper, my God, what a wonderful player. One of my favorite players to watch of all-time and when he gets hot, he can be hot for the better part of an entire season – it must be what it was like to watch a guy like Williams or Musial (or Paul Molitor at his peak) – except those guys were hot their entire careers.

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          2. What’s so frustrating with Turner is the man obviously has talent. If he’s playing straight up in the infield and the ball is hit right at him, he usually makes the play, when he has to move usually there’s trouble.

            Non-expert here. What do I know? At the plate he should move up in the box. Late breaking pitches he flails away at but I’ sure Kevin Long knows more than me.

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  40. Otto Kemp day today @ Coca Cola Park….Pigs win 7-5, Otto has 2 hr’s & 7 rbi’s

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  41. Escobar was a triple shy of the cycle, 2 doubles, HR, 4-5 on the day in what was a wild one, as Reading was down 8-2 in the 4th and won 14-12.

    Liked by 1 person

    2. The Phillies need Escobar (or Rincon) to develop so that they can take 2B in the future. Stott will be a FA in 2028 at age 30 and his agent is Scott Boras. Outside of his 2023 season (which is looking like an outlier), Stott has just been average.

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    1. That’s a fun list to peruse. Amazing to me how many of those guys are still actually playing….

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    2. Out of all the names – Ben Brown the one.. technically Moniak, but you’d have to look at his splits. Little deceiving … possible Machin in the minors and Abel at the MLB level. Even Tait is disappointing at High A ball.

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    3. I love your work and I think articles like this are so much fun. Especially the foreign league/independent ball ones. Its fun to see old names stll hanging around.

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    1. Yeah, it seems to be a thing. It’s when the guys on the field go from thinking “we’ll snap out of it” to thinking “holy God, this is spiraling out of control, I may lose my spot, we need get this going RIGHT NOW!” Fear is a good motivator.

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    2. Bryson Stott, Marsh and Crawford have played pretty much everyday since Rob Thomson got fired. I don’t think that’s an unusual occurrence.

      Like Bryce Harper said about Bryson Stott , after yesterday’s game, “Bryson is an everyday player so you play him everyday”. That goes for Marsh and Crawford too. Nothing kills a young player with talent faster than sitting on the bench.

      Now Bryson’s starting to come out his slump. Marsh is on fire at the plate and Crawford is improving everyday in CF. That is despite lefties and righties on the mound.

      Mattingly , being a lefty hitter himself understands you can’t hit lefties until you face them.

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      2. We need to separate Marsh from Bohm and Stott – since around May of last year, Marsh has been one hell of a player and might be developing into a minor star now. Marsh’s OPS since May 1 of 2025 is .837 – he’s become a really good player, especially as a left fielder.

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    2. The opening line of the article is literally, “Slow and steady…”

      But I feel ya. I’d like to see how he does against some better hitters. He needs to be challenged a little more.

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      1. If you read Winkelman, I’m not sure what the rush to promote Gage would is just yet. This is problematic unless we plan to have him be a platoon arm in the BP only: “It was another good week for Gage Wood, but he gave up his first home run of the season. Something to watch is that he is allowing a .912 OPS to LHB and .361 OPS to RHB.” Maybe it’s small sample size and he’s not that bad against lefties, but a .912 OPS against Low-A lefties is not a great stat.

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        2. I hear you, probably lying needs to develop that change up for lab, but he is a college guy in low a, I hope it is just so they can oversee him in Clearwater as he comes back from last year’s injury. A college first round pick i would think would atleast start in high a

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  47. The Phillies blew it again! They could have gotten Jordan Romano for the league minimum. Before you jump all over me, I’m only kidding. Yet, I hope he does well in his new surroundings.

    In spring training, I got to see the Phillies in West Palm Beach versus the Nats and in Jupiter against the Marlins. The guys who looked really good were McFarlane, Shugart, and Rincon.

    After all his troubles in the minors, Rincon was really ripping the ball albeit a long foul ball, a shot caught at the wall, and a line drive gap shot for a double. It would be nice if he develops.

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    1. If Rincon keeps doing what he has done in the last month….it may be the first time I ever saw a prospect with such poor lower level stats improve against 2A pitching.

      I have seen the opposite many times….going up the rung a player gets to face better pitching and his overall stats level off or slightly decline.

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    2. If Rincon keeps doing what he has done in the last month….it may be the first time I ever saw a prospect with such poor lower level stats improve against 2A pitching.

      I have seen the opposite many times….going up the rung a player gets to face better pitching and his overall stats level off or slightly decline.

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    3. I hear you! The two biggest eye openers for me during ST were Macfarlane (the pure stuff is nasty!) and Rincon, who punished the ball in ST. It seems to me like Rincon filled out and spent a hell of a lot of time in the weight room. He went from a virtual non-hitter to a guy who both takes walks and hits for legitimate power and, remember, he was drafted primarily for his glove so, suddenly, he’s an exciting prospect.

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  49. Between being busy and just beaten down by the start to the season haven’t posted in a while. But a couple notes in relation to the recent surge:

    The Reyes experiment needs to end (for the time being). Either he’s a guy that can’t adjust to partial play time, or he can’t currently handle big league pitching. Either way, he needs to go back down because he’s not hitting and we lose defensive value when he’s on the field. Kemp should be back up because at least he can play third, too.

    Speaking of third, this start from Bohm is BRUTAL. Our offense against lefties is anemic, in large part because we have so few actually good right-handed hitters. Garcia has been heating up, and Sosa has been good as usual which helps. But Reyes and Bohm have been awful, and JT has just been okay, which just puts more pressure on our lefties in already tough match-ups.

    But, thankfully, the Phillies have their (mostly) unsung hero… Brandon Marsh. His 3 hits against lefties today brought his season average against them up to .259, and his overall batting average to .336 for the year. Obviously he won’t stay that high forever. But after dramatically cutting his strikeout rate last year, he’s done so AGAIN so far this year. If he keeps it below 22%, we may need to be talking about an (modest) extension rather than a replacement.

    Oh, also nice to see Harper look like he’s hungry and Stott go on a nice little tear.

    Liked by 1 person

  50. I may be the last phillies fan who has held on to Kemp stock, but I believe in the guy and I think he should be playing 3rd every day. Hes hit at every level and really only floundered when the was forced into LF AND forced into a spot where he barely played so when he did he felt enormous pressure knowing he had to show out because he likely wont be in the lineup the next day.

    He’d be an improvement over Bohm with the bat right now. I really think keeping him in the infield and giving him regular at bats would make him a pretty solid player. He could not be worse than Bohm

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    1. Looks like someone besides Bohm is going to be playing 3b for the Phillies next year. I really like Kemp’s make up, but he’s got some rough edges to his game at 3b and seeing as he’s not playing there is not a ringing endorsement by the front office.

      I still think there’s still a thought that either Aiden Miller plays there next year, if he recovers from back issues. Sosa fills in for a year, not ideal in my opinion, or they go to the trade market. I like Aroon Escobar in Reading, but I don’t know if he will be ready yet.

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      1. Edmundo Sosa is a FA and likely won’t be back. I think Sosa’s backup role will be filled by Christian Cairo, who’s at Lehigh.

        If Miller is close, then a stopgap at 3B is possible like Carter Kieboom who’s actually not doing that bad at Lehigh.

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  51. Also, what on earth is Macfarlane doing in AA still. I wonder if they would ever consider jumping him from AA to the bigs. That is nasty stuff and hes not too young, i dont want to waste him in the minors much longer

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    1. I never understand why people want to rush prospects so much – my guess is that he is still there for a reason or reasons. If he keeps it up they will promote him in a reasonable time frame. We shouldn’t worry about that. He’s not going to die on the vine in AA.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Braves for some reason like to get their prospects up to the majors in a hurry…especially pitchers….and then they flame out or get injured. Better to bring them along at a comfortable pace, especially pitchers. McFarlane should make his next stop at LHV…which I assume will be later this summer.

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      1. Braves rush their pitchers to save money. Strider is on a team friendly deal, 37 year old Sale is basically going on short term deals, Lopez was a converted reliever. The payroll for the Braves starting staff (including JR Ritchie) is around $56M. The Phillies? It’s over $100M (including Taijuan Walker).

        The Braves didn’t want to pay Max Fried when he became a FA.

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