It’s been over a week since my last report. I’ll go into why later and provide an updated list of the players I’ve seen at the Complex. This list has grown to a lot more than the 36 players I reported last time. But, first yesterday’s observations. (This could be a long one.) (It is long. Look how late it is for a Tuesday report. Sorry.) Continue reading Minor League Spring Training 2021, (4/13/21)
Category Archives: 01. Site Features
Open Discussion: Week of April 11, 2021
The Phillies are 5-3 overall, 2-3 this week before tonight’s series finale against the Braves. I’ll probably be in bed before the game is over, so I thought I would get this ready to publish around 1:00AM.
In the National League the Phillies are sitting pretty much middle of the pack offensively .242/.321/.373/.694 (5th/7th/9th/7th), 12th with an 8.14% BB%, 14th with a 28.47% K%, and 9th with 3.44 runs per game.
Their pitching is a little better. They are tenth in the NL with a 9.63 K/9, 4th lowest with a 3.25 BB/9, 8th with a 3.75 ERA. They have 2 saves in 2 save opportunities.
Minor League Spring Training 2021, (4/5/21)
Still riding the euphoric high from the Phillies’sweep of the Braves, I went to the Complex. I got there around 10:00 PM. Two busses were parked in the parking lot. Groups were already on the back fields (Carlton and Roberts). Players were drifting onto Schmidt and Ashburn. Continue reading Minor League Spring Training 2021, (4/5/21)
Open Discussion: Week of April 4, 2021
Real baseball has returned. And, what Phillies fan could ask for any better start to the season than what transpired in chilly Philadelphia the past 4 days.
Minor League Spring Training 2021, (4/3/21)
Against my better judgement, I drove over to the Complex after my morning “run”. I pulled up about 10:37 AM and saw a couple buses discharging players at the entrance to the main, secured parking lot. It’s reserved for BayCare Ballpark employees year-round and major league players and staff during spring training. Continue reading Minor League Spring Training 2021, (4/3/21)
2021 Opening Day Prognostications
It’s Opening Day. It’s poring down here, and I have to postpone my morning “run”. So, let’s open up a thread for your prognostications. Whole numbers only, please. Let’s get started. Continue reading 2021 Opening Day Prognostications
Open Discussion: Week of March 28, 2021
Finally. We’ve reached the final days before real baseball. The Phillies have one more Grapefruit League game. Then they can make the final decision remaining. Centerfield. Which, of course, means that all other roster moves have been made.
The rotation is as we expected for some time now – Nola, Wheeler, Eflin, Moore, and Anderson. (1-5)
The bullpen is not completely as we expected – Alvarado, Bradley, Brogdon, Coonrod, Hale, Kintzler, Neris, and Velasquez. I’m sure that carrying only one LHP in the bullpen is a surprise. Hale and Velasquez are also probably surprises. (6-13)
The non-inclusion of Spencer Howard is also bewildering. Their plan for his use as a reliever this season, but doing so at the Alternate Site is equally confusing.
The catchers are Realmuto and Knapp. (14-15)
The infield is Hoskins, Segura, Gregorius, and Bohm. No surprise. Miller and Torreyes are the utility infielders. Torreyes is a surprise to everyone but me apparently. As soon as Maton and Chatham were optioned, it seemed unlikely that a utility guy who was playing in the outfield exclusively and wasn’t hitting at all would be kept. Although, I must admit that his option surprised me. (16-21)
The corner outfielders are McCutchen and Harper. Joyce is a bench outfielder. That leaves Quinn, Haseley, and Herrera vying for the last two spots on the 26-man roster. Haseley was the early front runner but sustained a development-robbing injury that may have slowed his readiness for opening day. Quinn got food poisoning. Of course. But, at least it’s not some 6-week injury. Herrera got off to a quick start and had a good day at the plate this weekend. I thought Quinn had won the position going into the weekend. (22-26)
Kintzler, Torreyes, and Joyce will require transactions to get them on the 40-man rosters. Adding Herrera would require a fourth.
The Phillies released C.J. Chatham last night. That creates an opening on the 40-man roster and in the Alternate Training Site(28-player limit). Two-three more such moves will balance the roster.
The trades I hinted at last week were shelved for now. Maybe later. Probably not.
The additions of Kintzler and Joyce will raise my estimates by about $4.5M minus the two minimum salaries they bump off the roster. ($3M + $1.5M – (2 x $570.5K))
The Phillies’ running payroll is still $190,838,962.
The Phillies’ salary against the competitive balance tax is still $202,201,782.
The Phillies’ margin under the CBT threshold of $210M is still $7,798,218. (see spreadsheet)
This is the Phuture Phillies Open Discussion for Phillies and other baseball topics.
Key Dates:
- April 1, 2021 – Phillies’ home opener v. Braves
- April 2021 – ST for Double-A and Single-A begins
- May 2021 – Opening day for Double-A and Single-A
- June 25, 2021 – Close of the 2020 international signing period
- July 11-13, 2021 – 2021 Amateur Draft
- October 2, 2021 – Phillies clinch a playoff berth in Miami
For those of you who track the minor leaguers, there is a DSL transaction below. Cesar Mata was released. He had been on the RL for quite some time. The far right column in the Organization’s Rosters below contains the players who are not included in the organization this season. I expect they’ll be released at some point. Most are on the RL.
The rosters and lists are up to date as of March 28th … 330 players in the org
- organization’s rosters (3/28)
- organization’s injury list (3/28), as current as possible, MLB closed Updates
- organization’s Rule 5 eligibility (3/28) (includes player info, assignments, …)
Transactions (newest transactions are in bold print)
3/28/2021 – Phillies released INF C.J. Chatham
3/28/2021 – Phillies optioned INF/OF Scott Kingery to MiLB camp
3/28/2021 – Phillies optioned C Rafael Marchan to MiLB camp
3/28/2021 – Phillies optioned LHP JoJo Romero to MiLB camp
3/28/2021 – Phillies reassigned C Rodolfo Duran to MiLB camp
3/28/2021 – Phillies reassigned OF Travis Jankowski to MiLB camp
3/28/2021 – Phillies released C Christian Bethancourt
3/27/2021 – Phillies released RHP Michael Ynoa
3/26/2021 – Phillies optioned RHP Spencer Howard to Alternate Training Site
3/26/2021 – Phillies placed OF Simon Muzziotti on the Restricted List
3/26/2021 – Phillies released LHP Tony Watson
3/25/2021 – Phillies released RHP Hector Rondon
3/25/2021 – Phillies released RHP Ivan Nova
3/24/2021 – DSL Phillies White released OF Cesar Mata
3/24/2021 – Phillies released C Jeff Mathis
3/24/2021 – Phillies optioned LHP Ranger Suarez Alternate Training Site
3/24/2021 – Phillies optioned OF Mickey Moniak Alternate Training Site
3/22/2021 – Phillies optioned RHP Ramon Rosso Alternate Training Site
3/22/2021 – Phillies reassigned RHP Brian Mitchell Alternate Training Site
3/22/2021 – Phillies reassigned RHP Michael Ynoa Alternate Training Site
Open Discussion: Week of March 21, 2021
The Phillies are 9-10-1 through 20 Grapefruit League games. Injuries to key players are still a concern, but the Phillies must make some important personnel and roster decisions this week. With only eight Grapefruit League games remaining and ten days until their season opener, these decisions and the resultant playing time meted out will finally give us an idea of the likely opening day roster.
Open Discussion: Week of March 14, 2021
The Phillies are 7-6-1 through 14 Grapefruit League continues. They are in the midst of a three-game winning streak. But, the focus right now is on the injuries to some key players.
Phuture Phillies 