The Phillies went 4-3 last week. They won the series opener against Milwaukee, then dropped three in a row. They followed that with a series sweep of the Rockies over the weekend.
Now, for an even tougher week as the Phillies go on the road to Chicago for a four-game series against the Cubs and Milwaukee for three. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of May 20, 2019
The Phillies went 4-2 last week. They won 3-game series from the Cardinals and Royals. Perhaps one concerning factor is that they have lost the first game in seven of their last eight series. “You can’t sweep a series if you don’t win the first game”, Danny Ozark, I think. Or, maybe Larry Andersen.
Among their 4 wins were – Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of May 13, 2019
The Phillies went 3-2 last week. They opened with an unfortunate split with the Tigers when they ran into a hot pitcher in Spencer Turnbull who had given up one earned run in his previous two starts. That happens. The second loss was a particularly brutal loss on Saturday to the Nationals. Three unearned runs on errors by pitchers (guess they didn’t take spring PFPs seriously enough). Seven runs by the bullpen. That happens, too, but it shouldn’t happen to a team with playoff aspirations. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of May 6, 2019
The week started poorly with two bad losses to the Mets (1-5 and 0-9). They rebounded to win the final game of the series (6-0), but then came home to drop the first game of a four-game series with the woeful Marlins (1-3). (That’s 2 total runs in 3 losses.) They bounced back again with 3 consecutive wins. They got great pitching in games two and four from Jerad Eickhoff (seven, shutout inning in a 4-0 win) and Zach Eflin (complete game, 5-1 win). Jake Arrieta battled and survived another bullpen implosion in Saturday’s 12-9 win.
The Phillies played losing ball last week, winning 2 of 3 from the Mets, but finding a way to drop 3 of 4 to a Rockies team that started the series 6-12. The pitching in Colorado wasn’t too bad, they held the Rockies to under 5 runs per game but the vaunted Phillies line up averaged just 2 runs per game in their losses. That’s unacceptable.
The Phillies played .500 ball last week, dropping 2 of 3 to the Nationals at CBP and winning 2 of 3 at Miami. One major concern here might be the double digit runs they gave up in all three losses. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of April 15, 2019
The Phillies picked up another series win and are leading the National League East Division by a half game with a 6-2 record. They have an important 3-game series with the Nationals before going on the road for a 3-game set in Miami. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of April 8, 2019
The Phillies began their 2019 season with an opening day win on Thursday. They followed that with a second-game win on Saturday. As I type this, they are tied with the Braves on Sunday Night Baseball. So far, the Phillies have run out the same 8 players, in the same defensive positions, and in the same slots in the batting order all three games. Bet that hardly happened last year. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of April 1, 2019
The Phillies made enough roster moves to make their opening day roster apparent. It looks like the Phillies will go to war with a pitching staff that includes – Aaron Nola, Nick Pivetta, Jake Arrieta, Zach Eflin, Vince Velasquez as starters and Jose Alvarez, Seranthony Dominguez, Adam Morgan, Hector Neris, Pat Neshek, Juan Nicasio, Edubray Ramos, David Robertson in the bullpen; J.T. Realmuto and Andrew Knapp as catchers; Rhys Hoskins, Cesar Hernandez, Jean Segura, Maikel Franco, Scott Kingery as the infielders; and Andrew McCutchen, Odubel Herrera, Bryce Harper, Aaron Altherr, Nick Williams as the outfielders.
Thirty players are still on the ST roster. Tommy Hunter and Roman Quinn will likely start the season on the IL. Rob Brantly and Sean Rodriguez are probably headed to Lehigh Valley. And, I can’t guess what their plans are for Josh Martin.
By Tuesday there could be as many as 195 players in minor league camp – 109 pitchers, 20 catchers, 41 infielders, and 25 outfielders. It’s also possible that a few players have already been sent to the Dominican Academy for XST there.
The 40-man roster stands at 40, the entire organization stands at 349.
Major League Baseball announced several changes to the Arizona Fall League. The two that are of the most interest involving prospects are –
This is the Phuture Phillies Open Discussion for Phillies and other baseball topics that are not about some mythical Trout trade or his far off free agency.
Key Dates:
The rosters and lists are up to date. (meh)
The Phillies made their a few more roster moves during the week. They optioned RHP Enyel De Los Santos and Edgar Garcia, LHP Ranger Suarez and Austin Davis, and 3B Mitch Walding to Lehigh Valley; reassigned LHP Cole Irvin and Tyler Gilbert minor league camp; and released 2B Emmanuel Marrero, 1B Quincy Nieporte, RHP Victor Sobil, 3B Jesus Henriquez, and 1B Edwin Rodriguez.
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