The Phils are in the middle of a three game set with Colorado that closes tomorrow night, and is followed by a five game series with the Mets that lasts through Monday. That’s 20% more potentially very bad baseball than the schedule makers intended. I hope the town can survive.

Discuss.

Marlins and Dodgers this week, starting Tuesday. The Phillies should probably trade for Yasiel Puig or Giancarlo Stanton. Or both, right? Howard for Puig because The Dodgers have plenty of money to pay Howard, and Brown for Stanton because, uh, Brown will be cheaper in the next couple years and The Marlins don’t have any money to pay players. They need to save their money to make free agent deals with weak no-trade clauses.

Discuss.

I forgot to post this Monday. Talk about Mike Trout, folks. He only went 1-5 last night. What a terrible disappointment he is to his family and friends. SHAME!

Discuss.

The Phils have two tonight at home versus Toronto, then two in Toronto, Wednesday and Thursday. Former Phillies’ LHP J.A. Happ on the hill tonight for Toronto for his first start of the year. After being sent to Houston in the Roy Oswalt deal, Happ wound up in Toronto as part of the Brandon Lyon trade. I guess you call that the Brandon Lyon trade, not the J.A. Happ trade.

It’s been pointed out to me a couple times on Twitter today that Jonathan Villar, who also went to Houston in the Oswalt trade, has five home runs this year for Houston. So that’s fun. Anthony Gose, who was traded with Villar and Happ, then flipped to Toronto for Brett Wallace, is also on Toronto’s big league roster right now, but he’s appeared in only a handful of games all year as he’s split his time between TOR and AAA Buffalo.

Anyway, it’s still not been long enough to evaluate that Oswalt trade properly, but I’d say it was worth it to contend for the WS in 2010, unless Villar keeps up a 30 HR pace in 2014 and plays like an all-star for years to come.

Discuss.

So it’s one of those weeks where the Phillies have a four-game set on the West Coast, and none of them are day games. Sleep is overrated, folks.

Discuss.

Here’s your general discussion for all things Phillies. I want to talk about center field.

Ben Revere has been out of the lineup for four straight games now, dating back to the day after he made this remarkable catch against Milwaukee on Thursday. Tony Gwynn Jr. Remains in the lineup for tonight’s game. Seems like either Ryne’s rolling with the hot bat right now, or Revere’s more dinged up than the club’s letting on. So who’s the better choice, anyway? Continue reading General Discussion – Week of 4-14-2014 – Tony Gwynn vs. Ben Revere Edition →

With today’s rain-out in Philadelphia, the big club will need its fifth starter on Saturday, a day earlier than anticipated. Someone other than the current four starters was going to have to make a start this coming Sunday anyway, and with David Buchanan scheduled to pitch tomorrow, what looked to be a fairly simple decision has a new wrinkle. Buchanan would either need to take this MLB start on Saturday on short rest, whether by pitching just a couple innings Tuesday (or Wednesday/Thursday perhaps, in lieu of what might otherwise be his pre-start bullpen session), or they will need to use someone else.

Speculation in the beat/blog world is that Jonathan Pettibone could be used on long rest, (he pitched yesterday). That’s not a bad plan, as it also negates the need for a 40-man move. Alternately, you could see a bullpen game started by Jeff Manship, or least likely, IMO, someone like LVH’s Greg Smith, who is scheduled to be on the hill today, could be used for a spot start. Smith is unlikely to be claimed off of waivers, so getting him back to Lehigh Valley should not be an issue, though you would need to waive someone like Tyson Gillies or 60-day DL Ethan Martin to make it happen.

Don’t discount the possibility that they choose to use Kyle Kendrick on short rest and Buchanan on Sunday as planned. Seems unlikely, but if they don’t believe Pettibone is ready to come back from his shoulder issue, and don’t want to mess with Buchanan’s routine prior to his big league debut, it could make sense. Kendrick’s been a fungible arm in the past, operating as a swingman for most of 2011-2012. Again, unlikely, but I could see it.

Discuss.