OT: 2018 Phillies Thread.....
- Thread starter Grant Green
- Start date
How much money are the Phillies letting Hunter steal from them to give away games
Say what you want about the pitching, they still had 1st and 3rd last inn and 1st and 2nd no out while the big inning was still going on and got nothing. I know 5 runs should beat BAL but their situational hitting is not good. 15 hits now and five runs.
sounded like a Phillies home game. I enjoyed hearing a few E-A-G-L-E-S cheers.
a relative of mine was in attendance. As Hunter was taking his warmup pitches, I texted the relative "Hunter can give up runs quickly." He lived up to my claim on his very first pitch.
Seranthony looked good closing out the game.
A couple of strange defensive plays by the Os. The 3rd baseman made a great play early, and then made a terrible throw on the infield grounder. Later, the 2nd baseman, somehow, let the popup drop for a hit. Plays that would drive me crazy if I had paid money for tix, or was rooting for the team.
a relative of mine was in attendance. As Hunter was taking his warmup pitches, I texted the relative "Hunter can give up runs quickly." He lived up to my claim on his very first pitch.
Seranthony looked good closing out the game.
A couple of strange defensive plays by the Os. The 3rd baseman made a great play early, and then made a terrible throw on the infield grounder. Later, the 2nd baseman, somehow, let the popup drop for a hit. Plays that would drive me crazy if I had paid money for tix, or was rooting for the team.
Phils take sole possession of 1st, as the Braves were off today. The Phils have a 1/2 game lead on the Braves.
On a team full of puzzles, I haven't a clue what is going on with Altherr. In the past, you could count on his offense, but unfortunately he kept getting injured. This season, he's overcome the injury bug, but his offense has disappeared.
Not that it explains it early, but he’s in a tough spot now. His timing is bad and it’s next to impossible to find that getting a spot start here and there and pinch hitting. The best thing would be for the Phils to send him out and get him 50 AB’s over 2 weeks and see where he is. Not sure if he has options at this stage but he’s not helping them and they aren’t helping him. He looks totally befuddled, like he is searching for the door in the dark. Their problem is they don’t really have another outfielder unless they juggle Scottie around when JP comes back eventually. At some point, you can’t run him out there.
I have to say, this has been the most crazy season in a LONG time. After watching them absolutely stink for the month of March every day,I had them for 71-73 wins. Raise your hand if you saw Nola and Eflin being this good or Seranthony turning into a hammer. Where would they be without Seranthony. They have won a ton of 1 run games which is a dangerous path to take. That always seems to even out long term. Offensively, they are offensive. I don’t have a clue what’s coming in the second half but they have already gone to LA, SF, Wrigley, and played the Yanks. They have to play Boston but they don’t have too many Bermuda triangles after the break on the road. Going to be really interesting.
Better to win a bunch of 1 run games @mrtailgate than loose them. The orioles are the kings of 1 run losses this year.
I did not. When he was drafted in 2014, the projections were that he might become a #3 or at best a #2 pitcher. Now look at him.
For kicks, I went back and checked the 2014 draft. Here's how it went leading up to the #7 pick, which the Phils used to select Nola:
#1 - Brady Aiken (Astros) -- what a mess. After a physical, they reduced his bonus offer from 6.5 mill to 5 mill. He refused to sign, went to IMG, injured his arm more in the 1st inning he pitched for IMG, and underwent Tommy John surgery. The Indians picked him 17th in the 2015 draft, gave him a 2.5 mill bonus, and he's yet to make the majors
#2 Tyler Kolek (Marlins) - his first two years in the minors were underwhelming, and he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016. He only pitched 3 minor league games in the minors in 2017, and he's yet to make the majors
#3 Carlos Rodon (White Sox) - he made it to the bigs in 2015, and finished the year 9-6. He went 9-10 in the bigs in 2016. He missed most of the 2017 season due to injury, and started this season on the 60-day disabled list
#4 Kyle Schwarber (Cubs) - a catcher/outfielder, he blasted thru the minors, making his big-league debut in June 2015. He ended up having a terrific postseason. Alas, in the 2nd or 3rd game of the 2016 season, he tore his ACL and LCL, and missed the rest of the regular season. He was made active for the World Series, and while he could only DH or pinch hitter, but batted .412 as the Cubs won the Series. Last year, he ended up being demoted to AAA for a month, and batted .211 for the season
#5 Nick Gordon (Twins) - a top high school SS, he's progressed to AAA this season
#6 Alex Jackson (Mariners) - a high school catcher, he's been slowly making his way up in the minors. He was traded to the Braves after the 2016 season. He's currently playing AA ball for them.
While Schwarber did have some success in 2015 and in the 2016 postseason, if you were to review the top 7 picks at this point, I think most would conclude that Nola was the best pick. Only time will tell if baseball analysts will feel the same in 10 years.
I recall all the draft 'experts' noting that Nola was the clearly the prospect closest to the big leagues. Noting he had the highest floor, but maybe not the highest ceiling. But, agree that I don't think many saw this year's version of Nola. About time a 1st round pick by the Phils turns out positive. Not much luck during the down years.
Even with Machado I don't think the Phils will be favored to win the WS, nor should they be. If they make a deal for the guy they should be prepared to go all in during the off season and sign him to a mega deal. Or course it would depend upon what others offer and where Machado feels comfortable playing. Making a deal, giving up prospects, not winning the WS then not making a serious effort to keep Machado would be crazy. If they aren't committed to paying the guy then any deal would be senseless.
Thanks Tom for the excellent recap. Shows you how fickle the draft is. We all remember the reports of Nola being advanced but the ceiling has been eye opening. What has been amazing to me are the K’s. His velo is a couple extra ticks as he has matured as well. He always had the flavor of the day, mound demeanor. But now it’s swinging misses. Curious if he would have gone as high now given the emphasis on swings and misses. Never understood how stand and stare was really any worse than swinging misses. He is almost a throwback to some extent.
Not a Machado fan, yes he has matured some after getting married. In spite of him having a career year, don't want to see the Phillies forfeit the farm for a temporary plug in. Too many servicable prospects to give up on. We were told to trust the process and now on the brink of success you panic and give away too much for what. Makes as much sense as Santana and Hunter.
And 1 night later, he gets a nice hit with men on base, to drive in the 1st run.
of the great Phils teams of the late '00s and early '10s, he was an absolute fan favorite. He hustled and excelled in every part of the game. I thought he was well on his way to a place in the Baseball HOF, though the leg injuries he suffered may well keep him out of the Hall.
The list of highlights he made as a Phil is endless.
In the words of the late Harry Kalas, "Chase Utley, you are the man."
A foot away from a two run homer turned into an out at the plate and nothing for the inning. Nice turn of events.
He'll get a lot of consideration. Whether or not he makes the HOF remains to be seen. I'd disagree with your contention that he's nowhere close to a hall of famer. CLICK HERE for an analysis of his Hall chances
mixed, though I don't feel it's all his fault.
he started off with a hot bat, but as often happens with rookies, the league caught up to him/his bat really cooled off. He's hit .263 over the last month, but that's only raised his average to .233. He's really struggled against Lefties, as he's only hitting .179 against them.
the bigger problem he has is a fielding position. His best position is 2nd. Unfortunately for him, Hernandez has finally been healthy this season, and also finally lived up to the projections for him coming out of the minors. As a result, Kingery has played all over the field:
2B - 4
3B - 10
SS - 66
LF - 4
RF - 3
Crawford's injury, and Franco's so-so performance earlier, has provided Kingery with a lot of playing time.
While the hope was that Phils would resolve a lot of questions about the lineup this season, I'm still not sure what will happen with Kingery. He can play 3B from a defensive standpoint, but you need a better bat from there than he's shown from that position. Crawford is a better defensive SS, but did not show a lot with the bat before his injury. When Crawford returns (I think that's near the end of July), I think those two would split SS after Crawford did a rehab in the minors. If the Phils were to land Machado, i think that Kingery would be the player who would be most impacted, as Machado would man SS pretty much every day. As for 2nd, there's very little justification for sitting Hernandez and playing Kingery, unless it's to give Hernandez a day off.
He's getting enough ABs to justify his not still being down on the farm.
Franco goes yard for a solo HR in the top of the 9th, to put the Phils up 2-0. Nice to get an insurance run.
Good grief. Knapp with another baserunning blunder for the 3rd out in the top of the 9th. He hit a single that the RF made a nice play on, and threw a nice ball to 2nd. Unfortunately, Knapp went too far past 1st, and got thrown out while going back to 1st. So instead of 1st & 3rd with 2 outs, the inning is over. @Relayer, he just doesn't seem to have learned the basic rules of baseball.
Ha, I was thinking the same. I'm sure Gabe will defend him again in the post-game.
As long as he has a conversation in private, I’m ok with public support.
I’d just like to know what he thought he was doing. These base running gaffes have been some of the worst I’ve seen absent simply forgetting how many outs there are. Both have been mind numbing - I just don’t know what he thinks he is doing.
Utley won't be elected to the HoF, but he's not that far off from being a reasonable entry. Wouldn't surprise me if he gets in by the Vets Committee eventually.
Jesus, lay off Gabe already. The guy is doing a great job this season after many lambasted him after one game.
He moves Altherr to RF tonight in place of Plouffe and he makes a potentially game saving play. A bit of luck and a bit of great managing.
Tom....agree...I love great defensive play within baseball. The really great news is that the Phils have found their foundational catcher for the future. I really enjoy watching Alfarra progress ....calls a solid game....rocket arm throwing to second....solid with the bat at the plate. Lots to like about this kid....IMO
I’ve liked him since we got him in the Hamels deal. Glad he’s living up to it
