Agreed. I may be wrong, but it seems like the Phils were running hot when OH was hot and then cooled off when OH did.
Would like to see him and Hernandez pick it up in September.
OT: 2018 Phillies Thread.....
- Thread starter Grant Green
- Start date
Would like to see him and Hernandez pick it up in September.
I believe that Nola and Scherzer are slated to go at it again on this coming Tuesday, at CBP
Definitely needed that performance yesterday. It seems all the stating pitchers hit a bad streak for the first time this year at the same me. The starting pitching has been pretty solid all year, but with Pivetta, Heflin and Velasquez especially they have been really good for stretches and really bad for stretches, but its been staggered, so the team overall hasn't been impacted as much until this current 2 week stretch where hey all seem to be in a funk except Nola and Arrietta. Hopefully, they will get it straightened out this weekend and get back on a roll.
yeah, if the Phils are going to make the playoffs, they need a couple of guys to get hot and start hitting and win a few games for them. Need a spark on this team as they appear to be hitting a wall after a long season.
The boogyman was always the threat that 3-4-5 would feel an innings toll right about this time. They are going into unchartered waters given the innings level and the stress associated with those innings in a pennant race. Cole or Happ might turn out to be the deal they wished they had done when it’s all said and done. 3-4-5 have to be better for the next 5 weeks, tough sledding though.
I didn’t hear Gabe yesterday but I assumed someone had to ask about Neshek v. Seranthony in the 9th. Neshek has shown that him going back to back is an issue. If he is the 9th inning then it’s tough when he can’t go multiple days. Normally, you get your closer back on the horse after he gets thrown but they did not go Seranthony yesterday. I actually thought Seranthony looked like Seranthony a couple nights ago - I think he’s been a bit tired as well. The ball came out of his hand much easier and he hit 100-101. He had been 97-98 recently. Curious what the plan is for the back end of the pen the last 5 weeks.
That tool is at it again, 9 hits 2 runs. Quinn should be leadoff with his speed or a least second. Batting 346 and hitting 9th? 7 hits between 1st, 8th and 9th in the lineup. Screw ANALYTICS. Santana was 4 for 46 against Scherzer and he batted cleanup. THATS my rant. Reward productivity
it certainly was, especially with the Braves losing to the Fish.
they don't play well on the road, and they rarely string together hits. They had 2 on and 1 out in the top of the 9th, and neither Hernandez nor Hoskins could get a clutch hit. (Hoskins took on a 3-2 pitch, and thought it was outside. Pitchcast showed it to be just outside, but too close to take; the ump called it strike 3.)
Toronto wins game 1 of the series, 4-2.
They left 8 on base in a 2 run game. I don’t know how Hoskins could have taken the first pitch. It was right in his sweet spot. It was almost as if he knew he was taking it before the pitch and the pitcher knew it too. It’s just bad baseball.
Unfortunately the roster moves aren't really panning out. Cabrera is batting 160 since coming over went 0-4 tonight. The farm should be given a better opportunity than these late season pickups. Maybe the front office should quit running this team like a fantasy team and just play baseball.
Giles is known primarily for his 4-seem FB. I suspect that Hoskins was looking for that on the 1st pitch, but Giles threw a slider. Hoskins is a FB hitter, so I don't blame him for sitting on the heater, and being surprised by the slider. The slider was high and hittable -- I just don't think he was expecting it.
High noon approaches-
After this weekend
3 home against Nats
3 home against Cubs
3 away against Marlins
3 away against Mets
3 home against Nats
3 home against Marlins
3 Home against Mets
I’m thinking they better go 14-7 in this stretch after this weekend because they then have an 8 game death spiral with 4 away at Braves and 4 away at Rockies before ending 3 at home against Braves.
1-1 games left in Toronto
14-7 stretch
2-6 on road
2-1 last series if it means something
19-15 to end season.
Will it be enough?
After this weekend
3 home against Nats
3 home against Cubs
3 away against Marlins
3 away against Mets
3 home against Nats
3 home against Marlins
3 Home against Mets
I’m thinking they better go 14-7 in this stretch after this weekend because they then have an 8 game death spiral with 4 away at Braves and 4 away at Rockies before ending 3 at home against Braves.
1-1 games left in Toronto
14-7 stretch
2-6 on road
2-1 last series if it means something
19-15 to end season.
Will it be enough?
Williams looks like the only guy who's being aggressive early in the count.
I would redo the batting order but this mgr has his ideas and he's sticking with them.
up 5-0 in the game, and lose the game 8-6. Seranthony fell apart in the 8th inning.
another frustrating loss. been too many of them over the past two weeks.
IMO....Seranthony ( like many young players) has hit a wall....long season....his tank is empty. Time for them to go with a plan B closer....if they have one... ?
I have to give them credit, they have played well above my expectations. However, they simply don't have enough players and they have no great players, other than Nola. I don't know where they go from here. Catching is awful, SS is bad... it's been a bad month, for sure.
It’s an interesting year no doubt. The curious thing is that he made two calls early on regarding his roster, Aaron Altherr over Nick and JP over Franco. So, arguably his two most productive hitters for a long time in the second half were players he bet against when he had to make the call. One should not forget that the initial decision was the wrong one and JP bailed him out on the second when he took a fastball off the wrist. When the season is written, remember what he wanted and what he thankfully got instead. Kapler is an interesting guy. I don’t believe he has a long shelf life given all the stuff that he brings with him. Winning cures everything, losing certainly calls attention to the warts.
Quinn is hitting lights out RT now and this week he's batted 8th and 9th the last 2. It's a long season, when guys are on move em up, When they're off move em down. But consistently batting poor production in the top four kills every rally that began. Football season cat get here soon enough and I love baseball
Still scratching my head over Franco as DH and Hoskins playing the field on Friday. Franco is the kind of player that needs to be on the field (there aren't many better 3B guys) and hoskins... well.... in short, GK has made quite a few suspect decisions in the past 2 weeks and the phillies will now have lost 5 series in a row... whether that is a coincidence or a result, i'm not certain... but I do find myself wondering if the players are also scratching their noggins wondering WTF this guy is doing.
Not having quinn lead-off is absurd. Half the time if he gets on, he's easily at 2B with a steal. If Hernandez can execute a baseball staple (y'know, that bunt thingee), you've got Quinn at 3rd with 1 out 2 times outta 4 every game.
Daydreaming again... sorry.
I’ll admit that there are certain parts of the game now that I just don’t understand. One of them is the notion of hitting your most productive hitter higher in the lineup than the traditional 3-4 spot. To me, the ideal lineup is two fast players at the top of your lineup with one having good bat control. Odubel should be your leadoff hitter but he is my first long discussion after the season ends. He is a very different hitter than the hitter we first saw that we thought could make a run at a batting title. He’s jack happy and doesn’t care about using the whole field and spraying the ball with the occasional bomb. He should be your leadoff guy.
Absent that, my lineup would be Quinn 1 and Cesar 2. Cesar can take pitches to give Quinn some leeway running. But Hoskins 2 is the way the game seems to play now. When Trout started hitting second, I thought the box score omitted someone. But it’s more common now to see this but I still think lineup construction should be old school. Getting an early run and playing with the lead used to mean something more than it does now.
Pitching is so bad, need to score as much as possible. But, I agree on the small ball disappearance across baseball. Problem with Phils, is they don't have enough good hitters; strike out too much. Rhys doesn't bother me as much at 2 given his OBP. But the bats behind him are weak.
I’ll take it you are not old enough to remember the year of the pitcher. I think of that year often now watching baseball. Not necessarily the crazy pitching lines but the way pitching seems ahead of hitting. Every team has a stable of guys who throw 97 and above now. Throw in the ability to have a secondary pitch and good luck. Hitters have no chance and have to start so early so I guess you wind up where you are now. If you are lucky to make contact, the pitcher has done the work for you, so you get a ton of dingers in smallish ballparks. It’s harder to string together hits like in the old days given the way these guys throw now. That is the only way I can reconcile where the game has got to.
I often think that maybe hitters will evolve, growing up facing kids high school and above over time who throw absolute gas. Maybe hitters will catch up and hitting against 98 with secondary stuff won’t be such a big challenge and the game balances out again. I think, well there has to be a limit with how hard a human can throw a baseball but then you see the video of the White Sox kid throwing into the backstop and the radar saying 110.
Back to year of the pitcher. Luis Tiant had a year that nobody talked about that year and it’s buried. Won 20+, ERA of 1.60, and a WHIP of like .86. My fav moment of that year? I saw that tobacco farmer Woody Fryman beat Gibson 1-0 at Connie Mack. If they ever get that Delorean time machine back up running, sign me up to go back to that date.
