2020 Phillies Spring Training News, Notes & Discussion

[LoneStarPhan]

Clearly they will be working with the PA starting today (Tuesday) to hammer out many of these questions especially the questions on service time.

I feel optimistic tonight that there may be a half season of play this year. Of course, any significant set back in COVID cases that causes states to again close things down would probably kill the season.

I do see the NL never going back to no DH again. I never wanted or liked the DH but in the past several years, I have come to believe that it would eventually come to the NL. It clearly was not going to end in the AL. For me, having consistency for all MLB is more important than resisting the DH for the NL.

The rule I don't want to see is the runner starting on second base at some point in extra innings. Please don't let that one come into this season or any future season.

[jimbomill]

I have to think they won't be quick to move Bohm to DH

I wouldn't want a rookie at DH. I'd want my best hitter who is blocked by a better overall player at his regular starting position in the field.

[andyb]

Ideally you do not want a rookie at DH. Conversely though, you need to make the best decisions for a team if it is competitive. And if 7 out of 15 teams make the playoffs, then the team only needs to be a little over .500 most likely to make them.

If the Phillies are competitive, playing time decisions should be made on what is best for the team. It would not make sense to play Segura at DH if Bohm was inferior defensively. I guess we could decide that Kingery should play a lot of outfield and guys like Cutch should DH (and a couple of times a week might be good for his knees anyway).

It will be interesting to see if Girardi believes in regular roles. Kapler did not, but it is a new day now. I imagine they largely share the DH to give most players (even Harper and Hoskins) a day off every week or two to keep players fresh. There is the possibility of a more compressed schedule with fewer off days (that is most likely the 82-game version rather than the 78-game version which is built entirely off of 3-game series' potentially).

[phillychuck]

Looking at Girardi as Yankees manager we can gauge how he used the DH; below are his three most common DHs by year and their games:

2008: Matsui 66, Damon 27, Giambi 26
2009: Matsui 118, no one else more than 10 games
2010: Thames 41, Posada 30, Berkman 25
2011: Posada 90, Jones 16, Montero 14
2012: Rodriguez 38, Ibanez 28, Jeter 25
2013: Hafner 72, Wells 22, Rodriguez 16
2014: Beltran 76, Soriano 25, Jeter 15
2015: Rodriguez 136, Beltran 8
2016: Rodriguez 57, Beltran 34, McCann 32
2017: Holliday 90, Sanchez 18, Headley 14

So it looks like he was not predictable in the way he employed the DH ABs. He had a couple of substantially regular DHs in Matsui and Rodriguez; sometimes used the spot to get the ABs for his catcher; and seemed to, on most occasions, try to max out one guy at about half the games. Almost all the DH ABs went to older players.

Also, there was lots of year-to-year turnover in DH ABs. I'd say he was very flexible in how he used the position from year-to-year.

If I had to predict I'd think he would use a couple of guys pretty regularly (Bruce, Cutch?), get Realmuto about a game per week DHing, and be reluctant to use Bohm at the position (he's never had a young DH with the exception of Jesus Montero, whom he used very sparingly in 2011 after he came up.).

[andyb]

I had not thought about Realmuto though there is a sentiment that one needs to give the catcher a complete day off sometimes. I imagine Realmuto sits once a week on average, especially if there is a day game after a night game. Whether we want him to DH occasionally (maybe if the day off is not a day game after a night game), the downside is giving Knapp or Grullon extra at bats.

With a 30-man roster do we go with 3 catchers? Might depend on whether the number of pitchers is limited. I am guessing there will be at least 15 pitchers (26 was going to be 13/13). If we have to have 15 position players a 3rd catcher would let you be more flexible with moving Realmuto around. Of course there is another argument to ride him hard since it is a half season so we would not be killing him if he got 70 starts out of 82 games. That would not be the wear and tear of 130+ starts. And maybe carrying 3 catchers would let us get him out of games earlier if they were not close.

[zambonir]

Would be nice if Grullon could hit enough in MLB to DH himself.

I don't see how it would be bad for Bohm to DH. In a perfect world he was gonna be in AAA for a few months so if they are going to just throw him into the fire, only worrying about his bat might be a great thing (the exact opposite of Kingery, who couldn't hit because he had to worry about playing so many positions). He also pairs perfectly with Bruce (or Hoskins does if you want to play Bohm at 1B some too).

Of course Segura was already declining defensively at SS and has never played 3B so who's to say he's even better than Bohm?

2019 MLB Non-Phillies News/Notes Discussion

This is a lost season, if it even happens. If the Phils were smart they would throw Bohm in the mix with time off for mental breaks and to work on this skills and let him learn against specific pitchers. The Phils probably are probably still only a .500 team, so it is not like they are going to risk some championship season by having him commit errors or having Howard get a little pounded.

So hard to say. If they're a playoff team - and with 14 teams in who's to say they won't be - Bohm and Howard should help, but they could also struggle, and a part-time role for Bohm is probably fine until he forces you to keep him in the line-up every day (assuming the veterans are all playing well). It's not gonna be like a normal year where you fall out of the race and start playing the kids in August. But if that does happen they would have to consider trading Gregorius (Segura being harder to move) and then that would solve any playing time issues.

[andyb]

Buried in this article is a very important note about rookies. While service time will be pro-rated for veterans, it is NOT for rookies.

Because of an agreement between the union and Major League Baseball about rookie service time, that probably won't be an issue for most teams as they consider promotion. If the two sides play 82 games over 90 days in 2020, the rookies would be credited with those 90 days, rather than a full year.

So both Bohm and Howard make the team from day one if they deserve to make the team. And if there is no AAA season it is not like they will have any decent experience by waiting. The way I read this is that the Phillies will still have 6 full years of control of both players even if they are on the roster for the entire season. Not as sure about Super Two status because there could be lots of players with this half year of service time and that might mess up those rankings a bit.

The year of the (very) young pitcher? Four ways teams say they might attack a...

[andyb]

Actual Phillies news. Seranthony has returned and it looks like he'll have his TJ surgery after a 2-week quarantine. Maybe he'll make it back for the tail end of 2021, but 2022 unfortunately is looking more likely.

A costly year for Seranthony Domínguez, who returns to U.S.

[Philsmania]

Dominguez lost a year first in the--now in hindsight quixotic--hope that rest would heal his elbow which in the end doomed all of 2020 and then the COVID-19 crisis came a long to cost him 2021 in all likelihood. Other than Nola, the Phillies have been burned quite a bit with their uber-conservative approach to elbow injuries. Nola was the one-in-ten case that didn't need Tommy John.

Do they bother keeping him on the forty man at this point? If they DFA him, does anybody take him knowing that they'll have to keep a 40 man spot for him with no return on investment for two years? Does somebody claim in in the Rule 5 and stash him on the 60 day DL all of 2021? He would actually be an easy Rule 5 keeper, in that event.

[zambonir]

I don't think the Phillies are any more or less conservative than other teams. Surgery is always the last resort. Obviously it varies from doctor to doctor but that's also why players consult outside doctors. Seranthony went to James Andrews and he didn't advise surgery, who would get a third opinion after that?

And it's still better than being a team that forces its players to get surgery like they are a piece of property.

I would actually characterize the approach, from the team perspective, as being overly hopeful, and perhaps even overly thrifty. Once surgery happens they have lost the player and essentially wasted all the money they spent on the player (as with David Robertson) for a season or two. So in that sense they may not be in any greater rush than the player is. And the players, of course, tend to play hurt and not be honest with themselves or the team until it's too late. We saw that with Arrieta and AJ Burnett and countless other guys who pitch through things until they can't, and/or just have a bad season until they can get under the knife later. Even Eflin counts in that regard.

It's not exactly great long-term thinking. But we also don't remember all the guys who didn't have surgery (Nola being the one we do remember).

I think you keep him, and I think he'd get claimed (making the Rule 5 scenario moot, at least for the Phillies). Not gonna be hard to keep him this season, obviously.

[flyers19rw]

Next year is Dominguez’s A-1 year. He’s getting $570K this year. I doubt if an arb decision would get him more than that. Probably he’s an affordable stash for next year and then see where he’s at in ‘22. If he’s healthy again, he should be a bargain.

[bkeich]

Hate to ask this at this point, but I guess the contract negotiations with Realmuto are dead? Are we actually going to be stupid enough to get in a bidding war for our only player that performed better than expected last season?

[zambonir]

Not dead, but currently not permitted.

In theory talks will resume during "spring" training. But even with the weird season/salary, the Phillies still don't want to sign him until after the season starts, so that it's actually a new contract rather than an extension.

I think the arbitration process made it clear that he wasn't going to be easy to sign. And you don't want to be in a bidding war with yourself either. But now everything has changed completely. The best thing for both parties would probably be a QO. I think the Phillies have more leverage now, but Realmuto also has more reason to stick to his guns even though it may not get him paid in the long run.

[LoneStarPhan]

Maybe I am way off base on this, but I expect the free agent market next off-season to be very bad for the players seeking long term deals.

[zambonir]

I should think so. Arguably the very best players (Realmuto, Betts) will still be attractive but that doesn't mean they won't take a haircut, especially with a 162-game season still not guaranteed. And who knows if, when or what they'll get paid in 2022.

If the Phillies were smart they'd actually forget about the luxury tax and see if JT would take a three year deal immediately, including this one. Rework the contract to give him more than he asked for in arbitration (since it's going to be prorated anyway) and a generous deal for the next two seasons (since neither of them are guaranteed to be played in full and it's very unlikely the Phillies - or anyone - will exceed the tax next year as salaries decline).

[zambonir]

So, if they really end up with a 48-game season do you start Bohm immediately, and maybe use Howard in long relief with the goal of easing him into the rotation? Or do you keep them out of the majors entirely? I feel like there's no middle ground (maybe with 72 games there is).

[bkeich]

Personal, I would send Bohm to “the complex” with as many AAAA types as we have for a few weeks (unless he absolutely lights up spring training). (With the other reserve players). Give him a longer look at One level down from the majors.

Howard is different, I would just make him a reliever this year and see if he can earn his way into high leverage situations. No reason to stress his arm or stress his abilities. Make him our long reliever, look for places to give him a 3 inning outing every 5 days or so.

[zambonir]

I just don't know if intrasquad games will really be enough, whether it's a test or development. And if it's a 48-game season and Bohm is one of your best players, do you want to go 24 games without him when playoff berths will probably be decided by 1 or 2 games?

Kind of think the opposite for Howard, he could make three or four simulated/intrasquad starts to get used to the ball and face AAA/AAAA hitters (remember, he's never appeared above AA, and only there for seven starts).

Of course in reality neither of them are going to play the full season because they would automatically get service time if so but if it's just 48 games the usual interval to delay Bohm's clock would mean a less talented roster. Unless, of course he's isn't ready anyway (which is certainly possible).

[andyb]

It might depend on whether there is a DH. A 48-game season might not have any interleague play potentially. Then do we go back to having the DH? I guess there needs to be a tiny bit of interleague with odd numbers of teams, but there may not be enough games to do the NL East playing a home and home against the AL East as they were looking at with 78-82 games.

I think Bohm will hit so if there is a DH, any defensive issues matter less.

[zambonir]

I thought the DH was a done deal from the March agreement.