2018 Phillies Spring Training News/Notes/Discussion

[andyb]

I am guessing they are looking to trade Rupp this week also. I would not DFA him to save money. Chances are we'll need a 3rd catcher and I am not totally sold on Knapp. FWIW looking at catching framing stats from Baseball Prospectus, all 3 of our catchers were terrible. Knapp is the worst because his throwing is also bad though. In the same vein that we signed free agents the past couple of years there is no reason to let Rupp go because of his contract because he is a decent backup catcher in this league.

[phillychuck]

I believe Rupp has an option left. Eat the money, send him to AAA as a deep back-up.

[Slinging_Southpaw]

He does.

[andyb]

I believe Rupp has an option left. Eat the money, send him to AAA as a deep back-up

Agree. I mentioned the DFA because that has been actively speculated in the press to clear a roster spot and save $1.5 million. Just no reason to do it. If Alfaro struggles I am not sure we want Knapp starting. Would prefer Rupp in reserve if that happens (though also would prefer Alfaro playing well of course).

Curtis is probably the other 40-man spot that is a little fungible if Milner beats him out. Decent chance he would get through waivers.

[David_Criss]

I am still holding out a slim sliver of hope that Rupp could be traded say perhaps to Oakland. Not expecting anything back. What about Rupp (being the "veteran") backing up Alfaro and Knapp at AAA?

That doesn't clear a 40-man for Hutchison or Flaherety though.

[gmwannabe]

only 2 innings and have to leave now, but lively looks pretty good. more speed than i thought and has gotten ahead on most all batters. ball really running in on rightys. a lot at 92, some at 93. edit, gave up first hit to pillar. he looks like he has as shot to stay in the rotation. starting to snow, have to leave.
gm

[bkeich]

I believe Rupp has an option left. Eat the money, send him to AAA as a deep back-up

It isnt that deep IMHO. We really dont know what Alfaro or Knapp are in the majors, are they solid catchers? Are they placekeepers? Are they career backup types?

Rupp is a known. He is an average offensive, probably below average defensive catcher. He is not "a problem" when he is on the field, he isnt that bad. He is consistent, with OPS+ of 87, 98 and 88 the last 3 seasons, consistently right at .300 OBP, which isnt good, but once again, FOR A CATCHER, it is not that bad. League average last year for a C in NL was 0.235, 0.315, 0.414, Rupp is about 0.015 below that on all numbers, so a twinge low.

If Rupp is your backup catcher you have a solid backup.

His defense may make him a little worse, but honestly the Catcher Defensive stats are all pretty suspect IMHO.

[zambonir]

If they were just trying to assemble the best team, they should probably trade Knapp (assuming he has more value than Rupp) and bring in a veteran back-up catcher, while leaving Rupp in AAA. But, they are still trying to figure out what they have in Alfaro and Knapp, and obviously they still like Knapp's bonus offense, especially on a thin bench.

Anyway, the real issue is I think they need three catchers on the 40 eventually, and also Rupp could have some trade value mid-season if he doesn't now. He's more valuable than Curtis or Florimon.

It will be interesting to see how the rotation shakes out but I'm not sure ST matters all that much. Pivetta's been considered a lock all along as he did make progress over the course of last season, despite ugly numbers. Thought it's also true that Lively doesn't really need more time at AAA. Going with Hutchison to replace Leiter as long man and also 5th starter, just for April, maybe does make sense, if you find the spot for him.

It's hard to know how much to read into the Phillies putting Florimon on the 40. If they were ready to go with Valentin or even if they preferred Flaherty, why sacrifice Alvarez in the first place?

[andyb]

I think Rupp is a solid backup. Logan Moore is better defensively but will likely be a zero offensively.

I am guessing that the analytics types love Knapp's high OBP offense and switch hitting, but he is really pretty bad defensively other than the "calls a good game" non-analytic coach-speak we hear in the press.

Alfaro is the only given and clearly is our only catcher who might profile as a decent starter. So he will get lots of chances but I expect some struggles as well.

That being said I would trade Rupp if we can get something. I would also probably add a veteran backup (off the 40-man) if we did so though at AAA or AA.

[andyb]

It's hard to know how much to read into the Phillies putting Florimon on the 40. If they were ready to go with Valentin or even if they preferred Flaherty, why sacrifice Alvarez in the first place?

I think they just wanted another week to decide and they knew enough about Alvarez to take him off the roster (as in he is not that good and clearly behind Valentin). Plus, they may still have Alvarez. Wasn't the DFA near the same time as Joseph? He might have cleared waivers already since we tend to hear about the claims before the players that clear.

[julio]

Wasn't the DFA near the same time as Joseph? He might have cleared waivers already since we tend to hear about the claims before the players that clear.

DFA was on the 16th; if nothing else materializes, he'll go on waivers along about Friday.

[julio]

Leiter to the DL.

Matt Breen (matt_breen)

[andyb]

DFA was on the 16th; if nothing else materializes, he'll go on waivers along about Friday.

The status is "within" 7 days. And then waivers have a 48-hour claiming period. It makes sense that they took a little time to see if there was a market for Joseph. They could have easily put Alvarez on waivers pretty quickly though. No reason to wait the whole 7-day period.

[julio]

DFA was on the 16th; if nothing else materializes, he'll go on waivers along about Friday.

The status is "within" 7 days. And then waivers have a 48-hour claiming period. It makes sense that they took a little time to see if there was a market for Joseph. They could have easily put Alvarez on waivers pretty quickly though. No reason to wait the whole 7-day period.

This is true. However, if Alvarez had been claimed, that would have been reported; if he cleared waivers, he would have been outrighted, and that would have been reported. Since neither has been reported, I have to assume that either he hasn't been put on waivers yet, or he's only very recently been put on waivers.

For that matter, it's not clear to me that there wouldn't be as much (or more) market for Alvarez as for Joseph. Tommy Joseph may work out for the Rangers, as a DH/bench guy - although their have been indications that they're going to option him to AAA.

[julio]

Gelb on the Leiter situation... and speculation about Hutchison?

Matt Gelb (MattGelb)

[andyb]

Eshelman has not been that great. In the bullpen options could include Beato (only OK), Rodriguez (awful), Taveras (not ready), and Abad (bad but decent track record). Hutchison is the only one that seems to make sense though I admit that I thought Abad had a chance before Spring Training.

[zambonir]

The problem is Leiter doesn't create a 40-man space. You've got Thompson to fill that role, or even Pivetta or Lively if they don't nail down a rotation spot. Especially if they need someone to pitch the middle innings for Arietta's first two starts.Hutchison can do all those things to of course, but they have to find the spot.

And they also need a space if they intend to go with five bench bats initially. If that's the case Florimon or Flaherty likely hangs around even if Valentin is the longer-term 4th guy.

[julio]

The problem is Leiter doesn't create a 40-man space. You've got Thompson to fill that role, or even Pivetta or Lively if they don't nail down a rotation spot. Especially if they need someone to pitch the middle innings for Arietta's first two starts.Hutchison can do all those things to of course, but they have to find the spot.

And they also need a space if they intend to go with five bench bats initially. If that's the case Florimon or Flaherty likely hangs around even if Valentin is the longer-term 4th guy.

They need to clear a space if they want to add Hutchison (or equivalent). They currently have six roster spots committed to potential bench bats: Knapp, Rupp, Florimon, Valentin, Quinn, Williams.

If they want to add Hutchison, and don't want to DFA a relief pitcher (Curtis?), then they need to clear one of the six "bench bat" slots. That could happen by trading, releasing, or designating Rupp (which is probably why some writers have speculated about this); it could happen by designating Florimon (go with a bench of Knapp, Rupp, Valentin, Williams, Quinn?). Other options are there as well.

Or they could trade somebody else - somebody we haven't given any consideration to trading. You never know...

[Austinfan]

Curtis is no loss, if he doesn't beat out Milner, what future does he have here?

[David_Criss]

How many bullpen arms will there be on the 25-man. Whoever is the fifth starter will start in AAA so he is stretched out come April 11.

Neris, Garcia, Neshek, Hunter, Thompson, Hutchison, Ramos, Curtis, Morgan, Milner with Leiter to the DL is my count as the ones with the real shots here.
Curtis has not had a great Spring and I think goes to AAA pretty easy call there. Rodriquez is gone and Arano to AAA, too are easy calls.

Hunter and Neshek are both veterans, but...... neither has pitched in a few days in game situations. Hunter has only thrown 3.1 and Neshek 3 innings respectively this Spring. Is there an issue here?