2018 Phillies Spring Training News/Notes/Discussion

[California_Dreamin]

Kingery 3-3 with a homer in 4-3 loss to Yankees last night.

[donaldorc]

Kingery 3-3 with a homer in 4-3 loss to Yankees last night.

His at bat in the ninth was noteworthy. Worked the count to 3-2, then smoked the ball over the fence. Exciting to see for a spring game.

[phillychuck]

The most important thing with him is learning to work the count. He has everything else, and he has learned to work the count at all the lower level stops he's made in the minors after initially swinging away a bit too much.

[andyb]

Tommy Joseph in LF today. At least we may get to see how much range Roman Quinn has in CF next to him.

[bkeich]

We survived the Bull in LF because of Maddox. We can survive this.

I went to spring training once as a kid and I did see Garry Maddox catch a foul ball because the Bull didnt get there in time (or got lost on the way, which honestly was more of a Lonnie Smith issue).

[andyb]

I don't fault the Phillies for trying Joseph out there. Frankly there IS room for one pure hitter on a 5-man bench. Joseph being able to fake LF would give the team more opportunities to use him especially after double switches (where they are likely to be aggressive this year).

Versatility is a good thing in general. It will be interesting to see how individual players take to it as in the past there has been pressure to have defensive stability for some players. Personally I always thought that was overrated. You cannot tell me that playing LF is that different from playing RF (Domonic Brown). I think we know Crawford, like Galvis, is good essentially whereever you put him. But does he play a lesser SS if he does not play it 100% of the time. On that I really don't have an answer until I see it.

[allentown]

The big problem with Joseph was his bat, which even as a starter wasn't adequate for 1B or LF. That's why we now have Santana. Unless he hits better as a sub/PH, he isn't good enough for a bench spot. He does have power and that can have value if he pinch hits only with runners on base or one run needed. Otherwise, his very low OBP is just too much of a negative.

[andyb]

I don't think Joseph should be on the bench because he is basically the 3rd string 1B. I do think his bat will bounce back to close to an 800 OPS though. Not great for a 1B but not awful either. We tend to put too much emphasis on the last season and Joseph's age (and hitting experience at high levels) would let you think that he should improve a bit with the bat.

With Hoskins batting right-handed though there is just no place for him. Even if we had not gotten Santana we ideally would have had a LH 1B reserve. Right-handed first basemen just have a high offensive bar to make a roster.

[DurhamBull]

No audio for the game today. First two batters got hits to LF -- I think they're testing Joseph! Those hits combined with a Crawford error have Detroit up 2-0 in the first. Former Durham Bull Mikie Mahtook ends Detroit's half with a K.

[julio]

No audio for the game today.

no... but the video is available, if you're a gameday subscriber. You could stick the video window in the background and just treat it as audio. Of course, you don't get Scott Franzke, but it's better than nothing.

[Lawman]

It's now 5-0 in the 2nd but, honestly, this early in ST, I wasn't all that motivated to dig any deeper.

[zambonir]

I'm unable to get video or audio, on two different devices, I think the app is buggy today.

[DurhamBull]

I'm unable to get video or audio, on two different devices, I think the app is buggy today.

The app is buggy every day.

Things not going well for the Phils as it's 8-0 going into the 4th.

[California_Dreamin]

I know its verrrrry early but my gosh this team looks horrendous right now. I want this to all play out before making any judgements but right now the teams fundamentals look bad. And while I have become a proponent of analytics and appreciate the fact the Phils are now in the 21st Century, I admit I was dismayed when I read that every player gets a pre game discussion personally about their hitting traits. Sounds good at first glance but....if you are a hitter sometimes less info is more.

I still recall the famous Hank Aaron comment to catcher Yogi Berra in the 1957 World Series. Aaron came up to bat and Berra noticed the label of the bat was facing in [Louisville Slugger emblem] and reminded Aaron that the bat was being held wrong. Aaron calmly replied, "I don't come up to read, I come up to hit."

Its early and spring training results are often insignificant but right now the team seems to be showing a lack of solid fundamentals. Let's hope its temporary.

[Austinfan]

It's still February, they have no business even playing games.
It's like putting the Christmas music in the stores in early November.

Like I said, I'm not even interested in watching them until next week.
How many guys have started the spring red hot and ended up spending the season in Reading?

[teabag259]

6 run 4th so far. Hoskins with a solo shot. A single from Crawford, a double by Joseph, a walk to Rupp, and now a 3 run shot from Quinn.

[andyb]

Spring training is exactly as long as it has ever been. The season now starts 4-5 days earlier for all teams so the Spring schedule does as well. They added 3-4 days to the overall season that used to start Sunday/Monday for all teams. Now all 30 teams start the previous Thursday the 29th so they can add more off days to the schedule.

FWIW last year's Spring Training was the one that was longer. Games started 2/22 like they did this year but the early start was because of the World Cup.

In general Spring Training IS too long because all the teams want extra home dates to sell out, but that is the same as in the past.

[tom81]

This team is very young and Kapler is encouraging boldness. I’m not surprised that they look sloppy now. If they haven’t improved in three weeks time when the starters are playing more then it will be time to be concerned.

[andyb]

I did see an article where Kapler said he wanted the team to be bold on the basepaths early in spring training so players can start to learn what their boundaries are. So I imagine the coaching staff is sending everyone now and will dial it back a bit as we get closer to the season start.

[David_Criss]

I have been a bit concerned about all the analytics talk. In golf, the best thing to do is get up and not try to think about all the different tips you have been given and just swing. I wonder if guys are in the field or on the basebaths trying to remember a million little things instead of relying on instinks that have gotten them this far.