2019 Phillies Season Discussion

[andyb]

That is probably good. Hard to know which of Williams or Cutch or Harper would be best in CF. Lesser of three mediocre defensive CFs I guess.

There is a DH series coming in May, so Williams will play most of that. I just think the team is offensively challenged now so he needs to play more since he is most useful on offense (and adds another LH power bat against the RHP we are constantly facing).

[zambonir]

Well, Cutch has played a lot of CF, and Harper actively does not want to/admits he isn't good at it. Plus Williams is better off in LF anyway.

It was certainly reasonable to hope Quinn could contribute right away, and to want him in that big OF, but it did not work out.

[David_Criss]

The bench is: Knapp (.235), Williams (.158), Quinn (.095), Altherr (.042) and Walding (strikeouts)
Knowing that Quinn can't be optioned without the risk of losing him, the options are pretty thin. I can't help but wonder if Cozens or Robinson might be called up pretty soon. I know Robinson isn't on the 40-man, but that is easy - Cut Altherr now or cut Nicasio and Altherr and bring up Robinson and Garcia. Just a thought. If you find a spot for Cozens then you have your choice of him or Williams to DH.

[andyb]

I think they'll probably end up cutting Altherr at some point if everyone gets healthy, but focusing on the batting average of the bench players is really the wrong issue. Setting aside catcher (Knapp's issue is defense, not offense but who is better), we really don't have an awful bench. We know what Quinn can do. They just rushed him. We know what Williams can do. We just have not started him in a single game. And either Kingery or Cesar would be perfectly fine as a backup middle infielder.

Shane Robinson, a 34-year-old CF with a career OPS of .580 is not the answer, especially if any 40-man move might cost you a player. We probably should have recalled Romine over Gosselin but at the time we did not know that both Segura and Kingery were hurt. Romine is more of a defensive SS than Gosselin. But that is a 1-week issue.

The bench is fine. Maybe we upgrade catcher at some point. But if we do not trade Cesar we have the best backup in Kingery. And Williams and Quinn are our 2 best OFs. We just need to play Williams a bit because we are a month in the season and he has not started a game and hitters need some chance to actually hit. Since he is reportedly in the lineup tonight that is a good change.

Now on the bullpen, I could be talked into getting rid of both Nicasio and Alvarez. We don't need to do it today, but both need to be better and we might just need to eat the contracts.

[zambonir]

Yes, I think Quinn will be okay, and KIngery, brief as it has been, might be a revelation. But the difference between Kingery and Williams is they have found playing time for Kingery. My guess is still that Williams will be included in a July trade, and they will bring in a more experienced 4th OF. Professional pinch-hitters are few and far between, it's a tough job, but someone who can more easily play that Matt Stairs-type role is probably in order.

With so little playing time available Cozens or Walding really could just as easily be the LH PH, they are obviously not as good as Williams and being a bench player always means small samples, but if the only thing that is going to get him untracked is more ABs he's not going to get untracked.

Altherr hasn't had much of a chance either but he's ultimately making it easier for them to release him, they really have no choice if and when the moment comes.

Not sure if Williams is playing tonight, latest article I read said during the Marlins series. But given the recent results (for both the team and Quinn) maybe a change is in order.

[andyb]

If he does not have a good game tonight, I might actually consider giving Harper a night/day off in the Marlins' series. His bat is not quick at the moment. He is missing too many fastballs.

[Squire]

RHP Drew Anderson optioned back to AAA
INF Mitch Walding optioned back to AAA
RHP Enyel De Los Santos called up
INF Sean Rodriguez called up and added to 40 man roster
LHP James Pazos DFA'd

[el-pietro]

Rodriguez is starting at SS tonight.

[andyb]

I saw this coming after his 4-4 day last week. Not sure there is evidence that Rodriguez has more range at SS than Asdrubel Cabrera did though. Or more evidence than a week that he can actually hit balanced by the last 2 years of data that showed he couldn't.

[David_Criss]

So Drew Anderson will be this years Jake Thompson. When you look at the very small sample size at AAA Rodriquez and Romine are fairly similar. Walding got a shot because he was on the 40-man, but how many times can he strike out? And he was struggling out of the gate. Gosselin was the better hitter of the three when he was called up, but is a 2B. He had only played 42 games at SS at the minor league level and 16 at the Major League level, while Rodriquez had played 379 and 176 respectively, but Romine played 603 games at SS in the minors and 188 at the Major League level. Given the start of this season, the fact that we are still a week away from finishing April and Mitch Walding, Sean Rodriquez and Phil Gosselin have had stints with the parent club-----ouch.

             AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	.OBP	.AVG	.OPS

Phil Gosselin 31 7 13 3 0 0 6 1 0.538 0.419 1.055
Shane Robinson 37 10 13 1 0 2 5 2 0.478 0.351 1.019
Roman Quinn 18 6 6 0 1 0 2 1 0.4 0.333 0.844
Andrew Romine 49 6 15 0 0 3 10 3 0.346 0.306 0.836
Sean Rodriguez 45 7 12 2 1 4 12 0 0.327 0.267 0.949
Mitch Walding 50 9 11 2 1 3 13 0 0.298 0.220 0.778
Dylan Cozens 52 14 10 1 1 6 14 3 0.348 0.192 0.945

[andyb]

It looks to me like they are using that last relief pitcher with options slot to rotate a long man through. Eickhoff, then Anderson, then De Los Santos. Whenever one of those goes more than 2 innings we rotate another one in for the next game to have a long reliever ready.

Sean Rodriguez is not likely to help much, but this is a game where we should feast on a bad pitcher. Jason Vargas. We rarely faces lefties and we have been having issues with good fastballs lately. Do not have to worry about that against Vargas. Pretty close to a must win for an early season game IMO.

[zambonir]

I find it more interesting that, we now know, the Phillies were just never that impressed with Pazos. Couldn't knock Alvarez off the roster, couldn't beat out Davis for a call-up, and there are obviously other guys in AA or AAA who could rise up the ranks mid-season. Hard to believe a lefty reliever loses his 40 spot so the Phillies can have two aging back-up utility guys tho.

I also wonder, since Pazos was also in the deal, how much of getting Nicasio was because they liked him and how much was to make the Santana deal work? But he's clearly not going anywhere.

With Robertson and Hunter both out they do have two optionable bullpen slots, so one is for a short man (started with Ramos, then Arano, then Davis briefly, now Ramos again) and the other for the long (which Anderson actually started, followed by Eickhoff, then Anderson again when Eickhoff left the bullpen. Hopefully De Los Santos is not needed tonight and will contribute at home).

[andyb]

Bonus is we have a couple of 40-man slots available when we eventually move on from Gosselin and Rodriguez. Players not on the 40 that might help at some point this season include Grullon, Jan Hernandez, Haseley theoretically, Dohy, and Irvin (a LH long man might be an interesting tandem to all our RH starters). Not counting guys like Romero who need more development but could be more interesting in the second half.

[zambonir]

Altherr will open a 40-man spot too. I suspect we'll be seeing Rodriguez or Gosselin up and down for a while yet. If Altherr moves on and Quinn gets hurt again one of those guys + Kingery is more likely to provide that 5th-OF insurance than Cozens (or Walding).

What about Gilbert?

[teabag259]

It’s just a damn shame that Quinn can’t remain healthy.

[zambonir]

Gotta feel bad for him. Honestly think you have to trade him to a bad team that can afford to ride out his ups and downs for another year or two. He can barely justify the 40-man space on a contender, if not now, than next off-season.

[LoneStarPhan]

Walding does have the unique stat that 100% of his ML hits are home runs. Yes, one home run in 19 at bats gives him a career BA of 0.053 but two walks make his OBP .143 and OPS .353. In his 19 at bats, he has 14 strike outs. I think his future with the Phillies will be in providing an opening on the 40 man roster at some point this season.

[el-pietro]

Cozens is up, Quinn to the IL.

Matt Gelb (MattGelb)

[Squire]

Good to see Roman Quinn back at home.

[el-pietro]

Apparently hes going to be gone for a while. Altherr lives to breath another day.

Matt Gelb (MattGelb)

Not all bad news though

Matt Breen (matt_breen)