2019 Phillies Season Discussion

[andyb]

I suppose he's really the best defensive CF option they have in-house at this point.

That makes sense to me too. He is better than Lane Adams. He is better defensively than Williams. He gives them options and it is not like they will rely on him. If he comes up for 2 weeks (hopefully Cutch is back soon) and goes 2-20 but plays decent defense it will be a good experience. Then when Quinn gets hurt the next time he would be a bit more ready.

[David_Criss]

Heisely is the future in CF. The Phillies just hadn't hoped it would be this soon. It makes sense he can continue to hone his skills at AAA or in the bigs. Adams, would be a nice story, but would just be a place holder. This tells me they expect Quinn, Hererra and Cutch to all be out for a significant amount of time. If they weren't then the prudent thing would be to bring up Adams as the stop gap and not start the service time clock on Heisely or add him to the 40-man before they have to.

If they activate him, I suspect Cozens to the 60-day is a given.

The starter for Friday, after the off day is still listed as Eflin. Thats not going to happen. They can't recall Irvin. Do they go with VV, recall DeLos Santos or go with an opener again? Suarez and Anderson aren't exactly begging for a call up at LeHigh Valley.

[zambonir]

Unless he has a setback Eflin is starting Friday, his IL was back-dated, that was always the plan, and they wouldn't have sent Irvin down if they thought otherwise.

It is actually fun/refreshing to see a team call up their prospect instead of relying on a AAAA guy. I mean, the previous PTB actually did do that with Dom Brown when VIc got hurt, and maybe it was too early, but then they also so often did the opposite, repeatedly refusing to give prospects a chance.

[Lawman]

Have they actually activated Haseley yet? Or just called him up? Any reports out yet on McCutchen?

[julio]

Have they actually activated Haseley yet? Or just called him up? Any reports out yet on McCutchen?

Technically, neither. They're flying him to San Diego, but they won't formally select his contract unless McCutchen goes on the IL. Technically, he's still in AAA.

And no, nothing yet on McCutchen.

[zambonir]

It seems highly unlikely that McCutchen won't go on the IL, even if the news is good. But if Cutch is only going to be out the minimum 10 days do you hesitate to start Haseley's clock? And would they try to play two games a man short if he's just banged up? That didn't work out so well last time.

Hard to imagine they'd be so aggressive about Haseley (not to mention putting him on the plane) if they thought it might not happen. And also, of course, it's about the Herrera situation.

[julio]

Hard to imagine they'd be so aggressive about Haseley (not to mention putting him on the plane) if they thought it might not happen.

Well...

They're waiting for the MRI results. But just based on what was reported last night, if I were wagering, I'd wager on some kind of structural damage. I hesitate to even speculate about that - McCutchen is a major reason the Phils are in first place - but I would certainly be making preparations on that basis.

[zambonir]

Well yes, who knows. McCutchen said that nothing popped. But any numbers of tears, bruises or strains could still be in play. I would think a second MRI and second opinion will be necessary if it's anything other than "no damage, you can play today if you want!" Which, seeing as how he left on crutches, is probably unlikely.

[David_Criss]

I go back to my original statement. If they needed to replace Cutch for a few games, they call up Adams and put Cozens on the 60-days. That buys time on the Heisley service time and 40-man watch. I can't see them calling up Heisley, for just a few games, and then letting him play part time or sending him back to AAA.

[andyb]

This could be a sign that Herrera is not likely to be reinstated this year (or if he does, the team does not want him back).

Lane Adams is not really a CF so he solves no problems there. They needed someone who had legit defense in CF, especially if they want to play Kingery at 3B more. Adams has played 1 game in CF all year. If the Phillies thought he was a legit option in CF they would be playing him there more at LHV. Bruce and Harper do not seem to be options in CF. Haseley was the best choice who was a real CF.

[zambonir]

They may know a little more about Herrera than they did seven days ago. Regardless of what they want, if it's bad enough that he might get 50-75 games (even if it's retroactive) instead of 30, that is both too long and leaves you with a rusty player who already wasn't performing.

You could just call up Williams instead of Adams. Or Walding. No matter what, in those scenarios, Kingery and Rodriguez (and Harper) are your CF options. Haseley is a different story.

It's very unfortunate that Franco is back to his 2017 levels.

[andyb]

Haseley is a different story

And that was the main point. Even if Haseley does not hit he is their only CF option beyond Kingery and now they want Kingery to play a lot of 3B. Shane Robinson has been the most regular CF at LHV and he probably would not hit better than Haseley.

If they thought Herrera might be back quickly they might not have started the clock on Haseley. If they trigger an option sending him down it is a low risk thing to do since if Haseley is still on the LHV shuttle 3 years from now then something has gone wrong.

Maybe they don't go get Bruce if they knew Cutch would get hurt, but they just got unlucky in the timing there.

I also think they want to give Quinn every chance to be a major league option. If he is healthy he will be head and shoulders above every CF defensive option they now have.

[julio]

Shane Robinson has been the most regular CF at LHV and he probably would not hit better than Haseley.

Robinson's also on the AAA Injured List...

[andyb]

I guess he fits right in with the big league squad.

[julio]

I guess he fits right in with the big league squad.

Ouch!

[Lawman]

I also think they want to give Quinn every chance to be a major league option. If he is healthy he will be head and shoulders above every CF defensive option they now have.

Quinn cannot be relied upon to be the everyday CF, as he cannot be relied upon to stay healthy.

[Austinfan]

Franco is an example why intangibles do matter, they worked with him, got him to change his approach, had a great start then regressed back to old habits. Same with Herrera, ignoring the off-field stuff, they've worked with him for years.
(and no, it's not a Latino thing, just a coincidence, Ruiz was an example of a high intangibles guy, so is Realmuto).

Some guys aren't very coachable, it could be intelligence, work ethic, immaturity, but I've seen this in all sports, the most important part of scouting is judging those intangibles, because you can have million dollar talented negated by a 10 cent mind.

[andyb]

I know you do not intend it to be a Latino thing, but this type of wording gets used all the time and used disproportionately against non-White players. Franco is probably working very hard and trying to change his approach. He just may not be talented enough to pull it off. Jorge Alfaro has a higher OPS than Realmuto this year. I guess the intangibles kicked in for him too.

Franco has always had scouts questioning his hit tool. He may never be much more than he is now because of his talent level.

[Philsmania]

I know you do not intend it to be a Latino thing, but this type of wording gets used all the time and used disproportionately against non-White players.

As I have said before, I follow Phillies feeds on social media quite a bit and can vouch that Latino players have a particularly high bar to reach before the Phillies phan base embraces them. Abreu was never fully embraced (though he was elected to the WOF this year). Chooch was eventually embraced but he first had to persevere in the face of many fans demanding that Chris Coste start ahead of him for two years. When posed with the Manny or Bryce question this offseason, the fanbase overhwelmingly wanted Harper because Machado was allegedly lazy and a bad character. Throughout this offseason, the most frequent targets of phan venom were Santana (now traded), Herrera, Hernandez and Neris. When Hernandez was hot, many were saying "trade him now before he goes back to being himself". Philadelphia just doesn't like Latino players, period.

[jimbomill]

As I have said before, I follow Phillies feeds on social media quite a bit and can vouch that Latino players have a particularly high bar to reach before the Phillies phan base embraces them

Mike Schmidt was booed plenty. When it come to Philly fans, we're slow to embrace most. Tony Taylor and Chase Utley are two exceptions that come to mind. If I recall correctly, Cookie Rojas was also well received.