2019 Phillies Season Discussion

el-pietro 2019-04-17 14:43:14 UTC #121

Hunter to the 60 day?

Lineup is out for today. Kingery batting second and playing short. Not ideal for the continued Kingery breakout!

EDIT:

This might be a solution, though its unlikely to happen today.

phillychuck 2019-04-17 14:43:54 UTC #122

I really DON'T want to lose Altherr. Any other option is fine. DFA one of the minor league IFs who have never hit at any level like Gamboa.

julio 2019-04-17 14:46:19 UTC #123

They really don't have a choice, if Segura can't play. Gosselin may get to the park in time for a 1:05 start, but that's cutting it pretty fine - I can't see how they could assume that, and announce him in the lineup.

phillychuck 2019-04-17 14:52:12 UTC #124

I'd like them to keep Kingery in the bottom of the order and but Cesar or Odubel in the 2-hole. I think pitchers will be more likely to work Scott out-of-the-zone if he's higher in the order. They don't have to worry about walking him since he seems to swing pretty aggressively.

tom81 2019-04-17 14:53:13 UTC #125

I can't imagine having McCutchen hitting in front of you and Harper and Hoskins hitting behind you would negatively impact your hitting success. He should get plenty of fastball and mostly for strikes. Nobody would want to walk him and put on an extra base-runner ahead of Harper/Hoskins.

julio 2019-04-17 14:58:32 UTC #126

If we assume that Hunter's unavailable for most of that time anyway (e.g., until some time in mid-May), this would make a lot of sense. He went on the 10-day as of 3/25, so you'd be talking essentially Memorial Day.

el-pietro 2019-04-17 15:00:00 UTC #127

I was being a little disingenuous but I don't love Kingery at short. Hes playing well and his confidence is up, and I worry that playing at a positon he knows hes done poorly at in the past may negatively impact his confidence and by extension his performance at the plate.

I'm less worried about where he bats in the order. I'm sure he'll see some fastballs.

This game is at a time I can actually watch it too so looking forward to seeing how he does.

julio 2019-04-17 15:03:02 UTC #128

On a separate note, I was pleased to see Kapler run Andrew Knapp out to first base last night, when Segura left the game. It seems to me that Knapp is the logical guy to be the "backup first baseman" (apart from Franco, that is) on this roster - and it's a way to get his bat in the lineup occasionally, and still have him available should he be needed to catch.

julio 2019-04-17 15:07:34 UTC #129

Here you go. Hunter to the 60-day:

andyb 2019-04-17 15:28:56 UTC #130

I guess that makes sense since he was not in rehab games and not likely to be in anything until the end of April. He'll need 3-4 outings before he is ready and the 60-day clock for Hunter started in late March, meaning he would not be ready to pitch until about 60 days anyway.

This will let them bring up Quinn for Gosselin if they want to, but they also will want another pitcher by the time Eickhoff's next start comes up (when he is likely to only go 5).

zambonir 2019-04-17 15:42:49 UTC #131

Buys time for Altherr but I still think he's gone. He only played last night because of the Hoskins injury (Kingery was originally going to play CF). Any action he gets this week will be more for other teams to see him than to prove anything to the Phillies. I just can't imagine they will option Williams. And if an OF did get hurt I think they'd be happy to give Kingery those ABs against LHPs.

Pivetta didn't even last as long as Lively (who was technically hurt). Hope Eickhoff really can hold up.

bigegypt0417 2019-04-17 15:59:18 UTC #132

julio 2019-04-17 16:01:28 UTC #133

Quinn's rehab began on 4/4, so they don't have to activate him until the 24th (barring re-injury). He's played in several games for LHV, but not on consecutive days (appeared on 4/11, DNP on 4/12, appeared 4/13, rain 4/14, appeared 4/15, rain 4/16). Double-header today, we'll see how much he plays.

andyb 2019-04-17 16:06:21 UTC #134

Quinn always needed a Spring Training, so I was expecting the rehab to go most of the 20 days absent another OF injury. I think they will stretch the clock on Altherr as long as they can, but still likely end up losing him at some point.

Was hoping that today's day game would give a chance to start Williams (for Cutch). There is probably a greater chance they will option him since he is not hitting that well. Even though he really has not had much of a chance.

zambonir 2019-04-17 16:08:02 UTC #135

I can't imagine they will want a five-man bench (which is what it now is, just with Segura on it) in Colorado unless Eickhoff is available in relief for his throwing day. Gosselin will probably go down for a pitcher no later than Friday (or Segura will go on IL).

Who knows if they are slow-playing Quinn for his own benefit (make sure he's 100% and doesn't get hurt again) or for Altherr's but I reckon we don't see him before Monday, if not the 24th.

I guess you could at this point play the "we need to get Williams some ABs" card, even though that is a predictable situation. McCutchen plays so much and has an .833 career OPS against RHPs so he's really not ever gonna sit down merely for platoon purposes.

andyb 2019-04-17 16:13:35 UTC #136

The other thing they have not done yet is ask either Williams or Harper to add some 1B flexibility. Harper would probably be better suited for that, but Knapp playing 1B yesterday (Franco starting was understandable with the LHP) really was giving ABs to a lesser hitter (compared to Williams) at a position that any of them should be able to become competent at.

zambonir 2019-04-17 16:56:20 UTC #137

I doubt Harper will ever move out of the OF until it's actually time but yeah no reason why Williams couldn't do it. Hasn't Altherr, briefly? Or am I just confusing him with Mayberry Jr.? Even Cesar has played it for us back when Chase was still here, I think (as did Chase).

Guys who are truly good at pinch-hitting are rare, what Williams did last year was probably not sustainable - or rather the best way to sustain it is to also get him two starts a week.

xogfog 2019-04-17 17:47:52 UTC #138

The Red Sox designated Blake Swihart. I always liked him and thought he got a raw deal in Boston. I would prefer him over Knapp, might be worth a waiver claim.

schillingfan 2019-04-17 18:39:33 UTC #139

Double pulling up lame with an apparent hamstring injury in today’s game may have some impact on the roster if it’s more than a cramp. This cold weather is rough.

zambonir 2019-04-17 19:07:36 UTC #140

He probably won't get out of the AL (or drop to the Phillies on the NL side) if teams really still value him. I know he was a hot prospect but is he in fact better than Knapp? Sounds like Boston had all the same issues with him (bat never quite good enough, defense suspect). Sometimes the grass isn't always greener.

Butera got called up the other day too.