2019 Phillies Spring Training Discussion

andyb 2019-03-23 19:21:24 UTC #281

Road game today so remember they took a skeleton lineup. Only 3 regular starters and Eflin. Same with yesterday against the Yankees and even the starter was not going to be in the rotation (Eickhoff). I don't think Harper has played in a road game all Spring.

Last 2 games are at home and should see a more representative squad, at least for the first 6 innings or so.

LoneStarPhan 2019-03-23 20:24:05 UTC #282

I keep telling myself that it is only spring training and these games don't count, but I hate to lose.

The two run home run off Eflin looked foul to me but at the time, I didn't have the radio feed on. I saw Kapler out talking to the umps and saw the umps talking amoung themselves, but the home run stood. The Pirate TV feed never showed any other view than the original and it really was impossible to see the ball when it passed the foul pole. To me, it looked clearly foul when it landed. Just another reason not to put much stock in the spring training stats.

Now I see this from Gelb:

el-pietro 2019-03-23 23:57:05 UTC #283

Rios and Arano optioned to Triple A.

David_Criss 2019-03-24 00:20:10 UTC #284

So a 12-man pitching staff the first two weeks? VV to the pen the first two weeks?
Guessing Altherr and Walding are on the active roster the first two weeks. Gosselin, Robinson and Adams all outhit Rodriquez. I hope they don't chose him over someone on the 40-man.

phillychuck 2019-03-24 00:28:47 UTC #285

Walding has already been optioned to LV.

zambonir 2019-03-24 00:37:04 UTC #286

Just the regular 13-man staff for now. Ramos is your eighth reliever (but also the only one who can be optioned if they did want to expand the bench).

Kapler has previously said he's not going to skip anyone's start, even though the beat writers have speculated about that more recently. We shall see.

And tt's RodriGuez, as interesting as I find the other spelling. tbh the fact that we have not yet heard that he's exercised his out clause makes me think he's still in the mix but I would still certainly presume that Altherr is going north.

julio 2019-03-24 01:04:42 UTC #287

Well, Ramos is the only RP with options remaining who they might want to option - but Seranthony Dominguez also has options (2 of 'em) remaining. If he decides to fall apart, he, too, could get a summer vacation in beautiful Allentown.

Heh. I've been biting my tongue about the "Q" in Rodriguez... and the "O" in McCutchen, for that matter!

But to your point, I see the silence on Rodriguez vs. Altherr this evening as possibly suggesting that they want to go with Rodriguez (although I don't want them to!), and they're trying to move Altherr, rather than having to DFA him. But of course I could be completely wrong about this!

LoneStarPhan 2019-03-24 05:32:19 UTC #288

I expect Arano will be back. At least, I hope so. He was very good last year and should be able to regain that form working at LV. I expect the Phillies will use many more than the 8 who open the season in the bullpen.

Rodriguez has shown nothing to earn a spot on the bench.

andyb 2019-03-24 14:55:54 UTC #289

Lots of small notes in the latest Gelb column:

-Velasquez 5th starter for now. Eickhoff had a good Spring throwing very few fastballs but they like that offspeed approach with him.
-Ramos gets the last bullpen spot over Rios more for last year's performance
-Seranthony and Neris both inconsistent. Seranthony several mph behind last year's velocity, but it is early of course.
-Arano is healthy, struggling with his release point and thus command
-Altherr wins the last bench spot till Quinn is back. Gosselin, and not Rodriguez was the extra utility guy they were more seriously looking at and they are going to "prioritize his playing time" in AAA.
-In general none of the non-40 man guys were good enough to expose someone to waivers at this time

Austinfan 2019-03-24 16:24:00 UTC #290

Noting unexpected.

Rios showed great stuff, but his command is erratic, we'll see how the change in minor league instructors impacts players like him this year - kind of pitcher that the right "tweaks" could work wonders, he was hitting 97+ this spring.

I think Velasquez is on thin ice, Eickhoff probably needs a few starts in Allentown to build up velo, and Anderson to perfect his cutter, but both are waiting in the wings. Velasquez probably gets a half dozen starts before he's banished to the bullpen or traded for a prospect.

zambonir 2019-03-24 16:51:28 UTC #291

Yeah, I don't think we ever talked about the fact that the 40 was full once they signed Harper (also pertinent to any of the players Les fell in love with in his reports. And to Keuchel/Kimbrel talk though obviously you'd just trade or release a pitcher in that case). If they were going to take someone over Altherr that was self-correcting but if they were going to expand the bench for an NRI they would have had to release a pitcher.

If they did suffer an injury at SS or 2B that could be bad news for Walding. I can't remember, did he clear waivers once before or did he merely survive a Rule V cycle and then got added to the 40 later?

andyb 2019-03-24 20:35:49 UTC #292

Altherr and Herrera both HR today. Kingery also with another solid game.

LoneStarPhan 2019-03-24 21:07:46 UTC #293

Herrera with single, double, homer in 4 at bats, had 4 RBIs. Altherr 3 for 5 with 2 RBIs. Kingery 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs. Phillies pound out 18 hits good for 11 runs. They score one or more in each of first 7 innings.

tom81 2019-03-24 21:19:37 UTC #294

If this is the Herrera we get this season I really like him in the 5 hole breaking up the righties. If we get the Herrera from the first part of last season all year long he would be a viable MVP candidate.

julio 2019-03-25 01:48:39 UTC #295

Scott Lauber confirms that Sean Rodriguez has agreed to report to AAA, and will NOT request a release.

Utility infielder Sean Rodriguez, who could have requested his release if he wasn’t added to the 40-man roster, has agreed to go to triple-A.

No word on Rob Brantley or Josh Martin, but it's a pretty safe bet that neither of them is going north with the Phils on Tuesday.

andyb 2019-03-25 03:36:49 UTC #296

If Hoskins needed to go on the DL he might only have to miss 5 games because I think moves can be made retroactive to Monday and we still have the 10-day DL. Days off Friday, Monday, and next Thursday mean only 5 games in those 10 days.

Phillies probably would not want to do this ideally, but they would have to make the move tomorrow to keep it to 5 games.

zambonir 2019-03-25 05:11:35 UTC #297

Well, it certainly sounds like there might be concern, but they say he's going to play on Monday. My guess it he doesn't go on the DL regardless, even if he has to miss the first game.

phillychuck 2019-03-25 11:43:54 UTC #298

I'm not too excited about this--I'd rather the playing time go to Walding/McBride/Gosselin/whoever else is on the roster. They are at least fun to watch and some have development potential.

el-pietro 2019-03-25 15:37:01 UTC #299

Today is the final spring training game, in Clearwater against the Tampa Bay Rays. The lineup looks like the Opening Day lineup - Arrieta on the mound being the only difference. I've mentioned elsewhere that I'd like to see Herrera and Hernandez separated in the order but regardless this looks like a strong team.

julio 2019-03-25 15:42:06 UTC #300

Well, Mitch Walding may still have some development potential, at 26... but Phil Gosselin is 30, and Matt McBride is 34 - the same age as Rodriguez (technically, Rodriguez is 27 days older...). Gift Ngoepe is 29.

In the outfield, Cozens (25) will play regularly. Lane Adams is 29, Shane Robinson is 34. If Haseley (23) is at AAA, he, too will play regularly.

I really don't see Rodriguez taking playing time from anybody I might care about. Non-pitchers on the likely AAA roster who I would be concerned about, if they didn't get regular playing time: Grullon (assuming he's at AAA), Walding, Cozens, Haseley (if he's at AAA). I think that's it. Maybe Listi - although my expectation there is pretty low; maybe I'm wrong, but I sense an older guy who feasted at Reading, who is likely turn out to have feet of clay at the higher level. We've seen several of those guys.

Following the Ironpigs this season is all about the pitching.