2019 Phillies Spring Training Discussion

[el-pietro]

Bryce Harper returns to the lineup today. Eickhoff pitching against the Yankees.

Philadelphia Phillies (Phillies)

McCutchen LF
Segura SS
Harper DH
Hoskins 1B
Knapp C
Franco 3B
Altherr CF
Kingery 2B
Robinson RF
Eickhoff P

[phillychuck]

Good outing by Eickhoff, three no-run innings, although his FB was only 90-91, which might not be enough in the regular season.

Franco just an awful AB in the 5th--swung at three consecutive CBs in the dirt.

[Philsmania]

Phillies generally not playing well this spring.

[Lawman]

Insert joke about how they're already in mid-season form here.

[LoneStarPhan]

It's always hard to know what to think of spring training performances, but it does seem like the Phillies are getting progressively worse as the spring goes on.

I am concerned that the bullpen that I had hoped to be a strength is now showing cracks as pitchers I think will make the 25 are not doing well.

Still, it is just practice games.

[andyb]

I am concerned that the bullpen that I had hoped to be a strength is now showing cracks as pitchers I think will make the 25 are not doing well.

I am less concerned with the bullpen as it is the depth arms that are generally struggling. We never had any great LHPs for example. Robertson and Neshek by design have not pitched much and Seranthony has pitched pretty well. Neris has been inconsistent, but we are not exactly counting on him and that has been his history.

Next week will be important for the starters in their last turn as hopefully they are moving beyond the "working on things" stage.

[zambonir]

It's hard to know what a reliever needs (and is doing) to get ready in spring training. If it's assumed a starter might have 2 games where they are just warming up and working on stuff how many innings of that does a reliever need?

It doesn't bother me that guys like Nicasio or Neris might have a few bad games or ugly numbers. Even Arano, for all we know (assuming there's nothing phyiscally wrong) might be fine if he started in Philly. We see that sort of thing in the transition from spring training (hot guys flopping, guys who did nothing being fine) all the time.

We might just as easily worry about Nola and Arrieta (but probably we really can worry about Arrieta).

[andyb]

The one biggest candidate for regression from last year is Nola. Mainly because he was so good. Also because he has not shown he can handle the increased workload over multiple seasons. Normalize the luck and he could easily be a 180 IP, 3.25 ERA pitcher. That is a very good pitcher but not close to what he was last year.

[allentown]

The Phillies certainly fielded the best during his starts, but I think he ended up just getting average fielding support, while fielding behind the other starters outright stank.

[andyb]

It is less about the fielding which is probably a minor factor. More about durability. We don't know if he can handle a 200 IP workload regularly. Also BABIP was .251 last year after .309 in 2017. His Steamer projection is for a 3.58 ERA. Just lots of things went right last year and regression to the mean could easily happen.

[zambonir]

I'm not worried about Nola being bad, however, Barring injury, or a major step up by someone else, 2017 Nola is still the best pitcher in this rotation.

Anyway I was really only commenting on the bullpen concern expressed by LSP. If we're worried about what any of them have done in a mere 6-8 innings Nola's 8 innings aren't good either.

[LoneStarPhan]

I did try to emphasize that these spring games are really just practice, so while we surely want to see great things in the spring, its only what happens once the season starts that matters. In the game today, the Yankees had a stolen base but replay showed that Knapp made a great throw and the tag was made well before the runner reached second. In the regular season, that runner who went on to score a run would be out on the replay. Spring results mean little. I'm ready for the season to start. I am very optimistic that the Phillies will be in the mix all season.

[bkox]

Passan: How Phillies' 2018 clubhouse issues caused by Fortnite led to a smashed...

[allentown]

I think he is pointing a finger at Crawford and that this is likely part of the reason for Klentak's post-season semi-direct criticism of his manager.

[andyb]

Not sure I really see the Crawford criticism other than noting the trade started the overhaul. It is a stretch that our trades were about improving the clubhouse. The trades were about correcting the Hoskins in LF mistake and adding good players.

The most likely candidates to be playing Fortnite during the game are pitchers that are already out of the game or starters with no role that day.

[gmwannabe]

Boy, the phils struck out alot. lefties are a sucker for the inside slider. this kid isn't too bad. Eflin doing ok also.
gm

[zambonir]

I think he is pointing a finger at Crawford and that this is likely part of the reason for Klentak's post-season semi-direct criticism of his manager.

Don't recall Klentak saying anything, wasn't it MacPhail?

I haven't read the article yet but if it was just players who were already out of the game or starters with no role I don't think anyone would have cared. It could have been injured guys too. It being September it could have been a lot of guys.

(Edit)

Ok, now I have read it. I don't see any criticism, implied or otherwise, of Crawford. The article also directly states that Santana was traded because of the positional mismatch, not the Fortnite incident (not that anyone would think he was the one in the wrong there). And I think Andy is right it has to be pitchers because Arrieta said he wished Santana had told him it was going on. Certainly it makes sense that everyone should be engaged and with their teammates during a game. At the same time, it was September 28th at the end of a 9-game losing streak and there were literally 38-39 people on the roster, the dugout and the bullpen were probably both pretty crowded. Sounds like it wasn't happening earlier in the season when the games mattered.

[mdougherty12]

Fangraphs kicks off their positional power rankings series with 1B:

2019 Positional Power Rankings: First Base

The Phil's rank 5th.

[zambonir]

"“Nothing is written in stone, but our expectation is we will have five guys make their starts the first time through,” Kapler said.

That means opening-day starter Nola will have seven days of rest between his first and second starts and six days between his second and third starts."

Zach Eflin looks ready for season; Bryce Harper gets first Phillies hit — sort...

[andyb]

With the stretched out schedule there may not be more than a half dozen starts on only 4 days rest for any starter if they stick with a 5-man rotation. Probably a good idea unless there are injuries. 32 starts is probably better than 34 for Nola long term.