2020 Philadelphia Phillies Season News/Notes/Discussion

[HopeSpringsEternal]

Looks like andyb and Zambonir were right - Harper is starting in CF today (Mon, Sep 7)

[Austinfan]

Swapping Brodgon for Llovera, looks like a doubleheader move, that is, keep a kid around for long relief in blowout to preserve the "real arms" for when the DHs mount up the next couple weeks.

[zambonir]

They can still call up another pitcher tomorrow (Llovera included though it could also be Irvin or Rosso) as the extra man. They can also option someone between games.

Perhaps Bryce will play CF in one game tomorrow and DH in the other. I guess Gosselin has never played a major league CF game but if we could put Sean Rodriguez there last year I'm sure he could handle it.

[andyb]

I probably bring up Irvin in case they want to flip the Red Sox lineup. Bullpen pretty gassed after last two days.

[LoneStarPhan]

Having to use five relievers including Phelps, Hunter, Workman and Neris today in NY after taking a 6 run lead into the 5th inning didn't help the pen for the Red Sox double header. Both games being only 7 innings helps, but they likely need to use most if not all five of those relievers again in at least one game tomorrow.

Thankfully, they did manage to win the game against the Mets.

[andyb]

There really is not too much left down there. They still seem to be counting on Arano but I have not heard he is ready (or pitching with enough velocity to be successful). If they are not using Arano now the question would be whether they could put him on the 45-day IL at all since he has not been in the majors in the first place. Normally you can't put him on there with a minor league injury, but things are a bit different with the alternate work sites.

[zambonir]

Arano suffered his injury, such as it is, in spring training though, so even in normal times I think they could finagle it. Or they could call him up for a doubleheader, put him in a low leverage inning, and if he can't pitch, move him straight to the IL.

I would agree Irvin gets the start tomorrow. Or maybe tandems with Rosso (who is now stretched out) which just makes it a bullpen game. Starting VV functionally means it could be one anyway. The 7 innings helps. Maybe Vinnie will surprise us.

They could also give Suarez the start if they think he's a better bet than Irvin. Doesn't help that Irvin's stretched out if he can't get to the 4th inning anyway.

[andyb]

Pretty sure they pitched VV in a simulated game 4 or 5 days ago to prepare him for this start. They might just want 3 or 4 out of him though and flipping to a LHP would work if Irvin is beyond those early season command issues. I do still think Irvin can be a useful long relief LHP. He just was awful early in the season after being the pitcher talked about the most during Summer Camp.

[andyb]

For those watching outside of Philly and not on the MLB package, it looks like game 1 tonight is on ESPN+ and game 2 is on FS1. Listings are not completely clear but that is what it looks like.

[zambonir]

I forgot Elfin was also starting today. But we're still gonna need someone like Irvin or an actual bullpen game for two of the other doubleheaders, I think.

I couldn't figure out the TV schedule either but it makes sense that the prime-time (and previously scheduled) game is the one that's on FS1.

[teabag259]

Man it feels good to apparently have finally hit on a high first round pick.

[el-pietro]

Phillies playoff odds currently at 89.9% and would play the Padres if the season ended today, who realistically are locked in as the best second placed division team.
I don't know if the Phillies are good enough to win the division but I'd definitely prefer to play the Cardinals, Braves or wild card team.
This next series against the Marlins has more meaning than we might have expected before the season. 7 games represents 11.7% of the entire season which is about 19 games in a full season. The Marlins seems to have our number anyway but also they look like a decent team and we're probably going to see Sixto Sanchez at some point in this series.

[zambonir]

More than decent.

Miracle @Marlins ...
-Scored 50.7% runs with two outs, highest % in @MLB
-133 roster moves, 7 players spent entire season on active roster
-Marlins starters have held opponents to 3 ER or less in 22 of last 24 games
-16-9 on road

— Richard Justice ( @richardjustice ) September 9, 2020

They're definitely good enough to win the division because the Braves have issues too. It's impossible to pick but I think we either want to finish third or sixth, not fifth (fourth seems unlikely). Not just because the Padres are good but because we'd have to travel across three time zones. We're 5-5 against a shaky Braves team, I'd take my chances finishing sixth. Cardinals or Cubs (whoever wins the division) I'd also take just to avoid the greater travel burdern.

Finish third with some upsets and you also might have home field in the NLDS, even if that just means batting last. Of course we may yet finish 7th or 8th - behind the Marlins.

[el-pietro]

Wasn't there some discussion about Playoff Bubbles in Texas and California which would eliminate travel/home field advantage?

[andyb]

Yes. Using the 3 southern CA ballparks (Dodgers, Angels, Padres) or TX. Insulates them from weather though the unknown variable is whether the virus will be raging there in 3 or 4 weeks. It also might be logistically easier to do the 3-game first round at home stadiums.

One of the reasons the NBA and NHL bubbles have worked is the time teams spend there. Baseball will be tricky because teams will probably be expected to play shortly after they go to the bubble. Not sure there is the same safety advantage there because every team would be traveling shortly before their first game.

[zambonir]

Yeah nothing is locked in but the plan they floated was to play the first round in the cities and the rest in neutral locations. I don't think bringing 12 teams to California and four teams to Texas would be desirable or easy to do.

In theory if all the teams are in the same place and a team has to stop playing for 2-3 days, you could do that. A bigger outbreak or longer quarantine period would delay everything, but still doable.

If there's a big outbreak/quarantine in Round 1 I'd think forfeits would have to be considered.

[andyb]

If they waited until there were 8 teams left I would think they should only do 1 geographic bubble. One can play 2 games a day in each stadium without a problem. Southern CA seems to have lower transmission rates at the moment so that would be where I would go. Politics will probably dictate both CA and TX of course. Given the sub 1% positive test rate, they should really just go to New York with the only downside being colder weather.

Note the TX bubble had both Arlington and Houston involved and they might even be able to use the older Rangers stadium too.

[schillingfan]

The 2020 Phillies remind me of the 1993 Phillies. Their pitching wasn’t great, aNd Mulholland was their ace at the beginning of the year, Curt by the end. Mitch started our okay, but he and the rest of the bullpen, including Larry Anderson’s arms got shredded by the end of the year. But that team could get on base and hit. They had some amazing comeback games. They have the Dykstra on steroid slugger. This team needs the luck that 1993 team had.

[zambonir]

I think both this team and the '93 team had better pitching than the '08 team, at least in-season. Nola/Wheeler probably a tick better than Hamels/Moyer even though Jamie was so good. Myers was so bad he got demoted and Kendrick had a 5.49 ERA: Arrieta and Eflin are no worse. And in '08 we also had Adam Eaton though Blanton was a big upgrade down the stretch. Very different bullpens between those two teams, but definitely all about the bats.

[BostonRoss]

I think the 1993 team was a little better offensively and defensively, but the 2020 Phillies have better pitching, despite the bullpen.