2020 Philadelphia Phillies Season News/Notes/Discussion

[Lawman]

Looks like the Phillies are off until Saturday and will play a DH against the Toronto Blue Jays of Buffalo on Saturday. Players were told that if they were exposed to the virus from the Marlins, positives would show up between Thursday and Saturday. So, the time line to restart was pushed back.

Phillies won't be playing on Friday either

But, I think, the broader picture as far as MLB, NFL, and the general public and business restarts may be this.

In fact, according to MLB, there were no positive cases around the league from Tuesday’s testing, aside from the Marlins.

I take that to mean that if people act responsibly, the virus may not be wide spread.

[julio]

One other minor factor is that trades can only happen with players on the 60

Yes - I suspect this is a principal reason that many clubs kept several slots on their 60-man pool open, so they could add any prospects who became involved in trade talks.

[zambonir]

If memory serves Moniak has still not been added to the pool. It's possible even someone like Abel could be added to it in September (if there is a September). Who knows if the Phillies will be buyers or sellers.

I saw one of the beat writers write that the Phillies were actively obfuscating activities in Allentown. No press is allowed and no information is being released, though apparently there's some local television?

Not sure it matters which theoretical minor league roster a player is assigned to this year, when it remains theoretical. They are all being paid the same (the flat weekly salary or whatever they make if on the 40). It's unlikely any level is going to hit a roster limit. And for now there's only one place they can be (besides home). If they open up Clearwater then we might want to know who's there vs. at LHV but it will still be a mix of players level-wise. It likely won't matter again until the season is over.

[andyb]

I think we have to wait till after the World Series to trade current year draft picks so Abel is safe from that. Used to be a full year but was shortened a few years ago (after the Trea Turner trade where he had to play for the Padres after he was the player to be named in a trade).

[el-pietro]

With the double header on Saturday that should be enough of an excuse for the Phillies to bring up Howard and avoid a grievance. They may even be able to bring him up for one day as the additional player for the DH, send him back down and then bring him back up for his next start, though I am probably misunderstanding the rules around that.
Hopefully he comes up pitches a few clean innings and quickly establishes himself as part of the regular rotation.

[zambonir]

I'm not saying Abel would be a trade candidate, they just might want him to get work. Though that probably only happens if the Phillies are sellers at the deadline. From what we've seen this week a team definitely might need every last space if things go south.

The Howard service time clock issue is now over, if they don't bring him up right away it's for other reasons. Letting him have one more start with the major league ball in Allentown, not wanting to put him in the bullpen, wanting to get through this turn in the rotation to see who he might actually replace (even though right now it is obviously Velasquez).

[andyb]

I thought the service time issue was days and not games. So we had to wait 5 or 6 days meaning Saturday would already be the 9th day of the season.

If they wanted Howard to "close" one of the DH games (i.e. Nola or Wheeler go 6 and Howard finishes the last 3) to protect the bullpen for other days I would be fine with that. Day off Monday also.

[el-pietro]

They can bring Howard up whenever they want and keep the extra year of service as far as I understand, but bringing him up the first day after saving a season might hurt them if he decided to file a grievance. As far as I know a player has never won a grievance for service time but it wouldn't hurt them to be able to argue their intention was to let him get some work in Allentown and give Vinny/Eflin etc a chance to win/lose a place in the rotation but they had to bring Howard up early due to the circumstances surrounding the Double Header, and once he was up his performances showed them that he was ready earlier than they expected.

As we speak the Blue Jays are calling up Nate Pearson, so it doesn't seem like teams are worried about the appearance.

[zambonir]

He made it pretty clear he's not gonna file a grievance. As you say, players never win them anyway.

But also, the manipulation is only obvious because of the unique season. It's hardly clear-cut that he and Bohm are ready. Under normal circumstances 2-3 months in AAA was going to be perfectly reasonable. They weren't necessarily going to force their way into the line-up after 5 weeks. Bring him up now is a combination of necessity, desperation and the fact that he can't get a normal experience of AAA competition anyway.

[andyb]

As we speak the Blue Jays are calling up Nate Pearson, so it doesn't seem like teams are worried about the appearance.

The Royals did not wait with Brady Singer. 5 decent innings in his first start and second start tonight. He is a 2018 draftee (like Bohm) who split the year between high A and AA last year. At one point he was on our potential draft list though he was more of a polish guy (like Nola) so dropped a bit from the top part of the first round.

[BaseballCat]

The Royals have some many pitching prospects taken in the first and second round of the last few drafts. Last years Wilmington team (high A) was loaded. The team could pitch but not hit a lick. Singer blew through high A - I think I only saw him once before he went to AA. He was the most polished. The rest were good, but spent most of the year at Wilmington. The Royals could be a surprise team if they all gel at the same time like they did a few years ago.

[LoneStarPhan]

I never understood any basis for a grievance on this service time issue. It is pretty clear cut in the agreement they are operating under.

Certainly it is up to the organization to say who goes on the active roster and who does not. I do not think this can or should be questioned, other by fans on message boards.

I remember many saying Howard and Utley were kept at AAA too long, but who is to say if those extra games at AAA didn't make their early major league production better than it would have been in an earlier call up? Clearly, while both Howard and Bohm may be ready for major league play, neither had a great deal of AAA time. Before all the disruption to the season, I felt both should get one to two months of play at AAA, and then, based on how they were doing, I would have considered a call up to the bigs.

[zambonir]

A lot of news here:

A 5-day break then 7-inning games? The Phillies' season reaches peak weirdness

Phillies back at CBP today for staggered workouts but can't hold intra-squad scrimmages.

Doubleheaders might include one 7-inning game, or possibly both.

Phillies likely to play the Yankees instead of the Marlins after this weekend.

[LoneStarPhan]

Yes, the season seems to be turning into a real mess. I guess it is the best we have for now, but IMO, nothing says minor league like seven inning games.

But as they say, both sides will be playing the same number of innings.

[zambonir]

7-inning game> cancelled game. We already had one 6-inning game I believe.

It seems unnecessary if transmission has not been occurring during games though. Yeah, it's taxing on the players but if you're the team that loses in 7 you're not going to like it.

[LoneStarPhan]

I saw this info on the Alternate Training Location roster:

7/29/2020 : Updated Alternate Site Training Roster

Another piece of information from Phillies.com

Phillies pitching coach Bryan Price should be back Saturday. He missed last Saturday’s and Sunday’s games because he did not feel well. Klentak said he tested negative for COVID-19.

[Austinfan]

Moniak is in Clearwater rehabbing an unspecified knee injury.

SD has surgery scheduled July 30, so he won't be back until 2022, when it's safe to come out again.

Injury updates on Seranthony Dominguez and Mickey Moniak

[bkox]

Phillies announce all activities at Citizens Bank Park suspended today after yesterday’s testing showed a coach and a clubhouse staffer tested positive for Covid. All players were negative.

— Jim Salisbury ( @JSalisburyNBCS ) July 30, 2020

[julio]

Phillies announce that two staff members tested positive from yesterday’s tests, though no players have.

One is a member of the coaching staff and one is a member of the home clubhouse staff. All activity at Citizens Bank Park has been cancelled today and until further notice.

— Meghan Montemurro ( @M_Montemurro ) July 30, 2020

A coach (a Phils coach) and a home clubhouse staff member. This just got worse. We can hope that these people have had no contact since Sunday with anybody else in the organization, but we'll have to wait and see.

We're still talking "early" testing (Wednesday). It will be... interesting... to see where we stand after Friday's tests.

[allentown]

Both teams placed that clubhouse attendant in a position that they must have known was very unsafe. I hope he recovers quickly and is one who gets only mild symptoms. Same for the coach, of course, but persons further down the economic ladder, like clubhouse attendants, seem destined to have to carry the outsized risks during this pandemic. The Marlins series in general and the Sunday game in particular were grossly irresponsible and seem to be a violation of MLB's rules. The players might be unlikely to have a severe Covid reaction, although the risk of that is real. Not the same for the coach and possibly the clubhouse attendant. This keeps going from bad to worse.