2021 Phillies Major League Regular Season Discussion

[julio]

I like seeing someone using the name “Sabin” commenting on vaccinations!

Dating yourself!

Sugar cubes!

Yep. In the elementary school library - the same place we went for the Salk version (needle).

I would like to see the mRNA vaccines get full (e.g., not EUA) approval from FDA for kids, and then see a similar effort in the schools this fall - line 'em up, vaccinate 'em all. Somehow, I don't see "modern" America going for that - even though some of us remember the '60s.

[flyers19rw]

I wonder that if Appel truly has his game squared away, could he be a BP piece by mid season?

[andyb]

When he was last in AAA I remember he had trouble holding velocity in his later innings, so a relief conversion where he could just air it out in the high 90s made sense. I think he has been more 92-94 this Spring though, so how that translates into relief is an open question. A player like him COULD move quickly potentially, as he has the innings and experience at all levels already.

[zambonir]

We still have Neftali Feliz and Mitchell in AAA. Right now, when Bradley's back, you'd probably DFA Hale (he's used to it) rather than demote Romero, though they also have Matt Moore sitting there in the bullpen (unless he's making his next start).

I don't think the Phillies are "in the mix" for anyone (and we all know what Jon Heyman tweets are worth). The situation hasn't changed, they need to show enough to convince Middleton to exceed the CBT. Either way nothing happens before July (at which point maybe trading season lets them match $).

Same as it ever was, really - the bullpen is only costing us games because the bats aren't doing enough, even if some of them are higher-scoring games. We're either gonna hang around .500 and the division until it's time to make moves, or fade away before they get around to it (I'm not a pessimist yet, but given what just happened in the Mets series it's hard not to see disaster looming - a home split with the Brewer and then a 4-5 road trip is probably the best-case scenario).

[bkeich]

Appel

I have more hope for Zombie Tug McGraw helping us this year than Appel.

[andyb]

The guy with a little buzz at Reading that might help this year is Francisco Morales. He has 2 good big league pitches now (fastball, slider). The change is a work in progress. One could easily see them start him for half a season and then decide to promote him aggressively later in the year if things go well. Think of him as a potential 2-3 IP pitcher down the stretch every 3 or 4 days - kind of like we thought Howard might be at the beginning of the year.

[Wiscphan]

2ndza a z3 c

[zambonir]

I hear that, Wiscphan!

Phillies will have Jean Segura and Ronald Torreyes go out on minor-league rehab assignments this week. And, with Segura getting closer, Girardi acknowledged there is increased talk about trying Nick Maton in CF.

— Matt Gelb ( @MattGelb ) May 3, 2021

Can't not do it at this point. Our defense is terrible at almost every position so gotta at least try to have your 8 best hitters in the line-up.

[andyb]

In a world where they want Torreyes back on the roster and send Kingery down, a left-handed bat in the CF platoon is needed. If they tried Maton there it probably means Herrera is sent back down. The bench can get a little too left-handed with both Miller and Joyce being left-handed, so ideally you want some RH bat as an infield reserve, not yet another left-handed bat.

[bkox]

Nick Maton has hit well, but he is also running a .485 BABIP, 4.1% BB%, 26.5% K%, and only a .109 ISO. There is a lot of regression coming and then asking him to go be the "savior" in center is really asking for disaster.

— Matt Winkelman ( @Matt_Winkelman ) May 3, 2021

[bkox]

In yesterday's game thread @BostonRoss suggested that maybe Cutch needs an eye exam. Great call.

Interesting stuff from Girardi pregame. Not out of question he looks at Maton in CF. He may discuss vision check with McCutchen after player said he was not picking up ball in OF

— Jim Salisbury ( @JSalisburyNBCS ) May 3, 2021

[andyb]

It is probably time to give Quinn a couple weeks of starting more than 50% of the time. They have tried everything else. If that fails, Maton is as good as anything unless they just wanted to go with Jankowski and get competent defense.

Herrera also seemed to make better contact before the haircut....

[bkox]

Bryce Harper is not in the #Phillies lineup tonight. His left wrist is bothering him. The team hopes it is not an IL situation. Doctors taking a look.

— Todd Zolecki ( @ToddZolecki ) May 3, 2021

[bkox]

Jose Alvarado and league agree to two game suspension. It starts tonight.

— Jim Salisbury ( @JSalisburyNBCS ) May 3, 2021

[andyb]

I had a bad feeling last night when Harper batted in the final inning. He was never going to not hit in that situation, but I was wondering if the Mets would walk Hoskins to get to Harper because it really looked like Harper could not swing at all in his previous at bat.

Alvarado suspension won't hurt that much as he probably could not pitch tonight anyway. Of course the Velasquez/Moore tandem will need to get us to the late innings before it would matter anyway.

[andyb]

Yelich and Cain both back for Milwaukee tonight after long IL absences.

[donaldorc]

I had absolutely no ill effects after my second covid vaccine, or my first one. A sore arm for about 24 hours, but nothing else.

[zambonir]

It's funny, because it kind of beggars belief that a professional athlete wouldn't have their eyes checked every year, though maybe COVID interfered with that (it did for me).

Still, declining motor skills and having one of only four starting OFs in all of baseball who is 34 or older seems more like the obvious explanation. People always used to say the same thing about Ryan Howard but there was nothing wrong with his eyesight per se.

And yes, Maton's magic will wear off, but until it does.... really the only problem with moving him to CF is he might be our best middle-IF defensively atm too.

[LoneStarPhan]

I had absolutely no ill effects after my second covid vaccine, or my first one. A sore arm for about 24 hours, but nothing else.

Exactly my experience too. I had the Pfizer vaccine. Didn't even have much of a sore arm with the second one. I do know some people who did have a mild fever and didn't feel well the day or two after a shot.

I guess we are going to need a booster shot by fall/winter. I have been getting the annual flu shot since the early 1970s, so adding a COVID shot annually doesn't bother me.

[Sabin]

One day with a low-grade fever and a headache (which, in my case at least, both responded to acetaminophen - advil) beats the heck out of a serious respiratory infection.

Not to nitpick, but Advil is not acetaminophen; it's ibuprofen, and has always worked better for me than Tylenol (acetaminophen).

Not a nitpick, Sabin - I screwed up! We usually refer to these things by their generic names, because that's what we buy, and telling my spouse to "Try the Tylenol" wouldn't be helpful, since there's nothing in the house labeled "Tylenol." I added the brand name in an attempt to be helpful for those who don't use the generic names... and I screwed it up.

zambonir's right about the COVID-related advice to avoid ibuprofen - but I think that applied to treating actual cases of COVID, where overly depressing the immune response could be problematic. I wouldn't think there's any issue treating a reaction to a second vaccine dose.. although I'm not a doctor nor pharmacist (or even a TV actor...).

I'm the same with respect to the generic names. If nothing else, it can help curb buffoonery from companies like Novartis. But for more on that we'd need to step into the Politics thread.