2021 Phillies Major League Regular Season Discussion

[andyb]

Joyce should be replaced by a RHB by late July anyway

I would not frame it that way. More that he may have already been replaced by Maton now and we still need a RH bat. At the moment the best option there is Quinn, though maybe Luke Williams and Ryan Cordell get a look. Can they play CF adequately might be a question to ask and the way Luke Williams makes the team potentially.

[Sabin]

No argument regarding Segura as a total package in any kind of trade proposal. It was just your original post only speaking to the issue in terms of disagreements between player and teammates/coaches, prefaced by the statement I quoted, that caught my eye.

[David_Criss]

Torreyes and Williams are the only right handed bats hitting at LeHigh Valley. Jankowski is, too and plays a stellar CF, but bats left handed. Torreyes or Williams would be an immediate upgrade over Kingery, but won't be enough.

Bradley returning to the pen sends Suarez back to start at LeHigh Valley, I am guessing.

After that it's Quinn, Haseley for the bench and then Howard for the rotation and Jones and Llovera for the pen.

Looking outside to make a splash would be costly, but might be time to look at::
Kris Bryant - Does he replace McCutchen, Hoskins or Bohm? - Give them Segura.
Trevor Story - would be a major upgrade over Gregorius
Sterling Marte - Herrera playing well now, though
Lorenzo Cain - same as Marte

[bkox]

Mets are out of OF/IF available to call up on their 40 man roster.. dealing with the same 40 man crunch we are. I wonder if its time MLB looks to increase the 40 man to maybe 42 or higher

40 man rosters worked when teams didnt have 13 man pitching staffs and constant IL placements. The phillies have already had 37 players appear in a game this season. Thats more than a lot of the Phillies teams in the 70s and 80s used the entire year. And its not just us. Dodgers have used 38 already. Mets have also used 37 and have played 6 less games than we have.

And its not just a post COVID thing. Teams have been using 50 players a year. Phillies used a club record 56 in 2019

[andyb]

I have been saying this the past couple of years. Teams make so many IL moves these days that they need the flexibility. And while it does limit the opportunities for some AAAA players, those players might welcome a more stable 42-man roster situation where they made decent money ($150K these days) in the minors with a pretty certain shot at more when they get promoted.

The reason they kept the roster at 40 was so teams could not stash prospects to protect them from the rule 5 draft. I just think that is less of an issue now because 40-man members just have to play much more these days in the majors. It is hopefully something addressed in the next CBA. It is just a different world now.

[andyb]

Gelb chat this afternoon. Expect a bunch of transactions in the next few hours. Kingery will be on the IL (concussion version) or off the 40. JoJo potentially also to the 60-Day. Knapp probably needs an IL stint. Not sure about Didi.

Players added could be Torreyes (for Kingery), Joyce (for Knapp), Bradley for a pitcher. If they can get Kingery off the 40 and do the JoJo move, that might open the door for a player off the current 40 (Luke Williams?). I guess Williams would be the move for Didi if they put Didi on the IL.

Live Q&A: Matt Gelb answers your questions about the Phillies

[zambonir]

https://twitter.com/Phillies/status/1394730726709465092

[andyb]

So that is only one additional 40-man spot for Torreyes. I guess they are wavering on a Knapp to IL move and the hope is Knapp is ready in a few days and Joyce or Quinn would take Marchan's spot?

Bench now is Knapp, Marchan, Torreyes, Miller. Still going with 14 pitchers (I guess they were down to 13 before Bradley).

I think they need another OF, especially if Bryce is still day to day. Maybe this is a sign Bryce is fine? But if he can't play and Miller starts and Knapp is day to day, we are down to a Torreyes and Marchan bench. Make sure Vinnie takes BP tonight.

[andyb]

I guess I misjudged Knapp and Harper's readiness. Both are in the starting lineup tonight. Which of course means JT is not.

Edit - And JoJo getting TJ is confirmed. Surgery next week.
https://twitter.com/TimKellySports/status/1394734154756001792

[zambonir]

Semi-good news about Knapp but also I just don't think Joyce or Quinn are ready. Torreyes would have to play the OF if it came to it.

[andyb]

The suggestion was more for an OF that can hit. I know Torreyes can fit anywhere and will always do what the team needs. There is probably value in that now. Just not sure I want him up with 2 on in the 9th and the pitcher's spot up. Maybe we save Miller for that, but of course that means maybe Miller never gets in the game and Torreyes gets that chance in the 6th or 7th.

If we pinch hit in the 4th (hopefully not) I would just use Vinnie.

[zambonir]

The suggestion was more for an OF that can hit.

So you don't want Quinn or Joyce either then.

[andyb]

Well both of them really should be able to approach a 700 OPS on their strong platoon side with regular playing time.

Not sure Torreyes has a strong platoon side.

[HopeSpringsEternal]

I guess I misjudged Knapp and Harper's readiness. Both are in the starting lineup tonight.

The way Harper looked on Sunday makes me wonder if he’s gutting out an injury which will seriously diminish his effectiveness (like the end of the 2020 season).

[zambonir]

Clearly they are not ready to punt on Torreyes just yet, especially with Didi's injury. But they're not going to try Luke Williams - who may not do anything in MLB either - if Quinn or Joyce are expected back this week.

Meanwhile hopefully JT is available to PH.

The way Harper looked on Sunday makes me wonder if he’s gutting out an injury which will seriously diminish his effectiveness (like the end of the 2020 season).

I don't think you have to wonder. He's got a bad back, and it could easily keep causing other issues, or make it harder to recover from dings. But he's not going to take two months off either.

[andyb]

Harper is clearly gutting it out. The only thing I would criticize him though was that he did not change his approach at the plate. It is like there is nothing between bunting and swinging hard. In that last at bat Sunday he should have tried to slap a hit into LF like he was in a game of pepper or BP. There is a way to have done that without putting much pressure on his shoulder and the defense probably would not have shifted (into the Torreyes defense!) if he had done that. I get that he was trying to play hurt for the team. I just think he would have had a better chance of success with a different approach Sunday.

[zambonir]

Couples fight, they still stay married...

Girardi, Segura make up: 'We love each other'

[Sabin]

He and Moore just don't have the stuff any more to make small mistakes unfortunately, but it is also uncertain what they'll get out of Howard and one wonders if VV comes back to earth too.

This is the point I was trying to make in another thread recently concerning VV/Anderson/Moore (and the lack of any realistic upgrade currently behind them). I realize the statement may have been a bit stat-laden given the current season's sample size, but I was accounting for past performance trends and where those paths were leading them respectively this season as well.

You directed me, after my previous post there, to focus more on the pitcher's stuff than statistics - certainly a valid point, but also something I'd already looked at as well. My thoughts there were, as you stated here, that Anderson and Moore were going to have to be extremely accurate in order to be effective.

The definition of 'effective', 'not terrible', etc. will vary by user, but I'm looking for the club to move past the .500 mountain they've been scaling the past three seasons. There are many areas we could point to to help with that climb, but my mind has been stuck (for better or worse) on the back of the rotation and bullpen. The frustration is I don't have more in the way of answers, something I like bringing in kind to any host of concerns/complaints.

[zambonir]

I just think they're all pretty normal back-of-the-rotation fodder. You just hope that one person seizes the opportunity and performs like a #4. When the Phillies were good they had a lot of bad #4 and #5 pitchers. Even Blanton wasn't anything special in 2009 and 2010. Kendrick stunk in 2008 and was probably just lucky in 2007. And the '08 team also had Eaton, and Myers going to AAA.

This is not the '08 team of course, but it's certainly supposed to score five-six runs for the 5th starter.

The bullpen has proven to be pretty fragile, one or two injuries and one or two inconsistent guys goes a long way when a team plays this many close games.

It's all about money at this point - if they're still in the thick of it in July they need someone who won't just replace Anderson or VV but might even slot ahead of Eflin. That can happen, if they're willing, but not for another 8 weeks. I would also say that if they really wanted to look like a 90-win team on Day 1, they would have had to spend more money on Day 1 too.

[Philsmania]

We're paying Kintzler, Moore and Anderson a combined $10 million. Dombrowski is an old fossil who needs to back to retirement.