2021 Phillies Major League Regular Season Discussion

[flyers19rw]

One would think that the Phillies would want Marchan to play as much as possible. He probably will get set back to LV.

[zambonir]

They seem pretty committed to 14 pitchers even if Marchan didn't also need to play. But mainly, they don't have any arms to "option." You wouldn't want to go without Coonrod, Brogdon or Suarez. Eventually they will have to DFA one of those other guys but not yet. Right now when both Harper and Didi come back they will probably have to cut one position player (only Maton can be optioned) and that also might be when you trim the pitcher.

[Taudawg]

Time to end the Matt Joyce experiment.

[zambonir]

I would think so. Maton obviously deserves to stay and Torreyes isn't going anywhere. And at least Quinn is a bench bat of sorts. His starts will be more corners than CF regardless now, I imagine.

DH this weekend, that might be one reason to hang on to Marchan but hard to make that roster move for just two games.

[andyb]

I would not dismiss Joyce quite yet. Certainly he is nice depth to have with Harper hurting (and do we really know if his absences lately are completely due to the pitch off the face and wrist?). Joyce has been competent as a bench bat in the recent past and 50 plate appearances with a pretty good K and BB rate (9:9) and a ridiculously low BABIP (.097) are simply not enough to suggest he is done (though he may be more of a true .650 OPS bat these days who is simply mediocre).

The team does not have any bats that will make a difference in LF and RF if Cutch or Harper are hurt and give them credit for actually sorting out their CF situation. The outfield defense yesterday might have won the game. Herrera hit the cutoff man. Quinn made a nice all or nothing catch and Joyce made at least one above average play. Sometimes defense is boring. Joyce is supposed to hit obviously, but there is no reason to suggest we have or can sign off the street anybody that is much better. Without Harper or Cutch maybe we should just put an extra CF out there in one of the corners and hope our pitching can win a game with more speed and defense.

Joyce is not the problem. Harper and Cutch getting hurt or old is the problem. Hopefully Randolph or Moniak hits enough in the next month to actually give us a viable replacement for Joyce. Getting rid of Joyce now though solves nothing.

[zambonir]

So do you option Maton to keep Joyce? It's not about deciding Joyce is utterly useless or thinking you can do better, it's just that they only have so many roster spots, and so few optionable players. Maybe that is in fact what you do simply because it keeps the most players in the organization, but then they are still going to have to either lose a AAA pitcher or do the Kingery DFA.

With all the injuries out there I imagine Joyce would get picked up. But maybe the Phillies would be better served giving Williams a look. And if they did lose Joyce maybe Jankowski (for defense) or Bonifacio (as RHB) would do just as well.

Just as likely, there will be more injuries as soon as others return, and everyone will stay.

[schillingfan]

So no game tonight. Why do we have Fridays off, just to get only two games with the AL? Next month the Yankees come to town, but there is no Friday night game. I was looking to go to a Friday night game in June and that would have been perfect. We have family and friends in Philly and going to a Friday night game is the perfect start to a getaway. I can’t be the only person who likes going to Friday night games. Seems like a revenue loss.

[andyb]

Keeping Joyce has always been about finding someone better. Maton is not necesarily better, so optioning him when Didi is back and only if he had a fairly predictable slump would be an option.

The real danger to Joyce's roster spot is probably Haseley and that danger is at least a month away and maybe more. If Haseley starts to play and looks like somebody that would give the Phillies a 720 OPS with better defense than Joyce - at that point you move on from Joyce.

The decisions have little to do with options and much more to do with finding better alternatives. The alternatives from within are not ready yet. Alternatives from current free agents are not better than Joyce. And we really should not make a major trade for an OF if we think Bryce will be fine in a couple of weeks. So Joyce stays for now and we hope he at least gets back to what he was a couple of years ago. Until his K rate starts to climb there is no reason to think Joyce is not a competent hitter. We just won't need him any more if Haseley also returns to being a competent hitter and everyone else is healthy.

[flyers19rw]

You’re probably correct about Haseley being the main threat to Joyce’s roster spot unless Cutch gets moved out to a contender that needs an OF bat and thinks that he can still do it. I don’t get the hate for Haseley. He’s not a power hitter but has alley ability. It could be that past hitting instructors got on his case to hit the ball longer and messed up his game. Sometimes people forget that in college at Virginia he was their #2 starting pitcher so he never had a full season working on the OF prior to being drafted. Defensively he has legs and an above average arm. Certainly adequate in the corner OF positions and passable in CF in smaller parks. If given a fair shot, he stands a good shot at being a solid player.

[zambonir]

If Cutch gets traded, we're trading several other guys (Miller, for starters) and still paying most of the freight. Though it would certainly be fascinating if Dombrowski was able to sell and buy at the same time.

I don't think anyone hates Haseley, but he was given every chance to win a starting job this year, didn't perform, and then required a sabbatical. So now we simply don't know what he might be able to contribute this year, nor can you just ink him into a starting OF spot next year. On a good team - not that the Phillies are one - he still is not enough of a bat for LF or enough of a glove for CF (and he wasn't enough of a bat there either this season or last).

When you look at his actual # of games played, both in AAA and MLB, as well as the college pitching thing, you could easily just leave him in AAA all season - the full amount of time he never got to spend there in either 2019 or 2020. But his ceiling still might be 4th OF.

I forgot Moore was on IL. Seems to me no matter how you slice it they are going to have either DFA a pitcher (and go back to 13) or DFA Joyce or Torreyes soon regardless. There's really no one to option for Moore. Haseley can go to AAA but he still has to go back on the 40 first.

I guess it's possible they'll option Howard at some point, since they can skip a lot of starts in June.

[bkox]

Phillies announce that RHP Ramón Rosso has cleared waivers. He’ll go to Lehigh Valley.

— Destiny Lugardo ( @destiny_lugardo ) May 28, 2021

[donaldorc]

I also find it odd that there is no Friday night game! Has this ever happened before?

[fish]

Csn Philly with a story out today about Howard changing his pregame meal routine.

Spencer Howard hoping new pregame meal routine helps with velocity

This story comes at a time when I’ve been wondering if there is some underlying health condition to Howard’s stamina problems unrelated to a physical injury. If he was diabetic they’d figure that out in an annual physical, right? In the minors Howard was a big game pitcher- he threw as hard in the 9th as he did in the first (high 90s). But now he’s fatigued after 3 innings? There’s got to be more to this.

[bkox]

big meals usually make people want to sleep.. and if it was diabetes that would be even more true.

[Sabin]

Sure, in October the past nine or so years.

Does seem odd for the regular season, though.

[zambonir]

It would seem to be a quirk of the interleague schedule (that we only play two against the Rays), and also a quirk given the fact that the Rays didn't want to play any night games.

[bkox]

•C J.T. Realmuto activated from 10-Day IL.
•C Rafael Marchan optioned.

[bkox]

Roman Quinn left the game with an injured left Achilles, the team says.

— Todd Zolecki ( @ToddZolecki ) May 29, 2021

No news on the extent.. but if its a tear/rupture.. has any player ever ruptured both in their career? Is this something he can even come back from?

[phillychuck]

has any player ever ruptured both in their career?

Eagles' RT Brandon Brooks.

[andyb]

Is this the only artificial turf field left in the league? The newer turf is better on the knees and the bounces are very similar to regular grass, but they ARE slippery at times. Friend on my amateur team blew out a knee that way on what seemed to be a pretty good turf field.