2021 Phillies Major League Regular Season Discussion

[Taudawg]

I feel like we are reliving the 2020 season in longer form.

[zambonir]

Well, that's the bright side! There's still time to get healthy and for some people to play better. Might not be physically possible in some cases (whether due to age or potential chronic injuries) but could be in others (Nola, some of the relievers, Bohm). We got four weeks to look for signs of life and 6-7 to really call it.

And win or lose, buy or sell, a normal season means they can actually be aggressive at the deadline. With a real President/GM. Wasn't really possible to do so in either direction last year. Had it been a real season and they were out of it they would have had to trade Didi and JT, maybe move out Hector early too. Wonder what sort of team we'd be watching right now had they done so.

Conversely, in a real season they might have added a starting pitcher, better bench depth, and one more reliever. Or they wouldn't have needed any of those things because Hoskins and Realmuto would have gotten healthy, the rotation wouldn't have been tested by all those doubleheaders and some of of those arms would have turned it around (or been ready, like Brogdon and Romero eventually were).

[andyb]

No lineup changes today. Still Miller in RF and Torreyes at SS and Bohm at 3B. Is Maton hurting a bit? He has not started much lately and several games like today have been against RHP (Gray today).

[zambonir]

I think Joe just prefers his veteran, now that he's back, and it's not like Maton's been hitting (to say the least: .597 OPS in last 28 days and .234 over the last 14. Numbers Torreyes can easily exceed from any side, especially if you think he plays good defense).

[andyb]

Numbers Torreyes can easily exceed from any side, especially if you think he plays good defense

It may not mean much, but I do remember Maton came in a game last week and Torreyes shifted to 3B. It may only mean Maton has not played much 3B, but I do think they like Maton's defense.

[schillingfan]

With regard t Bohn moving to the outfield like Pat Burrell, Burrell was supposed to come up as a 1B, but when we traded Schilling to Arizona, we got back one Travis Lee failed prospect who we put at 1B, forcing us to play Burrell in left field.

[zambonir]

I certainly saw nothing wrong with his defense. But he went hitless in his last four starts and it really seems like their thinking is to go back to the original pecking order. Torreyes is the back-up who is now the starter - and the manager's guy - and Maton is the bench player.

[Dirk41]

With regard t Bohn moving to the outfield like Pat Burrell, Burrell was supposed to come up as a 1B, but when we traded Schilling to Arizona, we got back one Travis Lee failed prospect who we put at 1B, forcing us to play Burrell in left field.

Wow. Remember when they were switched for a week or so after the trade with Lee in left and Burrell at first? That was so strange. They had announced the date for the switch, too. Thanks for the blast from the past.

Lee was actually very good defensively at first, though.

[zambonir]

Had honestly blacked that part out, though Pat had already moved to LF in the minors because the Phillies had Brogna (another player with the dubious distinction of being a great defensive 1B). Seriously didn't remember that Lee played LF, and it's kind of weird that he wouldn't have been the better OF!

I remember Curt arguing on the listserv that we'd never understand how valuable Brogna was as a teammate, and then I believe Bowa claimed Lee saved 100 runs a year with his glove.

[LoneStarPhan]

Travis Lee was another supposed great talent that never match the hype when he was first signed. He was one of the four players who got declared free agents due to some screw-up in drafting them. All got nice bonuses and more than top drafted players were getting back then.

[zambonir]

The thing Boras was most famous for until J.D. Drew, hilarious that we got Lee, but only after he'd been paid.

[Dirk41]

Lee apparently played his entire career with the yips towards the yips. He was afraid to throw the ball. The guy who made him most uneasy playing with was Scott Rolen because he was so flawless in the field.

[Philsmania]

Travis Lee was another supposed great talent that never match the hype when he was first signed. He was one of the four players who got declared free agents due to some screw-up in drafting them. All got nice bonuses and more than top drafted players were getting back then.

For a while, it looked like Boras was really trying to declare war on the MLB draft and, if he had his way, MLB wouldn't have a draft. The three guys he got declared free agents were Travis Lee, Matt White, and Bobby Seay. Allan Hendricks exploited the same loophole for John Patterson. All four signed with either the Diamondbacks and then Devil Rays, expansion teams that were a couple years away from starting up and, hence, had, plenty of payroll money to burn. We know all about Lee. Seay had a couple good seasons as a reliever (2004 with the Devil Rays, 2007 with the Tigers) and Patterson was a guy who strangely always had a good WHIP but a high ERA and had one really good season for the Nationals in 2005. White, however, was a total bust who never made The Show (but did get a $10.2 million bonus). Boras tried to argue the following year that Drew was entitled to the same bonus as those guys and claimed it was irrelevant that they were free agents and Drew was not. The Phillies gambled that Drew and Boras were bluffing but, obviously, were wrong.

[bkox]

By week’s end 21 of 30 teams are expected to be “fully” (85 percent of tier 1) vaccinated. Among teams with work to do: Mets, Red Sox, Cubs, Phillies, Mariners

— Jon Heyman ( @JonHeyman ) June 2, 2021

Wonder who the holdouts are on the Phillies. I heard Neris's name a few weeks ago

[bkox]

Today's #Reds -Phillies game has been postponed due to inclement weather. It will be made up on Monday, June 28 at 6:40 p.m. ET. pic.twitter.com/baeNwL2KQJ

— Cincinnati Reds ( @Reds ) June 2, 2021

[Patchmk88]

The one game I buy tickets to this year gets postponed

[David_Criss]

And the Reds bullpen gets a day to recover

[zambonir]

Been a couple of months, even (early in the season) since Neris brought it up. The Phillies also might be having trouble if their players who began the year in AAA never did it, since that's 23% of the roster. Torreyes probably isn't yet as he's had COVID too recently (at least to have completed the second shot and wait period).

The Mariners have actually had an outbreak too.

[Taudawg]

Speculation piece - https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/06/top-mlb-trade-deadline-candidates-rumors.html

Interesting they don't see the Phillies as potential sellers. Not even a mention in the "others to watch" or closing notes. I suppose it makes sense with Didi and Bryce (hopefully) back soon and two months until the deadline.

[zambonir]

Hmmh, you raise a good question, is it because the Phillies aren't sellers or because nobody on the Phillies roster who is actually tradeable would be higher than 41? No relievers on this list, so not even Neris probably.

Ah, but I see the addendum, where they also say they aren't including the Twins, Nats, Reds or Cubs (who are in first place!) or Royals. So it really is based on teams waving the white flag. For sure the Phillies aren't close to that yet.

But they will have to consider getting into the buyer's market early if it goes that way.