2021 Phillies Major League Regular Season Discussion

[andyb]

Didi is back tonight and Miller gets the 2B start (which makes sense in the thin air to get a guy with more power in the lineup).

[zambonir]

I firmly believe this team's offense - between Bohm, Hoskins and Cutch being the least productive starters and now Segura being out - is a bigger current problem than the pitching but we're bound to put both things to the test this weekend!

[andyb]

And I think we might need to win a 10-8 contest tonight.

[BostonRoss]

Rick Porcello - has lots of ties to Philadelphia/New Jersey having grown up in Morristown and pitching for Seton Hall. He is a ground ball specialist who has been impressive more than he has not. He is a Mets fan though

Morris**town** is in North Jersey. Morris**ville** is in Bucks County across the river from Trenton.

Moorestown is in South Jersey. Two out of three ain’t bad.

[HopeSpringsEternal]

Torreyes, Alvarado, and Moore all went on the IL on April 19th due to COVID protocols. Since they're not back yet, is it safe to assume that they're all dealing with a case of COVID-19 versus in isolation for contract tracing? Has anything been reported one way or the other? (I know that there's no requirement to officially report such things due to health confidentiality reasons).

[schillingfan]

Rick Porcello - has lots of ties to Philadelphia/New Jersey having grown up in Morristown and pitching for Seton Hall. He is a ground ball specialist who has been impressive more than he has not. He is a Mets fan though

Morris**town** is in North Jersey. Morris**ville** is in Bucks County across the river from Trenton.

Moorestown is in South Jersey. Two out of three ain’t bad.

And Norristown is in Montgomery county.

[andyb]

The contact tracing has a set number of days tied to it. Their absence does not mean they have COVID.

[bkox]

Another error for Didi Gregorious. How rough a start has he had defensively? This Fielding Bible leader board tells the story. He’s dead last in baseball in Defensive Runs Saved. https://t.co/5c7VDW9wct

— Jayson Stark ( @jaysonst ) April 24, 2021

[zambonir]

I think it does mean that someone on the Phillies tested positive though, and possibly that means others have. If it was a third party (like Simmons' and Embiid's barber) or a family member, the coaches and players who didn't have contact with that person could probably come back sooner with negative tests.

They all wear the tracking devices, and the absences were staggered, so it seems like the first positive test - assuming there was just one - was probably one of the three coaches who went into protocol on the 17th and then someone else (at least) tested positive on the 19th. Of course it's hard to know the circumstances of any "close contact" between those five coaches and those three players, at CBP or otherwise.

[zambonir]

Guess no bot meant no chatter from any of us. Big win.

[Patchmk88]

Yea was a good win. Some scary moments late but we hung on. Hoskins likes playing in Coors.

[Austinfan]

Maton is a big surprise so far.

One thing I've noticed is hitters are using the whole field, Harper may have more hits to LF this season than his whole Phillies career to date, Hoskins HR to CF and right CF, Bohm, Maton use the whole field. Then there's Didi.

The real problem is Moniak, Kingery, Haseley, Randolph, you need to get something out of top picks. Moniak really needs to go to Lehigh and get a couple hundred PAs

[zambonir]

They have even raised the possibility of trying Maton in CF, since he's obviously outplayed every other CF and utility middle IF.

[andyb]

Which would be misguided. You don't take a player with no experience at a position and throw him in there especially when his physical tools for the position (average speed) are not ideal. Maton is earning his place on the roster. Didi and Segura are not super young any more and Bohm will need days off. He'll get enough playing time to justify his place on the team and he is old enough where playing every day is a little less important. Now if Kingery came back it would complicate things, though with his speed, Kingery IS a better fit for CF.

[zambonir]

I'm not sure it's a serious plan, and if it was it would surely only be on a utility basis. But if he stays this hot after Segura returns you probably want to put him out there wherever you can for as long as you can until he cools. And physical tools aside the list of 2B and SS who also played CF is long (including Herrera and Kingery a lot and Galvis and Cesar and Torreyes a little). Ill-advised as a long-term thing, certainly (both for the Phillies and for Maton).

[bkox]

Bad offense and defense from Cutch... gotta wonder if hes done

[zambonir]

From the day we signed him:

Phillies sign Andrew McCutchen

Yeah Brantley was more tantalizing but this is about defense too. Problem is I don't know that McCutchen acutally plays good defense, and it's not likely to get better. Good player though. Gets on base. Probably better than Williams. Presumably won't be good enough to start by Year 3.

[zambonir]

Well I guess the media's running with it

Phillies rookie Nick Maton picks up two more hits. Could he be an option in...

Phillies haven't won a series in Colorado since 2012. Of course they've also been bad every one of those years.

[LoneStarPhan]

Yes, the Phillies go into Colorado to play the team playing the worst baseball (based on W-L record) so far this season and leave 3 games later with the Rockies now better than two other teams in MLB, although still the worst in the NL. Phillies manage to lose 2 of 3 to the team that was only winning 1 of 3 for the season.

It is looking now that the 4 and 5 starters are weak links. Maybe one or both can get on track. Howard and Velasquez really have not shown that they are the answer either.

[Philsmania]

I can see that Matonmania is building because, well, phans got to get excited about something. But, it's entirely possible that this is just another case of a guy having a good first week. How many times have we seen that happen?