2022 Phillies Major League Regular Season Discussion Part 2

[BostonRoss]

Maybe the Phillies should have claimed Jackie Bradley Jr.

[David_Criss]

With Schwarber still hurting, it would have to be Guthrie that gets called, I would think.

[andyb]

A point in Guthrie's favor is that he is hitting better against RHP than LHP this year. Probably SSS and luck, but at least it appears he might be better than Vierling against RHP.

Dalton Guthrie 2022 College & Minor Leagues Game Logs & Splits |...

[zambonir]

Or they will be scanning the waiver option or looking for a minor league deal (needs to be a player that has not been on any 40-man roster this year if they are part of another organization). Where is Roman Quinn when we actually need him....

Or Odubel Herrera? (Or Moniak, ha.)

Seems to me you just go with Maton and bring up Camargo or Munoz. Assuming a move. Harper still supposedly 7 days away from his first rehab game.

Four catchers on the 40 and neither of the other two available (though Sands should be by now unless he's really feeling the COVID hard).

[Patchmk88]

They said on the broadcast today (at least the Cincinnati one that I have to watch locally) that Thor will not be making his originally scheduled start Sunday vs the Mets and will instead go Monday against the Reds. I'm guessing pitching will set-up as follows:

Friday - Nola
Saturday - Wheeler and Falter
Sunday - Gibson (I'm guessing he'll go since he'll be on 4 days rest.)

[andyb]

Good news in that Marsh does not appear to have a serious injury. Bad news is it does look like he'll need a short IL stint. This is probably as much about Schwarber being hobbled too. If Marsh can't play this weekend they absolutely need another healthy body even if Maton plays more than anticipated.

Brandon Marsh has a bruised left knee and a sprained ankle. Nothing set in stone yet, but likely headed to injured list. #Phillies

— Scott Lauber ( @ScottLauber ) August 17, 2022

[Philsmania]

On social media, the World Baseball Classic has been slowly trickling out revelations of the Team USA roster. Both Realmuto and Harper will be playing for the US.

Tracking Team USA's roster additions for World Baseball Classic

[xogfog]

The Phillies will have three games in hand vs. the Braves and four vs. the Padres after today. They already have two planned double headers, which sucks, because it is hard to sweep double headers, and that is if there are no rain outs the rest of the way. I hope this scheduling doesn't come back to bite them.

[zambonir]

Planned as in originally scheduled or planned as in we already know they are happening due to prior postponments (be that weather or lockout)?

It does seem irksome that they have off-days to spare. But the Mets aren't available today.

[Lucky_Beagle]

The Phillies announced Thursday that they’ve claimed outfielder Bradley Zimmer off waivers from the Blue Jays. He’ll take the active roster spot of center fielder Brandon Marsh, who’s headed to the 10-day injured list due to a sprained left ankle. Bryce Harper was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

[BaseballCat]

Zimmer is an excellent defender and base runner from my time observing him in the minors, including my local High A (now low A) team. He had descent enough tools and was a #1 pick of Cleveland- maybe Long can squeeze something out of him. Welcome Bradley!

[zambonir]

The Athletic readership was on it!

Phillies Mailbag: The farm system, Noah Syndergaard's rest days and more

[bkeich]

He is most key to be DFA'd once Marsh is available. Doubt they are looking to fix him as much as just have him be a defensive replacement for a couple weeks.

[Lucky_Beagle]

Zimmer is ineligible for post season play correct?

Also I believe I saw Andrew Vasquez was claimed off waivers by the Giants.

[zambonir]

I don't think there are really any rules about post-season player eligibility anymore (i.e. there are enough loopholes to get just about anybody in) but the 40-man deadline is also not until 8/31.

Either way, yeah, he is really just here not only to replace Marsh but to get them through the weekend with Schwarber unable to play LF.

[andyb]

For Bryce his last game was June 25th. So 60 days comes up on August 24th. The plan for him seems to be bringing him back around September 1 when the roster sizes increase, so this is basically a paper move that gives them an extra week to decide if Muzziotti's injury is season ending.

[Austinfan]

I think they can keep Zimmer around after September 1.

They may well sign him to a one year deal if Long thinks there's something there he can fix, Zimmer is a good enough defender that if you could reduce his Ks say to 25% instead of 35%, it might be enough to make him a 2-3 WAR CF.

[julio]

I think they can keep Zimmer around after September 1.

They may well sign him to a one year deal if Long thinks there's something there he can fix, Zimmer is a good enough defender that if you could reduce his Ks say to 25% instead of 35%, it might be enough to make him a 2-3 WAR CF.

Well, they could keep him around. As for "signing him to a one year deal," his service time going into this season was 3.077 years - he'll be a second-year arbitration-eligible player this winter. Is he worth a second-year arbitration award? He'll be 30 in November. His offensive numbers are... well, offensive. His minor league numbers...not particularly encouraging. But yeah, they could keep him - I don't know in what role, though; based on his history, he's not likely to oust Brandon Marsh, and I don't see him on the roster ahead of Hall, Vierling, Maton. He's not as productive as any of them (in a bench role), and he's older than any of them.

Moreover, if somebody more attractive hits the waiver wire tomorrow morning, Zimmer could be DFA'ed by tomorrow afternoon.

[zambonir]

I thought Muzziotti's injury had been reported as season-ending.

I'm gonna be in Allentown on the 28th so now I'm hoping Bryce's timeline doesn't accelerate (though obviously that would be good too - and I suppose I could just try and go to the Phillies game that day if so).

Granted he's no answer in the field or at the plate, but seems notable the Phillies didn't consider the guy in AAA who was in the running for Opening Day CF just last season (i.e. they don't want to mess with him positionally or take away his AAA ABs).

[BaseballCat]

I don’t expect Zimmer to be around long after everyone is back, but if they can tweak his batting while he is around - great. The defense should be there which I assume is the main attraction.