2022 Phillies Major League Regular Season Discussion

[andyb]

Vierling gets optioned for Falter. Going with the extra pitcher which makes sense if they are looking at 2 bullpen games.

[zambonir]

I wonder if they'll just end up sticking with the extra pitcher even after Didi's back, at least for a little bit.

[zambonir]

Phillies year-by-year at this point. Better to start slow and finish strong I guess?

2018, 22-16, .579, 1/2 game out of first
2019, 22-16, .579, 3 games up in first
2021, 19-17, .528, 1.5 games out of first, wild card
2022, 13-17, .433, 7.5 games out of first

(2020 on August 30, 14-15, 3 games out of first, expanded wild card spot)

[andyb]

Lauber reporting that Wheeler will start tomorrow. Eventually they'll get down to 13 pitchers though I suppose it is possible they will wait until the end of the month. Hopefully Stott plays well the next week to make the decision on keeping him trickier. I still do think they can get him enough playing time. They just need to sit others more regularly (like Didi against all LHP, Hoskins sometimes, Segura sometimes). It would help if Bryce could play the field again of course as we probably should be sitting Schwarber too against LHP.

They don't have to drop the 14th pitcher until the end of May, and I suppose it is possible that MLB will not require that from teams after all.

[zambonir]

Huh I was expecting Eflin to clear first.

Could really use Luke Williams right now as it turns out. I'm not too optimistic about Stott sticking and only playing him against LHP wouldn't really help him succeed either.

[Austinfan]

Rather see Stott play every day in AAA than twice a week in Philly.
Get Vierling, Stott, Maton, Sands, Marchan when he returns as many PA as possible.

[andyb]

Stott would still play mostly against RHP. Imagine we still want Camargo in there most of the time against LHP.

The manager would just need to rotate his right-handed bats into rest days or the DH spot to make this work. That means Bohm, Segura, Hoskins, and Castellanos sitting once a week. If the manager is not going to do that then Stott should go back down. It is not as if Didi has played well, but Stott certainly has not as of yet. Everything is moot if that is the case.

[bkox]

How does Stott get better against lefties if he rarely sees them though? Or are we thinking hes always going to be a platoon?

[andyb]

Starters only go 5 innings and benches are short, so even a player in a platoon is going to see a variety of pitchers.

[Aquapong]

Bohm is rolling right now. I wonder how he’d do at leadoff?

[zambonir]

Well, I'm just assuming Didi is going to be back fairly soon and we've got 3 lefthanded starters in LA in the meantime. Stott should be playing every day, period. But as long as Didi's here not only won't he do that, but he can't even have first dibs on the favorable side of a platoon.

Much depends on Harper getting back on the field too.

It's nice that Bohm helped cause this problem, just like it will also be nice if Moniak can actually play even though we need a RHB more. But roster construction remains flawed especially now that Camargo doesn't really seem any better than the other guys (and he wasn't supposed to be a good enough SS to begin with). Joe doesn't seem consistent about this stuff either. Sometimes he seems overly platoon advantage-conscious and other times not at all.

[zambonir]

Didn't he lead off once?

[andyb]

I would leadoff Segura against LHP and Schwarber against RHP. Bohm did it once and did not look too comfortable. He does seem ideal for the number two spot with his decent OBP and ability to hit the other way if needed. I am not 100% sold on Bohm near the top of the lineup yet. He still seems to have issues against good fastballs inside, though in general he puts the ball in play with reasonable (doubles) power.

[BostonRoss]

Stott hasn’t shown he can hit major league pitching yet. He’s had 19 games at AAA. He needs to go play every day in the minors.

[LoneStarPhan]

I commented in today's game thread that Schwarber cannot continue leading off hitting .185. The problem has been recognized and is that the Phillies just do not have a good lead off type hitter in the lineup. Schwarber has hit with some power and has some decent offensive indicators other than BA, but for me, that just suggests he would be better hitting around the 6th hole. I don't like Bohm leading off either. Of course, if everybody is hitting, then it might not really matter.

I agree that Stott needs to start regularly. If they are not giving him at least 5 starts a week, he should be in AAA. As soon as Gregorius comes back, I expect Stott to return to LV.

Sounds like Wheeler is coming back to start tomorrow. Can Eflin be far behind? Hopefully, he is back to start one of the games in LA.

[Philsmania]

By golly, could it be that the Phillies' bullpen is actually good this season?

[zambonir]

What a difference six days makes. (But generally, sure, it has been. Of course it also hasn't had to save a lot of games.)

[allentown]

How does Stott get better against lefties if he rarely sees them though? Or are we thinking hes always going to be a platoon?

At the present time he is doing as bad against RHP as against LHP. He hit well in the minors. What's wrong? He also has negative dWAR this season. Probably is best served playing rest of year in AAA and playing every day.

[andyb]

By golly, could it be that the Phillies' bullpen is actually good this season?

I have my doubts on Familia but Seranthony looked great today. Hitting 98 regularly with movement. Alvarado will never control his stuff, but if he can get ahead in the count he is unhittable. I do like that Joe is giving him shorter outings. He is not really a LOOGY but 20 pitches might be all he can do with any sort of command.

It is not a great bullpen, but it does seem at least average.

[zambonir]

Seems like the Phillies really managed to botch him, after all that. Put too much stock in the AFL, told a guy who only had nine AAA games that he had a chance to win the SS job (except he really didn't), and put too much stock in his spring training performance, especially given that it was post-lockout/abbreviated. We wouldn't even be talking about it now if he'd just started the year in AAA. He'll be fine (ideally just like J.P. Crawford turned out to be fine) but at this point the best-case would be that he does well enough in AAA to make trading Didi a non-brainer (of course if the team isn't winning they'll do that anyway).

And they did the same deciding Vierling might be a starting CF. Fortunately they have veteran alternatives at both positions, though they are still not ideal (and, in fact, remain the team's two biggest weaknesses).