2022 Phillies Major League Regular Season Discussion

[Philsmania]

Mercado seems a run of the mill 5th OF these days:

Oscar Mercado Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics & History |...

Damon Jones to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man spot. Nothing on the 26-man roster yet. Right-handed OF. Wonder if they go with 6 OF now and drop the extra infielder (Munoz since Camargo is back). This tweet from the Phillies suggests he is going to the big club immediately.

To make room on the 40-man roster, LHP Damon Jones was recalled from Lehigh Valley (AAA) and placed on the 60-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement. A corresponding 26-man roster move will be made when Mercado reports.

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies

) June 27, 2022

This also suggests they could do the same with Crouse the next time we need a 40-man spot. Even if Crouse is ready to pitch they could do a 30-day rehab clock to string it along. We'll have 60 players on the 40 by the end of this season.

More on Mercado here:

What is Oscar Mercado's future in Cleveland? - Guardians Baseball Insider

Interesting athlete. Good speed. Good top exit velocity but poor average velocity. Disappointing recent years but still has good platoon stats against left-handed pitching. Guessing they are going with 2 platoons: (Vierling/Herrera, Mercado/Moniak) for the time being and will reassess in a couple of weeks. Seems a decent pickup on a waiver claim if you need immediate help, though unlikely to stick long term.

Maybe we'll luck out and he'll be a guy who figures it out late on our watch, for a change. (referencing my comment about Pivetta on the phormer Phils thread). He only really had one good year, though.

[zambonir]

Maybe we'll luck out and he'll be a guy who figures it out late on our watch, for a change. (referencing my comment about Pivetta on the phormer Phils thread). He only really had one good year, though.

Alas it is probably not too soon to declare that Camargo is not going to turn back into the player he was his first two seasons (or in AAA last year) either.

Probably a lot of churn ahead.

[Austinfan]

Oscar Mercado

One optimistic point with Mercado, BABIP last two seasons, .253, .226.
Maybe it's partially due to inconsistent exit velo, but could be just a "bad luck streak in dancing school."

[Patchmk88]

Report: Phillies expect Bryce Harper to miss at least one month

Not sure how accurate but 4-6 weeks would be near the best case scenario.

[andyb]

Seems to be 4-6 weeks without surgery. At least 8 weeks with. That is good. No need to do a 60-day IL move unless the second opinion is bad.

[zambonir]

If Harper saw the doctor today I'm sure everyone else will have that shortly.

Gelb (on Twitter) also points out that Mercado might free Vierling up to play more IF, which Thomson said was possible yesterday too.

[andyb]

Makes sense if Munoz goes down. Bigger thing is probably whether Moniak or Mercado hits. They probably both are on short leashes though. I suppose they could send Stott down too. Just feel Stott might be their best defensive infielder now out of all the options. That might be valuable if we are about to play "small ball" for a while.

[zambonir]

Sources: Phillies’ Bryce Harper likely headed for thumb surgery, but plans to...

[bkeich]

That's a lot longer than a month. Seems like two reports that are very different. I am guessing Surgery will result in "see you next year" because frankly we don't have the roster to stay in the race without him.

[zambonir]

The reports are pretty much the same - four to six weeks best-case scenario but it depends on the exact nature of the fracture and surgery. He could still only miss six if it's minor. Could be more like 8 to 10 if it's more complicated.

Either way, he's out for the next five weeks and those are the weeks that will determine whether this roster has something, and is worth improving, or not.

[Patchmk88]

Nightengale: Talent evaluators predict Trea Turner to sign with Phillies this...

Obviously a long way away, but I do think we’ll have to sign a middle infielder next offseason. I love Turner’s bat. Never really thought of him as a good fielder though. Would be interesting if they would sign Turner as SS and move over Stott or sign Turner to play 2B. Turner also has played some CF in the past.

[zambonir]

When do they just make Bryce the GM?

I agree though, they could sign a SS or a 2B, though 3B might be open too.

[Aquapong]

Next year we already need 2 starters. Eflin may have that mutual option, but I don’t think there’s any way he takes it.

The infield is a mess. Didi will be gone. Rhys probably should be nontendered since he’s not a good 1b and so many other guys under contract need DH days. They’ll probably hang on to Bohm since he’s cheap. They may give Hall a shot to be the next Hoskins. Segura has an option, but 2b who put up about 2 war are easy to find and don’t cost $15 mil. I wish Stott would get on a hot streak so we could plan on him being at least the strong side platoon bat at one of the middle infield positions.

We’ll still have the CF problem. Turner may well fit our roster and we’ll have the money, but we’ve also got a lot of holes.

[David_Criss]

Why don't they call up/promote Dereck Hall let him play 1B and put Hoskins at DH?????? It doesn't replace Harper, but Hall is raking at AAA and has a far better glove.

[andyb]

Biggest reason is probably the defensive improvement. Castellanos does not catch that fly ball that Vierling got coming in on Sunday. Hall might be a bit better option than some of the outfielders, but he offers little on the defensive side (a slight improvement at 1B does not mean much).

[andyb]

From the Gelb chat about Marchan: "He'll be in Toronto". So we know at least one unvaccinated is a catcher.

Matt Gelb answers your Phillies questions Tuesday

[zambonir]

Smart career move by any AAA player to be vaccinated, even if it doesn't get you much this year.

I think the defensive improvement in the OF as well as the ability to use the DH spot more widely are both things the Phillies value here. But I would also say that while of course this team is known for not giving young players a chance, why do we think Hall's AAA success would translate better than Moniak's or Stott's?

[zambonir]

Not the roster move they had in mind

OF Óscar Mercado has reported and will be active for tonight’s game. He will wear #35 . To make room on the 26-man roster, RHP Zach Eflin has been placed on the 15-day IL (retro to 6/26) with a right knee bruise.

— Philadelphia Phillies ( @Phillies ) June 28, 2022

[andyb]

The 14 position player roster. Been awhile since we had one of those.

[gmwannabe]

Things aren't looking to0 good at this point. These next 3 weeks will tell the season.
gm