2023 Phillies Regular Season Discussion

[gmwannabe]

not Tyler Cloyd, but I think Ben Brown would look good in Phillies pin stripes right about now. Also, I hope that turner does not take as long as Casty did to acclimate himself to the Phillies lineup.
gm

[zambonir]

The funny thing about both of those statements is I wouldn't want to change anything about last season (except the very end). They don't make the playoffs without Robertson and they got to Game 6 of the WS in spite of Castellanos's struggles.

And, thanks to positional value and defense Turner still has a 0.6 WAR. He shouldn't be trailing Stott or Castellanos but he's still well ahead of Bohm. His struggles make the absence of Hoskins (and the weak power production from 1B and 3B in general) more noticeable.

[LoneStarPhan]

I just read that the Phillies are 1 for 33 with RISP over the last three games.

[Austinfan]

Kind of crazy, but it goes with a lack of plate discipline.
They seem to be pressing, and chasing bad pitches.
But SF has been a black hole for this team for a long stretch now.

[Callison]

This team is loaded with hitting talent that isn't hitting. The team LOOKS like it's built to just outscore everybody, but they're playing like the A's.

Time to shuffle the lineup... like, just throw the names on pieces of paper down the stairs and wherever they land, that's the batting order... nothing to lose.

Looks like Stott is starting to hit again. Up to him to take over leadoff. Harper needs another month of PT.

[Philsmania]

It seems as of the Phillies struggling with RISP has been a problem this entire century. Since moving into CBP, the Phillies have built lineups on the long ball. Power hitting teams have a tendency to go into funks with RISP because they are not good with situational hitting.

[Philsmania]

I've noticed it too. The Giants are one of those teams which always gives them fits.

[zambonir]

I think it is more myth than reality that they have consistently struggled with RISP over the years. Teams that are good at getting on base also create that perception. And teams built on power don't need to hit with RISP as much. But this team isn't actually leaving the yard enough either (understandably given the guys missing from the line-up, one of whom isn't coming back).

Mind you I'm not saying when the team goes 1 for 33 that isn't real, and a real problem. And last year's team was 3rd in BA and 7th in OPS with RISP, while this year's team is indeed very close to the bottom. But they are also just 20th in HRs while being 10th and 11th in slug and OPS (seems to me a month ago they were closer to Top 5 in both those categories). Still 5th in doubles. You'd think they'd be knocking in more runs from 1st with all those doubles (since they obviously struggle to get runners home from second).

[Aquapong]

This team won’t win games when you make the fielding and baserunning blunders they do if you aren’t hitting homers. They need to clean up their game so they can grind out some wins when the homers aren’t coming.

[andyb]

I would probably just start Strahm in the bullpen games the next 2 times and limit him to 3 innings.

We have 2 big series coming up against Atlanta (4 games) and the Mets (3 games). Pretty sure we don't want Falter or Sanchez starting one game in there so Strahm is really the best choice.

Then after the Mets series they hope Nelson is ready or they can get Falter again if he has a good start or two in LHV.

[Philsmania]

The Phillies currently have the sixth worst road record in baseball (9-15). A good stretch of home games will do us wonders.

[andyb]

We have been getting our West Coast road games out of the way early. I think we have one more West Coast trip in June and then are done with that for the rest of the year. Of course we have not played the Braves and Mets yet. Those 2 series' coming up look like they will be important to set the tone for the summer.

[zambonir]

We have 2 big series coming up against Atlanta (4 games) and the Mets (3 games). Pretty sure we don't want Falter or Sanchez starting one game in there so Strahm is really the best choice.

I hear ya but the games in which they went bullpen or 6th starter (that being Falter at the time) last season were pretty important too. The Phillies were only 3-3 in Strahm's starts and two of them were duds (as was Brogdon's opener stint) so there is risk no matter what. Sanchez for three and Strahm for two might still be better than Strahm for two and then an inning each from lower-leverage relievers.

Anybody seen Cole Hamels lately? And why did they trade Algeyer? Starter depth seems to be an issue in both MLB and AAA leaguewide unless you have close-to-ready prospects (which the Phillies thought they had, but...)

[Lucky_Beagle]

Hamels is with SD, right?

[zambonir]

Yeah, I guess he is. Still not ready to pitch.

[Aquapong]

Somewhere Girardi is throwing up his hands and saying “ see it wasn’t me.”

[LoneStarPhan]

Extremely disappointing road trip again. Great start winning the first two games. Dismal collapse in next four. Hard to see this twice in a row.

I think this team is better than this, but the season is really no longer young. Time to show us they are better or they really aren’t.

Turner has been a huge disappointment so far, but is far from being alone in chasing bad pitches. Again, I think he will heat up, but it’s time to do it.

Time to come home and win a bunch of games.

RISP update: 1 for 6 today so 2 for 39 in this streak. No getting it done.

[zambonir]

Time to show us they are better or they really aren’t.

Time to come home and win a bunch of games.

Well they were 21-29 last year on June 1 so what were they "really" then? We like to think Thomson was what changed everything but it was also the schedule. This year's team does win at home but that NL East road trip (or at least the four games in Atlanta) could bury them for a little bit.

[LoneStarPhan]

Sunday morning they were flying high and five games behind Atlanta. Things were looking good. After losing four, not so good.

I’m still optimistic. It’s a long season.

[zambonir]

The whole thing brought back echoes from last year. The Phillies got swept in San Francisco in September, and Schwarber stood in the clubhouse and exuded calm. “We’re going to be fine,” he said then.

Well, he was right.

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