2023 Phillies Regular Season Discussion

[zambonir]

Didn't the Red Sox move Nick Pivetta to the bullpen recently? Maybe he should be our #5. Only because Vince is hurt.

[bkox]

Prior to tonight’s game, RHP Luis Ortiz was recalled from triple-A Lehigh Valley. To make room for him on the 26-man roster, RHP Yunior Marte was optioned to Lehigh Valley.

— Philadelphia Phillies ( @Phillies ) June 13, 2023

[LoneStarPhan]

The Thompson signed doesn't seem like someone who is going to help the ML club. They need to get a pitcher who is actually mediocre.

The second Thompson is, of course, the former Phillies pitcher from 2016-2017-2018 time frame.

[zambonir]

Already posted in the "5th starter" thread but

Bailey Falter gone after 1.1 IP
4 H (3 HRs), 4 ER (responsible for runner on 1B), 1 BB, 28 pitches, 17 strikes

Was planned for 3 IP to remain an option for @Phillies later this week @IronPigs down 4-0 to @MudHens

— Tom Housenick ( @TomHousenick ) June 13, 2023

Matt was tweeting about how the Ortiz/Marte moved seemed to signal Covey was still the guy next time and if so this probably seals it.

[bkeich]

The Falter news really couldn't be worse. Hmm, how did Painter's 20 pitch thing go I wonder. Can he throw it 60'6"?

[zambonir]

I mean, ex post facto, but it seems like it wasn't such a great idea to pull him out of AAA and send him down to Clearwater and then back to AAA. They really needed to have eyes on him in Florida to see how he was doing. Because he was doing fine in AAA until today. I don't necessarily believe a break/adjustments/clearing his head was actually going to change his ability to get major league hitters out anyway. But he could still be just as useful as a one-time-through the order guy against bad teams as Covey is.

[andyb]

I am a little worried Covey might pitch well against the A's. But since they are basically a AAA team we might be stuck with him for another month. Maybe Nick Nelson will pitch well enough to get recalled.

[Sabin]

I am a little worried Covey might pitch well against the A's. But since they are basically a AAA team

A AAA team that's won six in a row.

[zambonir]

The headline kind of says it all. But Thomson supposedly said he still feels like Covey could give them 70 pitches, that they like his stuff, and implied that was he was less effective after his first appearance because they missed with his role (which doesn't really make sense because his first appearance was the one with the opener and his worst was the one where he actually started).

Buried in there, Song is supposedly close to a rehab stint. So maybe July 1 is still on the table. Is he the 5th starter? (I mean, he's not, but if they have to make room for him in the bullpen the 5th starter and second-to-last reliever need to be solid.)

Yunior Marté departs as Rob Thomson says he trusts Dylan Covey

[Callison]

Yeah, sure he does... cause he doesn't have another option, but Covey is a game forfeiter. Marte pitched himself off the team. So has Covey.

Huge W last night - took a Dbacks error to make it happen, but took a total meltdown by Seranthony to even give them hope. Wasn't so long ago he was just tearing everybody up. You got 6 outs to get against a frontrunning team, why not go to your BEST TWO ARMS TO CLOSE IT??? That would have been Alvarado and Kimbrel. Big Rob works in mysterious ways. Nearly cost him the game. I was really glad to see Corbin make the final out. I sure hope he never catches an Alvarado heater in the ribs 3 or 4 times.

Can the Phils break through the .500 glass ceiling? Will the hitters show up? Can Nola come up with a big game against a frontrunner?

GO PHILS!

[andyb]

Looks like Sanchez is possible for Saturday:

Phillies rearranged their rotation at Triple A and Cris Sánchez is no longer listed there. "Yeah, I wouldn't read anything into that," Rob Thomson said with a devilish grin.

It's very possible Sánchez pitches Saturday in Oakland.

— Matt Gelb ( @MattGelb ) June 15, 2023

[xogfog]

I think DD needs to go get a dependable 5th starter, shouldn't cost much. Stop bullpen games and forget Falter and Sánchez in AAA. When Painter comes back, bring him back as a reliever for the rest of this year. McGarry and Abel may be ready later this year, certainly September call ups.

[zambonir]

There are like 15 teams that need a dependable fifth starter right now. Or even one who isn't dependable (i.e the Phillies weren't the only team to claim Covey). And if you try to trade for one before July 20th or so you have to overpay.

Now, if you mean by the deadline, then yeah, get another Gibson or Thor rather than a more costly acquisition. And I'm sure they will. Painter does not seem like he will be ready to make a major league start before August. And you only get two September call-ups, only one of whom will be a pitcher probably (and they still have to be on the 40. Falter and Sanchez might not even be on the 40 by September if they do add more than one of the kids).

[DurhamBull]

You got 6 outs to get against a frontrunning team, why not go to your BEST TWO ARMS TO CLOSE IT???

Because they were three runs ahead, and it's a 162 game season and they want to preserve their best arms for higher risk situations would be my guess.

[bkox]

Who would you suggest? Pitching is at a premium. Over the next 4 days.. there are 18 scheduled starters with ERAs above 5. And even the Rays have an undecided for Sunday.

[zambonir]

League average ERA is now 4.21 so there's probably a lot more than 18! (Last year it was 3.90.)

Personally I think the bullpen games are working no better or worse than anything else. They have losses of 4-3 (Dbacks), 11-4 (Braves, in what was technically Covey's only start), a 4-2 win (Nats), a skipped start and a 9-8 loss (Dbacks). They were 1-7 with Falter. It's probably not helping the bullpen though, i.e.:

Since June 1, the Phillies bullpen has pitched to a 5.27 ERA. Over that span, their starters have pitched to a 3.09 ERA.

Phillies beat Diamondbacks in 10-inning game to get back to .500

[xogfog]

Matthew Boyd or Michael Lorenzen of the Tigers off the top of my head.

[zambonir]

I would say Boyd's not necessarily an upgrade and yet, he'd probably cost something. Lorenzen probably will cost more than Thor did because the Phillies picked up all of Thor's high salary.

I reckon the Phillies are going to trade Muzziotti or Rojas if not one of the three pitchers but will it be for a starting pitcher or a bat? Either way it's unlikely to happen before the All-Star break.

2 of the 3 next bullpen games should be against the A's and Nats too. Plus the Mets.

[zambonir]

Because they were three runs ahead, and it's a 162 game season and they want to preserve their best arms for higher risk situations would be my guess.

While this is also true a three-run lead is not a six-run lead. But they presumably didn't want to use Alvarado last night and then were forced to later. But also the truth is Seranthony is still one of our two best relievers (or at least, there's no difference between #2 and #3). Just not one of the two hottest ones. But people were saying the same thing about Kimbrel a month ago.

[julio]

A post was merged into an existing topic: Non-Phillies 2023 Major League Season Discussion