2023 Phillies Regular Season Discussion

[zambonir]

Hoskins wasn't good at playing 1B. Didi wasn't good at playing SS. Bohm isn't good at playing 3B. In Harper's case (and Hoskins' too, and even Schwarber's last year) the bat outweighs the poor fielding. Don't get me wrong, I think Harper will ultimately end up moving positions. I just don't think the machinations of this season indicate any urgency on the part of the team to start that process beyond doing it this season because of his throwing arm. 2 years from now, sure.

And realistically there is only one starting job open regardless of what Harper does. If he's the 1B Castellanos is going to stay in RF and Muzziotti, Rojas, Pache and Marsh (all four of whom are still young players) are competing for two spots... but probably just one unless one of those bats truly plays in LF. If Harper is in RF Castellanos is probably the LF with one of those guys on the bench.

Neither Schwarber nor Castellanos are going to play 1B in my opinion. And having a poor defensive 1B, as we already know is not great either. It may be easier to play than OF but you handle a whole lot more balls.

I certainly don't trade Rojas for a rental and am not sure what Muzziotti really gets you even with this current season - he's a piece, not a cornerstone, just like Nick Williams once was. But that is still the area of tradeable depth just like catcher was last year. And I still think we will see someone who is not currently on the team playing LF or 1B next year or this August (at least in part).

[bkeich]

Now that Hall is in the majors I wonder if Ortiz will be put back in AAA, I think he was really demoted because he can't play 1B when Hall was there.

[zambonir]

But Hall isn't in the majors. Merely ended his rehab stint.

[bkeich]

Ahh, I misread it. For some reason I read that he had been called up.

Having a bad day, I was trying to find our cat this morning and was using the apple tag to find him. I tracked it down to the couch, only for my wife to explain that she hadn't put the collar on the cat yet and all I had done was find his collar.

One of those days. I will stick to simple things today.

[andyb]

I think Hall is the reason why they kicked Ortiz down to AA. Simply playing time. Stevenson was also claimed in the LHV outfield so with Cave and Muzziotti there too it made sense to more Ortiz down. He was playing great at AAA but they could not get him enough playing time in the OF and, with Hall there, at 1B.

He'll still play the OF because he is decent out there. Average range, good arm. His major league role may be more of a bench player if he makes it and playing 1B adds to his value.

[zambonir]

well I hope you found the cat too!

[bkeich]

Yep. Kitty is fine. My Dad was famous for getting upset because he couldn't find one of his cats, apparently he passed it on, luckily my wife is a cat finding expert.

[BostonRoss]

Wow, and I thought I spent a lot of time herding cats...glad you found it.

[BostonRoss]

I am not convinced that playing Harper at 1B can or should happen. I don't think the net defensive improvement is all that much, with an inexperienced first baseman who can't throw well and Bohm back at 3B, where Sosa is much better. And while LF defense will improve, unless they play Pache most of the time, we will probably not have a good defender there. Plus, I can't imagine there is zero risk to Harper playing the field. First basemen still have to throw, and if he hurts himself again, everything is much worse (and you know he won't take it easy).

I think we're still going to have some bad corner defenders next year unless there's another injury. Certainly Schwarber should DH if Harper can play the field at all. If Harper can throw next year, I'd play him in RF and Castellanos at 1B. I understand why there's talk of Harper at 1B this year given his inability to throw after the TJ surgery, but unless that's a permanent issue, next year I'd go with the former infielder at 1B, especially if he has an off-season and spring training to work on it. I like Rhys, but I don't see a spot for a bad fielding 1B next year.

[andyb]

Note there are 3 national TV games this week. Tonight is on TBS. And then Friday (Apple TV) and Saturday (FS1) against the Mets are on nationally.

[zambonir]

A Braves game on TBS, weird!

[David_Criss]

Harper, Castellanos, and Schwarber are all DH's the Phillies have masquerading as fielders. Two will have to play OF/1B and 1 will need to DH.
Schwarber is the worst glove of all of them all. If they do trade for Goldschmidt, then that is the end of Hoskins and Bohm is entrenched at third.

[Sabin]

I remember the '80s as an OOM phan and ESPN still in its younger years, no internet. Rarely ever saw the Phillies outside of my dad taking me to a game at Busch if they were visiting St. Louis. But just about every night there were the Braves and Joe Torre on TBS.

[Austinfan]

Hoskins is probably gone in any case.

With the change in rules, speed has more value, so I'm sure they want to get some of the kids in the lineup - and there are only 4 slots, LF, RF, 1B, DH. 3 are reserved for Harper, Castellanos and Schwarber.

[xogfog]

Speed will never be as important as runs, and Hoskins probably would generate more runs than a speedier replacement would, as long as strikeouts are a big part of the game today.

[VoteForKalas]

It was a scheduled off-day for the server. It was needed to pinch hit later, though, so the board was back up by end of day.

Thanks

[VoteForKalas]

We had a disk overflow at our server site which Chris fixed (remotely). Thanks to Chris!!

Thanks and kudos again to Chris!

[zambonir]

It's unlikely but not impossible that Hoskins is back. He may receive and take a QO. He may be open to a pillow deal or hometown discount (over 2-3 years) knowing he is coming off of an injury and will have a QO making it harder on his free agency (maybe). We'll see how badly he wants to stay and how much the Phillies really value him as a leader and homegrown Phillies player. Is he Pat Burrell or is he Jimmy Rollins?

If he would take a more modest multi-year deal I would just try to trade Castellanos. Hoskins is a year younger, actually plays the position that's open (and that nobody we're talking about moving there would actually play better) and has better career and year-to-year offensive numbers in recent seasons. People say Rhys is streaky but I'd rather have a reliable 120 OPS+ 25-30 HR guy than a guy who swings between 100 and 140 OPS+ and may never top 20 HRs again.

Let's face it - if this team does as well or better than last year's team there is going to be immense pressure to repeat/change it up/improve. And if it does worse, there will be just as much. We really don't yet know what kind of moves are coming, both in July and December.

I also have a hard time thinking they will really let both Nola and Hoskins go. We'll probably see a "re-sign Rhys" t-shirt on Harper eventually.

[andyb]

Phillies injury update: Painter, Song, Dominguez and more

Painter successful bullpen. Song will do 2 simulated games this week. First rehab outing next week. Dominguez should be back in the minimum time.

Also in other news. Marchan activated and optioned to AAA. Plassmeyer released to create the 40-man spot.

[zambonir]

So what do we really think is going on with Song? Will they rush him onto the roster (and then only pitch him in mop-up or not at all initiallly) to get within the 90-day clock, hope it works (including him ultimately being able to contribute) and just return him if not, or is there still another shoe to drop (where he either stays on the IL or they talk to the Red Sox about a deal)? The middle ground - where he actually takes up a roster spot and isn't effective and then still has to be in the bigs for 90 days next year - seems untenable.

Yeah, the Covey spot is there, but I'm not sure they can afford that down the stretch any more than they could afford to keep pitching Hale or Famlilia when they were the last guy.