2023 Phillies Regular Season Discussion

[David_Criss]

2 hits tonight and 1 from Turner, but I think it is time to give Turner a couple nights off

[zambonir]

To do what, play Sosa more? Josh Harrison (with Stott at SS)?

I'm starting to agree that it's time to move Marsh or Stott higher up though.

[allentown]

Turner is mired in one of those seasons which seems only fixable by winter.

[zambonir]

Seems so. But he's still a higher WAR player than our 3B or our LF (or Bryce, though that's due to missed time as much as the injury/lesser performance). And if he's just this year's Nick, I'll take a repeat of last year.

JT is also not the hitter he was last year. Combine that with Turner, and with Bohm and Castellanos not being sluggers, and they still just miss Rhys.

[flyers19rw]

Seen enough of Cave. Bye. Bring up Muzziotti and play either Rojas or him.

[zambonir]

What makes you think Muzziotti's performance in AAA will translate any better? I realize the answer is, "may as well find out," but they still don't want Bryce playing 1B every day, which Cave was maybe going to do, so Clemens is more likely. Only 8 more days until it's someone else though.

Of course Muzziotti is also probably going to get traded, and no reason to mess up his trade value by letting him struggle in the bigs for a week.

[bkox]

In todays rehab outing

Seranthony struck out the side on 13 pitches. Sat mostly 97 with a bunch of sliders.

— Matt Winkelman ( @Matt_Winkelman ) July 23, 2023

[LoneStarPhan]

Dominguez will be a welcome addition to the pen. Hope Alvarado is back soon as well.

It will be an interesting week leading up to the deadline a week from Tuesday. I feel almost certain that DD will make one or more additions, although I certainly hope they don't move top prospects for players who will be gone come the off season.

I think Clemens might replace Cave if someone else is not brought in for that spot by the deadline. Clemens got some hits and played a decent first base as well as being able to play other positions as needed.

[phillychuck]

Four ABs is certainly enough to judge.

IF IF IF a minor leaguer is given enough time in the big leagues, their performance almost always normalizes to the expected performance based on their minor league if those stats are properly discounted. Cave should be a .280 hitter with some decent power, but guys need a chance to adjust to the environment. We may not have the time and at-bats to let him adjust.

[flyers19rw]

959 at bats with 345 strikeouts is more than a SSS. He’s not a major league player. Give the opportunity to someone else.

[bkox]

I have to agree with flyers19 here. Cave isnt a 24yo rookie with great minor league numbers.. or even a 27yo late bloomer. Hes a 30 year old who had a two decent seasons 5-6 years ago and has been bad the last four.

But I also agree..2 games isnt enough to just dump him again. And that he can play 1B is good. BUT i dont understand why Rojas wasnt given at least one start in this series.

[zambonir]

All RHP starters?

[bkox]

All RHP starters?

yeah.. but unless they expect him to be a platoon player.. hes got to face a RH sometime.. Plus today they knew the starter was only going 3 max and good chance he would face a LH at some point in the game.

[andyb]

yeah.. but unless they expect him to be a platoon player.. hes got to face a RH sometime.

These days with starters lasting only 5 innings he will. Cave had a bad day. He was not awful the first couple of games. The reality is Rojas is really not ready and is best suited to pinch running and defense when he is not starting against LHP. This is a nice experience for him keeping the Pache roster spot productive.

Cave (or Harrison) will be vulnerable in a week anyway as a right-handed OF is likely on DD's shopping list. The big question is whether that is a platoon bat or more of a full time bat. Betting on the latter and hopefully they find a way to get one without giving up a top prospect.

[LoneStarPhan]

I think we all know Rojas needs some more time at AAA but he is getting a valuable exposure to the majors and fills a short term need. Not insignificant to him is a couple weeks of ML pay.

[zambonir]

Yeah I just think it was okay to protect Rojas and also take advantage of what should have been an opportunity for Cave. He did not take it, but he was certainly not alone in this series.

I think the LF RHB could still be a platoon bat, of sorts, but his partner would be Marsh (with Pache in CF) and he'd still face RHP some. Pache is the guy you might want to challenge platoon-wise (but not too often).

Tommy Pham seems to be the hot name right now, but that does complicate things a little bit, giving a good prospect to the Mets. Cardinals have guys. Red Sox aren't really out of it.

Rojas still hasn't even had a single AB in AAA so they probably do want him to go back to the minors and get regular ABs until the season ends (which happens later these days). Once they trade Muzziotti he can just report straight to Lehigh.

[andyb]

Phillies plan to activate Seranthony Domínguez tomorrow. He’s been out for five weeks. Would be a big boost to the bullpen.

— Matt Gelb ( @MattGelb ) July 24, 2023

There was talk of doing this for tonight but they might as well give him a rest day and use the guy they will send out tonight if they need to (and have a contingency for injury).

[andyb]

Tonight's lineup makes me wonder if they are trying to throw the game. Kremer is the Baltimore starter and he is a RHP who has regular splits (i.e. much better against righties).

Our 6-9 are: Harrison (3B), Cave (1B), Stubbs (C), Rojas (CF).

Sitting Marsh and Bohm and making this JT's rest day. Sanchez will need to be good tonight. I can't imagine Cave has had even close to the amount of work that Harper had at 1B. One minor league game in his career and they probably thought of adding that position for him only a couple of weeks ago.

[Sabin]

Oof, that does seem more the JV lineup. Then again - and this is likely skewed by observation bias - it seems like they've had poorly matched lineups come through (or at least make a good game of it) over the past couple of seasons.

Also, I'm aware of the data that shows lineup order doesn't make much difference, but I still can't get Schwarber continuing to leading off with the lack of power the team has. Not only that, but with the RISP issues they've had Schwarber has by far been the best with that split, with a .356 OBP/.856 OPS (.354/.830 career).

I get he likes the leadoff and the team has fared well with him there, but it would seem beneficial to situate him and Bohm behind some high OBP guys. With a healthy Hoskins and Harper and non-slumping Turner, not as big of a deal.

[zambonir]

Harrison has a big reverse split this year but not sure that should be taken too seriously.

Maybe tonight will be Johan Rojas's day.

Or we might up someone's first major league HR on the other side