2023 Phillies Regular Season Discussion

[andyb]

Guessing Marte will be the 27th player. Moore was just not ready in his brief time. I am guessing Strahm will go back to being the long man in the bullpen at some point, but that decision really does not need to be made until Ranger is back. Sanchez has had good results in AAA, but his velocity is off a bit. Not sure he will play well with more exposure.

Ortiz pitched well in his one low pressure inning but imagine he goes down again absent any injury if Sanchez sticks.

[andyb]

Stott gets the MLB Network breakdown:

And Marte will be added for today:

Matt Gelb: The Phillies added righty Yunior Marté to the... - The Athletic

[andyb]

Sosa seeing a back specialist today in Chicago. Surprised we have not seen a 10-day IL move with Guthrie (or Kingery if they want to do a 40-man move) both available.

We have 2 guys on the bench who can't hit much (Clemens and Pache) and we are forced to play them more with Sosa out.

[zambonir]

Well had they known there was going to be a doubleheader and that he wasn't going to be available (though they said he could have come off the bench if necessary) they could have, but if they were waiting to see how he felt this morning, not really even time to get someone there for today's game.

Even with Sosa out they could have started Cave and Harrison instead of Pache and Clemens. Just went with platoon, and not starting them twice in one day (even though the regulars besides JT still did).

[andyb]

Jose Alvarado throwing strikes (and hitters missing those strikes).

Goodness Gracious, José Alvarado

[Austinfan]

I dunno, I think he's slipping, they actually made contact with his pitches yesterday.

[andyb]

This timeline (2 weeks possibly) makes me a little nervous. Excited of course, but nervous.

Bryce Harper's rapid recovery, return to Phillies might defy precedent: Early...

[Austinfan]

He'll probably DH the rest of the season, I think the 1B reps are more in preparation for next season as an option, especially with Marsh settling in at one OF spot, and a bunch of young OFs on the way.

They'll just have to tell him to pretend he's Greg Laczynski on the base paths.

[zambonir]

If he's cleared to slide and play great but I don't really understand why they think no rehab whatsoever is really that important. Thomson said why waste the ABs in AAA but he could just as easily go 0 for 12 (he was sub-Mendoza for the entire month-plus after coming back last season). Obviously after those 5 weeks or whatever he found his stroke in October! But I think being just a little conservative might benefit both the player and the team more than being aggressive would benefit either.

[andyb]

I would be shocked at that plan. I assume he'll DH for a month and be chomping at the bit to play 1B. I guess some depends on Hall coming back. If Hall is back in early June (earliest possible timeline) the pressure to play 1B won't be there as much. If Hall is out 3 months (i.e. into July) then I think we'll see Harper at 1B against RHP (the Sosa/Bohm 3B/1B still works against LHP).

[Austinfan]

I think Harper at 1B is a last resort this season, he has no previous experience there nor at 3B (where he'd have experience handling balls hit to him in the IF). So he's probably a dreadful fielder right now, and would need a lot of work to approach mediocre. It's one thing to do this after playing him there for an entire ST after working on it in the offseason, but IR to 1B?

[andyb]

Good athlete (better than Hoskins or Hall or Bohm). 2 months of practice. Bryce will be perfectly adequate at 1B. Lots of people get shifted there with minimal experience. As I said they won't have to do it that often, but it will be a plus if he can play it some and let others DH like Schwarber and Castellanos.

[Austinfan]

I don't think Harper is a better athlete than Bohm, better hitter, but Bohm really improved as a 3rd baseman and has taken well to 1B. IF requires different skills than OF, more reaction time/eye to hand coordination, less spatial awareness (tracking fly balls). And Harper has been a mediocre fielder in RF.

Yes, players get shifted to 1B with minimal experience, and suck as fielders.
Some with lots of experience suck as fielders (Hoskins).
I would much rather see Hall/Bohm at 1B.

[andyb]

Harper is a GREAT athlete. Bohm is younger but is generally gawky. There really is no comparison between the two athletically. Not that I am saying that Harper will be a better 1B than Bohm. They both can be adequate which is just fine if we can get both of their bats in the lineup. Harper being mediocre in RF was more about avoiding walls than anything else. 1B is easier. He'll be just fine.

[zambonir]

Honestly, they just need Harper back, every day. There is still going to be a 9th offensive question mark in the line-up each day even after that. Not sure him playing 1B only against RHP upgrades the line-up (or defense) anywhere else. You could just as easily play Cave or Harrison at 1B (because they will otherwise be in LF). Or just play Sosa at 3B every day with no platoon.

Not sure getting Hall back is going to upgrade that 9th spot either.

But I think what this is really about is not helping the team or protecting his throwing arm, though those are both meaningful realities, but that Bryce would prefer to be in the field somehow, someway.

[Austinfan]

Bohm is turning into a good fielding 1B, same way he went from bad to average at 3B. He may look a little gawky, but he's a first rate athlete.
Sosa is making a case to play everyday, he's got a compact swing, good power, I think the only thing holding him back is lack of plate discipline.

In fact, that's the only thing holding the team back as a whole, too many players swinging at too many balls off the plate. If they can fix that, the current lineup is pretty good - Stott seems to be working on taking more pitches as a leadoff hitter, Castallenos is still diving after too many sliders low and away but has improved, Realmuto seems over anxious, etc. Some of that may be players pressing. But watching Caves strike out on a pitch a foot inside on a 3-2 count. Grrrrrr!

[Philsmania]

Even playing firstbase, you still got to make throws sometimes. Is Harper's elbow ready for that?

I remember Schmidt playing first in 1985 and Hayes playing it in 1986.

[andyb]

Bohm is turning into a good fielding 1B, same way he went from bad to average at 3B. He may look a little gawky, but he's a first rate athlete.

You have a long history of saying that big, relatively slow corner types on the Phillies are good athletes. You said this for years about Rhys who has never been more than a below average 1B no matter how hard he tries. Bohm has a little bit higher base than Rhys, but he is still below major league average. And Bryce is still above major league average even at age 30.

Athleticism as defined here is a combination of speed, quickness, and agility. Bohm has average speed and clearly below average agility. Quickness is a bit harder to define, but certainly he is not better than average there. He works hard at defense to become passable, but it is just fiction to say he is a good fielding 1B.

Sosa is doing just fine (968 OPS). If he earns the full time job then great. Even so it would help the team if Bryce were not limited to DH. Remember we are hiding Schwarber and Castellanos defensively too. And no, Sosa is not an undisciplined player. Just aggressive which is very different and not a lazy stereotype.

Harper may not play much 1B but there is really no reason to think he can't. And he'll have 2 months of nothing else in the field to practice since it looks like they have decided that outfield throwing is the last thing he'll be able to do and maybe not this season. The throws at 1B are fewer and shorter so getting approval there can be done 1-2 months before the outfield.

[Austinfan]

Aggressive is just a nice way to say undisciplined.
There's a difference between attacking balls in the K-zone and chasing balls outside the K-zone.

O-swing
Sosa 44.8% (41.2% career)
Turner 41.0% (30.9%)
Stott 38.1% (32.5%)
Realmuto 35.9% (33.0%)
Castellanos 34.8% (37.8%)
Harrison 33.8% (34.5%)
Bohm 33.2% (33.0%)
Marsh 28.3% (32.2%)
Schwarber 27.4% (26.3%)
Caves 26.3% (32.4%)

When did I ever claim Hoskins was a good athlete? He's slow, and doesn't have great eye to hand coordination.
He had a great start as a hitter, but never built on it.

Harper may have been the better athlete when he was 25, but he's 30 now, his speed has declined, as has his fielding.

Bohm has average speed, but watching him he's an above average athlete who just needed hard coaching on fielding fundamentals. He's more suited to 1B b/c his length gives him an edge there, where at 3B it makes it harder for him to get low on ground balls. But he's been solid at both corners this year. Obviously, still a work in progress at 1B.

[zambonir]

It's entirely possible Hall will be back before Harper is ready to throw, making all of this moot at least for a while.

But it also looks like the best line-up, almost every day, would have both Sosa and Bohm in it, as well as Harper obviously. Cave and Harrison aren't really big defensive upgrades over Schwarber or Castellanos relative to their hitting. And even a line-up with Hall at 1B and Bohm at 3B might not be better than just sticking with Bohm and Sosa, even against RHP (though we never got the chance to find out).

On the other hand, if Hall isn't really an everyday player (even just from the strong side of a platoon) and Sosa's bat is more like a .725 guy (his BABIP with the Phillies is off the charts especially this year) putting Harper at 1B allows the Phillies to upgrade in the OF at the deadline, rather than going for yet another 1B/DH type (especially if that would mean overpaying for a starter-caliber guy).