2023 Phils Spring Training News and Discussion

[andyb]

Zolecki would look really bad if he was wrong about the thrust of the injury. The Phillies may just be wisely taking their time to figure out the proper shutdown and startup protocol.

[Austinfan]

That's alright, I'd rather there be no pressure on Painter, that he work his way into game shape, start a half dozen to dozen games in Lehigh, and if he dominates, then bring him up in June or July without a lot of fanfare.

Who knows, Abel is throwing 96-98, if his secondary pitches progress, he might beat Painter to Philly.

[zambonir]

Well, all Zolecki said was the Phillies don't "seem" seriously concerned. He didn't say they told him anything. They could be wrong, or lying. He was careful (and given he works for the team's website, albeit independently, probably got no more or less than they wanted him to have).

I think the whole point of Painter is that you can put pressure on him AF. He has the talent. He has the make-up. He's been in a pro-like enviroment (at Cressey, including with Brian Kaplan, who was also consulting with the Phillies in 2019) for five years. And there will actually be even more fanfare now, if he debuts mid-season instead of just breaking camp with the team.

If it's just a minor injury that slows him down it's not the end of the world, no. But this doesn't just slow his major league debut, it reduces the likelihood that he will be available for October starts. And if it turns out he's the Phillies' third-best pitcher that's not good.

[fish]

If they can use this as a minor concern to manage his innings and ramp up, that’s super. My gripe is that Painter was one of the biggest story lines in the entire sport this spring- I don’t get why they don’t t feel the need to comment on what’s going on.

On a totally unrelated topic- Simon Muzzioti looks like a big leaguer with the way he fills out his uniform, his swing, defense and athleticism. He’ll need some time to cook at AAA to get his offense going, and he’s probably trade bait at some point- but he’s someone I’ll enjoy tracking this year to see if their player development can get him to the next level.

[Austinfan]

Lehigh will have a pretty good team worth watching if things work out.
De La Cruz, Ortiz, Rojas and Muzzioti, in the OF and 1B.
Marchan at C, Kingery? at 2B and/or Clemons 2B/3B

Painter? McGarry, Abel, Plassmeyer/Sanchez/Vasquez (2 of 3), Skirrow, Crouse
Morales, Lehman, and maybe some of the Reading fireballers.

A few guys with star potential, but a bunch of guys who hopefully can fill in if there are injuries.

[andyb]

No real updates yet though Alex Coffey posted this:

Painter is here. No update from Phillies yet but Boras says: “I have extensive studies on young pitchers with extreme velocity at young ages. Andrew is aware & understands his development requires great attention & patience so his rare skill extends throughout a long MLB career” pic.twitter.com/lBBd4zCtcT

— Alex Coffey ( @byalexcoffey ) March 7, 2023

[zambonir]

So that kind of does imply that Boras wanted him shut down, and also presumably doesn't want there to be much flow of information. His "studies" go back to the early days of Strasburg's career no?

[andyb]

I am guessing velocity correlates with injuries. And of course the most dangerous time for any pitcher is ramping up in the Spring though there is no good way to do it. Hopefully there are no underlying issues other than typical Spring soreness that just delays him a month.

And while I was definitely on board with giving him a chance to make the team, I also understand he was not going to throw much more than 130-140 innings this year anyway. Ideally no more than 10-20 of those innings are in the minors if the team deems that he is ready now.

[andyb]

Ranger to make his spring debut tomorrow:

Ranger Suárez will start against the Astros on Wednesday for Team Venezuela, manager Omar López said. Suárez will only go a couple innings. Brandon Bielak will start for the Astros.

— Chandler Rome ( @Chandler_Rome ) March 6, 2023

[Squire]

I am starting to get annoyed by Gregory Soto's visa issues.

[bkeich]

I am starting to get annoyed by Gregory Soto's visa issues.

I am always surprised every year that this happens to a few players. Are they not applying early enough? I would think that the US government would always process these without much trouble since it is a high paying, high profile job that everyone wants filled. I know have been cases that there were problems with "convictions" of crimes, but I dont think that applies to Soto. Did he just not apply until too late.

Could also be that when players are Free Agents they can't apply for a Visa until they have an employer by name (of team), maybe that has an impact.

[Squire]

I thought about that too but we traded for Soto. He had an employer (Detroit)

[andyb]

The visas for athletes (O-1 or P-1) have a 3 to 5-year time limit. It is likely the visa renewal process here and I am guessing Venezuela is the trickiest (see Ranger Suarez last year). I have no idea if a trade would trigger an automatic renewal or not.

[zambonir]

I would blame the US government not the players. Whether its artists or musicians or ballplayers or tech workers it has only gotten harder, and was a bureacratic pain (think the DMV or the TSA) to begin with. I don't think it matters if you get traded or become a free agent, for visa purposes you work for MLB not a team.

Far more disappointing for Soto to not play in the WBC than it is for us to possibly not see him blow a save in the first series of the season.

[julio]

I would blame the US government not the players. Whether its artists or musicians or ballplayers or tech workers it has only gotten harder, and was a bureacratic pain (think the DMV or the TSA) to begin with.

Please just don't treat "the government" as a black box. If there are delays in processing things like visas (and passports, and tax returns, etc.), it's pretty much always because somebody decided that certain agencies were over-funded, and put the squeeze on. And not uncommonly, that's done deliberately, so that the people who put the squeeze on can then complain about the lack of performance.

This is OT, but it really bugs me when "the government" takes the blame for something that is due to petty political games, and when most of the people in government (whether career people, appointees, or elected officials who are actually trying to get things done) are just as upset as the rest of us about the obstructive behavior of a few.

[zambonir]

Matt's analysis similar to my own suspicion

This really feels less about long term injury problem and really a disagreement between the Phillies and Boras on how to handle minor injuries, workload, and timelines. Thus the org cannot speak until both sides are on the same page or have a public fight. https://t.co/emcewSCIGF

— Matt Winkelman ( @Matt_Winkelman ) March 7, 2023

[andyb]

More Fangraphs here. Criticizing the team some for not replacing Harper with a better bat. Though I think Harper likely misses only 60 games rather than 80-100, so the question of whether adding that bat would have helped as much after that really depends on how well Marsh and Castellanos play.

Schwarber, Nick, and Pray for Stick

[allentown]

Wil Meyers or Trey Mancini? MEH.

[zambonir]

I mean, they did pretty well when he was out last season, and now they have Turner instead of Segura and more of Marsh. I also think they deliberately went after pitching instead - I don't know if Kimbrel and Soto are going to be good signings but that is the money that definitely would have gone to a starter caliber "temp" rather than the current bench options (and they even gave up two of those options to get Soto).

[Austinfan]

They had Hall, added Cave and Clemons, how many LH bats are they going to carry?
It sounds like Long is working with Hall to be more selective, which is key for him to have a long ML career.
That, and playing average defense at 1B - what's going to force them to let Hoskins walk is his terrible defense.

Given Schwarber, Castellanos, JT probably playing some at 1B/DH as he ages, a LH platoon power hitter who's a decent 1B could carve himself a nice few years here.