2023 Phils Spring Training News and Discussion

[allentown]

Is a trade brewing for a DH or 1B?

I think we are in greater need of a #5 SP.

[LoneStarPhan]

Really a tough break for Rhys and the Phillies. There was every indication that Hoskins would contribute significantly to the offense this season. They do have multiple options to fill the open lineup spot, but figure to lose some offense overall over the season.

[allentown]

HATE the headline. Clever, but in horrible taste.

[andyb]

I wonder if the minor league guy we should really hope makes a breakthrough is not one of the 1B types but Johan Rojas. We do not have a solution to replace Hoskins' power in the lineup, but pushing Schwarber or Castellanos to DH and getting a better defensive OF in there is probably a good idea. Cave will get a decent amount of playing time, but Rojas is really made for the new 2023 rules.

Sosa and Harrison can play everywhere, so if the solution against LHP is to get Sosa and Harrison and somebody like Rojas in the lineup (Bohm likely at 1B) then suddenly you have a pretty athletic defensive team out there.

[zambonir]

I think we are in greater need of a #5 SP.

I think they can get by. You don't want to give up anything of value for a legit #5 when Falter looks fine and Suarez isn't showing any structural damage. Maybe they pick up someone fungible but that person won't necessarily be better than bullpen games (or Plassmyer or Sanchez once the latter if ready). Or better than Kyle Gibson was during his worst months. If it's still an issue in 2-3 months you've either got Painter or the trade deadline.

Granted, a team with 95-win division-winning aspirations can't afford to give away as many starts as they did last year but with this latest development plus Harper plus the pitching questions plus the likely general hangover from the shortest off-season of any NL team a hot start may not be realistic. A hot finish more important again.

[fish]

I’m more than comfortable going into the season with Hall playing first against righties, but Christian Walker….I’d pay a price for that guy. GG defense, 30+ homers with walks and he crushes high velocity, 5 WAR, only 6.5 million this year with 2 years of control.

I don’t know what went wrong for him in 2021, but he was trending up the 2 years prior.

That’s said, unless the dbacks have a replacement for him I don’t know about, it’s unlikely they deal the only thumper in their lineup.

[Austinfan]

I think the best thing is to take a deep breath, go with what you have and see how things play out.
It's not worth giving up real assets for a marginal upgrade at best.
And things will get crowded when Harper returns.

With Turner, JT and Bohm, it's not like they're devoid of RH power.
If Castellanos can bounce back, even better.

So see how Hall plays, how the kids start off in AAA, whether Kingery is for real, etc., before pulling the trigger.

[allentown]

Definitely Rojas and then a catcher. We have plenty of 1B/Dh options under long-term contract.

[fish]

We have plenty of 1B/Dh options under long-term contract.

With Hoskins gone, that’s only true if you think Castellanos and Realmuto should be playing a lot of first the next 2 years.

[Aquapong]

Before the offseason, I was a proponent of nontendering Hoskins to stay under the cap and replacing him with a Bohm/Hall platoon. Nothing has really changed for me on that front. Depending on Harrison or some retread like Clemens to give you good production from 1B is a recipe for failure imo. Neither Schwarber or Castellanos is a good fit imo.

This is why I was high on keeping O’hoppe. JT could have brought him along while taking increased reps at 1B or DH himself.

[andyb]

While it would be a good thing for JT to take more reps at 1B as a way to reduce his workload a bit, I am not sure it helps replace Hoskins though. We really should be playing Stubbs against RHP so the JT 1B starts would be replacing Hall (or pushing Hall to DH instead of Cave in the lineup). If Marchan (switch hitter) were the backup it would make a little more sense.

[allentown]

And Bohm some and next year probably a fair amount of Harper. And Schwarber should be prepping for 1B.

[zambonir]

Before the offseason, I was a proponent of nontendering Hoskins to stay under the cap and replacing him with a Bohm/Hall platoon. Nothing has really changed for me on that front. Depending on Harrison or some retread like Clemens to give you good production from 1B is a recipe for failure imo. Neither Schwarber or Castellanos is a good fit imo.

I don't entirely understand - a Bohm/Hall platoon is exactly what's most likely here. But it still means someone like Harrison or Clemens or Cave is going to get ABs when Sosa plays 3B. And as it turns out non-tendering Hoskins wouldn't have kept them under any particular cap threshold, they blew by that with all the free agents and the Soto trade.

And Clemens isn't a retread, he is a prospect who hasn't broken through yet. Bohm and Marsh and Stott have all been at similar points this early in their major league career. I don't know if he's anything special but he performed at AAA, is much younger than Cave, and may yet turn out to be just as good as Maton or Vierling.

Vierling would actually be our other 1B now if we'd kept him. As for keeping O'Hoppe, who'd be our CF now?

Some of the names we are throwing around may not even be on the roster - or worthy of a starting job - in 2025. But I don't think JT is ever going to move to 1B or DH. By the time he's an 80-game catcher he probably won't be a good enough hitter to do that. Or his deal will be up.

[xogfog]

If Hoskins gets the surgery soon, he might just maybe be ready to DH if they make the playoffs. The question then would be if Harper can play the outfield by then. I agree with a previous post that the injury may provide a window for Hoskins to sign a 1 year prove it deal with the Phillies to reset his market since his market price will be lower coming off the injury.

[andyb]

Gelb's latest roster projection assumes signing or trading for a right-hand 1B unless they go for Kingery on the roster. He has Vasquez as the last man in the bullpen also.

Phillies Opening Day roster projection: Will Rhys Hoskins ripple effects include...

[bkeich]

Would you really want to give DH at bats to a guy who hasn't played all year and was only an average offensive player to begin with? I just don't see it.

If we make the playoffs I would hope we have a better DH option by then, whether it be Harper, Schwarber, a rejuvenated Castellanos or someone not currently on the roster.

[BostonRoss]

There's no denying that losing Hoskins hurts a lot. Now the Phillies are missing two of their four top hitters. He had the second highest WAR among Phillies hitters in 2022. It is unlikely that can be replaced.

I do think Voit is intriguing though not as good as Rhys. Voit homers about as often as Rhys, and he has has been even better (led the league in HR in the COVID year). Voit does whiff more than Rhys.

Otherwise, I'd probably go with Kingery as the last hitter on the roster.

[David_Criss]

NRI Hicks playing 1B tonight. He has played 119 big league games at 1B. Phillies looking at every possibility it appears.

[andyb]

I think they are planning to carry 3 catchers at LHV so this is just so Hicks can play a bit more. Marchan and Stubbs are both banged up a bit.

[zambonir]

Would you really want to give DH at bats to a guy who hasn't played all year and was only an average offensive player to begin with? I just don't see it.

An average offensive player is a 100 OPS+. Hoskins was 122 last year, 125 career. That was also fourth-best on the team. The fact that he also had the second-highest WAR on the team, as Ross notes, also tells you how much more than average he was offensively given his not-great defense (though that's also because nobody who can hit on the Phillies played good defense, and Harper and Segura were hurt).

I seriously doubt he'll be back in time and if the Phillies actually have a successful season I agree they probably won't be missing him by then. But even so, playoff DH (or even PH) could be made for such a scenario, if he's had a proper rehab period.