2024 Phillies Season Discussion

donaldorc 2024-04-09 21:23:23 UTC #82

I'm not, so I can watch it. I was blocked out for the Nats series.

zambonir 2024-04-09 22:38:34 UTC #83

Like I said.

I suppose I'll log into it the app so I can watch the Sixers and Flyers on the TV anyway

zambonir 2024-04-10 12:46:12 UTC #84

Didn't take long to get here - the Phillies (and specifically Castellanos and Rojas) have seemingly adjusted their approach to become more selective. With worse results.

I'm more in the if it ain't broke don't fix it camp. Gelb, like Murphy before him, mentions the team maybe overreacting to five bad games instead of remember that it also worked for (most of) 170 games. But it's also still a learning process

Nick also says he misses hitting higher in the order, that he needs protection and to see more strikes. He did primarily bat 4th last year, and had an .852 OPS (though he also thrived in SSS hitting 6-8. Did not do great at 2-3).

Callison 2024-04-10 15:23:21 UTC #85

Great piece on Castellanos. Fans wonder how it looks from the inside and here's the answer - he's real concerned and he's working on it. This guy has a career BA about .275. Why is it that this late in his career, all of a sudden he can't see breaker away even when he knows it's coming?

In an effort to get him going, he mentions he needs better protection around him, which he had batting up in the order. Already been tried, and that's why he's down the order now, but wouldn't hurt that much to try him at #4 for a few games to show the Phils are listening to him.

Had to watch the Cards' broadcast yesterday. The game reeked too.

bkox 2024-04-10 15:32:01 UTC #86

Harper wouldnt see a single pitch to hit with Casty hitting behind him.

zambonir 2024-04-10 15:59:09 UTC #87

Not sure that's any less true of JT (at least the JT of last year) or Bohm. The truth is this team still misses Hoskins and none of its young players except Marsh brings enough of a bat, let alone a power bat.

But as I mentioned above Nick had an .852 OPS hitting 4th last year, and he also had 29 home runs. He's gotta earn it and he's gotta get right but there really isn't any point to Nick Castellanos if he isn't good enough to his 4-5-6. Unfortunately, history says he sometimes isn't good enough - he's had just as many putrid seasons as great ones in the last five years, and it's no mystery if he's getting worse later in his career.

But this is a three-track conversation - they need him to help this team this year. If he can't they'll need to do something about it in July. And then they'll need to do something with the rest of his contract.

allentown 2024-04-10 21:53:56 UTC #88

Except, these two came into this game with OPS 300 points higher than Castellanos, so your objection really doesn't hold together. Castellanos is in an extremely long slump, covering roughly the last half of 2023 and the SSS of 2024.

zambonir 2024-04-10 22:26:38 UTC #89

But this year is a small sample. I'm saying none of them look like elite middle-of-the-order hitters to me. JT is no longer the big offensive threat he once was, and Bohm has never been a big offensive threat. I don't have much faith in Castellanos but you're just making up a story about his 2023 - he had an .860 OPS last August and an .817 OPS last September. Plus what he did against Atlanta. He was putrid in July, and good enough in Aprl and June to make up for a so-so May.

I'd buy out his whole contract and get someone better right now, don't get me wrong. But there's not someone better on the current roster (including the 40). And just because he's having a rough start this year doesn't mean his NLCS performance combines with that to define who he is forever.

I'm more worried about Turner, tbh. He might just be an okay player for many more years to come. He'll come around and have good streaks too, but he's not meant to be a complimentary player. Nick is.

allentown 2024-04-11 02:44:47 UTC #90

Fair enough. Castellanos was +2.5 oWAR last season. Realmuto was a bit better, while Bohm was a bit lower. Turner had almost twice the oWAR that Castellanos did in 2024 and is +0.2 so far this year. Trea Turner is a year younger, but was a negative d-WAR SS last year and so far this year. A 93 OPS+ doesn't cause me much worry in SSS. More concern about his D.

zambonir 2024-04-11 03:17:16 UTC #91

Yeah, I don't really think Trea is a problem in the short-term, but at $27million per for 10 more years it's gonna happen one way or another, whereas you actually can cut or trade Nick in the last two years of his deal (not without serious financial implications, but still doable). And while Turner was ultimately productive last year, he wasn't any more useful in the tail end of the NLCS than anyone else, and I would have liked to see him burst out of the gate this season, whereas I didn't really expect that of Nick.

I saw Matt tweet the other day that Stott is actually not likely a better SS than Trea, which I thought was interesting.

We've seen Thomson hit Schwarber 1st because he likes it there, and it seems to work. The team would survive giving Casty a look there again for 10 games one way or another. Hopefully it doesn't matter. Moving Marsh to 6th is also good IMO. Stott and Casty need to pick it up either way.

andyb 2024-04-11 19:01:34 UTC #92

Interesting contrast in the first couple of pitchers we'll see from the Pirates. Tonight is a 22-year-old hard throwing kid who sits comfortably in the mid 90s and can touch 99-100. Tomorrow is Bailey Falter who doesn't sit in the mid 90s.