Clearwater update 2019

[zambonir]

Obviously both of those cities, as well as MLB, wants to cater to the Japanese market. I am kind of amazed how little attention it got. And the timing is weird too, but it would have been even worse to go to Japan and then come home and play a game that counts the next day (which is presumably close to what the Cubs and Mets did two decades ago). You gotta wonder if two teams who really thought they could win this year would do it.

Don't forget the Mariners still have Ichiro on their roster and he's not even expected to keep playing this season. I don't know about the A's but no one had to force Seattle to do it.

[Les229]

The game was telecast on MLB-TV yesterday afternoon. I am assuming that it was a replay. I saw most of it. The Tokyo Dome was packed. Seattle wound up winning the game. I looked at it differently. Baseball is trying to spread the sport and maybe open up the Japanese market with the idea of moving a team there. Both Baseball and Football have been trying to open foreign markets that are affluent enough to host a big league team for years.

Although I really couldn't pin it down, I think the broadcast team was from Seattle.

I worry about the offense because, right now, neither the Phils pitching, not defense is good enough to win consistently in low scoring games.

[Les229]

Tom

I agree to a certain extent, but they were both out by a good bit. I expect the base coaches to control that. Herrera got off to a terrible jump and was out a foot in front of the bag. You can kill a lot of rallies with over zealous base running.

[zambonir]

I don't think they can move a team to Japan. An NFL team could get away with Europe, that's just 8 teams going over there (though I don't see how the team could ever succeed on the road). But I'm sure we'll see more and more games in Asia. Kind of odd that Ichiro doesn't get a Seattle farewell but he'd already ended his career last May really.

I was still awake at around 2am Mountain time and saw the second game started at 3:30am. Posted a video about it in the non-Phillies MLB thread, andy posted an article too.

[Les229]

You are right to a point, but I always see spring training as a time to find something you didn't know you had. I thin a guy who has not had a real trial is Lane Adams. He has a little speed and frankly has played much better when given the opportunity than Altherr. It's like everything has been decided before they left Philly.

[Les229]

When MLB, NFL,NBA moved to the West Coast, they moved two teams each. They may be trying to put pressure on who ever holds the key. The game was replayed on MLB-TV at three yesterday afternoon EDT.

[HopeSpringsEternal]

Both games were broadcast live on ESPN. The announcers were also associated with ESPN.

[zambonir]

They are going to go to Mexico or back to Montreal first. As many as two (but probably only one) team could move, plus two expansion teams. Presumably this will get sorted out around the next CBA - not that the players have any say but it will affect the number of roster spots, revenue forecasts, etc.

Well sure, basically everything has been decided, by the 40-man roster. Adams is a little younger and more intriguing than some of the others as a AAA depth piece. He couldn't possibly have signed with the Phillies thinking he could make the 25 (even before they signed Harper), he's here for injury depth in AAA. Altherr is still not likely to make the team himself in the long run so he's not the person any of these guys need to beat out.

The good news is Lane Adams might have been one of our starting OFs if it was still 2016.

[donaldorc]

Phillies finally have their hitting shoes on. 8-3 in the fourth. Have scored in every inning but the third. Seems like they've scored more runs today than in the last two weeks combined!

[LoneStarPhan]

Long home run off Martin in top of the 8th makes it 13-6 game. I guess I wonder why Martin is pitching at this stage of the spring rather than a reliever who will make the active roster. I trust everyone is getting enough work to be ready this time next week. A couple of the varsity bullpen have pitched although Alvarez was again not very good.

Harper BA moved up to .231 today. With two home runs, I'm sure his OBP and OPS have moved into respectable levels as well. Heck, his OBP was above average even when he was hitting only .100.

Phillis with (I think) six home runs today. Hope it carries into the Atlanta series.

UPDATE:

FINAL

Blue Jays 6-9-0
Phillies 13-12-0

Windle a scoreless, hitless, walkless 9th with 2 Ks.

A solid win for the Phillies. Sure feels good.

[zambonir]

That post should have really been in the spring training thread but what is Martin's deal? He hasn't been mentioned among with all the other guys who have either been released or told they were going to AAA (only him, Rodriguez and Brantly left now I think). So I guess that means they do indeed still need spare bullpen parts, nobody's missing their work.

[Les229]

THURSDAY MARCH 21, 2019

It was a decent day today. It was mostly sunny, but only got up to 69 degrees with a steady 10 mph wind blowing from left to right (out of the northwest). It was a good sized crowd of 8,934.

The bats finally came alive with 6 homers and 13 runs. I hope this gets them started. Harper started the homer parade with a 2 run dinger in the first inning. He added another in the 6th inning that cleared the back fence and wound up in the pond with the alligators. Anybody want a souvenir? Realmuto, Ngoepe, Knapp and McCutchen each added one. McCutchen thought he had another one, but the wind blowing in from left field knocked it down and he had to settle for a double. All in all, the Phils collected 12 hits. The Phillies pitchers hit for themselves today although Velasquez is the only one that actually did. He bounced the ball off the plate and drove in a run. The Phils won 13-6.

I can’t say I was as happy about the pitching. Velasquez started the game and threw 74 pitches in 3.1 innings. He gave up 3 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. Oh…he also struck out 9. I know that some fans love this guy, but when I look at him, I see the same pitcher that I saw four years ago. I think the Phils are kidding themselves with him. He will be 27 in June and can no longer be classified as a prospect. He has not had one good outing this spring and is sporting a 12.79 era for the spring. If he had pitched well last year, I might understand it, but he didn’t. If the Phils are truly contenders, it is time to cut bait and move on. On the other hand, Drew Anderson started 4 games this spring, pitched 12 innings, struck out 12, gave up 6 hits, walked two, gave up one earned run and is sporting a 0.71 era. The master minds in the front office just sent him back to Lehigh Valley. I guess Drew doesn’t fit their computer mold. It’s as if this was all decided before they ever left Philly.

Neshek pitched to one hitter and got him out, Rios threw a scoreless inning and two thirds. Windle threw a scoreless 9th striking out two. He hasn’t given up a run this spring. The TV announcers keep talking about how the bullpen is a strength of this team, but to me they have been very inconsistent. They still haven’t found a closer.

Hernandez hit 6th today and went hitless. McCutchen led off and went 2 for 2. Maybe this hitting 6, or 7th for Cesar will put a fire cracker up his rear end. Williams played center and as usual did ok. Is there any word when Quinn can be back? Kingery played third and picked up a couple of singles in 3 trips to the plate. Romine played first and went 2 for 3.

Tidbits: Got a chance to see Alex Bohn for the first time today. He was the hotshot draft choices of a couple of years back. He made a play at third and struck out. Phils play the Yankees tomorrow night over in Tampa.

[zambonir]

They still haven’t found a closer.

There's not gonna be a closer. I think three pitchers will get ninth-inning saves in April and three pitchers will still get ninth-inning saves in September (and hopefully October). But Robertson and Rodriguez will get most of them. And the only way Rodriguez (and even Neris, who has never closed for a good team) can become a great closer is to close.

Of course, if the bullpen is an utter disaster, they'll reverse course at the deadline and bring back Ken Giles or something.

[phillychuck]

Velasquez has, in actual major league games that count, pitched well on occasion, and pitched acceptably for 3 years. On average, he has been better than most #4 or #5 starters. He has a career ERA of 4.60, and the average #5 starter has an ERA of about 5.00, some much worse than that. Velasquez was worth over 2 WAR in both 2016 and 2018, and even in 2017, his disaster year, he was better than replacement. That counts a lot more (and it should) than a few spring games where he has been trying out a new delivery. We need to get over the "making the team in spring training" mindset. Spring training is for 95% of players to get ready to play in real games, for the young players to make an impression so they get called up if a player is injured, and, in very, very rare cases, it can be used to make a decision (most often decisions about whether players have recovered from injuries or whether older players have "lost it"). You shouldn't use spring training to decide whether Kingery or Franco should start at 3B, unless one of them shows specific signs of dramatic improvement or dramatic regression. It takes more than 40-50 ABs for luck to neutralize, for new techniques players are trying to work, for the winter doldrums to fade, or for scouts and coaches to be able to figure out the marginal edge that distinguishes a good major leaguer from an average one.

Velasquez needs at least a month of starts this season before we remotely consider Drew Anderson moving up.

[zambonir]

I'm still not even convinced VV is the 5th starter until Eflin shows anything better than he had last August and September. Spring training just doesn't count for much (though I'm excited that Anderson may have taken a leap forward, 'cause last year he looked like he might not survive Rule V, or would become a long reliever).

I always like to note that Eric Bruntlett had a 1.000 OPS in 2009 (too bad Kingery took that as a role model).

[LoneStarPhan]

I read somewhere in the past week that the Phillies starters had the 6th best ERA in MLB through August 12 last season. Of course, it's the whole season that really counts, but it does show that the current starters back from last season did pitch well last season for an extended time. This year, we will have to see what happens.

[Les229]

I have only seen closer by committee work a few times.I think the best one was McGraw, Reed and Garber with Brusstar as the early guy. I hope they haven't figured out a new way to screw it up..

[Les229]

The thing is, I can't see Velasquez ever being dependable. It's time to cut bait. I don't know that Anderson is the answer, but I do know that Velasquez is not. I have never really accepted WAR as a legitimate statistic. I know what I see. Eickman threw 4 good innings tonight against the Yankees..

[zambonir]

The game has changed. Back then it was whoever the manager felt like was pitching well or matched up. Now they actually know. What's the best match-up? What's the highest leverage situation? If David Robertson is your best pitcher why wouldn't you have him face Freddie Freeman with 2 outs and a man on in the 7th instead of saving him to face the #7 hitter leading off the 9th?

Of course we've seen the likes of Lidge and Mariano be the difference in a World Series but there's alway one closer who loses them too. I think of Jansen getting lit up. Giles not even pitching the year the Astros won. Kimbrel with only one save last year. When you're at an elite level a great closer can make an important marginal difference, but so can the other approach.

Who is closing in Boston this year anyway?

[Les229]

A true Closer has something besides analytics going for him. Call it nerves, cujones, competitiveness, concentration, what ever anyone likes. But some guys rise to the occasion. I am not against analytics, but they have to be mixed in with what the manager knows abut the pitcher in his gut. Some guys just don't have the mental makeup to close. Especially to close the big ones. You can't get that just from comparing saves with blown saves. It is when they do it. The same is true with clutch hitters and pressure fielding. The sabermetrics boys will never convince me that they have that figured in. I don't accept any of their defensive analysis.

As for Robertson, one has to ask himself, "Why after all these years hasn't he been a closer?" Maybe he could rise to the occasion, but do you want to experiment with it in the middle of a pennant race?

Boston is not listing a closer in their depth chart.