Clearwater update 2020

[donaldorc]

The thing that struck me right away was that the Phillies announcers were not taking the broadcast seriously. They spent so much of the time horsing around among themselves and what the coaches did at home while shut in, that they really didn’t seem to have enough time to talk about the game,

I streamed tonight´s game (Wednesday) and the announcers chatted on and on with little discussion of the game. There were no commercials, so they chatted right through the breaks.

Having said that, it was great to see some baseball again!!

[BostonRoss]

The thing that struck me right away was that the Phillies announcers were not taking the broadcast seriously. They spent so much of the time horsing around among themselves and what the coaches did at home while shut in, that they really didn’t seem to have enough time to talk about the game,

So it was like watching an ESPN broadcast?

Good to hear from you, Les. Hope you're doing well.

[LoneStarPhan]

This scrimmages are far less meaningful than normal spring training games, which are really not very meaningful.

But yes, good to see players and the chatting of the broadcast team was also enjoyable to me.

I think it will be much better when the games are real games vs. other teams with good camera work, replays, better graphics, etc., even if there are no fans in the stands.

[Les229]

It just wets my whistle for some actual games. I had never seen a preseason game where they actually put the coaches in.

[Les229]

A lot like an ESPN broadcast. It's also good to hear from you. I am well, thank you. I have been avoiding the public. I have only gone out about once a week to the store and pharmacy. There are too many nut jobs running around the beach without masks to go over there. The bars are closed anyway.

[Les229]

I think you are right that the quality of the broadcasts will improve and these are not that important, but I would have thought that they would put a little pride into it.

[Les229]

FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2020

I have been watching some of these intra-squad games, at least until they start to put the coaches in. These streams never start with the first hitter, they usually come on about the third hitter and by then, they have already announced (I assume) the announcers, so I am usually not exactly sure who it is describing the play. I hope these are the interns handling the graphics and technical part of the broadcast and the regular crew will return when the games start. Last night it was Arrieta and Pivetta starting and they both had good outings. Obviously, the pitchers are pretty far ahead of the hitters. All of the starting pitchers that I have seen this far have been sharp. If starting pitching is the only thing holding them back from winning the pennant, and what we have seen is real, the pennant is assured. Unfortunately, we all know that it is not true. I have to chuckle, political correctness is in full view. The Phils are dressed in a team in their all white home unis and the other team has a red top with the regular white candy stripped pants. They officially call them the Red and Blue teams. Nobody’s wearing blue.

These games are hard to follow, As I have whined about before, they are so poorly reported that a player can be in the game for 2 innings before Tommy Mac can distract himself from the BS long enough to mention it. I suggest that if you are going to watch them, have a roster handy with numbers.

Kingery made some nice plays at second. I really don’t intend to think about how they will be in the regular (?) season until they start to play other teams. Fortunately for my sanity, that will be tomorrow at 6:05 at Washington.

There are no rules in these games. Once the coaches went out into the field, the major league hitters hit for them. There was one inning when Kingery hit three times in 5 hitters. I turned it off at 7:30 to watch “Jeopardy”.

[Les229]

Sunday July 19, 2020

Finally, I had a Sunday with baseball. Although a 6:00 pm start was odd, It seems like MLB is doing everything they can to make this season weird. Finally we had a real preseason game against another team. To my surprise, they were playing by the same rules as the intra-squad games and a couple of innings ended in the middle of a team rally at the whim of one of the managers.

Zack Wheeler started for the Phils against the Orioles Tom Eschelman for the Orioles. Eschelman, remember him? The Phils traded him to the Orioles for international money. I wonder who they signed with that money? The Phillies have not been good at recognizing and acquiring young talent for almost a decade now.

The pitchers are still ahead of the hitters. Both Wheeler and Eschelman had very good outings. Actually, I didn’t think Wheeler looked as sharp as he did in the Phils Intra-squad game that I saw him in. Wheeler gave up a solo homer to the O’s catcher Severino in the second inning and another run in the fourth. In all, he went 4.1 innings and gave up 4 hits and a walk while striking out 4. You could say that Eschelman outpitched him, because he went 4 2/3, gave up 4 hits a walk and no runs. Wheeler was replaced by Tyler Brogdon a left hander who looked like he might develop into a lefthanded specialist, but this is the first time I saw him. Jose Alvarez came in gave his usual solid performance for an inning. It was encouraging to see Arano follow with a scoreless inning . At this point in the game, the stream on the computer froze in place and I couldn’t bring it back. The box score for the game said that McClain and Davis followed with an inning each and each giving up a run. MLB has some technical issues to address.

Hitting has been far from impressive, at anytime this preseason. Today was no different. The Phils did manage 8 hits, but 7 of them were singles. They all added up to just one run and the Phils lost 4-1. By the way, the big hit in scoring that line run was by Mickey Matook, a journeyman outfielder last cut by the Tigers and who doesn’t figure to make the roster this year. With the real games starting Friday, is it time for concern about the anemic hitting?

Musings: I saw in a Mets game that the Mets had used cutouts of fans sitting in the seats behind home plate . I thought it added a little something. The empty stadium, with echoes don’t bother me. I have been watching Rays games for years. There was almost as many people in the stadium as there normally is for a regular season Rays game.

The Yankees are next.

[zambonir]

Although a 6:00 pm start was odd, It seems like MLB is doing everything they can to make this season weird.

I am actually surprised they are playing day games next weekend. It's hot!

I think the Phillies have still probably assessed Eshelman correctly. But he got to the majors before Mark Appel, go figure.

[LoneStarPhan]

I think some teams are selling the right to have the buying fan depicted on the cut outs for the games. If you cannot pay to attend the game, you can pay to have your image in a seat.

The strange 2020 season is almost upon us.

[zambonir]

And if a foul ball hits your cut-out they send you the ball!

[LoneStarPhan]

That seems fair.

I did a quick check on the Mets' official site:

> *Cutouts are $86 each. Net proceeds will be donated to the Mets Foundation.

> *Please note fan cutouts will not be available to claim following the conclusion of the program.

I did not see anything similar on the Phillies' official web site. Maybe I missed it or they don't have a similar program.

[bkeich]

I did not see anything similar on the Phillies' official web site. Maybe I missed it or they don't have a similar program.

Yep, just like analytics we are always behind the times

[zambonir]

They've said the Phillies are using cutouts but maybe not the fan program? Seems crazy all 30 teams wouldn't do it. Even the charity component seems unnnecessary. Though they could also give them for free to STHs.

[Les229]

You have to go through a lot of prospective pitchers to get a good one, but the thing that gets me, The Phils traded away their major league team for many pitching prospects and not one of them really has helped the team. They still only really have a 2 man rotation. Nola was drafted and Wheeler signed as a free agent. They have nothing to show for all those trades. 5 of their 8 position players did not come up through the farm system.

[Les229]

That's pretty sharp. I take it they sold them to their season ticket holders. I didn't realize they were actual people.