GDT 4/23/21 Philadelphia Phillies (Velasquez) @ Colorado Rockies (Márquez)

[kikutaro]

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia Phillies	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	4	11	1
Colorado Rockies	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	1	5	11	0

Final

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Philadelphia Phillies

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Andrew McCutchen LF	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	.155	.296	.241	.537
Sam Coonrod P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Andrew Knapp 1B	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.167	.200	.333	.533
Rhys Hoskins 1B	5	1	2	1	0	3	1	.250	.278	.500	.778
Hector Neris P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Bryce Harper RF	4	1	0	0	1	2	0	.333	.474	.583	1.057
J.T. Realmuto C	4	1	3	0	0	0	0	.321	.424	.536	.960
Didi Gregorius SS	4	0	0	1	0	1	0	.276	.302	.397	.698
Alec Bohm 3B	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.235	.286	.353	.639
Nick Maton 2B	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	.438	.438	.563	1.000
Mickey Moniak CF	2	0	0	0	1	2	0	.100	.217	.250	.467
David Hale P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Matt Joyce LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.200	.400	.267	.667
Vince Velasquez P	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	.500	.667	.500	1.167
JoJo Romero P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Roman Quinn CF	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	.074	.242	.111	.354

Colorado Rockies

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Raimel Tapia LF	5	1	3	1	0	0	1	.297	.352	.453	.805
Ryan McMahon 3B	4	0	1	1	0	2	0	.274	.284	.575	.859
Trevor Story SS	4	1	2	1	0	1	1	.286	.320	.443	.763
Charlie Blackmon RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.164	.292	.291	.583
C.J. Cron 1B	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	.200	.313	.382	.694
Yonathan Daza CF	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.344	.333	.500	.833
Garrett Hampson 2B	4	1	2	1	0	1	1	.270	.324	.429	.752
Dom Nunez C	4	0	0	0	0	2	0	.211	.268	.605	.874
German Marquez P	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	.100	.100	.100	.200
Yency Almonte P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Ben Bowden P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Sam Hilliard PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.125	.176	.375	.552
Carlos Estevez P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Mychal Givens P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Josh Fuentes PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.175	.175	.298	.474

Philadelphia Phillies

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Vince Velasquez	4.0	5	2	2	1	4	2	67-43	6.75
JoJo Romero	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	27-19	10.38
David Hale	1.1	1	1	1	0	2	0	23-15	4.50
Sam Coonrod (BS, 2)	1.2	3	1	1	0	2	1	25-19	1.86
Hector Neris (L, 1-2)	0.1	1	1	1	0	1	1	9-8	2.35

Colorado Rockies

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
German Marquez	6.0	6	2	2	3	8	0	100-63	3.45
Yency Almonte	0.1	2	2	2	0	0	1	7-5	9.72
Ben Bowden	0.2	1	0	0	0	1	0	15-10	13.50
Carlos Estevez	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	16-11	5.40
Mychal Givens (W, 1-1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	12-8	3.00

[HopeSpringsEternal]

Just wasn’t meant to be. Had our chances, but couldn’t pad the various leads that we had tonight.

[Philsmania]

Our bullpen still stinks. Only marginally better than last year.

[zambonir]

On the one hand, classic bad Hector, on the other, classic Coors Field.

[LoneStarPhan]

Not that I'm counting, but another lead blown by the bullpen and a loss charged to the bullpen. Again, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Our pitching failed to hold a two run lead twice tonight. Again, we see a home run given up on a 0-2 count. Seems like we have had that happen several times of late.

While they sure could have used some more pitching, they also could have used more offense. Bottom line, it is a loss. Sad way to start the road trip. Of course, with Velasquez starting, we know we probably need a big output from the offense and tonight, 4 runs was not enough.

[zambonir]

If you'd said before the game that the bullpen was only going to allow three runs in five innings in Denver - and our starter just two in four! - I'd have been pretty pleased I think. Ditto if you told me Romero would pitch a scoreless inning.

I was ready to lose it in extras but wanted to get there, then it was gonna be a crapshoot.

[Patchmk88]

This organization is just not a very well ran one. We don’t develop talent, we can’t seem to pinpoint talent in free agency, we don’t draft talent very well. Not sure if there’s one thing this organization does well.

Yes I know this is an overreaction, but man I’m tired of losing.

[LoneStarPhan]

And just like that, we fall out of first place again.

Which I guess means we are not really out of the race. Time to buckle down and win a couple games in Colorado.

[Philsmania]

Another recurring problem with this team is the lack of shutdown innings. Every time we score a run or more, we immediately give runs back in the next frame.

[zambonir]

It's not an overreaction, just: no real reason to expect this team to be significantly better than the last one (or even the last two). It's the same players. The manager/hitting coach/pitching coach didn't make a difference last year. And what was badly broken in 2015 MacPhail and Klentak didn't/couldn't fix. Hopefully that will change this time around but not in six months (and possibly not at all, because ownership has not changed).

At the same time, it's a pretty good team - with a miles better bullpen - that's in the middle of a COVID outbreak and a couple of key injuries. Great teams survive that stuff, good teams, not as handily.

All losses stink but the difference between losing five of every ten vs. six of every ten isn't all that different. And we're not any worse or better than those parameters. It's the big picture that's frustrating: Atlanta rebuilt sooner and better than us even while their front office was in shambles, and now the Mets are spending their money better than we are (maybe).

The other problem is, after the first road trip swoon we said they'd do better against less challenging teams. But SF is for real (so far), Colorado is no fun for anyone and four in St. Louis will be tough.

[flyers19rw]

As much as some people whined about RAJr as a GM, the current mess that is the Phillies is primarily due to MacPhail and Klentak. Poor at identifying and developing talent. That goes for players in the field as well as the coaching staffs that went with them. The (mis)use of analytics has been gross. Klentak had all sorts of interesting ideas but MacPhail did not put a leash on him in order to avoid costly unnecessary and destructive moves. CIP- obtain Santana and put Hoskins in LF.
Middleton/Bucks deserve a lot of credit for being willing to invest money into the organization. Unfortunately the ROI has been pathetically low. I believe that DD and Girardi are going to get this club headed in the right direction but it’s going to take a couple of seasons for the results to show. Player acquisition and development should improve and show better results on the field.

[gmwannabe]

i agree with Zamby. this team is pretty gpod, but not a contending team yet. the organization is now in the time when it is showing their drafting has really been poor. it will take some time and hopefully will be when harper and JT are still good. by the way, where is that big lefty first basemen these days. hoskins should be hearing footsteps. a couple of Hr's here and there does not make up for all of the K's he produces. like the kid and he seems real nice, but clutch.... no way.
gm

[Philsmania]

Middleton/Bucks deserve a lot of credit for being willing to invest money into the organization. Unfortunately the ROI has been pathetically low. I believe that DD and Girardi are going to get this club headed in the right direction but it’s going to take a couple of seasons for the results to show. Player acquisition and development should improve and show better results on the field.

Mark Twain once said, "History doesn't repeat but it sure does rhyme." Here we are in an eerily similar situation to the early '90's when the Lee Thomas-led rebuild failed and we came out of a painful period of bad on purpose baseball teams and had only a) a still-poor farm system and b) a ML team that had unfulfilled potential, holes to fill and was getting to be on the older side to show for it. Thomas and Fregosi managed to fill the holes perfectly in 1993--and, yes, had some good fortune that season as well--but that season was not sustainable (even though they spent the next three years trying and failing to patch together another winner). I think Dombrowski's and Girardi's mandate is to somehow similarly pull a rabbit out of the hat by 2022 but with the expectation that it will similarly be a one and done. Then, tear it all down and begin another rebuild (hopefully with a rebuilt scouting department and LA operation). So, I am not so sure that we can build long term around Harper and Realmuto and, rather, expect both to finish out those contracts elsewhere.

[zambonir]

I wish I agreed with the larger optimism. Even before last season I didn't really see a path for this team to do anything other than maybe steal a wild card or two during JT's best years (which also includes Nola being under contract and Hoskins being affordable) and things have only gotten worse this year (i.e. Haseley and Kingery, and also Howard's trajectory being slowed).

They could still be a contender this year if the offense comes around and you have to think it will but it is indeed the offense that is killing them right now. Strikeouts up while power also down, an almost nonsensical combination. Not good with RISP. And defensive liabilities at most positions besides catcher, which means those guys had better hit.

This is definitely Klentak's mess at this point, but most of his biggest failings are still connected to the Amaro era - he inherited almost nothing from the Hamels trade (just Alfaro really), blundered further with the players he committed to (Herrera, Kingery, even Pivetta) and then aggressively opened an expensive three-year window of contention that is soon closing, even if it can be extended another year or two. In the wake of Klentak's firing there were also a lot of anonymous sources that boiled down to, "he didn't listen to Pat Gillick," but to me Gillick is still most responsible for the 2016 draft (and the 2015 trades for that matter) and they certainly listened to him enough to keep Almaraz (and Jordan).

But, that doesn't mean they still can't make some noise this year. The margin for error is just slim as usual. Some teams can buy their way past injuries and some teams can promote past them. The Phillies can't. (But that's why Maton has been so refreshing, and you still have to hope against hope for Moniak.)

(Was writing as Philsmania also posted; agreed. It's possible Harper waits out the next rebuild but if they can't make the playoffs either this year or next neither JT nor Nola are on the Phillies in August of 2023. I don't really see how Girardi waits out a rebuild either, but that's probably up to him).

[Philsmania]

Harper waiting out another rebuild (best case scenario, Phillies emerge from it with a good team in 2027-28), could be the difference between him being a HOFer and Hall of Very Gooder. And, who knows how long his back will hold out and if he plays the length of that contract or if most of his money ends up coming from Lloyds of London over the last two or three seasons. If the Phillies are rebuilding by 2023, it might behoove him to have Boras lean on Middleton to make a trade happen.

The Hamels trade looked good at the time. Who could have predicted Thompson dramatically going south? Williams did come with caveats (K/BB ratio was never good and he always had a big, loopy swing).

The Phillies probably fired Amaro a year too late. It was obvious for all to see that he was a lame duck GM in 2015. Yet, they did fire Wolever and hire Almaraz after 2014. Really, what was the point in keeping Amaro on the job? The new GM (or POBO) who followed Amaro should have been afforded the opportunity to hire his own scouting and development people. It should be noted that the Phillies did the same thing a few years later...replaced the scouting director a year before they replaced the GM and POBO. Let's hope that does not turn out to he the definition of insanity. Also, Klentak spent the crucial first two years of his administration when they really needed to get the minor leagues in order with Amaro's front office team largely intact, arguably relying upon the same people who drove the organization into the ditch to try to start getting them out of it. Again, are we seeing the definition of insanity with Dombrowski relying on Klentak's cast of characters (including Klentak himself in some capacity)?

[zambonir]

I doubt there's much insurance on that contract, those days are done, as the deals got so big and the insurers caught up the age curves.

It really depends on Harper and how serious he is about wanting to stay in the same place, but that probably doesn't mean anything three years from now if the Phillies have lost 100 games and a team close to Vegas - or any good team - wants him. Of the 11 biggest contracts in history A-Rod (the first time), Arenado, Cano and Stanton all got traded, while Votto and Pujols probably won't be (and A-Rod wasn't the second time). Harper, Machado and Trout are the others, along with Miguel Cabrera. Probably all three of those guys will eventually move.

I'm not saying the Hamels trade was bad, if anything it is probably a pretty typical result. TNSAAPP, one other guy doesn't reach his potential, the third piece still helped get JT.

[Philsmania]

Machado has opt out which I imagine he'll exercise. With Cabrera getting into the twilight of his career, he probably doesn't go anywhere except maybe at the deadline in 2023, the last guaranteed year of his deal.

[zambonir]

Ha, I actually forgot Cabrera was still playing. Sure, he or Votto or Pujols could still get moved under very specific $$ circumstances.

So we could still get Machado?

[allentown]

The only true path to success is (drafting + signing international under 25 talent) coupled with excellent player development. Strategic additions from AAAA and Rule 5 are equivalent to this. Of course you need wise FA signings, but those alone can't get us where we want to be. Kingery seemed to be a talent. Perhaps Covid, perhaps Phillies development, perhaps we just over-estimated his talent. A lot of our #1 picks, particularly the H.S. position players, simply seemed to lack adequate talent -- they were scouting errors. Ditto with Domonic Brown. A lot of college pitchers drafted or signed after draft to be MLB relievers -- not an awful lot to show for that.

[zambonir]

On another note - while I actually enjoy his work - it's pretty amazing that the the last general manager we fired was brought back to the organization and made part of the broadcast team during his own replacement's tenure! Of course Wade was only gone six years himself, but there'd been another change in GM during that time (if only by Gillick's choice), and they didn't put him on TV.