24 Philadelphia Phillies (Wheeler) @ Los Angeles Angels (Sandoval)

zambonir 2024-05-02 13:24:11 UTC #101

There's probably still a left-handed platoon bat out there in July and that's where ego could come into play since there are always more ABs against RHP.

allentown 2024-05-02 18:40:07 UTC #102

Whom? Last night the clear choice was Rojas.

zambonir 2024-05-02 19:34:07 UTC #103

But Rojas was told before the series began that he wasn't playing in this specific game. You can reject the idea that Thomson should stick to a plan; I reject the idea that a player having a big game is a reason to change the plan (or means anything). Plus as you note, both Castellanos and Rojas had big games the day before. So you would have sat Pache I guess. But he'd been told to prepare before the series began as well. Which also would have been a consideration in the batting cage work and video prep.

The real managerial second-guess is, what good did it do exactly to load up the RHBs when they delivered one of the worst offensive performances of the season. But that's also why managers don't work on one-game or even one-season samples.

I'd still like to see more of Pache in RF. Or a LHB instead of Pache or Merrifield. But the fact that Rojas got a day off and Pache got a day in CF is meaningless and just normal baseball stuff.

allentown 2024-05-02 21:09:40 UTC #104

But this is a plan based upon Castellanos must play every game. It is not a good game. The Phillies shouldn't have deprived Rojas of chance to play against LHP. He's a guy the team should be grooming to be a significant part of the future. Don't sacrifice him to Castellanos' desire to play every game. The Phillies who have played every game are Bohm, Schwarber, Turner and Castellanos. The first 3 have an OPS+ of over 100. Castellanos has an OPS+ of 45.

zambonir 2024-05-02 21:26:15 UTC #105

But that's not the plan. Nick saying he wants to play 162 games means nothing, it didn't happen last year when he was good and won't happen this year when he's bad. He is playing regularly to try and get him going, and a day's rest or a day's punishment isn't guaranteed to do that either. But Thomson already says he is getting a planned day off soon. Maybe he'll even get two.

The fact that Rojas got a day off against a LHP is more a quirk of the fact that they have too many RHBs on the bench to begin with. And then that they put faith in the small sample of Schwarber's reverse splits this year (which he rewarded by driving in the only runs). The OF really should have been Pache/Rojas/Castellanos with Schwarber being off his feet, if it was so important to stack the righties. Didn't play Marsh or Stott either.

They need a LHB. Then they can bruise Nick's ego by sitting him against the odd righty, in addition to having a better option than Merrifield in LF if they still want to sit Rojas.

BostonRoss 2024-05-02 22:24:41 UTC #106

I agree with allentown (and probably most everyone else) that Castellanos should not have played as much as he has. But I disagree that the reason he has played every inning is because he is a highly paid veteran. It could be that Thomson isn't ready to give up on him yet. No one else on the team besides Harper and Schwarber could have done what Nick did against the Braves in last year's postseason. Hoping he can get some of that back is not unreasonable.

If Thomson truly tended to kowtow to highly paid veterans, wouldn't he have managed to get Taijuan Walker into a single postseason game last year?

zambonir 2024-05-02 22:34:58 UTC #107

I think it's possible to believe he shouldn't play as much and also possible to believe there is no one better to play instead of him (including Pache who might be the best of them just in terms of trading offense for defense).

I think it's also possible to believe he was a bad signing to begin with and may never bounce back this year while also believing he could. It's not just what he did in the NLDS - it's that he was a productive offensive player for four of six months last year, and an elite one for two of them. Ideally he has four good months in him again this year. If he doesn't - if he's bad for three of the next four months - they need do do something. Right now, as the winningest team in baseball, they do not.

The only thing I don't believe is that he can change or improve. I think that ship sailed for him when he was still in his 20s. He is what he is and if the body and hand-eye is going, get out the checkbook for his replacement, Mr. Middleton (because it's not like there's an strong internal candidate for the next two seasons).

FWIW/SSS, Nick's OPS+ in the last 7 days is 122 (for obvious reasons) and in the last 14 days 94. That's not a trajectory I'd be looking to arrest, even if it's not necessarily meaningful/sustainable.

allentown 2024-05-03 02:01:40 UTC #108

But... you don't have to trade offense for defense. Rojas has an OPS+ of 82 compared to Castellanos' 45.

zambonir 2024-05-03 02:05:33 UTC #109

But Rojas wasn't going to play. Full stop. If he had it would have been for Pache. Or Schwarber.

andyb 2024-05-03 03:40:38 UTC #110

Well there is no full stop. Just some plan that could be changed. The only reason that Rojas did not play is they needed to play Pache who is truly awful against RHP. And looking at SSS season stats is just silly. The Phillies are trying to fix Castellanos and most everyone would agree that his is closer to the hitter he was last year than an OPS 45 player.

zambonir 2024-05-03 03:51:03 UTC #111

Well sure plans shouldn't be etched in stone but there's no reason to tell two players they are/aren't playing on 10 hours notice just because Rojas hit a home run (and by that same logic, Castellanos still had to play after going 3 for 4). Clearly a big part of Rob's management success is letting players know what to expect, even when their roles are fluid.

But right. Castellanos is still a proven hitter and All-Star and that is not ancient history, it is as recent as last October (albeit not all of it). And if we're doing small samples he has that 122 OPS+ over the last 7 days while Rojas is just 76. Stretch that 14 days and it's very different story, which is why you don't worry about this stuff at all.

Thomson was also happy to go with a Pache/Rojas/Casty OF in those first two games against the Marlins. But yesterday's boldest move (putting Schwarber in LF merely to get Sosa a day at SS) was the one that paid off.

andyb 2024-05-03 14:13:02 UTC #112

The comments about Thompson are that he was wrong in his lineup selection this week. Frankly I had more of a problem playing Stubbs against a LHP that then made JT play a day game after a night game. JT is struggling and really looks like he is showing signs of age with a diminished K/BB ratio, poor stolen base stats, and mediocre defense. He is an average catcher at best now.

I know Thompson pre-plans his lineups and off days. It is a worthy goal to get everyone a start each week and to prepare young players for days off like Rojas. But he is probably doing Rojas a disservice by benching him the day after a good game and frankly sitting him against LHP (where he should be stronger) because Pache is really a disaster against RHP. Better to sit Pache and explain to him that he did nothing wrong other than being too valuable to lose on a DFA. Collecting a MLB pay check and service time is not a bad deal even if he rarely plays.