GDT 6/21/22 Philadelphia Phillies (Gibson) @ Texas Rangers (Pérez, M)

[andyb]

Just because Castellanos has played much more RF than LF does not mean he should. His arm seems very average. I imagine he was put in RF because it made sense for the teams he was on in spite of the poor defensive metrics. He just seems a guy with average range and an average arm who does not take wonderful routes to the ball. Sounds more like a LF to me.

Schwarber at 1B is a similar experiment not taken that is probably a good fit for his tools. He was terrible there in his brief Boston experiences because he was thrown at the position without any experience at all. I think Schwarber does become the eventual 1B after Hoskins but it should be done gradually with lots of Spring Training prep.

[zambonir]

Oh I agree but the obvious answer is Castellanos should never play the field. Just saying that he's an experienced bad RF, and could still be worse in the ostensibly easier position of LF, at least initially.

And to think they had him dust off his 3B glove in spring training too! Far-fetched though that might have been. Was he actually worse than Franco or Bohm in his younger days?

[allentown]

The problem with that is that Schwarber and Hoskins also should never play in the field, Harper can't play in the field, possibly for the rest of the season, and Bohm really shouldn't play 3B, but, of course Didi shouldn't play SS. So there we are, trying to outhit our fielding mistakes and shaky bullpen. A poorly constructed team, which has shot its financial bolt for the season.

[zambonir]

Well, it still might be working. The starting pitching has been good enough to outweigh the bullpen and when the offense goes, they're unbeatable. Yeah, we see how ugly it is when the offense doesn't go, and also how much they miss Harper.

On the bright side, it still hasn't hit its ceiling. If it does, look out. If it doesn't, then DD didn't just construct the team poorly, he overestimated its strengths, and with players both young and old.

[andyb]

Hoskins gone. Schwarber to 1B, Harper back in RF, Castellanos mostly DH with a little LF does solve long term defensive issues aside from Bohm. Bohm right now does not hit well enough to play 1B or DH so he could easily be the odd man out long term.

Long term they really need an influx of young players who can play defense, but there is the possibility of having a lineup that is at least average defensively as long as they don't sign any more DHs.