GDT 6/22/23 Atlanta Braves (Elder) @ Philadelphia Phillies (Nola, Aa)

[BostonRoss]

zSchwarber needs to sit out, he is horrible. Not even DH, just a high priced pinch hitter. I would trade him in a heart beat and bring up one of our young outfielders from the minors. They have to be better than Schwarber. JT and Turner would be next on my list of need to improve or go. JT is even losing his defensive skills

Pray tell, whom would you trade Schwarber for? And whom would you play in his place? Same question for J.T. and Turner.

[Philsmania]

The trajectory of this season is reminding me more and more of the trajectory of 2019-21--step forward, step backward, repeat---than that of 2022.

[allentown]

Pray tell, whom would you trade Schwarber for? And whom would you play in his place? Same question for J.T. and Turner.

The reality is none of them are tradeable without eating a ton of $.

[zambonir]

They can afford it. If this season does fail - or even if it doesn't, or merely falls a little short - they may have to shake things up and just punt on one of the poor fielding guys, even with Hoskins presumably already gone. And I include Bohm on that list.

Schwarber is the last guy I'd trade though. He's lefthanded, younger, signed for a shorter term than Castellanos and makes the most sense as a pure DH. And his bad year (if this is one) doesn't look as bad as Casty's (though Schwarb had a worse one before too).

JT is fine (even if he doesn't hit). Turner will be fine.

[zambonir]

There are numerous ways to measure the distance between the Braves and Phillies beyond the obvious — those 10 games. Atlanta has clubbed 51 more home runs than the Phillies. That might be the most telling. The Phillies did not produce a single extra-base hit in Thursday’s loss.

Here’s another way to measure the gap: The Braves have seven players who have already hit 10 homers this season. The Phillies have one, Schwarber, who has 20 homers. J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos each have eight. The Braves don’t just hit homers — they hit them from every spot in the lineup and they boast enough power threats in the batting order to sustain some slumps.

Phillies get reality check from Braves: They're 10 games back, but it feels like...

There is this, too: The Phillies have hit three three-run homers in 2023. (Two of them, somehow, came in the same game on June 4 by the same batter, Schwarber.) They hit 30 three-run homers in 2022 — tied for the most in the majors. This season, only meek Kansas City has mustered fewer three-run homers.

[andyb]

I did click on the box score again and see that Schwarber did, in fact, get an error. It is not as if Marte pitched incredibly well, but he did not deserve the 4 earned runs.

[LoneStarPhan]

Yes, I just checked the box score after the Mets game tonight and saw that all 5 runs were unearned. Agree, it does not change the loss but does more accurately reflect the game.

Braves win both games this week but the Phillies were in the games. Just have to move on and start winning series after series again. They may never catch the Braves this regular season, but keep winning and they will be playing in October.