GDT 8/26/19 Pittsburgh Pirates (Musgrove) @ Philadelphia Phillies (Vargas)

[gmwannabe]

thanks Zamby. maybe a little tongue in cheek. hopefully the kid does not go the TJ route. actually, after seeing hall playing this year a few times, i think he has a chance.
gm

[Lawman]

I was thinking that it may be time to sit Hoskins for a game or two, and play Logan Morrison at 1B.

[Philsmania]

The irony. After failing to take advantage of the Pirates offering them the game on a silver platter in the 9th and 10th, their (arguably) worst player wins it for them with a home run in the 11th.

Rodriguez had a lot to say about the phans after the game.

Feisty Sean Rodriguez defends himself, Rhys Hoskins, against the wrath of...

[julio]

Yes, Rodriguez had a lot to say:

Rodriguez admitted that he was aware that his spot on the roster had become an issue with fans and critics alike.

“Who’s looking bad and feeling entitled when you hear stuff like that?” he said. “I’m not the one booing. I’m not the one screaming. I’m not the one saying pretty disgusting things at times. That seems pretty entitled. You’re just making yourself look pretty bad as an individual, as a person, as a fan. That’s tough."
...

“The guy (Hoskins) has 60-plus homers in three years and you’re booing him,” Rodriguez said. “Explain that to me. That’s entitled fans. I don’t know if it’s them feeling like they’re owed something. There’s nobody in here that doesn't want to win. That’s what sucks. When we hear that, we’ve learned to try and take that and use it like we should. But if I sat here and just buried you every single day verbally, is that helping?”

And you know what? He's not wrong. He basically nailed it.

[DurhamBull]

I like Rodriguez. I hate to fall for the David Bell locker room crap but beyond that he is a guy who seems to understand his role, is actually good from one side of the plate (if not lately), and can play every position, even if it's not that well. We have a guy like him on the roster every year (Bruntlett, Juan Castro, Wilson Valdez, Blanco, Florimon) and none of them could actually hit (but did some good things in SSS). You can still argue he's no better or worse than Gosselin but either of them (and tonight's equally heroic Brad Miller) are only here in the first place because the roster was so depleted (including the complete loss of our opening day CF, and, ultimately 3B) and our young players (Williams, Cozens, Walding, Quinn) either couldn't hack it or can't stay healthy.

Totally agree. People seem to forget that these guys are glove-first utility players. If they could hit well and play every position on the diamond, they’d be starting for someone else rather than riding the Philadelphia pine. They’ve done ok in the role they’ve been asked to fill.

[DurhamBull]

It is really hard to believe that Hoskins, who has repeatedly taken pitches in the middle of the strike zone for called strikes, chooses to swing at the first and second pitches he sees after the pitcher has issued two 4 pitch walks and a single to a batter he started off 3-0.

I was thinking the same, but Larry Anderson commented that the first pitch to Hoskins was a sweet one to hit. “Right down the middle.” Now, the fact that he just fouled it off is another issue (and Larry Anderson commented on that too), but there was a reason for him to swing.

I would really like to see him get a day or two off to clear his head. This can’t be very much fun for him.

[Philsmania]

II hate to fall for the David Bell locker room crap

The irony is that as it turned out, Bell allegedly wasn't all he was cracked up to be in the clubhouse and, again allegedly, many of his Phillie teammates didn't like him.

[Patchmk88]

Fans pay for tickets they can boo if they want. Saying unnecessary hurtful things crosses a line, but they are allowed to boo. Players can also be upset that fans boo, but you really aren’t doing yourself any favors if you complain about it.

Go out and hit better than .200 and maybe they won’t boo any more. Both Sean and Rhys are getting paid (maybe not well in terms of the baseball world but a heck lot more than us) to play baseball. If you don’t play baseball well, you get booed. If you don’t like getting booed in Philadelphia then you can ask for your release or ask to be traded.

[California_Dreamin]

Rodriguez was not wrong, of course. And I have never liked booing, still recalling the booing of Richie Allen in 1964. But what Rodriguez fails to mention is that fans often boo because many players talk and act entitled. We see this every day.

Hoskins has never been one of those players to be sure. And the Rodriguez story is complicated one because A] a case can be made that there are 3-4 more deserving players at LHV today [including Franco] and B] everyone and their father knows Kapler is a good friend of Rodriguez, which MAKES him look entitled, even though all reports are that he is a good guy, good teammate and great in the clubhouse.

I appreciated him defending Hoskins but would have preferred he say what he said while adding "but you know what, given how I have scuffled lately I would probably boo me too!"

Philadelphia phans would have loved that and he might well have endeared himself to them.

[Patchmk88]

Watching replays of Rhys swing lately and every song is pure uppercut. One of the longest swings I’ve seen out of anybody since I’ve watched the game and very different from highlights of his swings earlier in the year and throughout his short career.

I don’t know if he’s taken the launch angle thing too far, but something is definitely mechanically wrong.

[Philsmania]

One can spend hours talking about how different Hoskins and Herrera are as players but, right now, Hoskins's 2019 season feels a lot like Herrera's 2018 season in terms of a season spiraling from great to lost.

[Austinfan]

I don't think it has anything to do with launch angle.
Saw it earlier in the season with Harper, players put pressure on themselves and try to hit 5 run HRs.
Harper finally relaxed and stopped trying to prove he was worth his contract with every swing, still has too long of a swing for my taste, but has calmed down. When he tightens that swing and uses the whole field he can be special.
Rhys had a sweet swing, but since he started slumping, he's trying to over hit everything.

The guy with the best swing is Kingery, and he shows you don't have to sell out to hit balls hard, he has nice compact swing that generates power - and he's learning to be more patient, not just drawing walks but not swinging at pitches he can't handle.

[mdougherty12]

Looking at the Statcast data, Hoskins has increased his average launch angle, though it has always been high:

25.1 in 2019 (2nd in MLB, minimum 50 batted ball events)
22.4 in 2018
18.4 in 2017

Hoskins isn't getting the barrel on the ball as much this season, which is likely the real problem. He's gone from ~95th percentile in barrels/PA in 2017 to ~60th percentile in 2019.

[flyers19rw]

He needs to spend a lot of time working with Manuel on all of the aspects of his hitting. IDK if benching him is called for but a lot of discussion and cage work is necessary. Whatever Rhys is doing right now isn’t working and it’s hurting the team.

[zambonir]

Hoskins probably did have to swing at those pitches but it was still hard to watch!

I don't agree there are more deserving players than Rodriguez in AAA. They are all basically the same and he beat out Gosselin on merit. Williams and Franco too. Prior to his August slumps all three of those guys had been demonstrably worse than Rodriguez when they actually played for the Phillies. All negative WAR. He was not. And Franco is the least useful of all, since he can't field, can't play a second position besides the only position they don't need him at and can't hit lefties.

Rodriguez has also played SS off and on for his entire career, which is why he originally beat out Gosselin, once Kingery was no longer the back-up SS. Now, arguably you don't need both him and Miller, but either of them could have been cut if Bruce or Quinn hadn't been injured.

If you hate Gabe it's fun to make fun of the friendship but if you don't hate Gabe the story of a baseball journeyman who survived a car accident, tore his knee in spring training, opted to stay with the Phillies anyway (unlike Gosselin he didn't even get a retention bonus because he did not finish last season on a roster) and has mostly performed better than the 25th man on a roster ever does (when used correctly/judiciously) is a beautiful thing, just as good as Gosselin's childhood dream coming true. (I do feel bad for Gosselin that he's probably not going to get back on the 40, too many pitchers ahead of him.)

[schillingfan]

Yes, he is right about fans feeling entitled and not right to boo players. But he who pays the piper calls the tune. Doesn’t excuse rudeness, but there are jerks out there. Unfortunately dealing with fan abuse goes with the territory. Must be hard for the typical bench player, as they don’t get the big money or adulation that goes with it.

He still shouldn’t have said that. Now he’ll really get the boos.

[julio]

And the Rodriguez story is complicated one because A] a case can be made that there are 3-4 more deserving players at LHV today [including Franco] and B] everyone and their father knows Kapler is a good friend of Rodriguez, which MAKES him look entitled, even though all reports are that he is a good guy, good teammate and great in the clubhouse.

Yeah. Keep in mind that Sean Rodriguez didn't make out the roster. Kapler presumably expressed his preference, but Klentak makes the roster calls. Holding Rodriguez' presence against him, as if he somehow made the decision, is... well, it's ignorant, frankly.

[California_Dreamin]

zambonir...I don't hate Kapler, I like the guy and feel deeply sorry for what he went through with the fire in Malibu earlier this year. I don't even hate the way he manages, though I thoroughly dislike it. I do find him a phony and still believe that what players feel about him privately will come out.

I think he handled the Hernandez situation the worst possible way, Hernandez should have been pulled immediately, much as the Braves manager pulled Acuna immediately after he didn't hustle on a ball he thought would be a home run.

It seems the Phillies get compared/contrasted to the Braves often now since both started their rebuild at the same time and in almost every area the Braves had done demonstrably better.

And as for suggesting that Rodriguez is better than the players at LHV because of his versatility, this merely reaffirms to me the stupidity of insisting on a 13 man pitching staff. I don't hate Kapler, but I immensely dislike the way he handles his pitching staff and if he didn't so often insist on using 2-3 pitchers to get out of an inning, perhaps he would have room for that valuable 5th bench guy...guys like Williams, Franco, Pirela or Gooslin.

And no, I do not believe Rodriguez is better than any of the players I just mentioned. And yes, I believe that Rodriguez's friendship to Kapler helps his cause and I doubt I am alone in this assessment.

Baseball is still a performance based game and in this regard, Rodriguez has been abysmal. Game winning home run last night not withstanding, I think he is superfluous to this team.

[California_Dreamin]

julio...who said I hold Rodriguez's presence on the roster against him? Where did I say this? I hold it against Kapler and Klentak. And there is no ignorance in holding that view.

[Lawman]

I think he handled the Hernandez situation the worst possible way, Hernandez should have been pulled immediately, much as the Braves manager pulled Acuna immediately after he didn't hustle on a ball he thought would be a home run.

Braves are comfortably in 1st place and are pretty much a playoff lock. Phillies are fighting to get in. I get setting an example and all that.....but at this point in the season, if Hernandez is the best chance to win the game. you leave him in.