21 Chicago Cubs (Sampson) @ Philadelphia Phillies (Gibson)

zambonir 2021-09-15 03:44:39 UTC #101

"Costly Mistakes on Fastballs: the 2021 Phillies Yearbook"

(remember when it was just the bullpen, seemingly?)

Sabin 2021-09-15 04:52:47 UTC #102

I'm going to need a martini if I keep watching this team through the end of this year.

Philsmania 2021-09-15 11:09:47 UTC #103

It's quite possible that at this snapshot moment in the season, the Phillies are simply one of the worst teams in baseball and beating anybody will be a struggle. We have an anemic offense, bad defense, only one reliable starting pitcher and a bullpen that's springing leaks again. We really aren't good in any facet of the game right now.

gmwannabe 2021-09-15 11:50:31 UTC #104

i really thought i wouldn't be thinking about this, but with the season ending soon, what does the phils draft position look like? possible highest and lowest?
gm

Patchmk88 2021-09-15 13:32:01 UTC #105

We really need to infuse this organization, from players to coaches to front office staff, with winners. The yearly collapse is a losers mentality and seems to snowball. A player like Harper (MVP level) tries to put the team on his back but he’s more of a leader by example than a no nonsense guy. We don’t have a voice in the locker room, a guy who doesn’t accept losing. Things seem to snowball quick with this team and it has happened yearly with this core.

While another nice starter would be nice and some top notch bullpen arms would be great, I actually think we need a big time bat more than those two. You have to have someone to tandem with Harper and no offense to JT but he isn’t it. I don’t think Rhys is either. The two of them are nice complimentary pieces but we need another star. An Acuna to The Braves Freeman. Preferably a guy that has a winning attitude and is a vocal leader. Now the problem is, I’m not sure we have the player capital or money to make a deal like that happen and still have enough left over to fill the other holes.

In reality we need a complete tear down, but before that we need to make sure we have the right development and scouting staff in place. If you do, a rebuild should only take 3-5 years. If you don’t, you are in our current position. It’s also hard from a player standpoint to do a complete rebuild. You signed Harper for so long that you basically have attached yourself to him for 10 years. And since you’ve invested so much in him, you feel the need to keep him happy and try to compete.

I think we are in a bad spot, and it probably starts at the top with Middleton. It will take a lot to fix it.

Austinfan 2021-09-15 14:56:41 UTC #106

Hard to knock Gibson, he's coming back to earth but has been a solid #4, unfortunately, he should be the #5 with a healthy Eflin and Suarez stretched out.

That was a AAA lineup, Cutch against a RH, Miller, Didi, Torreyes, Galvis, Knapp, just dreadful.

flyers19rw 2021-09-15 15:19:38 UTC #107

I’m loathe to criticize Middleton. His early hires- MacPhail, Klentak and the like flopped but they are no longer in positions of authority. Starting with the hiring of Barber, things began to change. The organization has been moving in a different projection as far as identifying amateur talent is concerned with the low minors showing improvement. Eventually this will percolate to the top with intelligent development. Hopefully Dombrowski will do the same with assessing the major league side.
For those who are critical of Middleton not putting cash into players, how bad would the Phillies be without Harper, Wheeler and Realmuto? As for not doing more of it during this season, why would he? With a bunch of non-vaxxers on the club, a Covid outbreak was a possibility at any moment. The players themselves were not willing to invest in their health; why should ownership invest in them? Better to get through the season and jettison those that put the club in the position that they were this year.

Philsmania 2021-09-15 17:52:22 UTC #108

Jeffrey Lurie also whiffed on his first big hire in Ray Rhodes, recognized such and did a course correction.

zambonir 2021-09-15 18:42:01 UTC #109

I think you are missing the extent to which Middleton makes it impossible for his employees to succeed. He has interfered with and undermined his manager, his general manager and his president, and that extends to Dombrowski too, even if it is also Middleton's prerogative to have some say in who gets signed and what they spend. The players can tell when the team culture is neither consistent nor accountable, and that's also how you get the vaccination situation, because players don't respect the team enough to put it first, or recognize the authority of the manager and front office.

That's particularly/obviously true if Harper and Wheeler are two of the unvaccinated players along with Nola. Harper is the LeBron of this team, he does not have to answer to Girardi, Fuld or Dombrowski, only Middleton. That works for LeBron and the NBA; it clearly doesn't here.

schillingfan 2021-09-15 20:00:15 UTC #110

Do we know Harperis unvaccinated? Even if he isn’t, he hasn’t missed a day to close contact, so he’s doing a good job of social distancing himself.

zambonir 2021-09-15 20:49:00 UTC #111

We do not, but we also don't know if he is. Somehow he has never addressed the subject, or been asked about it. And it's been repeatedly reported that influential veterans/team leaders are among the anti-vaxxers.

Hector hasn't missed any time either. Nobody on the team got dinged by the last outbreak, which was solely among three vaccinated players, so the distancing must be working decently overall.

(Just saw this in other thread. Maybe he was, or maybe he came around. For a long time the reports had been that there was no way this was ever going to happen, so I would have assumed the number was closer to 60-70%. This trend probably mirrors what is happening nationwide though.)