GDT 9/8/17 Philadelphia Phillies (J Thompson) @ Washington Nationals (M Scherzer)

[rkeden]

I know this is ridiculous on the surface but I wonder if Franco doesn't need an eye exam. He doesn't seem to have any recognition of the pitch being thrown and ends up trying to correct for being out of sync with the ball. I think that contact lens might be in his future!

He has so many physical attributes of a good hitter but he is really frustrating to watch. He must be driving Stairs crazy because I really don't see an attempt to improve. His wild swings now are too similar to the at-bats we saw in the Spring. My second hope is that he doesn't rush right into "winter ball" but has some time away from the daily grind and frustration to ponder his future. Playing 12 months a year only adds to his problems with his existing approach and doesn't allow for a change in both attitude and swing.

[harrisburghusker]

I think Franco just needs to relax and not worry about carrying the offense

[donaldorc]

One more thing worth noting. I have mentioned several times that Thompson, more than almost any of the young hurlers, seems particularly prone to falling apart when his defense does. If I can see it, I wonder why the Phils haven't? They need to put their absolutely BEST defensive lineup when he pitches until he gets to the point where he is confident enough in his talent that he can overcome it.

Yep. I was thinking about your comments on Thompson after the inside the park grand salami. A very tough loss, but some real bright spots as mentioned by other posters.

[California_Dreamin]

donaldorc...yes, so many things go into the making of a successful major league pitcher. As AF mentioned, Thompson's stuff is there, he has not suddenly lost the talent that got us so excited about him when he was acquired in the Hamels deal.

But the Phils risk losing him forever if they are not careful and, much like Gavin Floyd in the early 2000's, I do not like how they have handled him. He seems to be the human yo-yo of the Phillie braintrust, now you see him, now you don't and I believe this has hurt his development.

You simply cannot perform well as a youngster if you worry that every bad performance is going to get you sent back to the minor leagues. And while I don't know Thompson and don't want to play amateur psychologist, he doesn't seem as mentally tough as Lively or Pivetta. But that doesn't mean you give up on him, you find ways to build up that toughness and I believe a stout defense will help him.

I would also to see the Phils tell Thompson he will be in the rotation for the remainder of the year [if they haven't already] to allow him to get comfortable and relax. His numbers always seem to look much worse than they should be...that 4 run inning should have been a 0 and if that happens. who knows, perhaps he even hangs around long enough to benefit from the Hoskins HR [and later Franco's] and wins the game.

Instead? People who didn't watch the game and just looked at the box score are led to believe Thompson was terrible again. And he really wasn't.

[LoneStarPhan]

Let's not forget that had Hernandez fielded an easy ground ball right to him and made the routine throw to the shortstop, the Phillies almost certainly had a routine double play. Very likely that inside the park home run play never happens since Thompson could have easily been out of the third inning facing only 3 batters and giving up no runs or hits. Take away the unearned run in the next inning, and Thompson pitched much closer to giving up 2 runs in his 5 innings rather than the 7 that show up on his pitching line last night.

[Austinfan]

Over a long season these things even out, but this September it's more about how pitchers look than their stat line.
Thompson to me looked the best he has all season.
Pivetta to me looks like a guy with all the pitches who's throwing scared and needs to start next year in AAA.
Lively to me looks like a work in progress who isn't intimidated by pitching in the majors.
Leiter to me looks like a smart veteran who has physical limitations (without adequate rest he quickly loses velocity and the sharpness that makes him effective).

[EastFallowfield]

Saw the Nats version of the inside the park grand slam, Nats color man says he's never seen it before, even though Altherr did it in Washington two years ago, so long memory there.