18 Philadelphia Phillies (Eflin) @ New York Mets (Syndergaard)

kikutaro 2018-09-09 02:21:31 UTC #121

Williams, N

Ball (88.3 mph slider)
Called strike (93.2 mph two-seam fastball)
Foul (86.4 mph changeup)
In play, no out (92.3 mph two-seam fastball)

Nick Williams singles on a ground ball to shortstop Amed Rosario. Rhys Hoskins to 3rd.

kikutaro 2018-09-09 02:22:31 UTC #122

Hernández, C

Called strike (94.4 mph two-seam fastball)
Ball (80.2 mph curveball)
In play, run(s) (93.8 mph two-seam fastball)

Cesar Hernandez out on a sacrifice fly to left fielder Michael Conforto. Rhys Hoskins scores.

New York Mets 10 - Philadelphia Phillies 5

kikutaro 2018-09-09 02:24:01 UTC #123

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia Phillies	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	1	5	14	0
New York Mets	0	3	3	1	0	2	0	1		10	11	0

Current Batters

Philadelphia Phillies

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Santana, C 3B-1B	5	1	2	0	0	0	0	.230	.350	.423	.773
Bour 1B	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	.226	.342	.408	.750
Knapp PH	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.216	.312	.352	.664
Avilán P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Ramos, W C	4	0	2	1	1	0	0	.310	.361	.507	.868
Hoskins LF	4	2	2	1	1	1	1	.248	.359	.493	.852
Cabrera, A SS-3B	4	1	2	0	1	0	0	.268	.317	.472	.789
Williams, N RF	5	0	1	0	0	1	0	.257	.327	.430	.757
Hernández, C 2B	4	0	4	3	0	0	0	.257	.363	.359	.722
Herrera, O CF	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	.263	.319	.438	.757
Bautista PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.198	.341	.362	.703
Arano P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Kingery SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.230	.271	.340	.611
Eflin P	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.105	.105	.184	.289
Crawford, J PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.191	.309	.330	.639
Eickhoff P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Davis, A P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Franco PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.267	.310	.469	.779
Ramos, E P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Morgan P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
García, L P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Altherr CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.172	.289	.307	.596

New York Mets

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Rosario, A SS	5	1	1	0	0	1	0	.256	.295	.382	.677
McNeil 2B	5	2	3	0	0	1	0	.329	.389	.483	.872
Conforto RF-LF	5	2	2	1	0	1	1	.232	.339	.411	.750
Bruce 1B	2	2	2	1	2	0	0	.227	.306	.365	.671
Blevins P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	.500	1.000
Reyes, J 3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.193	.261	.329	.590
Frazier, T 3B	2	2	1	4	0	0	1	.227	.303	.418	.721
Jackson, A CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.266	.321	.341	.662
Nimmo CF-RF	2	1	1	1	2	0	0	.271	.392	.503	.895
Smith, Do LF	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	.200	.236	.400	.636
Reinheimer LF-3B	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.235	.316	.235	.551
Gsellman P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.250	.000	.250
Nido C	4	0	1	3	0	2	0	.180	.215	.230	.445
Syndergaard P	3	0	0	0	0	3	0	.122	.140	.171	.311
Flores 1B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.271	.321	.424	.745

Current Pitchers

Philadelphia Phillies

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Eflin	3.0	4	6	6	3	5	1	60-35	4.42
Eickhoff	1.0	3	1	1	0	2	0	26-17	9.00
Davis, A	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	13-7	3.67
Ramos, E	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1-1	2.15
Morgan	0.1	3	2	2	1	0	0	18-10	4.22
García, L	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	3-3	4.65
Arano	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	13-10	2.55
Avilán	1.0	1	1	1	0	0	1	15-10	3.80

New York Mets

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Syndergaard	6.2	12	4	4	5	4	1	109-72	3.44
Blevins	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	21-11	3.65
Gsellman	1.1	2	1	1	0	0	0	17-14	3.89

kikutaro 2018-09-09 02:24:31 UTC #124

Kingery

Called strike (94.5 mph two-seam fastball)
In play, out(s) (94.5 mph two-seam fastball)

Scott Kingery flies out to center fielder Austin Jackson.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia Phillies	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	1	5	14	0
New York Mets	0	3	3	1	0	2	0	1	x	10	11	0

Final

Philadelphia Phillies

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Santana, C 3B-1B	5	1	2	0	0	0	0	.230	.350	.423	.773
Bour 1B	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	.226	.342	.408	.750
Knapp PH	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.216	.312	.352	.664
Avilán P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Ramos, W C	4	0	2	1	1	0	0	.310	.361	.507	.868
Hoskins LF	4	2	2	1	1	1	1	.248	.359	.493	.852
Cabrera, A SS-3B	4	1	2	0	1	0	0	.268	.317	.472	.789
Williams, N RF	5	0	1	0	0	1	0	.257	.327	.430	.757
Hernández, C 2B	4	0	4	3	0	0	0	.257	.363	.359	.722
Herrera, O CF	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	.263	.319	.438	.757
Bautista PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.198	.341	.362	.703
Arano P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Kingery SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.230	.271	.340	.611
Eflin P	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.105	.105	.184	.289
Crawford, J PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.191	.309	.330	.639
Eickhoff P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Davis, A P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Franco PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.267	.310	.469	.779
Ramos, E P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Morgan P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
García, L P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Altherr CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.172	.289	.307	.596

New York Mets

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Rosario, A SS	5	1	1	0	0	1	0	.256	.295	.382	.677
McNeil 2B	5	2	3	0	0	1	0	.329	.389	.483	.872
Conforto RF-LF	5	2	2	1	0	1	1	.232	.339	.411	.750
Bruce 1B	2	2	2	1	2	0	0	.227	.306	.365	.671
Blevins P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	.500	1.000
Reyes, J 3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.193	.261	.329	.590
Frazier, T 3B	2	2	1	4	0	0	1	.227	.303	.418	.721
Jackson, A CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.266	.321	.341	.662
Nimmo CF-RF	2	1	1	1	2	0	0	.271	.392	.503	.895
Smith, Do LF	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	.200	.236	.400	.636
Reinheimer LF-3B	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.235	.316	.235	.551
Gsellman P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.250	.000	.250
Nido C	4	0	1	3	0	2	0	.180	.215	.230	.445
Syndergaard P	3	0	0	0	0	3	0	.122	.140	.171	.311
Flores 1B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.271	.321	.424	.745

Philadelphia Phillies

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Eflin (L, 9-7)	3.0	4	6	6	3	5	1	60-35	4.42
Eickhoff	1.0	3	1	1	0	2	0	26-17	9.00
Davis, A	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	13-7	3.67
Ramos, E	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1-1	2.15
Morgan	0.1	3	2	2	1	0	0	18-10	4.22
García, L	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	3-3	4.65
Arano	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	13-10	2.55
Avilán	1.0	1	1	1	0	0	1	15-10	3.80

New York Mets

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Syndergaard (W, 11-3)	6.2	12	4	4	5	4	1	109-72	3.44
Blevins (H, 7)	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	21-11	3.65
Gsellman	1.1	2	1	1	0	0	0	17-14	3.89

LoneStarPhan 2018-09-09 02:33:16 UTC #125

Phillies out hit the Mets 14-11 and draw more walks, yet were never in the game.

Sadly disappointing game for the Phillies.

ButlerBulldog 2018-09-09 02:45:13 UTC #126

I’ve the feeling the Phillies will really regret wasting so many opportunities to gain ground in the standings. I’m also beginning to wonder if, given the drastic shift in the expectations for this team, Kapler finds himself on the chopping block as soon as next season. A number of his recent decisions have led to poor results, and his over-reliance on analytics is starting to attract the wrong kind of attention around the league.

The Mets broadcasters were destroying him during tonight’s telecast and openly made fun of him for using a shift during double-play situations. If the Mets are looking down on the Phillies’ decisionmaking, you can bet other teams are, as well. Kapler needs to understand that only the important data should be used to guide decisions, not obscure numbers that don’t matter.

LoneStarPhan 2018-09-09 04:57:57 UTC #127

There is no question that the Phillies have blundered badly over the past several weeks. They had the NL East there for the taking and now have dug themselves into a hole that will lead to their season ending at the end of the regular season. Yes, they can come back, but now it will take a much greater performance from them. Time is running out and today, they took another major hit.

Atlanta wins, 5-4, in ten innings. Braves score two in the top of the tenth; D-Backs come back with one and have the final out made at the plate as the runner trying to tie the game was cut down.

Braves had 11 hits, D-Backs only 5, including two in the tenth.

Until the Phillies manage to move within two games of the Braves, I am not going to get my hopes up for post season play this year. It certainly can happen but for now, I'll just watch one game at a time and root for a Phillies win.

mdougherty12 2018-09-09 05:09:50 UTC #128

ButlerBulldog:

flyers19rw:

Not a fan of a lot of things that Kapler has done this season. It's been worse since the start of August. He ran the RPs into the ground from the get go. The shuffling of position players has been troubling as well. Few players have been allowed to settle in at their best position. The same goes with the musical chairs of the batting order. The shifting in the field hasn't been that productive either. I get that Kapler is a first year manager but maybe he needs to slow down with some of what he's doing. It could be that he's getting too much data from his analytics guys and need more time to evaluate it himself so that he can learn how to make the most use of it.
I agree with a lot of this. As I said earlier, Kapler seems to be micromanaging every facet of the game. He doesn’t seem to understand that players’ roles need to be clearly defined, as routine is an important part of success at the Major League level. I believe that analytics has a place in baseball, but it should never be the main factor on which decisions are based. Kapler would do well to let his players actually play the game instead of moving them around like chess pieces.

Edit: I wonder if a lot of the struggles of Herrera and Hernandez have actually been exacerbated by Kapler’s moves. In particular, it seems counterproductive to move Herrera, whose success is so dependent on timing and rhythm, in and out of the lineup.

I think it's more accurate to say that Kapler actively disagrees with the notion that players' roles need to be clearly defined, and given the success of the recent Dodgers and Cubs teams, it seems hard to argue that he's clearly wrong about that.

zambonir 2018-09-09 05:26:47 UTC #129

I think if Mackanin or Manuel were managing this team it would probably have the same number of wins. Maybe less. The only debate is whether the Phillies erred in trying to make a playoff run this season (i.e. the team they had on July 28 was no better or worse, or erred in not trying hard enough (i.e they should have acquired a SP. But nobody was down on Eflin on July 20).

ButlerBulldog 2018-09-09 14:10:38 UTC #130

Where I make a distinction between what the Dodgers and Cubs have done and what the Phillies have done is that the Dodgers and Cubs have resorted to lineup shuffling partly out of necessity because of injuries to keep players. The Phillies have been fortunate in that most of their regulars haven’t missed significant time due to injury. One wouldn’t know that to look at some of Kapler’s recent decisions, however.

I don’t mind a Kapler making changes if they’re clearly warranted, but some of his choices have left me with the impression he’s over-thinking things. While none of the players have been critical of him, no one has leaped to his defense either.

philsphan67 2018-09-09 14:49:03 UTC #131

I think the move to send Eflin down to the minors hurt him. I understand why they did the move and in a strat-o-matric game mode it makes sense. But we are dealing with real human beings and feelings and Eflin has been no where as good as he was. I think the off-season will fix him and the Phils can count on him in the rotation for next year. Not sure what they get out of him the rest of the way.

Philsmania 2018-09-09 15:21:52 UTC #132

Of course you can't mathematically measure this stuff but it appears to have put him in a funk.

ButlerBulldog 2018-09-09 15:21:55 UTC #133

Eickhoff should take his spot in the rotation. It doesn’t make sense to send Eflin out there if he’s not capable of helping this team win.

andyb 2018-09-09 15:33:49 UTC #134

There is probably not a great solution here. Eflin is healthy. His velocity is fine. His stuff appears to have flattened out a bit in recent weeks but he may also be having growing pains with a new catcher (Ramos). He is going deeper into a season than ever before and when his stuff suffers he probably will get hit the hardest of the three pitchers at the back of the rotation (VV and Pivetta) since he misses the fewest bats.

As for Eickhoff, he looks like he has good command after the layoff which is a plus. His stuff does not look that special though. 91-92 is on the lower end of his velocity though without Spring Training that is understandable. His stuff looks more like 2017 than 2016. That may be all he is, kind of a 5th starter who knows how to pitch and can periodically have good stretches when everything is working.

Maybe they should just skip Eflin when they can because they have been trying to keep Nola on a 5-day routine and everyone else gets pushed back. There just is not much evidence of likelihood that Eickhoff would be any better. Or De Los Santos or Suarez would be any better.

More 3-inning starts is probably in our future, but let's use the extra pitchers in tandem starts to give opposing lineups a different look.

ButlerBulldog 2018-09-09 15:37:58 UTC #135

andyb:

There is probably not a great solution here. Eflin is healthy. His velocity is fine. His stuff appears to have flattened out a bit in recent weeks but he may also be having growing pains with a new catcher (Ramos). He is going deeper into a season than ever before and when his stuff suffers he probably will get hit the hardest of the three pitchers at the back of the rotation (VV and Pivetta) since he misses the fewest bats.

As for Eickhoff, he looks like he has good command after the layoff which is a plus. His stuff does not look that special though. 91-92 is on the lower end of his velocity though without Spring Training that is understandable. His stuff looks more like 2017 than 2016. That may be all he is, kind of a 5th starter who knows how to pitch and can periodically have good stretches when everything is working.

Maybe they should just skip Eflin when they can because they have been trying to keep Nola on a 5-day routine and everyone else gets pushed back. There just is not much evidence of likelihood that Eickhoff would be any better. Or De Los Santos or Suarez would be any better.

More 3-inning starts is probably in our future, but let's use the extra pitchers in tandem starts to give opposing lineups a different look.

Do we know what the Rangers wanted in return for Hamels? Given how he’s pitched with the Cubs, he’d almost certainly have provided a lift to this team.

andyb 2018-09-09 16:45:29 UTC #136

Not specifically though the deal with the Cubs was for a non-late inning reliever, their 11th round pick from a year ago who was only a B or C level prospect and a player to be named. In other words not likely that much. The deal was more a salary dump though the Cubs only took on $5 million of the $13 million remaining on his contract. Of course now that Hamels is pitching well the $19 million 1-year salary for next year looks like a bargain.

I wanted Hamels and for that price would definitely have wanted him. He did have a 10 something ERA in his last month though, so I can see the logic for thinking he was not better than what we had. Not sure if the Cubs' scouts noticed anything that ours did not, though I do remember seeing his velocity was good and the bad stretch was as much about bad luck if anything (as the current stretch probably has some good luck in it).

This team does need a left-handed starter if nothing else to give other teams a different look and maybe for Kapler to manage his rotation so the lefty faces teams with good left-handed hitting. In that vein I want us to take a serious look at Patrick Corbin in free agency this winter. Hamels was low dollar and low risk. Corbin will be lots of dollars and lots of risk. But he is only 29 and he is really, really good. He fills a need as much as Machado does on this team. Remember there are many paths to competing and having a dominant starting rotation worked out pretty well for the Braves for a decade.

ButlerBulldog 2018-09-09 16:59:24 UTC #137

This is an excellent point and one that should not be overlooked by anyone in discussions of how this team can be improved. Adding Machado or Harper would be nice, but finding a proven frontline starter to go with Nola and Arietta could have just as much of an impact, if not more.

I’d also like to see the Phillies try to sign an experienced closer. Kapler’s closer-by-committee approach hasn’t worked as well as he would have us believe, so something must be done to improve the bullpen. I’m fine with Neris and Neshek serving as setup men, but I don’t know that either should close on a fulltime basis. The Phillies also need to find a left-handed reliever who can actually get hitters out. Davis and Morgan have been inconsistent, Loup was a disappointment, and Avilan hasn’t been much better.

EastFallowfield 2018-09-09 21:17:22 UTC #138

I felt for Eflin for the minor league move but do think that if that is all it takes to make him a useless starting pitcher then he probably doesn’t have as bright a future as we hoped.

ButlerBulldog 2018-09-09 21:26:19 UTC #139

I’ve a hard time seeing how he’s still struggling if that move was the cause of it, as he’s had a chance to settle back into his routine. My sense is that he has only so-so stuff and can’t beat teams if he’s not at his best. In any case, he shouldn’t start if this is the best we can expect from him.

Philsmania 2018-09-09 22:41:50 UTC #140

I hate to say it but you make a good point. If he's that sensitive, he's always going to crack at some point.

But yes, he should be dropped from the rotation in favor of Eickhoff and next spring, let it be known he has to win a starting job or it's either the bullpen or LHV.