News of Phormer Phillies, 2024

[jimbomill]

Michael Lorenzen?

[phillychuck]

Got it.

Really shows that pitcher success sometimes is really delayed or sporadic. I always liked Z's guy.

The Lee trade is going to really bite us long term. Lee could be a star. (Not Cliff Lee...)

[zambonir]

Lorenzen's having a decent year too isn't he?

Okay, let's end the "suspense":

Bailey Falter Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More |...

[phillychuck]

Falter is throwing a lot more fastballs 51% (at 91.8 mph, about his 2021 velocity), and has ditched his change-up, he is mainly FB, CU, SL, SI these days. I think his FB was considered an average pitch at best, but throwing it about 20% more has given him more success. Probably locating it better in the zone.

Pitching in Pittsburgh is a different mental ball game, too. I always got the impression he was pressing here.

[zambonir]

Sometimes it's as simple as a change of scenery or not pitching for a contender. Also true of Pivetta (the Phillies were desperate to win in 2020, the Sox were not) and Irvin (who was simply a 40-man crunch but wasn't ready to pitch for a team with the Phillies' expectations either).

I was actually kind of surprised they just threw Falter away for Castro (who was not an exciting acquisition short or long-term and seems increasingly less likely to stick without options next year) but they did have an excess of 5/6 starters last year, he was not actually better than Covey or Walker or Lorenzen at the time. Struggled in LV too IIRC.

It's too bad Allard hasn't turned into anything for the Phillies, but Turnbull has of course.

[mdougherty12]

Falter's FIP this season is right in line with his career (4.59 vs 4.70), but his BABIP is quite low this year (.245, MLB average is .292), leading to the nice ERA. Pittsburgh is also a more friendly park than Philly for a fly ball pitcher like Falter.

[BaseballCat]

Took a trip to the Carolina Mudcats on Sunday and saw one of our old “prospects” Yhoswar Garcia. He is actually having a good season, but not sure why he is still at low A at age 22. Batting over 300 with 38 steals.
https://www.milb.com/player/yhoswar-garcia-694070

[DurhamBull]

Interesting! According to BBRef, he's a bit "old" relative to league average, so he should be performing exceptionally well if he expects to get promoted. His defense doesn't look that great though, even in LF (five errors in 64 chances ). If they already need to figure out where to hide his glove at age 22, he's gonna need to hit like Babe Ruth to advance (or improve his fielding).

Yhoswar Garcia Winter & Minor Leagues Statistics | Baseball-Reference.com

[phillychuck]

DB, I think most of his errors have been throws IIRC. That is completely fixable by coaching.

[DurhamBull]

Yeah, he's still really young, even if he's "old" for the league he's in. I'm more than twice his age, and I nevertheless hope and believe that some of my errors are fixable by coaching too.

[BaseballCat]

Errors did not seem a big issue before. He plays all outfield positions so 6 errors in 93 chances, but still a bit high. If they took a chance on him I would have moved him up a level since this is the third year at low considering his age. He plays 5/6 games in each series so they don’t consider him filler. Perhaps after the draft

[zambonir]

https://www.chron.com/sports/astros/article/jon-singleton-astros-return-19543435.php?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=referral

Nice piece on Jon Singleton

[andyb]

I noticed in an article on the Hunter Harvey trade to Kansas City that the Royals are happy with the work of their closer James McArthur. We traded him there for a guy in FCL (Junior Marin). His K rate suggests he is getting lucky as their closer, but I really doubted he was a major league pitcher when we dealt him.

James McArthur College, Amateur, Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics |...

[bkox]

Noah Syndergaard Planning 2025 Comeback https://t.co/sNY0wfBlTz pic.twitter.com/lwPNHu8meA

— MLB Trade Rumors ( @mlbtraderumors ) July 16, 2024

[julio]

Well...

Braves are signing Whit Merrifield. He’s projected for a bench role there, at least for now, but the Albies injury necessitated a nice move.

— Jon Heyman ( @JonHeyman ) July 22, 2024

[zambonir]

"necessitated a nice move"

Admittedly he is better than Luke Williams

[andyb]

Saves us pro-rated MLB minimum (times the competitive balance tax).

[zambonir]

I figured he was always going to get a job just thought it might take a little longer. His value is considerably different if you just need an emergency second baseman.

[David_Criss]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/guardians-release-former-philadelphia-phillies-top-pitching-prospect/ar-BB1qn6zM?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=a99b5f3d1cdb41ddaa735c42d325d41d&ei=27

Spencer Howard - remember the can't miss pitching prospect??? Had high hopes for him a couple years ago.

[Philsmania]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/guardians-release-former-philadelphia-phillies-top-pitching-prospect/ar-BB1qn6zM?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=a99b5f3d1cdb41ddaa735c42d325d41d&ei=27

Spencer Howard - remember the can't miss pitching prospect??? Had high hopes for him a couple years ago.

And it was he who made Sixto Sanchez expendable.