Phillies 2021 Spring Training Discussion

[zambonir]

Won't be "wait 'til next year" much longer.

Revised ST schedule out:

Revised 2021 Spring Training schedule out

[el-pietro]

I'm surprised at how few games vs NL teams there are.

[andyb]

Regional pod scheduling makes sense and the Phillies pod is all the Tampa-based teams. FWIW that is probably our GCL schedule too if that happens this year.

[zambonir]

Yeah I always found it funny when players would lament (or get out of) the "long" road trips of like, two hours, but different situation this year.

It is summed up in the story el-p:

_The Grapefruit League clubs whose Spring Training facilities are on the east coast of Florida will play 24 games in 30 days, with six off-days. These teams are the Astros, Marlins, Mets, Cardinals and Nationals, and they will play each other exclusively. _

The clubs whose Spring Training facilities are on the west coast of Florida will be split into two groups -- in one group, the Tigers, Yankees, Phillies and Blue Jays will play each other, and in the other group, the Braves, Red Sox, Twins and Rays will play each other in 28 games over 30 days, with two universal off-days. The Orioles and Pirates will play against teams from both groups.

For the GCL they could put the Pirates in the Phillies pod and the Orioles in the other one. But they could also open it up by then.

[andyb]

Since there are an even number of teams in the West Coast pods it made better sense to have the Orioles and Pirates as floaters.

South Florida has an odd number of teams and notice they play fewer games because they need more off days. Nothing is ideal. Teams probably shied away from split squad games to minimize some of this since they have fewer players. And they also retained the ability to call games early after 5-7 innings in case they don't have enough pitchers early.

[zambonir]

Report on Miller says he'll sign major league deal next week so he probably takes the Seranthony spot.

[zambonir]

Incidentally, wasn't the end of day today the deadline to finalize spring training invites? Phillies slow to officially announce as usual I guess, probably happen in the morning.

[andyb]

Non-roster invites coming out:
https://twitter.com/ToddZolecki/status/1361726192467009537

Plus it does look like Herrera is coming to camp.

Full list here. 40-man roster plus the 12 above plus 19 more from the minors. Erik Miller coming to camp is interesting. Among prospects Stott and Johan Rojas are invited. Jhailyn Ortiz too. No Francisco Morales unfortunately. He is a guy I could see moving quickly if they decided they needed someone at the back end of the bullpen. They should still develop him as a starter, but there is a lot of Seranthony there with velocity and a swing and miss slider.

https://twitter.com/Phillies/status/1361729456956710916/photo/1

[andyb]

Jeff Mathis is a new name on the invites:

Phillies Sign Jeff Mathis To Minor League Deal

Extra catcher insurance though I assume behind Bethancourt in the taxi squad consideration (assuming Marchan will be at AA or AAA and not on any taxi squad).

Mathis is a really good defensive catcher but he is shockingly bad at the plate. 194 career hitter. That has got to be hard to do in a 16-year career.

[David_Criss]

Scott Lauber
@ScottLauber
·
40m
Odúbel Herrera will attend #Phillies camp as a non-roster invitee. Eighteen NRIs in all, including relievers Brandon Kintzler and Héctor Rondón, starter Iván Nova, and veteran catcher Jeff Mathis.

[zambonir]

A lot of Phillies stuff here. They have hired their first official QA coach, though that had also been Fuld's role in some previous years.

How to gain a data edge when everyone has the same data? Enter the QA coach

“There’s a lot more importance in today’s game in making sure the information we have is getting used in the right way,” Fuld said. “Quality assurance — the quality of the data is important, and there’s so much, so it’s about digesting the information. We didn’t have as much information in the past and there wasn’t the emphasis on refining and filtering the information. We’re getting better in the industry at delivering the information in a functional way.”

The modern QA coach is not just an information manager, because someone in the front office could probably manage that. Someone like an advance scout has traditionally been involved in putting together the numbers and scouting to prepare a team for their opponents. It’s important, both Bogar and Fuld agreed, that the modern QA coach is a coach.

“Calitri will be down in the coaches room all the time, in the trenches in uniform instead of plopping it down from two levels above,” said Fuld of his former manager of advance scouting. “They’re part of the process. The role broadens the scope of a traditional advance scout. … It’s more than a traditional advance scout — what gave me confidence on shifting to that role is the relationships, the players love him, the coaches love him.”

[julio]

The Phillies have officially signed Brad Miller. Seranthony Dominguez was placed on the 60-day injured list to create an opening on the 40-man roster.

— Matt Breen ( @matt_breen ) February 17, 2021

[andyb]

Miller plus Watson should give us 73 in camp. Room for 2 more....

Cots contracts also has us $14.3 million under the competitive balance threshold. Without Miller's $3.5 million and any non-roster player like Kintzler and Watson (potentially $3 million each). So we could easily be like $4 million under the CBT if the final 2 are on the team. Now there could be decreases (cutting Hale, trading someone like VV, etc), but this is likely the last major move of the free agent period.

[zambonir]

Some of these other NRI guys could also wind up adding to the CBT toll in-season, especially if there's injury involved.

It will be an interesting camp, certainly, even if most of the open spots are pitchers.

[Les229]

Perhaps someone can help a rookie out. After 18 years of attending spring training, I find that I have been taking some things for granted, At Carpenter Complex, they always handed out a complete roster sheet on the first day. Where can I find a printable spring training roster sheet on the internet? I tried the one on their website, but that is not it. I have to say, this will be a different spring training for me. I already feel out of it. It was 74 in Clearwater today and I am sitting here waiting for a winter sleet and freezing rain storm in Delaware.

I have mixed feelings about this season. The pitching looks really thin and they still have two positions up for grabs. It will be interesting to see how this works out. They have some super talent, but a few holes. I think they will have to get lucky.

[zambonir]

They may not actually put the 19 "mini-camp" guys onto the Phillies.com roster, but everyone else (the guys on the 40 and the non-roster invites to major league camp) can be found at:

Active Roster

I'm sure that between team, media and blogs a more complete roster, with uniform numbers, will eventually get posted. Here's the names of the NRIs (prior to Watson's invite) and "mini-camp" guys.

[zambonir]

A lot of mixed signals about Herrera and the whole "mini-camp" thing but it does seem like his status is no different than last year. Not in the major league clubhouse, not working out with the major league players/coaches - though I assume they will pay more attention to this small group, and the separation is also partly due to COVID. The mini-camp players also don't get the same level of stipend, which is obviously not an issue for him.

Since it is essentially a AAA group that would ordinarily be in the big league camp during non-COVID times, I assume he will actually get into games, but still hard to see a path where he's able to seize a roster spot, let alone a starting job. He'll be battling Moniak, Jankowski and Joyce for playing time. The DH and managing Cutch's workload should open up some extra innings, but it's going to be hard enough getting long enough looks at the three current CF candidates.

Notes: Herrera's return; Miller's impact

[bigegypt0417]

JT Realmuto has a broken thumb and will miss about a month.

[David_Criss]

And so it begins....

[zambonir]

Geez. Welcome, Jeff Mathis!

(I mean, if he actually misses any time it would almost have to be Marchan and I'm sure his spring playing time will increase accordingly as well.)