Phillies News and Discussion 2025 Season

[zambonir]

It makes sense that if the one doesn't apply the other wouldn't either. Essentially being the 27th man is a ghost transaction? Well, you get the pay and service time.

[andyb]

I guess we got our answer on what the Phillies will do. Walker next week. Then probably make a decision on that July 22nd game as to whether it will continue to be Walker or maybe go to Painter. I never fully bought the Walker 1-inning talk. It always made sense for him to be a 2-3 inning reliever anyway.

Phillies demote Mick Abel to minors, reinsert Taijuan Walker into rotation — for...

[julio]

It makes sense that if the one doesn't apply the other wouldn't either. Essentially being the 27th man is a ghost transaction? Well, you get the pay and service time.

Yeah, it also makes sense if (hypothetically, and assuming no injuries or anything) a club really has a single "27th man" that they would call up for all DH days. That DH-related "special rule" really shouldn't impact the Rule 7 optional assignments rules (or other Rules).

Being "old," I might argue that the 27th man rule should just be eliminated... that an eight-man bullpen should be sufficient to deal with an occasional DH (since I well remember seasons where no bullpen exceeded six men). But that's not an argument that would carry the day...

[andyb]

Maybe they could only grant if both teams did not have an off day before the DH. I fully understand it when it is a makeup game in the middle of a series. In this instance both teams just rolled their Tuesday starter into one of the Wednesday games and the rest of the staff all had a rest day. Very different if you are talking 4 games in 3 days.

Probably just easier for MLB to grant it. And doubt Johnson ever left the team anyway. There are probably service time rules around these quick recalls also. Don't they get paid for 10 days on any call-up along with the extra service time?

[zambonir]

Yeah once they went to 26 from 25, the extra man seems less necessary. But, both the union and the managers/front offices probably want it, and it doesn't cost their owners enough money for them to care.

I would personally like to see it used for a position player occasionally, but in the Phillies' case they only have three eligible players in Wilson, Stubbs and Stevenson, seems unlikely a PH from any of those guys is gonna be needed. Of course a lot of fans - and union members, I bet - probably hoped the 26th man was going to create an extra full-season bench job, not an extra fungible relief spot.

[BostonRoss]

I feel like the 27th man is a good rule. It makes having someone pitch in both games less likely, which probably slightly reduces the injury risk.

I’d rather see more position players on the roster, but since pinch hitting for the pitcher is rare now, I think that ship has sailed. Thanks, DH.

[zambonir]

I’d rather see more position players on the roster, but since pinch hitting for the pitcher is rare now, I think that ship has sailed. Thanks, DH.

I feel like the DH really helps this particular rotation tho, in that you never see a pitcher hooked early because his spot comes up with RISP in the middle innings, and it's easier to push them further where there's no, "may as well put the reliever in now, we have to PH for him next frame anyway."

In this age of bullpen usage and one-inning guys it is probably the best thing for the health of the arms, even if a doubleheader where both teams wind up with a short start and big bullpen needs is probably not that frequent.

[zambonir]

From this story about Abel:

Thomson pointed to Cristopher Sánchez, José Alvarado, and Hector Neris as examples of current and past Phillies pitchers who needed minor league resets early in their careers.

That list of names just made me think how crazy it is that Thomson has been on this staff since 2018. The Phillies had a different manager for each of those three pitcher demotions he cited, but he was bench coach for the other two.

Taijuan Walker back in rotation for now after Mick Abel demoted; Andrew Painter...

[phillychuck]

There are quite a few pitchers who bounce back and forth from AAA to the majors a few times before figuring out how to pitch consistently in the big leagues. I’m not worried about Abel, in fact, I’m a lot happier with where he is now than any time in the last few years. I’m pretty confident he will at the very least be a useful trade piece. If I were the GM of a rebuilding club he would be a player I’d be trying to acquire.

[dcsman]

I’d do this: https://sports.yahoo.com/article/phillies-trade-idea-lands-pirates-181500967.html

Who do we add to get Bednar and/or Santana?

[zambonir]

I think there's only about a 5% chance that Cruz is traded. But the Bednar/Santana thing is is certainly very real.