Phillies News and Discussion 2025 Season

zambonir 2025-07-15 02:25:52 UTC #944

We've seen firsthand how FAs struggle in their first year sometimes, Werth wouldn't have had to deal with that if he'd stayed. But they picked Howard over him really. Alas.

If memory serves I wanted Beltran not Pence. But then maybe we never get Wheeler now.

And I feel like there were also options to get a little more offense from the 3B spot. But then as now some guys just aren't going to get benched or dumped, even with more $.

John Mayberry would have a job on this team right now for sure. Maybe Ben Francisco too [though probably not both].

Philsmania 2025-07-15 14:12:10 UTC #945

The Phillies extended Howard when he was still two years away from FA. Other teams did the same thing with their stars to what turned out to be ill-fated extensions--the Mets with David Wright, the Twins with Joe Mauer.

zambonir 2025-07-15 14:24:06 UTC #946

We'll never know if Amaro 100% wanted to do that, though he was not that big a Werth fan either [he has since discovered what OBP is]. But the year they extended Ryan was also Werth's last season. Monty [and possibly also Middleton] drove that train. And then Ryan got hurt and began his decline before the new deal could even start.

Another thing we often forget about 2010 is how shaky that team looked the week before the deadline. Third place in the East and 4th place in the WC, though with a 53-46 record. There was talk of selling Werth but in the end they acquired Oswalt.

Philsmania 2025-07-15 14:50:24 UTC #947

That 2010 season sure was an interesting one. Team looked dead in the water through the All-Star break, offense was downright anemic, Milt Thompson replaced as hitting coach with Greg Gross, bats and team got hot (not sure if it was because of Gross, though), Phillies bought instead of sold at the Deadline, the Lidge of 2009 went away and the Lidge of 2008 returned on August 1 and the Phillies turned on the afterburners and won the NL East going away--by six games after trailing the Braves by seven games on July 22, a whopping thirteen game turnaround in the standings--while finishing with the best record in baseball. Seemingly toyed with the Reds in the NLDS--Halladay no-hit them in Game 1, Phillies spotted the Reds a 4-0 lead in the 5th but scored seven unanswered after that in Game 2, Hamels shut them down in Game 3--but, alas, ran into a Giants team with a white-hot bullpen anchored by a beyond-dominating Brian Wilson in the NLCS.

The beginning of the end also came for Howard that August. He badly sprained his ankle against the Nats in that first weekend and his ankle never got right again that season and was still not fully recovered the following ST. But, instead of shutting him down until it got right, the Phillies--in their lust for a historic season in 2011 (while also possibly being spooked by the sight of Utley also limping into Clearwater that year)--played him while pumping his ankle with all kinds of epidurals which ultimately destroyed him and his career.

bkox 2025-07-16 04:01:43 UTC #948

Schwarber wins the All-star MVP by going 3 for 3 in the swing off to win the event for the NL

LoneStarPhan 2025-07-16 04:03:14 UTC #949

Phillies send only one to the all star game and he becomes the hero of the night.

Tied 6-6 after nine.

Three players.

Three swings.

Three home runs from Schwarber seals it.

BaseballCat 2025-07-16 10:58:40 UTC #950

I guess I should have stayed up. I did not know they did a swing off. Well done Kyle!

Philsmania 2025-07-16 14:09:14 UTC #951

Honestly, the baseball purist in me hates this HR shootout concept but I think it is cool that the NL won it and that a Phillie saved the day in it and became the game's MVP!

First Phillies ASG MVP in 61 years. Johnny Callison in 1964 was the last one. Just another case of how '64 was a charmed season for the Phillies until it wasn't. Allen's amazing rookie year. The Phillies rolling all season long until the end. Bunning's perfect game. Callison ASG MVP. It all turned into a pumpkin.

zambonir 2025-07-16 14:49:29 UTC #952

The baseball purist in me would certainly hate it a lot in a real game!

But I'm not sure we can say with 100% certainly that it won't happen someday, given NHL games and most of the world's bigger soccer matches do it. But at least in those the goaltender is still trying to stop the shots.

Well, I guess we don't have to worry about this season all turning into a pumpkin since nobody thinks it's a carriage to begin with. But one thing I think the timing of the All-Star break masks is that the Phillies have played almost 60% of their schedule.

The NL East race is very tight compared to last year, but if the Phillies only play .500 ball the rest of the way they'll still have 88 wins, more than the 2022 Phillies and more than three of last year's AL playoff teams [including a division winner]. They would have missed out in the NL though. Mets, Braves and Dbacks all won 89, with Arizona losing tiebreakers.

zambonir 2025-07-16 16:19:59 UTC #953

Stott has once again regressed, this time even worse than he did in 2024. In 58 games since the start of May, Stott is slashing .204/.268/.284 across 233 plate appearances. His .553 OPS over that span is the fifth worst among all qualified hitters.

[snip]

If you go back to the beginning of 2024 and take all of Stott’s numbers to the present day, he’s hitting .241 with a .658 OPS. That would be good for an 84 wRC+, meaning Stott is 16% below league average as a hitter across his last 232 games played and over 900 plate appearances. There are 86 MLB players that have logged at least 900 PAs since the start of 2024. Of those 86, Stott ranks dead last in OPS, OPS+, and slugging percentage.

[snip]

Now, Stott’s defense and position allow him some leeway here....[but] There’s a big difference between being a below average MLB hitter and a bad MLB hitter.

Philsmania 2025-07-16 16:54:07 UTC #954

Could it be that the NL is now better than the AL in terms of having more good teams?

zambonir 2025-07-16 17:12:22 UTC #955

Seems like it's hard to say/know without a really granular strength of schedule analysis. Especially given the increase in IL games and decrease in division games. And what really reflects the strength of the league more, the two best teams or a cluster of over-.500 teams?

If the season ended today a .531 team would make the AL playoffs and a .537 team would make the NL playoffs [with a .536 NL team missing out]. 88 wins is better than both of those.

flyers19rw 2025-07-16 19:14:17 UTC #956

Any interest in signing Luis Urias and putting him the BP?

schillingfan 2025-07-16 22:04:39 UTC #957

Yeah, I turned off before the swing off, too.

zambonir 2025-07-16 22:27:15 UTC #958

Well, Luis Urias is an infielder so probably not. But also not interested in the repeated domestic violence offender you probably mean, and I doubt the Phillies are either. Though I guess we'll see just how much they love Scott Boras.

Philsmania 2025-07-17 13:09:00 UTC #959

On social media, you often hear "Bauer bros" arguing how unfair it is that that Trevor Bauer never gets a second chance but Bauer did not enjoy consistent success (though his last two years were really good) like JULIO Urias did and I am not sure that Urias carries the sheer extent of baggage that Bauer carries (a little too active for his own good on social media, disliked but tolerated for his talent by many teammates--similar to Schilling--and multiple claims of domestic abuse) and which makes him so toxic. Plus, Bauer is now 35, Urias is only 28. As you say, the Phillies do have good relations with Boras and they did give Odubel Herrera a second (and third) chance.

zambonir 2025-07-17 13:34:58 UTC #960

Urias has been arrested twice though, Bauer only faced civil charges and even won a defamation suit against one of the victims for violating the settlement agreement. But, yes, he is just a jerk.

I don't think they really wanted to give Herrera that second chance, he was getting paid, he was buried in the minors, MLB rules prohibited them from releasing him and when he finally returned they were just that desperate.

But yeah, then he played well enough and there wasn't too much backlash that they brought him back, but more because he was cheap [they'd already bought out his $12.5 million option for $1 million and only gave him $1.75 million on the last deal] and they were still desperate. Which is how Logan O'Hoppe ultimately got traded.

zambonir 2025-07-17 22:26:07 UTC #961

Perhaps a bit generous/exaggerated about the offense. Though I think the rotation's penchant for weak contact [as well as whiffs] is why the defense hasn't really hurt that much. But also why we need relievers who can do both of those things.

Philadelphia Phillies (55-41)
88.6 mph average opponent exit velocity (1st)

Phillies pitchers have excelled at minimizing hard contact by opposing hitters, ranking top five in hard-hit percentage (tied for second-lowest), barrel percentage (first) and expected slugging (third). This all correlates to a majors-high 53 quality starts in 96 games.

Philadelphia’s pitching keeps the squad in games, and the offense does the rest with quality at-bats, ranking fourth in on-base percentage, seventh in hits, tied for sixth in walks and sixth in hard-hit percentage.

zambonir 2025-07-19 01:28:28 UTC #962

Tough negotiator