Phillies News and Discussion 2025 Season

[andyb]

Good trade. Who’d we get?

When we still don't know the answer the next day it is probably not much. Though guessing more than cash if the delay is to inform a player (perhaps in the DSL) of the trade.

[phillychuck]

Hope he gets some playing time in Minnesota. I think he’d be OK if he got 200 ABs or so in a season to give him a chance to get his feet under him.

[Squire]

It was cash.

[zambonir]

He is what he is I reckon, a .700 OPS major league player with some versatility and the occasional big hit off the bench. If they weren't even gonna give him one start at 3B against a RHP he really had no place here (since he wasn't gonna play SS and was redundant as a hitter in LF and at 2B and 1B). Given the way the season unfolded they would have been better off with Buddy Kennedy or one of the NRIs, but of course they didn't realize Marsh and Kepler were going to be so rough.

We never did see Sosa in the OF again though huh?

[andyb]

We never did see Sosa in the OF again though huh?

He has had 3 appearances so far. Imagine this will continue and he'll make 10-15 appearances over the course of the year. Wilson will get more OF starts, but that is more because Sosa is probably subbing for Stott in the same games.

If we have to play a right-handed bat in LF do we prefer Sosa or Wilson? Theoretically Wilson offers a little more offense and Sosa a little more defensive range, but as a discrete choice they are relatively close (and Sosa is currently hitting better too).

[zambonir]

Yeah but only that one start, which overall did not go well. That was over two weeks ago. Only one other time since then when he PH and stayed in the game.Now that Wilson' back I think it will always be Wilson with the starts.

[andyb]

Well yeah, when Wilson is on the roster (and theoretically though not this year better offensively) you want Wilson in LF and Sosa in the infield.

But the other side is that Stott is better than Kepler against LHP. So if you are subbing for only one of them (and not both), who should we want in the lineup? That answer is not clear to me. And we'll probably go back and forth throughout the year depending on injuries and hot streaks.

[zambonir]

FWIW

The Phillies won’t say it, but they are platooning in left field – Phillies...

[andyb]

Kepler was always going to have to show he could hit LHP at a somewhat acceptable rate. Marsh had the ready replacement in Rojas if he did not. Kepler did not have that Wilson replacement at the beginning of the year.

The Phillies would absolutely love either or both of Kepler or Marsh to hit left-handed pitching at an acceptable level. It just has not happened yet. It is not as if Rojas has lit things on fire either. Rojas has only a 697 OPS with a really good batting average (.302). And there has been at least one or two of his "hits" that really should have been scored as errors in my mind. I think of Rojas as roughly a 600 OPS bat until he shows otherwise in a meaningful sample.

[Austinfan]

The difference is if Rojas is .650+ he's a 3 WAR player due to his defense, and with our pitching woes, that has even more value by reducing pitch counts (and protecting the bullpen).

Marsh at best is average in center, and can't cover for Castellanos' pitiful range.

[andyb]

The difference is if Rojas is .650+ he's a 3 WAR player due to his defense,

In your mind only. He was a 0.2 WAR player last season with a .601 OPS. His defense was not as good as his rookie year and his offense suffered after they learned how to pitch him.

Rojas' offense is a big problem now and his defense is not special. The door is really swinging wide open for Justin Crawford in 2026 because of the failures of BOTH Rojas and Marsh.

[zambonir]

Running weakside platoons in both LF and CF is perfectly fine as the roster currently stands, so long as Marsh starts hitting RHP like he always has. Assuming that happens, and if Kepler is no more than he's shown so far (99 OPS+) we may yet see Crawford in July, with Marsh (and perhaps a bat upgrade on Wilson if he doesn't thrive) in LF. Or they could get a new LF and live with Marsh/Rojas in CF. The RHB-shaped hole in the line-up is huge no matter what, with three negative offensive players right now, and Casty unlikely to stay at his current level even if he's still decently above average (at the plate).

If Marsh can't find his bat at all you kind of just have to play Rojas more in CF for now.

Not that it's really cost the Phillies any games but the back-up catcher spot has not yet been an offensive upgrade either.

[Austinfan]

Rojas is 24 (25 in August), 574 career PA, .657 OPS, 2.8 WAR (FG).

So yeah, he doesn't have to tear up the league to have real value as a starter.

[andyb]

So yeah, he doesn't have to tear up the league to have real value as a starter.

Which addresses none of the lack of offense in the last year plus coupled with mediocre defense. He just is not a very good player now and there is actually little in his minor league history that suggests he could be a plus offensive player.

Sometimes we should not cherry-pick stats. Every offensive stat other than his rookie year suggests he is not a very good hitter. The Phillies are not dumb. There are reasons they want Marsh to be able to play every day and that they really want Crawford to be good. And those reasons start with the belief that Rojas is not a great or even good major league hitter. These are reasons to pinch hit a mediocre guy like Stevenson yesterday when he had the platoon advantage. None of this suggests that Rojas is not young enough to get better. He is just not that good now.

[zambonir]

Non-zero chance Rojas is traded at this deadline, unless they really go nuts and trade Crawford. Of course Marsh could be on that list too. One way or another we need them all to play as well as possible and be utilized correctly for the next two months.

[Austinfan]

Rojas in the 9th spot is not the reason for offensive struggles, it's the four guys hitting in front of him and Turner.

[EastFallowfield]

FOX announcers yesterday said Cubs had the hardest schedule so far but the rest of the season strength of schedule is the easiest.

Prompted me to look for a site that ranks SoS. Learned that the Phils are right around the middle at 16. Mets at 29th.

The only team the Mets have played in 2025 that as of today is over .500 is the Phils, although a couple might be slightly over .500 if you ignore their games vs the Mets. Doesn't yet seem to be a topic around the Mets start as it was last year for the Phillies start.

[julio]

[zambonir]

Great to see a road series win after the rough start to the trip. And even better to see Nola (and Romano) get them a close one.

This note from Athletic:

A lot has conspired against Nola this season, much of it his own doing. But he has pitched with a lead for all of four batters. It wasn’t even for a full inning, back on April 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He didn’t earn a win Sunday night, but the Phillies won a Nola start for the first time all season.

Phillies takeaways: Trea Turner’s start, outfield platoons, resetting the...