Phillies Off-Season 2024-2025 (Part 2 including Spring Training)

[zambonir]

Starting to feel a little bad for Ranger. They were already signaling they'd break up Wheeler and Nola with Sanchez, who earned it. I guess putting him last means you could also skip a few of his starts to keep his innings lower, though they probably shouldn't push Luzardo to his 2023 level either. But he's also the guy who they have two-year commitment too now.

No question they have three guys who would be #2 or #3 on most teams, if healthy.

Luzardo, to begin the season, might slot fourth. The Phillies could open with Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Aaron Nola in Washington. Then, Luzardo would have the home opener against Colorado. Regardless, the Phillies are optimistic that Luzardo can pitch better than a back-of-the-rotation starter.

Jesús Luzardo impresses in ‘electric’ Phillies debut, his first start in 257...

[VoteForKalas]

Agree, Z. But it may end up being a season long trial for both Suarez and Luzardo.

Wheeler, Sanchez and Nola will be the big 3 and then it depends on who out the other two pitches better during the season. Painter or Walker are also lurking if either get injured or stumble significantly.

The interesting part would be if one of the big 3 gets injured, who gets the chance to replace them?

[andyb]

Slotting the relatively soft-tossing Ranger in between the harder offerings of Luzardo and Wheeler makes good baseball sense. Not sure anyone other than the press cares about labeling 1 through 5. Frankly getting 150 innings out of Ranger is likely going to be more difficult than getting it out of the other pitchers anyway.

[zambonir]

I don't know if I'm ready to call it a "Big 3" with Sanchez just yet. I mean, Luzardo put up 4.0 WAR and was a Game 1 playoff starter in 2023. But that's also what puts him on a footing with Ranger. And good point, Andy, about the differences in stuff.

I think players do care a little about it, and certainly Scott Boras does. It's true that Ranger's body is his main issue, but this is also a guy who everyone was happy to call our #2 last year for several months (since we're constantly not appreciating Nola) that Boras was hoping to market accordingly.

If Walker breaks camp in the organization he is probably the 6th starter, with Joe Ross the other candidate. After that it's Johnson, or Phillips if he clears waivers. All of which is fine. It's still quite the luxury to have this caliber of 4 and 5 even if the bullpen is also depending on that a little. They won't rush Painter.

[VoteForKalas]

What I meant is both Suarez and Luzardo have more question marks on them headed into the season than the other 3 main starters, but less than Walker and Painter..

So, Wheeler, Nola and Sanchez get the most established roles in the rotation on Day 1 if all holds in a.similar trend..

Suarez and Luzardo would be second tier followed by Walker and Painter on the third..

It is a great benefit to potentially go 7 starters deep, but as we know some of the question marks on Suarez and Luzardo are injury related. They may need to be handled differently during the season than the first tier guys and thus not get as many innings or opportunities.

Did Luzardo help himself with the 2 IP vs Boston in that process? I think so, but he'll need to reinforce it with more good performances to move into that first tier IMO.

[flyers19rw]

With the cooler weather continuing up North, it looks like it will be a late and cool spring here. There's no reason to rush Painter. Keeping him in warmer climes gives the Phillies the opportunity to keep his IP count down as well as preserving his health. When I was living in Wisconsin and following the Cubs' results, they had there fair share of cool weather over off of the Lake. Managers such as Baker messed up a few arms by over pitching them in bad weather. It matters. Painter is too valuable to be put in any sort of such danger.

[zambonir]

They have him on a set schedule already. No injury will change that. He's not even going to pitch in a spring training game and won't show up in Philadelphia before July. Only question is when does he show up in Allentown. It's not really about the weather though.

[andyb]

MLB really should police the team lineups in away games. Nola started for us today but Rojas was the only player close to a starter in our lineup. I thought teams were supposed to play 4 "regulars" in away games. I guess Sosa and Clemens are regulars. We got 1-hit by Detroit and Rojas got the hit.

At least Nola pitched well.

[zambonir]

If there's a rule, how is it defined? It might also be dependent on the travel distance (i.e. you get the Phillies stars in Dunedin or Tampa or Bradenton but not Lakeland or Port Charlotte).

Part of me thinks that you shouldn't expect to see anyone in a spring training, it's more about the overall experience and vibe, but I suppose if I was down in Clearwater seeing the Red Sox play the Phillies I'd want a few 'names' besides the pitcher.

[andyb]

Clemens and Rincones HR today. Rincones number 3. Clemens off of Scherzer.

[julio]

Phils win!

[andyb]

Phils win!

Until Griff entered the game....

Split squad today so 1-1.

[zambonir]

Confusing day, can't tell which one was the A squad. Sounds like Thomson went on the road with Walker but of course it was the home game that got televised and had Sanchez. And Scherzer and Turner had some fun. Turner challenged the first pitch of the game just to mess with him, and also:

Turner wasn’t the only jokester on the field. Scherzer requested Bryson Stott’s walk-up song, “AOK,” by Tai Verdes, to play when Stott was up to bat, an unusual sound to hear in an opponent’s ballpark.

“I hit him good, so he wanted to make me feel good,” said Stott, who is 8-for-13 against Scherzer in his career. On Sunday, however, he popped out in his only plate appearance against the right-hander and finished the game 0-for-2 with a walk.

Phillies win in walk-off fashion against Orioles but fall to Blue Jays in...

[andyb]

Looks like Oscar Mercado had a pretty good day. Homered. And played CF with a diving catch and throwing out a runner going first to third.

[bkox]

Taijuan Walker's velocity up in first spring start after rigorous offseason plan

[zambonir]

Thomson's really laying it on thick. Says he could still make the rotation straight up. Along with "you never know" about health, which is fair enough.

It's nothing but good if he comes back and it's not really that weird if he does. Not every injury or bad year is forever.

One of the beat writers suggested we could trade him to the Mets for Starling Marte (same salary but Marte only one year). If only!

[Austinfan]

If Walker holds up all spring, Phillies could probably eat $16M and get someone to take him for $10M a year, given what pitchers cost in FA, that would be a bargain for a healthy Walker.

[zambonir]

That is probably a tad optimistic, especially since a lot of guys aren't even signed (like Kyle Gibson and Quintana). The Marlins signed Cal Quantrill for $3.5 million. Jose Urena only got a minor league deal from the Mets (for $2 million if he makes it) and he was actually good last year. It's true that if Walker can be his 2023 self he would be worth a lot on the open market but teams need to see that in real games and for a couple of months first, and that's just not gonna happen (barring injury).

Now, maybe you could structure the deal uniquely where the Phillies pick up 100% of his 2025 salary and the 2026 terms (both money and a PTBNL) are dependent on his starts or IPs.

[DurhamBull]

If Walker gets to the point where he seems like he's worth $10m, the Phillies might want to keep him.

[Philsmania]

Weren't the Athletics under some kind of pressure to actually increase payroll this year in order to not get in trouble for revenue-sharing reasons?