Phillies Spring Training Discussion 2024

The Merrifield acquisition was a must to face the possibility that Rojas goes to AAA. The Phils were up against it and Merrifield is the best they could do. Didn't come cheap, but has an upside and the deal is for 1 year!

The Phils make plenty of talent-assessment mistakes and are slow to correct them, but Merrifield looks more like proof that they actually CAN see talent better than anybody else. The "change of scenery" hope of long-shots looks like it's about to happen. Merrifield is 35, but he can still run. He's hitting and has some power. He's out to win PT and I wish him well.

Will the Phils keep both Pache and Cave? Cave is 7 for 20! Where ya been, Jake?

Seems like the same Jake Cave who's always been here, the one who only hits in spring training and AAA. Which is why I don't understand why you're so impressed with Whit's performance. Not only is it meaningless and largely against inferior competition (even the elite pitchers are just working on things) but ST performance rarely correlates with regular season performance either way.

It is absurd and devil's advocate, but yes, as Atown says, you could just as easily make the case for Kingery. But that's also about the Phillies' failure to develop some good bench players/borderline regulars. Is Merrifield better than a Phil Gosselin, or Nick Maton in 2022? We shall see.

Merrifield already had his change of scenery boost, when he went from KC to Toronto, and then it went away. The best hope for him right now is that he was simply tired and overused last year. But playing him more frequently could just make that happen again.

Merrifield was solid for half a season last year, then wore down.
They're probably betting that 300 PA Merrifield is a .750+ OPS player, which would be great off the bench.
500 PA Merrifield is barely above replacement.

Merrifield didn't just wear down though. He has been mediocre for three consecutive years. Most likely his wearing down was simply the statistical sample size of playing time catching up to him.

I got slow Internet on a train but sounds like all the prospects games are on MLB.TV too (if you have that but not ESPN+)

If Merrifield is a .700 OPS bench player that's okay. If he mostly only faces LHP he'll might get closer to .750. But otherwise he's not necessarily better than Cave against RHP or better than Pache even if Pache is worse offensively (which remains to be seen).

Watching the prospects on MLB after ESPN+ did not work. Phillies brought a really young team and are a little overmatched at the plate.

Watched on MLB app on iPad while playing the Phillies feed on my phone​

They had bases loaded, no outs in the 6th and were overmatched by the umpire (not the 27-year-old reliever) as Aiden Miller was called out on a 3-2 pitch at his ankles, and Rincones ripped a one-hop line drive to the shortstop for a double-play. Bad call and bad luck.

The punch out call on Miller was especially bad. Watched both the breakout game and the regular game (3-3) on MLB. One on lap top and one big screen streaming via Roku.

Well, it's Spring Training.

Johan Rojas raised his spring OPS today, by nearly .200. Two hits, including a triple. For whatever that is worth.

I really expected Miller to challenge that call. He was looking back to the dugout tapping his helmet.

He had his first walk yesterday I believe.

Actually, he was at 90 POS+ in 2022, not 82. So three years at 90 to 95. I wouldn't call that bad for a backup. He's also 82 for 101 in stolen base attempts in those three years.

He wasn't brought here to be the starting LF. If he is starting there, it's because Rojas was sent down, and the alternatives (Cave, Pache, Dahl) are worse hitters. I still maintain he will not see much time in the infield unless there's an injury.

I really can't understand why people have a problem with Merrifield being on the team. Even with him here, there is a weaker spot on the bench. He's not blocking anybody important. He's old, but he's on a one year contract. I don't get why his salary matters; it isn't preventing the Phillies from improving the team further. If people really think that his brand name dictates he will play a lot more than he deserves, then they are just assuming the Phillies will mismanage the team, which is a different problem that isn't caused by Merrifield's presence.

I haven’t paid any attention to ST this year. Hopefully everyone gets warmed up, sees live pitching, and stays healthy.

Any big story lines? It seems with Wheeler re-signed, there’s no real spot for Abel or Painter without injuries or a trade. Hopefully we’re not looking at that scenario until next year.

Honestly, I want Rojas in AAA or playing regularly in MLB. Pinch-running and playing defense in Philly won't help him get better.

I hope Merrifield is even 66% this good. What's funny is he's only played LF twice, 2B six times (I think he's in LF today).

The best team still has Rojas and Marsh starting and Merrifield on the bench.

And really, the $ still isn't a big deal. Merrifield only makes a million or two more than several of the bad relief pitchers the Phillies have been willing to cut. And now that they have signed Wheeler there is no way they'd take on a large pitching salary at the deadline. If they take a bigger on with a hitter, it won't be the Merrifield deal that tips the balance. If they had been able to sign a relief pitcher for $8-10 million they might not have signed him. Or they might have given that money to another OF and actually put some teeth into the idea that Rojas had to win the job. Either way, it was already budgeted. The (potentially) better cheaper players are either guys the Phillies didn't like (you can argue Duval and Grichuk are too similar to most of the other hitters) or guys who rejected the team's description of their role.

Plus, most big deadline deals with bigger contracts include money picked up by the seller unless it's someone controllable.

I'll be very surprised if the Phillies finish this season in the highest tier. And they should be able to avoid it next year too, unless they have to replace a current starter or Walker with a free agent.