Toggle sidebar

Other Sports: Philadelphia Phillies: The Road To .500 (2023 Edition)

  • Work is still on-going to rebuild the site styling and features. Please report any issues you may experience so we can look into it. Click Here for Updates
Status
Not open for further replies.
This is what happens when you build a team with zero margin for error. They have 2 reliable bullpen arms and a boom or bust lineup. If one of those bullpen arms can't hold up his 1.6 ERA or the lineup goes cold, good night. You have to find a way to take the pressure off the key guys and give yourself options. The fielding has come a long way, so this is the next thing to work on.

I memed on Nola hard. He drives me nuts. But realistically I can't see any path back to this spot without him. The SPs are not the issue, especially with the emergence of Sanchez. I haven't looked at the underlying numbers and some magnitude of regression is due there, but that changeup and walk rate is going to keep him viable. Suarez duplicated his 2022 postseason performance this season and showed me he's for real. That's a 3 headed monster with some wiggle room.

I think part of the answer of curtailing these offensive nadirs that plague this team throughout the season (and now had a huge hand in outting then twice) involves Hoskins. That's a RH bat with a good walk rate. Walks are sorely needed with this bunch to keep the pressure on since there's not too many "bat to ball" guys in this lineup of free swinging thumpers. Walking will help in that regard. Hoskins walks a ton. Stott I think is on the doorstep of walking a ton. Schwarber and Harper walk a ton. Marsh showed great walk rates out of nowhere....does he duplicate that? Either way, we're talking about a 120+ OPS+ hitter from the right side.

Turner might not be as good as post August Turner, but he also isn't as bad as pre August Turner. A full season of normalcy from him after a crazy offseason and finally feeling settled in will also go a long way.

Find a way to get Castellanos out of here and spend his money ++ on the bullpen, re-sign Hoskins, and re-sign Nola. I think that's the clearest path to the top. This crew has pieces many don't have. The time is now, but the window is closing with Wheeler. You have to make it happen with him.
 
  • Like
  • Love
  • Wow
Reactions: philly_28, Chicken N Raffls, Cody Webster and 7 others
DancingPanther said:
This is what happens when you build a team with zero margin for error. They have 2 reliable bullpen arms and a boom or bust lineup. If one of those bullpen arms can't hold up his 1.6 ERA or the lineup goes cold, good night. You have to find a way to take the pressure off the key guys and give yourself options. The fielding has come a long way, so this is the next thing to work on.

I memed on Nola hard. He drives me nuts. But realistically I can't see any path back to this spot without him. The SPs are not the issue, especially with the emergence of Sanchez. I haven't looked at the underlying numbers and some magnitude of regression is due there, but that changeup and walk rate is going to keep him viable. Suarez duplicated his 2022 postseason performance this season and showed me he's for real. That's a 3 headed monster with some wiggle room.

I think part of the answer of curtailing these offensive nadirs that plague this team throughout the season (and now had a huge hand in outting then twice) involves Hoskins. That's a RH bat with a good walk rate. Walks are sorely needed with this bunch to keep the pressure on since there's not too many "bat to ball" guys in this lineup of free swinging thumpers. Walking will help in that regard. Hoskins walks a ton. Stott I think is on the doorstep of walking a ton. Schwarber and Harper walk a ton. Marsh showed great walk rates out of nowhere....does he duplicate that? Either way, we're talking about a 120+ OPS+ hitter from the right side.

Turner might not be as good as post August Turner, but he also isn't as bad as pre August Turner. A full season of normalcy from him after a crazy offseason and finally feeling settled in will also go a long way.

Find a way to get Castellanos out of here and spend his money ++ on the bullpen, re-sign Hoskins, and re-sign Nola. I think that's the clearest path to the top. This crew has pieces many don't have. The time is now, but the window is closing with Wheeler. You have to make it happen with him.
Click to expand...
Who are you and what have you done with @DancingPanther ?
 
  • Like
  • Love
  • Haha
Reactions: Bigtimefeed, Chicken N Raffls, Ironmanrulez and 2 others
Rebels57 said:
Anyone else just absolutely writhing in pain today?
Click to expand...
Nope. If this was game 7 of the World Series I'm sure I would be im smiling today. I felt dead inside for a few days after the Super Bowl earlier this year, didn't want to move. I felt worse after game 4 than I did after this loss. They collapsed, though there was no guarantee they would beat the Rangers. If Nick is somehow moved(I doubt it) this offseason I might be as happy reacting to that as them winning the World Series. Cause with him the chances of them winning one is so slim.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ironmanrulez
Jack Straw said:
Who are you and what have you done with @DancingPanther ?
Click to expand...
I cannot begin to explain enough that the negadelphia thing on this board is a coping mechanism after the nonsense we've all had to deal with the last 5 years between the 3 good teams in this city. It's half reverse jinx and half curtailing inevitable disappointment because winning championships is f***ing hard. This is the truth. I was hopeful until the final pitch last night
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Chicken N Raffls, Ironmanrulez, Svechhammer and 2 others
DancingPanther said:
I cannot begin to explain enough that the negadelphia thing on this board is a coping mechanism after the nonsense we've all had to deal with the last 5 years between the 3 good teams in this city. It's half reverse jinx and half curtailing inevitable disappointment because winning championships is f***ing hard. This is the truth. I was hopeful until the final pitch last night
Click to expand...
Wait but for the record it was also all rooted in truth. I did not believe in this bullpen for 1 second lol
 
Rebels57 said:
Anyone else just absolutely writhing in pain today?
Click to expand...
Nope. Thought I would be but i'm not. Game Four against Arizona, Game Two against Atlanta, and then Game Five against the Astros last year were all worse. This one was over because the team showed us who they truly were over multiple games which made the let down a lot easier to bare. It wasn't a shocking loss.

I also say this as someone who probably lost a large amount of money from potentially selling tickets next round.

I feel "free" in a weird way.
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: Chicken N Raffls, Ironmanrulez, Cody Webster and 1 other person
Would it be better or worse if the Phillies battled back to tie it in the 9th and then Thompson sent out Kimbrel to start the 10th and he lost it? A sick part of me wants to see losses that get people riled up
 
Henry Miller said:
Would it be better or worse if the Phillies battled back to tie it in the 9th and then Thompson sent out Kimbrel to start the 10th and he lost it? A sick part of me wants to see losses that get people riled up
Click to expand...
The field would have been stormed and blocked him from coming in 😂.
 
I don't really see the Phillies freeing up any money from a Castellanos trade unless they pay with prospects. Maybe there's a precedent that I'm missing?
 
DancingPanther said:
Wait but for the record it was also all rooted in truth. I did not believe in this bullpen for 1 second lol
Click to expand...
The worst part is that it wasn't the bullpen that lost these last 2 games

wankstifier said:
I don't really see the Phillies freeing up any money from a Castellanos trade unless they pay with prospects. Maybe there's a precedent that I'm missing?
Click to expand...
Man I don't even care about that. Middleton wants to say he doesn't care the price and he will spend to win? Well, prove it by getting rid of Castellanos by any means necessary, even if that means buying him out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rebels57
I blame Thompson more than Kimbrel. Wasn’t the latter choice to come into a game 24 hours after he had a rocky 20+ pitch loss. Wasn’t his fault he wasn’t pulled immediately in game 4 after giving up a double and a tying home run. He got a chance to hit a batter and other shit and eventually the winning run scored before you knew it. Only a fool would bring him into game 4. Only a fool would keep him in after he gave up the home run
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chicken N Raffls, Rebels57 and Ironmanrulez
Long has to modify their approach to hitting, attacking the first pitch - works along as it's a FB over the plate, but they have too many hitters who don't have plate discipline.

Castelklanos is actually a good hitter when he spits on outside breaking balls and waits for a pitch he can handle - same with Turner and Bohm, but they get overexcited and decide to swing before the ball is even thrown.

Compare to Marsh with far less experience, he gets fooled a fair share of time, but generally refrains from chasing pitches outside the K zone.
 
DancingPanther said:
This is what happens when you build a team with zero margin for error. They have 2 reliable bullpen arms and a boom or bust lineup. If one of those bullpen arms can't hold up his 1.6 ERA or the lineup goes cold, good night. You have to find a way to take the pressure off the key guys and give yourself options. The fielding has come a long way, so this is the next thing to work on.

I memed on Nola hard. He drives me nuts. But realistically I can't see any path back to this spot without him. The SPs are not the issue, especially with the emergence of Sanchez. I haven't looked at the underlying numbers and some magnitude of regression is due there, but that changeup and walk rate is going to keep him viable. Suarez duplicated his 2022 postseason performance this season and showed me he's for real. That's a 3 headed monster with some wiggle room.

I think part of the answer of curtailing these offensive nadirs that plague this team throughout the season (and now had a huge hand in outting then twice) involves Hoskins. That's a RH bat with a good walk rate. Walks are sorely needed with this bunch to keep the pressure on since there's not too many "bat to ball" guys in this lineup of free swinging thumpers. Walking will help in that regard. Hoskins walks a ton. Stott I think is on the doorstep of walking a ton. Schwarber and Harper walk a ton. Marsh showed great walk rates out of nowhere....does he duplicate that? Either way, we're talking about a 120+ OPS+ hitter from the right side.

Turner might not be as good as post August Turner, but he also isn't as bad as pre August Turner. A full season of normalcy from him after a crazy offseason and finally feeling settled in will also go a long way.

Find a way to get Castellanos out of here and spend his money ++ on the bullpen, re-sign Hoskins, and re-sign Nola. I think that's the clearest path to the top. This crew has pieces many don't have. The time is now, but the window is closing with Wheeler. You have to make it happen with him.
Click to expand...
I love when you are constructive! 100% this!

Phillies need to tweak a bit of their lineup! But we should be even stronger next year!
 
  • Like
Reactions: DancingPanther and Cody Webster
Castellanos readily voices that he’s a stubborn mule with his swing and approach. It's not changing. He is who he is. Even for better players, guys are who they are, even if they're not his level of stubborn. You're not changing 30 year olds at a foundational level. Coaches in baseball get way too much credit/blame. To talk about individual at bats/games is wild. No one blames the QB coach for a QB throwing into triple coverage or missing a throw high. Most of the young guys have made productive swing tweaks and awareness improvements.

Harper had a 108 to the left field track and a 106 liner to Pham in RF last night. Unlike, a couple guys his approach was fine. That's why he's an elite hitter (and those guys can have putrid series, mind you). It reminds me of the hockey notion: this player is so inconsistent, he goes multiple games without a point! But on steroids. Harper is 5th all time in postseason wRC+ (>150 PAs). He didn't even have a pedestrian series. It was just normal fine, and nothing gold can stay. But if you assemble a lineup of free swingers, you're going to get wide fluctuations. Those guys carried them too at times. Nature of the game. They pretty clearly need another high end on-base machine, but who doesn't? Still, in most timelines, this flawed team is playing on Friday against another flawed team.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ironmanrulez, FLYguy3911, Rebels57 and 2 others
Halladay said:
What is the limit for you? Under how much money?
Click to expand...
I guess around what Eflin got for SP and maybe what Pierce Johnson got as a reliever last UFA season. It'd help a f***ton if they attracted some of the players looking to break into the league, but that seems improbable.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom