Small victories, large defeats.
Memorial Day weekend begins now. Or this evening, for most of us. Whenever it starts, have a good weekend. Onto the links. Phillies news J.T. Realmuto is an iron man. But the Phillies might ask him to play a bit less this season. Jay Jaffe of FanGraphs surveys the Phillies’ bounceback under Don Mattingly. ($) […]
It was the type of start we’ve come to expect from Aaron Nola. First inning, we see vintage Nola. Pinpoint command. Two strikeouts. A 1-2-3 opener. The type of beginning that makes you remember why the Phillies signed the veteran right-hander to a seven-year, $172 million contract before the start of the 2024 season. Then, […]
Yesterday’s loss to the Reds featured a rather lackluster performance from the Phillies bullpen. Tim Mayza, Orion Kerkering, Brad Keller, and José Alvarado combined to allow 5 runs in 4 innings and doom the Phillies’ chances of mounting a comeback. So naturally, let’s take this off day as a chance to re-assess the trust level […]
The Phillies finally had their streak of six straight series wins snapped yesterday with their loss in the rubber match with the Reds. Their turnaround since Don Mattingly took over as manager has been impressive, but they were bound to run into a dud of a series at some point. The important part will be […]
The Phillies and Reds played the rubber game of their series on Wednesday afternoon. The offense wasn’t great, but the main problem was that Aaron Nola and the bullpen simply couldn’t keep the Reds from scoring. The result was a 9-4 loss and the team’s first series loss under manager Don Mattingly. The Phillies scored […]
Here are the lineups for the series finale. Let’s discuss. For the Phillies: For the Reds:
A very interesting piece of information came along over this past weekend while the Phillies were sweeping the Pirates. Sports Nippon reported that the Phillies sent general manager Preston Mattingly along with five other representatives to Japan to personally scout Teruaki Sato of the Hanshin Tigers in Nippon Professional Baseball. Matt Gelb of the Athletic […]
The Phillies have gauged Gage’s progress, and they have found much to be impressed with. The young hurler, less than a year removed from his selection in the first round of the draft, has been sent straight from Low-A Clearwater to Double A Reading. That’s a ringing endorsement from the organization. He had been talked […]
If today is going to be a 1:00 start and both teams know that a storm is coming that would delay the game for quite a while, how often are they swinging at anything that is remotely close to the strike zone? On to the links. Phillies news: MLB news:
There’s a Simpsons joke for every occasion. If the Phillies had tasted victory against Chase Burns, I would’ve had a great opportunity to break out one of my favorite quotes from the character with whom he shares a surname—“Honestly, Smithers, I don’t know why Harvard even bothers to show up— they barely even won!”. Except […]
Here are the lineups. For the Phillies: For the Reds: Let’s talk about it.
Everyone loves to see the random reliever pop up and turn into something that is highly effective. From a fan’s point of view, the pitcher’s effectiveness can be turned into a weapon that may or may not be used in more leveraged situations to ride that hot streak as long as it will take him. […]
It’s getting harder and harder to argue against the belief that Cristopher Sánchez is one of the best pitchers in baseball. The Phillies ace lefty turned in one of the most dominant outings of the season so far in his last start, a complete game shutout with 13 strikeouts on 108 pitches. That dazzling performance […]
Phillies News: MLB News:
The Philadelphia Phillies (25-23) were without a couple of regulars to begin the night but still found a way to come from behind in the eighth inning to win their fifth consecutive ballgame by a score of 5-4 against the Cincinnati Reds (24-24) on Monday night. Kyle Schwarber was out of the lineup with an […]
Here are the lineups. For the Phillies: For the Reds: Let’s talk about it.
Sal Stewart was drafted by the wrong team. He was taken by the Cincinnati Reds with the 32nd overall pick of the 2022 draft and has now graduated to become their starting first baseman But this guy would have been an instant fan favorite in Philadelphia. First off, I have a feeling Phillies fan would […]
A 3-3 road trip to Boston and Pittsburgh was, for me at least, the bare minimum the Phillies had to do. Gaining some steam at home was great, but going to those two cities and laying some eggs would have left a sour taste. They had to at least go .500 to maintain that steam […]
We are entering Memorial Day week, which means teams are starting to get their affairs in order. They likely know what they want to do on the season, more or less, when it comes to buying or selling at this year’s trade deadline. The sellers are mostly obvious by now (unless the team owner is […]
Above .500 before Memorial Day. Who’d have thunk it? It does help that they are playing some of the middle class teams in baseball instead of repeating viewings of the upper crust, but the Phillies are still playing good baseball right now, getting back to the spot we thought they’d be in. On to the […]
With Zack Wheeler going against Paul Skenes, it looked like we were in for a pitcher’s duel on Sunday. And that’s exactly what we got for five innings or so. But eventually, Skenes faltered while Wheeler stayed strong, and the Phillies emerged with a 6-0 victory over the Pirates that completed a sweep and put […]
The Phillies will go for the sweep on Sunday as they wrap up their three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. The good news is that they’ll have Zack Wheeler on the mound. He’s been excellent since his return from surgery with a 2.55 ERA in four starts. The bad news is that […]
When a pitcher throws a complete game shutout, you tend to have a little hyperbole. Cristopher Sanchez did that last night, which is making people start to take more notice about his season. He didn’t have his great stuff early in the season and still got by. Now, he has his great stuff and he […]
Cristopher Sanchez is going to win the NL Cy Young award this season. You heard it here first. On to the links. Phillies news: MLB news:
Baseball players don’t get a lot of Saturdays off during the season. Cristopher Sánchez made sure that the Phillies bullpen got to enjoy a quiet day off. He also ensured that Dusty Wathan, subbing in for Don Mattingly (who was attending his son’s graduation), had a win in his first game as manager. He’s a […]