OT: 2018 Phillies Thread.....
- Thread starter Grant Green
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After the crap Machado pulled in the playoffs I have no interest in him being a Phillie...Play hard and Play fair...don't intentionally try to hurt the guys in the field as he did on at least 2 occasions...the play at first base was so obvious he dragged his foot to clip the first baseman was one of the dirtiest plays I've seen in baseball.
My predictions for Phillies -
1- They will do everything in their power and will put the highest package on the table for Harper. If it comes down to money, they will land Harper.
2- They will do their best to trade controllable assets if it allows them to land Realmuto. I’m thinking package of Alfaro, an infielder, and a pitching prospect not named Sanchez. I would not be against including Kingery in that package.
3- They will land a starter (Morton) and a closer (Kimbrel).
4- Depending on who they trade in the infield and what his market is, they bring back Galvis in a super sub role.
I’m thinking it’s not a stretch that they arrive in Clearwater with Harper, Morton, and Kimbrel, with a chance of Realmuto. I’d like to see Galvis return as well depending on what his market turns out to be. Great leader and defensive presence they desperately need.
1- They will do everything in their power and will put the highest package on the table for Harper. If it comes down to money, they will land Harper.
2- They will do their best to trade controllable assets if it allows them to land Realmuto. I’m thinking package of Alfaro, an infielder, and a pitching prospect not named Sanchez. I would not be against including Kingery in that package.
3- They will land a starter (Morton) and a closer (Kimbrel).
4- Depending on who they trade in the infield and what his market is, they bring back Galvis in a super sub role.
I’m thinking it’s not a stretch that they arrive in Clearwater with Harper, Morton, and Kimbrel, with a chance of Realmuto. I’d like to see Galvis return as well depending on what his market turns out to be. Great leader and defensive presence they desperately need.
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I recall Pete Rose's quote "I'd walk though h*ll in a gasoline suit in order to play baseball". That's the kind of hustle I want to see (though not the gambling)....
I loved to see that kind of hustle too, and although Rose was a cut above with regard to how hard he put out, and it's what set him apart from average players it's quite another thing to dog it in a World Series game. I remember going off about Machado at the time and I didn't even have a side in the WS. Just give adequate, reasonable effort and that would be a step up for some players.
Kids are taught from little league on up through HS to run everything out and I always said I'd rather they make a mistake putting out on effort than one due to laziness. We taught our catchers to back up first with nobody on, you don't see that too much. Get on your horse right out of the box, think two bases on everything, etc. I don't think it's a lot to ask when you're making $31,000 per plate appearance.
This always bothered me that they bought out his option. They could have signed him for cheap. He was coming off an injury, granted but it was a leg, not a pitching arm. He goes to Houston and goes 30-10 Well good for him, he got a ring and got his career back. I like the guy. I liked him a lot more when he was 32 and wasn't going to cost $15 mil.
If they land Kimbrel I will have to increase my blood pressure meds.
Definitely need a closer, but not interested in paying big dollars or long contracts.
Unfortunately, you are likely correct given the interest in him and his contract status. Considering that I seem to remember that they asked for Acuna previously it’s obvious that they want top shelf. Alfaro, Kingery, and Sanchez might at least get you a call back but I’d hate to give up Sanchez.
The thing in the Phillies favor here is that Morton has considered retirement to spend time with family. He lives in Delaware I believe which helps the Phils. He would be a nice piece to add.
I don't want to give $$$ to any closer, not just Kimbrel. Could they possibly get Yates in a Franco deal with the Padres?
I believe the Pirates hold the alltime record for consecutive losing seasons by a North American professional sports team, 20. They broke it in 2013. Back on ignore you go.
I thought he was terrible last year. Mechanically horrible as a receiver. Offensively, he was disappointing.
Could not agree more. He had problems catching pitched balls. Yes, he has a good arm but....
Well for one he sucks at catching. Then there’s the pitches he calls.......
I don't remember if he's calling pitches or if it's coming from Gabe but he's been hard to watch behind the plate as well as standing next to it.
Why was Scherzer a unanimous 2nd place in the Cy Young voting over Nola? Second place votes were 29-0. I realize it's really moot since deGrom won, but Nola had a better won-loss record and a better ERA. Didn't he also beat Max head to head a couple times late in the season?
I agree entirely on his defense. Far too many passed balls and wild pitches that were not blocked.
I disagree about offense. He's a first year player and produced .262, 10HR. I think he can/will improve on that *if* he can play better defense, else, he's not getting on the field.
He had a terrible approach at the plate last year. He is ridiculously strong and can hit it out of any park to any field. I have posted previously on the logistics of his batting practice shots in Spring Training. People from Stairs to Schmidt would stop what they were doing to watch his BP in Clearwater
He can be so much more effective if he dials back his swing, especially when he is not in a hitter’s friendly Count. If he simply makes contact, his strength will carry the day to all fields.
He needs to address his walks to K’s ratio. I think he actually can fix his hitting issues better than his receiving issues. I’ve heard that he spends a lot of time practicing mechanics, but he reverts to the same mistakes all the time. That’s alarming.
His strikeouts are bad, no question about that.
The tools are there, I think. But if I read between your lines correctly, then I agree that his long term prospects as the everyday Phillies catcher is questionable. Too many holes in his game right now.
This is a huge year for him. Unless they make a deal, he will be the starting catcher. But if he fails to improve in all aspects this year, the Phillies will look elsewhere. Jorge is on the clock.
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I can't see a 10 win starter as a Cy Young winner--even with a 1.70 ERA. Next thing you know a guy will win a Silver Slugger with a batting average under .200.
He a New York player. So many writers twisted themselves into pretzels over this, trying to get him the Cy Young. Anyone believe a Philly or Pittsburgh pitcher wins in the same situation?
It's the era of advanced stats and analytics. We will see more and more dominant pitchers on bad teams being recognized for stellar play. Deservedly so. The guy had an ERA of 1.70. At that level, it's very easy to argue that he'd win 25 games with Boston, New York or Houston.
agreed ... one thing that does bother me a bit is that he really didnt pitch in any high pressure situations (from a win/loss Point of view) since the Mets were out of the race early
id say that was easier than Nola pitching in a pennant race (until the last couple weeks) knowing that he HAD to win every time on the mound.... and only could give up 2 runs max to do so
Not the case at all. See my previous post about Scherzer and Nola. Nola was the only one who pitched in big games down the stretch, yet finished a distant 3rd. As Phils fans we know he should have won 20.
On August 20th the Phils were a half game out. Washington was 7 out and was never in the race the entire summer.
Fascinating conversations on MLB on the outcome, and the outcome of the AL Cy award as well. So many contrasting points of view. The biggest takeaway in the discussions was not the wins, more so innings pitched and strikeouts. The argument for some was more in the AL where Snell did not get to 200 innings pitched whereas Verlander certainly exceeded that. But Snell had RIDICULOUS numbers for almost half the year (ERA barely exceeding 1). Ryan Dempster said he would have voted Verlander because he believes the Cy winner should at least get 200 IP.
In the NL, deGrom was dominant. Scherzer had 300 K’s to only 51 walks I believe, but his ERA was much higher compared to deGrom’s.
They did have lengthy discussions on pitching to the score where Verlander could possibly give up a run here and there since he might have had large leads. They also pointed to the fact that another issue was Verlander knowing he had to pitch in the post season and the impact this might have had while pitching later in the regular season.
Very interesting.
OK, I get it, but the Nats between July 1st and Sept 25th were never more than 2 games over .500. They were stuck in mediocrity the entire season. No wonder Harper is leaving.
Understand your point, but I think it is more about Wins as an overrated stat for starting pitchers. DeGrom absolutely deserved the Cy Young award. I have more of an issue with Scherzer over Nola
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