Unapologetically Awful

 

Welp, there it is. The Phillies new City Connect uniform.

It's awful. An assault to the eyes. And barely a connection to the city. Sure there's the Liberty Bell on the hat with the skyline inside. And it's blue and yellow, the color of the city flag. Do people even know the city has a flag?

And the wordmark looks like somebody ripped up pieces of athletic tape and stuck them on a shirt. 

I'd love to know how this design process worked. Were the Phillies involved at all? Did Nike people even visit the city? Did Nike design this and say "here you go!"

MLB missed a huge opportunity with the City Connect uniforms. Each team should have held a contest for fans to submit their ideas for an alternate uniform. What better way to connect with the city than with its fans?

This is the same jersey that leaked back in January. I hoped it was a test to gauge reaction so Nike could redesign. Turns out the leak was the real deal.

The good news is they're only going to wear these on Friday night home games. I might skip TV and listen to Franzke and LA on the radio instead of inflicting this atrocity of a uniform on my eyes.

I hope everyone at the unveiling booed long and loud when they were introduced. That would be unapologetically Philly. 

Prediction Time

I haven't posted anything since the City Connect uniforms leaked in January. In the words of Regina George of "Mean Girls" fame, they're the "ugliest effing things I've ever seen."

But enough about fashion. Let's talk ball. The weather is its usually crappy self for Opening Day, so the Phils won't open until Friday. Thanks, Mother Nature and MLB scheduling wizards. 

The Phillies will win 96 games this year. How? 

• Kyle Schwarber won't be in left field for 103 games like he was last year, and that alone will save dozens of runs.
• Bryce Harper is healthy and should play a full season, or close to it. An average year means you can expect 33 HR, 96 RBI, a .391 OBP, and a .912 OPS. Yes, please.
• Trea Turner will be the Trea Turner of years past, which means 24 HR, 82 RBI, 42 steals, and an .816 OPS. 
• Ranger Suarez and Christopher Sanchez will both have ERAs below 3.50 and WHIPs of 1.10 or less. Fewer baserunners and runs means more wins.
• Aaron Nola will stop worrying about the pitch clock and will be in the Cy Young conversation, 
• Zack Wheeler should win the Cy Young Award.
• The bullpen won't be an issue.

All of that adds up to big things in South Philly and a tight battle for the NL East pennant. The Braves are still very good, but there's no way all those guys in Atlanta can all put up career numbers again. And some of their starting pitching is old (for baseball) and fragile. 

#RingTheBell

City Connects

While everyone else is obsessed with the Phillies chances of signing Yoshi Yamamoto or another year of Kyle Schwarber hitting leadoff, I'm more concerned about other issues–what will Philadelphia's City Connect uniforms look like for next season? 

The City Connects have been mostly awful. I kind of like the Astros Space City duds, but the Rangers are flat-out awful. I mean, what the hell is this? 

I had a little too much time on my hands recently and "created" what I think could be the basis of a pretty cool uniform. Imagine seeing a professionally made version of this rather than this crappy one I threw together. Put the bell on that hat and you're good to go. 

I'm genuinely concerned these City Connects will look like garbage. I can see Nike coming up with a Declaration of Independence theme using the colors of parchment and black and some colonial script. Or an ode to cheesesteaks. Or a 9-volt battery surrounded by a field of snowballs. And please, no more powder blue and maroon. I grew up with those in the 70s and 80s and hated the way they looked then. 

I could get behind a look of head-to-toe Phanatic green uniform, but I really, really, really like the Phanatic. But I think my take on the LOVE statute with a Phillies theme is the way to go. 

Whatever they are, why didn't MLB introduce them in the weeks before Christmas? Get people pumped for spring training and sell a ton of merch in the off-season? 

I'm looking forward to seeing whatever they look like. But I'm treating the unveiling the same way I treat everything else having to do with Philly sports–expect the worst, that way you won't be disappointed.

The Lineup (Again)

The Phillies face ancient lefty Rich Hill today, so of course, manager Rob Thomson sits his best hitter, Bryson Stott simply because he's left-handed. 

Stott, leads the team in hits and WAR. And speaking of WAR, their second-best WAR guy, Brandon Marsh, is also on the bench. Why? Because he's a lefty. Duh.

The decision to sit Marsh I kind of understand, because he has just a .662 OPS and a .221 batting average against lefties. But Stott actually has a higher batting average against lefties than righties (.310 vs. .304).  His OPS is slightly lower against lefties (.764) but it's not terrible. 

Josh Harrison is filling in at second. You could almost understand it if he mashed against lefties. But that's not the case. Not even close. He's hitting .185 with a .428 OPS against lefties. So just because somebody decided decades ago that young left-handed hitters should face left-handed pitching, Stott is sitting. That has to the reason. Because there's no excuse to keep him out of the lineup. He's been the Phillies' best and most consistent hitter all season. He should be playing every single day. I'd like to clone him and put him in left field and fill the bench with him.

I'm sure Rob Thomson has a logical (to him) reason to sit Stott against lefties. But for the life of me, I can't figure it out. This lineup is a loss waiting to happen. I hope I'm wrong. 

How Low Can They Go?

Flying a flag upside down is a symbol of extreme distress. Being tied for last place qualifies.

 

Kyle, Kyle, Kyle

Kyle Schwarber is a career .231 hitter who is hitting .183 (and falling) so far this season. His best year, average-wise, was 2021 when he hit a combined .266 for the Nationals and Red Sox. 

In his last three games, which happen to correspond to him moving to hitting leadoff, Kyle is a big, fat 0 for 14 with 6 strikeouts. In his last 7 games, he's 2 for 26 with 12 strikeouts. He has 41 strikeouts in 120 at-bats this year. This is not what you want from a leadoff hitter. 

So why in the ever-loving hell is he still leading off? He's not getting on base at all, and even if he was in the middle of a career-average year, he'd be getting on base at a paltry .337 clip. He's not going to hit his way out of this slump. That's not who he is. He's a guy who hits a lot of homers, strikes out a ton, and not much else. 

He needs to be dropped down the lineup (if not out for a couple of days) immediately. Recent call-up Dalton Guthrie would have to be an improvement over Mr. 2 for 25. Kyle is in the second year of a 4-year, $79 million contract. This deal is looking worse than the Ryan Howard contract, a 5-year, $125 million deal he signed in April 2010. Howard tore his Achilles in a 2011 playoff game and was never the same after that. At least he had an excuse. 

Bryson Stott was hitting lead off and started to struggle. And guess what. Manager Rob Thomson moved him down in the lineup. The most consistent Phillie this year has been Brandon Marsh. Let him hit first. But Thomson can't keep Schwarber at the top, with both him and team in a terrible slump. It defies logic. 

Just because the Phils made the World Series last year with Schwarber up top is not a reason to keep him there. The Phillies need baserunners. Schwarber doesn't get on base. Either move him down or out of the lineup. 

No More Schwarber Leading Off

Kyle Schwarber prefers to hit leadoff. Here's the thing–he's not good at it. And I have no idea why Rob Thomson has started to write his name atop the scorecard again.

I compared Schwarber's numbers with those of some of the best leadoff guys around–Ronald Acuna, Jr., Brandon Nimmo, Jose Altuve, and Phillies Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn. Here's how they compare (and for this example, I'm using all times leading off an inning, not just the first AB of the game):

Schwarber – 979 plate appearances, .234 BA, .323 OBP,  60 HR, 285 Ks

Acuna Jr. – 907 plate appearances, .295 BA, .364 OBP, 54 HR, 237 Ks

Nimmo – 888 plate appearances, .283 BA, .392 OBP, 23 HR, 212 Ks

Altuve – 1920 plate appearance, .307 BA, .364 OBP, 73 HR, 225 Ks 

Ashburn – 3250 plate appearances, .309 BA, .410 OBP, 7 HR, 213 Ks

The leadoff guy's job is to get on base and let the guys behind him drive him in. Schwarber's numbers don't work for a leadoff guy. People love him because he looks like a regular dude (one of us) and sometimes mashes a ball almost 500 feet. The leadoff guy sets the tone for the inning. Striking out 29% of the time like Schwarber does sets a lousy tone. 

Schwarber's career more closely resembles Pat Burrell or Dave Kingman. Would you want either of those guys leading off? Of course not. Then why let Schwarber?