Saving the Streak and Missing Baseball

As many of you know, Opening Day is kind of a big deal for me. I've been to every Phillies Home Opener (always capitalized) since 1980, and my son has been with me for every one since 2001.

I had tickets for the April 2 Home Opener, which wasn't a thing because of COVID-19. Yesterday, the Phillies announced two options for fans who had tickets to games in April or May. You can either get a credit to your account that can be used for tickets in either 2020 or 2021 or you can request a refund.

So me, being the moderately stable individual I am, emailed the Phillies this morning, asking how I can ensure that I have seats for the 2020 Home Opener, whenever that happens to be. I offered to trade my tickets from April 2. I'll let you know what they say if I hear back from them. I told them about the streak and going with my son and yada, yada, yada.

I mean, it's Opening Day. I need to be there. I have to be there. The streak must continue.

And another thing. I really miss baseball. I miss the banter between Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen on the radio. I miss the lovably miserable John Kruk doing color commentary. I miss going to the ballpark and paying $20 to park. I miss the smell of the grass as we stand in the first row of outfield during batting practice. I miss the Phanatic. I miss seeing my vendor friends who I worked with at The Vet in the late 70s and early 80s. I miss making fun of the Mets and envying the Braves. And I miss my beloved Phillies, who drive me crazy from time to time but also provide moments of unspeakable joy and happiness.

I can't wait to get back to the ballpark. Dammit, I really miss this game.

TAAU Phils are Hot!

When we last visited our TAAU Phillies, they were struggling with a record of 4-8. Since then, they've turned it around in a big way and sit at 23-19, which finds them in third place in the NL East, 5 games behind first-place Washington. The Braves are a game behind the Nationals and the Mets, bless their pointed little heads, are in fourth place, 5.5 games behind the Phils.

The Phils will have a chance to gain ground on Washington at the end of May, as the two teams have yet to face each other. The Phils are 12-5 in the last 17 games, and had a four-game outburst where they outscored the Braves and Pirates 54-21. They scored 12 runs in the bottom of the 8th in a 20-5 win over the Braves on May 6. Yes, this league is playing in the future. Why not?

Statistically, Jean Segura and Bryce Harper are your offensive forces, with both guys posting and OPS above 1.000. We have four players with more than 10 home runs - Harper and Rhys Hoskins both with 12, and Segura and JT Realmuto each with 10. But despite the power, Hoskins and Realmuto are still struggling, hitting .210 and .219 respectively.

Aaron Nola leads the starters with a 6-2 record and 3.64 ERA. Zack Wheeler has pitched well, but the team hasn't scored enough runs for him. Wheeler is 2-5 in 9 starts with a 3.74 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 55.1 innings.

Adam Morgan has been fantastic in relief, notching a 1.15 ERA in 17 appearances. In fact, most of the bullpen mainstays have ERA below 3 (Tommy Hunter, 2.57; Jose Alvarez, 2.65; Hector Neris, 2.85).

The defense has been pretty solid, with just 17 errors in 42 games and have a run differential of +27. They're just 9-9 at Citizens Bank Park, and the traditionally poor road team has gone 14-10 away from Philadelphia. You can find all of the team stats right here.

Around the rest of MLB, your division leaders are Washington, St. Louis, Arizona, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and Oakland. Charlie Blackmon leads the NL in hitting at .369, with Segura second at .351. Mike Moustakas has the most NL home runs with 15.

In the AL, Vladimir Gurerro Jr. is the top hitter at .367 and Houston's George Springer leads all AL hitters with 19 homers. Zach Plesac leads AL pitchers with a 7-1 record, while new Yankee Gerrit is 4-2 in 9 starts with 91 strikeouts in 55 innings. Yikes.

(Photo of Jean Segura courtesy of The Athletic)

Let's Try This Again

When I heard that Strat-O-Matic, one of my favorite childhood games, would be simulating the 2020 baseball season, I thought I'd have some fun and blog about the results.

But a couple of things happened. The 2020 Strat-O-Matic Phillies suck. Going into today's action, the Strat Phils are 5-8, 3.5 games out of first place. And whoever is running the game is making some really bad decisions.

For example, Vince Velasquez started yesterday's game for the Phils. He gave up seven runs in the first inning and was brought back out for the second. No. Freaking. Way. I would have yanked him before the end of the first. And they're using players that weren't in the plans for this season - I'm looking at you, Odubel Herrera. And Scott Kingery has been benched in favor of Neil Walker.

So now I'm looking for a new simulation to follow. The amazing baseball-reference.com is running a simulation of the season using Out of the Park (OOTP) Baseball. I've never played the game, but people rave about how you can be everything from manager, to general manager to owner.

But the BR Phillies also stink. They're 3-10, which gives them the worst record in baseball. Nope.

So the folks over at The Athletic started an OOTP 2020 league, known as The Athletic Alternate Universe (TAAU). Beat writers for each team are running the teams they cover. The Phillies are being run by Meghan Montemurro, who has covered the team for the last 6 1/2 years and has been writing about MLB for the last 10. Finally, a skipper I can get behind.

The stats are available here and the TAAU Phils are off to a 4-8 start, four games behind the first-place Nationals. Boxscores and play-by-play are available by clicking on the score of the team's main page. Click here to see more. 

The early stars for the Phils are Zach Wheeler and Jake Arrieta, who both have ERAs at 3.00 or below. Jean Segura, Adam Haseley, and Didi Gregorius are all hitting above .300, while Rhys Hoksins, JT Realmuto, and Scott Kingery are all hitting .205. Hoskins has 4 HR in 12 games, but has also whiffed 14 times in just 49 at-bats.

Game 8 - Home Opener!

After a week on the road, the Phillies returned home to Citizens Bank Park to a near-sellout crowd braving howling winds and temperatures in the upper 40s for the 2020 Home Opener. And then Nick Pivetta ruined everything.

With the Phils up 4-3 in the top of the seventh, Pivetta grooved an 0-2 fastball to Brewers outfielder Lorezno Cain, who hit a laser that cut through the wind and ended up in the third-row of the seats in right field, giving Milwaukee a 5-4 lead.

For the Phils, Bryce Harper, hitting .375, went 3-for-3 with a 2-run homer and Jean Segura added two more hits. Segura is now hitting .371. Struggling JT Realmuto went hitless again, with nothing to show for his day but two strikeouts. He's hitting .077 on the season. Not a great start for a guy hoping to cash in on a big new contract.

Phils starter Jake Arietta pitched well enough, allowing three runs on five hits in six innings of work.

The loss dropped the Phils to 4-4 on the season, 1/2 game behind first-place Washington and Miami.

Game 7 - Didi Comes Through in 10th

Didi Gregorius' return to New York hadn't gone as planned. Maybe it was because the Phillies were playing in Queens and not the Bronx. But the shortstop was just 1-for-8 in the first two games of the series against the Mets.

Gregorius ended his New York visit on a happy note, bashing a two-out, three-run 10th-inning homer off reliever Seth Lugo leading the Phillies to an 8-6 win. "I'm just glad I was able to do something positive for a change. I hate it when I can't perform in New York." The win lifts the Phils into a first-place tie with the Marlins at 4-3.

Speaking of returns, it wasn't a pleasant one for Phils starter Zack Wheeler, who was facing his former team for the first time. The Mets jumped on Wheeler for five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The hard-throwing righty only had two strikeouts on the day. "They hit everything I threw up there today. I don't know what was going on. Maybe I was nervous being back here for the first time. But I was shitty today. I can't be shitty when they're paying me as much as they are."

The Phils scored four runs in the top of the sixth and another in the seventh to tie the game at 5-5. Bryce Harper singled, homered, and knocked in three runs. The red-hot Jean Segura had two more hits, lifting his average to .355 in the young season.

The Mets tried to rally in the bottom of the 10th, when Hector Neris was doing Hector Neris things. The Phils closer gave up a run and two hits, while walking two and striking out two. But the other Phillies relievers (Franciso Liriano, Adam Morgan, Jose Alvarez, and Deolis Guerra) blanked the Mets, allowing just three hits and a walk over four innings of work.