Phillies Shut Down

All activity has been canceled at Citizens Bank Park as of Thursday afternoon after a Phillies coach and a member of the home clubhouse staff tested positive for COVID-19. The team said no players had tested positive.

So all that schedule wrangling yesterday was probably done for nothing. You have to think this weekend's series against the Blue Jays is in big trouble. The Phils haven't played since Sunday, when they lost to the Miami Pandemics. Speaking of them, they had another positive test. That makes 17 players and two coaches who have tested positive for the Florida team.

You have to wonder if the Phillies are ever going to be able to play again this season. The way this virus spreads, it seems nearly inevitable that a portion of the team will test positive. 

Maybe They'll Play on Saturday. Maybe.

Since Sunday's humiliating loss to the Miami Pandemics, the Phillies have (check notes) not played because of said Pandemics. Which means they haven't lost. Silver linings, people.

A four-game home and home series against the Yankees postponed to make sure no Phillies players tested positive for COVID-19. And none have so far, according to published reports. And today, we learned that Friday's away game at Citizens Bank Park against the and temporarily homeless Toronto Blue Jays has also been scrubbed because of virus concerns. So the next time you can hope to see the Phillies in action is Saturday, when they'll be the visitors at home in a double-header against the Jays.

The Phils will be at a distinct disadvantage, for reasons other than having a terrible, awful, bullpen. Players were summoned to the ballpark on Monday for COVID testing (which they received in their cars) and were given their gloves and told to go home. They were finally able to resume practice Wednesday afternoon at the ballpark.

The good news is they missed four games against the powerhouse New York Yankees. The bad news is they'll probably have to make them up and have zero days off in the last month of the season.

And whoever decided it was a good idea to let the Marlins players decide if it was OK to play on Sunday should be suspended and or fired. That decision has put the health of multiple teams in jeopardy and threatened the continuity of an already screwed-up season. How screwed up? I ended watching a Flyers exhibition game yesterday because there was no Phillies game. 2020, man. You can't make this crap up. (Photo at top from The Philadelphia Inquirer)

The Virus is Winning

The virus is winning. Ten members of the Miami Marlins traveling party have tested positive for COVD-19. The Marlins have called off their home opener set for tonight in Miami against the Orioles.

Phillies clubhouse staff members who worked with the Marlins over the weekend have been quarantined as a result of the positive tests. And tonight's game with the Yankees at CBP has been canceled. The visiting clubhouse needs to be cleaned and disinfected. 

Three games into the abbreviated season, and we already have to cancelations because of the virus. I'd be very surprised if the season continues through the end of the week. 

Let the Cardboard Cutouts Pitch

Have you guys finally had enough of Vince Velasquez? I have. I was done last season. 

The Phillies spotted Velasquez a four-run lead on Sunday against the Marlins and it vanished the very next inning. He gave up a homer and then hit the next guy. He lasted three innings and only 36 of his 60 pitches were for strikes. If he pitches like this against the worst team in the division, how is he going to do against the good teams? 

He's had 104 appearances with the Phils, and as much as I loathe the phrase, he is what he is. Which is not very good. The Phillies need to stop waiting for him to "get it." It's not going to happen if it hasn't happened already. At least with the Phillies. He's had way too many chances in his four-plus seasons with the Phillies. 

It's time for the Vince Velasquez experiment to end. It's time for the Spencer Howard experience to begin. 

And the Phillies bullpen is absolute garbage right now. GM Matt Klentak went for inexpensive youth over slightly more expensive experience. Guess what? You get what you pay for. Here's your Phillies bullpen after three fun-filled games:

FRI - 3.2 IP, 1 run, 4 hits, 2 walks, 2 Ks, 2 wild pitches

SAT - 2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 3Ks

SUN - 6 IP, 7 runs, 9 hits, 2 walks, 4Ks

That's (reaching for calculator) a 6.17 ERA and a WHIP of 1.287. 

Let's not let the offense off the hook, either. Phillies hitters were 3 for 22 with runners in scoring position over the weekend. The only bright spots were Adam Haseley and Phil Gosselin. And maybe Rhys Hoskins, if walks get you excited. Yay?

Things don't get any easier this week. The Phils have four games against the Yankees, with the first two at CBP and then in New York on Wednesday and Thursday. The Phils need a minimum of a split against the Yankees to avoid getting buried in the standings just a week into the season. 

Phil is on Fire

Phil Gosselin is tied for the league lead in home runs. Because 2020.

Gosselin, the last guy named to the 30-man roster, smoked two homers yesterday and Didi Gregorius and JT Realmuto as the Phillies beat the Marlins 7-1. Gosselin, who grew up in West Chester, PA and is a lifelong Phillies fan, now has nine homers in his MLB career. 

Gosselin hit everything thrown at him during summer camp, earning the nickname "Barrels" from his teammates. Manager Joe Girardi told reporters Gosselin made him look smart after adding him to the lineup. Zack Wheeler was fantastic in his first start for the Phils, allowing just five hits and one run in seven innings. 

Now comes the hard part. The perpetually inconsistent Vince Velasquez gets the start for the Phils today as they try to win the series against the Marlins. Winning this series is important because the next four games are against the Yankees. (Photo by The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Squished by Fish

What is it about the Miami Marlins? Why can't the Phillies beat these guys? 

The Phils managed five hits and struck out nine times in dropping the season opener, 5-2. Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara was fantastic in 6 2/3 innings of work. The top of the Phillies lineup (Andrew McCutchen, Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, and JT Realmuto were a combined 1 for 14. 

There were a couple of bright spots. New shortstop Didi Gregorius homered in his first game as a Phillie and reliever Reggie McClain looked good in his debut, pitching a scoreless inning. And Harper's cleats (pictured above) were fuzzy and sparkly (the first time those words have been used together in this blog). Otherwise, it was a lousy start to what has been a lousy year. 

If the Phillies have any hope of making MLB's expanded playoff pool, the need to beat up on teams like the Marlins, who on paper, are nowhere near as good as the Phillies. 

They'll try again later today when Zach Wheeler makes his Phillies debut against Caleb Smith. In Wheeler's' last five starts against the Marlins, he's 4-1 in 38 innings with 41 strikeouts, only 3 walks, and 1.66 ERA. Smith's last five games against the Phillies haven't gone as well. He's allowed 11 hits and 14 walks in 18 innings with a 4.50 ERA, but just a .660 OPS. We might see Adam Haseley in center today, since he's 2 for 2 in his career against Smith. 

Home Opener!

The Phillies lineup has just been announced for tonight's Home Opener.

Andrew McCutchen - LF

Rhys Hoskins - 1B

Bryce Harper - RF

JT Realmuto - C

Didi Gregorius - SS

Jean Segura - 3B

Jay Bruce - DH

Scott Kingery - 2B

Roman Quinn - CF

Aaron Nola - P

I'm a little surprised manager Joe Girardi has Hoskins hitting second. I thought he'd be lower in the order to take pressure off him and his absolutely awful second half last year. I would have flipped Hoskins and Greogrius in the lineup. But Joe knows what he's doing, so we'll see what happens.

With yesterday's announcement of the NHL-ification of the MLB playoffs, the Phillies seem to have a better chance to make the playoffs. For those of you who missed it, eight teams from each league will make the playoffs. The one-game wild card play-in game has been scrapped. 

The two best teams from each league will make the playoffs, as will the two teams with the best records in each league. The first round of the playoffs will be a best-of-three series, with the higher seeded team hosting all three games. Two best-of-five series will follow that, followed by the best-of-seven League Championship Series and the World Series.

Each division winner is reportedly going to be able to choose its opponent in a televised event. So all the Phillies have to do is finish with the eighth-best record in the NL to make the playoffs. Sounds doable, especially with the Marlins, Pirates, Giants, and Rockies being as bad as they are.

Your 2020 Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies have just released the team roster for Opening Day, and after first glance, I'm a lot more pessimistic about this team than I was a week ago.

The bullpen is a mess. The only proven arms out there are Jose Alvarez, Adam Morgan, Tommy Hunter, and Hector Neris. Sheesh. The rest are a bunch of "who the hell is he" guys? They went with young guys with potential rather than known, experienced arms. They had Francisco Liriano, Drew Storen, Anthony Swarzek in camp, but they were all cut loose, probably because they were more expensive than less-experienced kids. 

Here's the roster, in case you can't read the image:

Catchers 

JT Realmuto
Andrew Knapp

Infielders

Rhys Hoskins
Scott Kingery
Didi Gregorius
Jean Segura
Neil Walker
Outfielders
Bryce Harper
Andrew McCutchen
Adam Haseley
Roman Quinn
Jay Bruce
Kyle Garlick

Starting Pitchers
Aaron Nola
Zack Wheeler
Jake Arrieta
Zach Eflin
Vince Velasquez
Bullpen
Jose Alvarez
Austin Davis
Deolis Guerra

Tommy Hunter
Cole Irvin
Trevor Kelley
Reggie McClain
Adam Morgan
Hector Neris

Nick Pivetta
Ramon Rosso

There are only 29 guys on the roster, for some reason. Maybe Phil Gosselin gets added before tomorrow night. The roster is at 30 for the first two weeks of the season. At the start of the third week, the roster gets cut to 28, so look for two pitchers to get sent down. And two weeks after that, two more are gone to put the roster at 26. I don't see Kyle Garlick sticking with the team all season. 

But this bullpen is young and inexperienced. And that's a bad combination when playing the NL East and AL East. I think this team making it to .500 would be a minor miracle. 

Making Moves

The Phils made a bunch of personnel moves before the roster has to be set at 30 at noon on Thursday. Future ace Spencer Howard was sent down, as was a catcher with one of the best names in the organization—Logan O'Hoppe (pictured above in a Philadelphia Inquirer photo). He made his last night in big-league camp memorable, hitting an inside-the-park homer off Nick Pivetta. 

Howard will probably only be in minor league camp for a week before being summoned back to the big club. Doing this will give the Phils an extra year of control over Howard.

Another move that was a little surprising was the release of utility guy Josh Harrison, who asked for his release. Given his versatility, I thought he had a good chance to make the team. But Neil Walker was told earlier in the week he made the team, and local guy Phil Gosselin has had a really good summer camp. So right now, it looks like the bench will be whoever isn't playing center field (Adam Haseley or Roman Quinn), Walker, Gosselin, Andrew Knapp, and Jay Bruce, who is expected to get most of the at-bats in the first year of full-time DH in the National League.

Opening Day is Friday. It looks like it's actually going to happen. 

Ace OK

The Phillies played their first summer camp exhibition game last night, and ace Aaron Nola got the start. From all indications, it was a vintage Nola effort.

Nola went five innings, allowed just one hit, walked one and struck out four. He threw 62 pitches, 42 of them for strikes. The only hit he gave up was a single up the middle to Eric Thames.

This is exactly what you hoped to see from Nola in what will probably be his last action until the season starts on Friday. He's the Philies' best pitcher, and he looked like it against the World Series champs. The Phils will need 12 starts just like this one when the 60-game season gets going this week.

A couple of notes from the game—a masked-Didi Greogorius and Bryce Harper both hit three-run homers off Nationals ace Max Scherzer. I know that game doesn't count, but you still have to like seeing that against one of the best pitchers in baseball. 

Prediction Time

With a week until the season finally starts, it's time to make some predictions. The graphic above comes from Fangraphs, a site dedicated to the analytics of baseball. They say the Phils will finish at .500 again. Rubbish.

After 60 games last year, the Phillies were 33-27, with having played the hapless Royals, Tigers, and Padres. They also had a half-game lead atop the division. This year's competition should be much tougher with only NL East and AL East opponents. 

But by June 3, the Phils had gotten a combined 12 starts from Nick Pivetta and Vince Velasquez. Pivetta had a deceiving 3-1 record in his six starts through 60 games. He sported a 6.14 ERA and an opponents OPS of .932. That's hideous. 

Velasquez was 2-3 over the same time period with a nearly as awful 4.67 ERA, and a .919 OPS against. He appeared in 11 games and was the starter in six of them. 

You have to think Zach Wheeler and Spencer Howard can put up better numbers than those two bozos. Add in the offense of Didi Gregorius, a full-time DH, and remove the baserunning blunders of Cesar Hernandez and the infuriating inconsistency of Maikel Franco, and you have a better team. How much better? Significantly. I think the Phils will win at least 34 games and make the playoffs provided everyone stays healthy. 

Howard Impresses

If you want to see Phillies pitching phenom Spencer Howard do things like this to opposing hitters, you're probably going to have to wait until around the first week of August. 

good lord Spencer Howard pic.twitter.com/Xsifbhf8dE

— Absolutely Hammered (@AH_Pod) July 16, 2020

Howard pitched three innings in an intrasquad game last night, and made a big impression with his explosive fastball and devastating curve, striking out three. But the Phillies, who want Howard to be in pinstripes for as long as possible, will most likely wait to add him to the big league roster. By waiting six days, the Phils can manipulate Howard's service time in the majors and keep control of him for an extra year.

It would be a bigger deal if this were a normal season. But it isn't, so it's not. Howard would probably only pitch once, throwing maybe four or five innings at the most. I'll sacrifice one appearance for an extra year. And Howard's promotion will most likely mean the demotion of either Vince Velasquez or Nick Pivetta, unless Zach Wheeler is on paternity leave for the birth of his first child.

But you will see Spencer Howard in the big leagues this year. And it's going to be fun to watch. 

Sign JT, Dammit!

The fans are making their feelings crystal clear, like this guy driving around Citizens Bank Park on Monday. The Phillies NEED to sign catcher JT Realmuto to a long-term contract. But it looks like they're going to let him explore free agency and risk losing him to someone like the Mets. The Mets. Let that sink in.

John Middleton needs to unveil Stupid Money 2.0 and sign the best catcher in baseball. The Phils will have the money to spend. Jake Arrieta's $25 million per year comes off the books after this season. Give to JT. Hell, he'll play at least 130 games instead of getting maybe 30 starts from Jake.

Actress and Phillies fan Ellen Adair even penned a prayer for JT's signing. 

And she's absolutely right. Who the hell is gonna catch is Realmuto is allowed to leave? Andrew Knapp and his career .663 OPS? Deivy Grullon with all of NINE career MLB at bats? Remember, they gave up the organization's best prospect, Sixto Sanchez, and a major league catcher, Jorge Alfaro. How happy will you be watching Sanchez making 30 starts a year for the Marlins while we're stuck with Knapp and Grullon?

Bryce Harper got paid and loves Realmuto. He's been wearing a JT shirsey during summer camp and absolutely wants him in red pinstripes. It would be nice to keep the superstar happy. 

This team will not go anywhere without JT. They might not go anywhere with him. But I like this team's chances a lot better if Realmuto is on the roster. If GM Matt Klentak doesn't sign Realmuto, he doesn't deserve the job. You can't trade your best prospect for 1.3 years of the best catcher in baseball. SIGN JT!

21 Schedule

We don't even know if the COVID-shortened 2020 baseball season will begin as planned in a couple of weeks, but MLB announced the 2021 schedule today.

The Phils open the season at home on Thursday, April 1 against the Braves. The Phils will be playing interleague games against the AL East again, just like this season. The season ends on Oct. 3 in Miami. 

I'm not entirely sure if the universal DH and that idiotic rule starting extra innings with a runner on second will carry on. I'll get back to you.

Some Personal Stuff and the Schedule

I was really looking forward to the release of the 2020 MLB schedule today. But this morning I got a message from an old high school friend that one of our friends had passed away in his sleep. He was only 58.

I met Bill when we were in 9th grade and we were close through high school and college. We spent a lot of time together, hanging out, drinking beer, just doing stuff. He was a groomsman in my wedding, and I did a reading at his. As we got older, we drifted apart as life took us in different directions. He lived just 20 minutes away from me, but we rarely saw each other. Sometimes I'd run into him at the beach with his family while I was there with mine. We exchanged birthday greetings last month. I always left the same message with him—Happy Birthday, young man—because I was three days older.

I texted his sister to offer my condolences and when she wrote back that I was one of his lifelong friends, I lost it. I reached out to his wife, but what can you possibly say to the person who has lost their partner? I tried my best. So I guess what I'm saying is, tell your loved ones that you love them and don't waste your time on silly shit. Life is too short. And wear a mask, for fuck's sake. Rest in peace, Big Bill.

And here's the schedule. 

Fish First

It's looking like the Phils will open the abbreviated 2020 season at home against the Miami Marlins. This comes from a report by Marlins know-it-all Craig Mish. And I can't believe he doesn't go by @MishFish. MLB is supposed to announce the schedule tomorrow.

Anyway, the season is three weeks away and COVID-19 is causing havoc in South Philly. Ace Aaron Nola has yet to report to summer camp. Zach Wheeler's wife is due to give birth to the couple's first child that weekend, so it's hard to know if he'll be around for the start, let alone the season. Hector Neris' name was found on the COVID list, as were Scott Kingery and Adam Haseley.

So that's two starters (at least), a second baseman, a centerfielder, and a closer. Yikes. The Phillies 60-man roster is going to have a revolving door on it. With Kingery and Haseley questionable, could Odubel Herreraf find his way back into the lineup out of necessity. Christ, I hope not. I don't care how badly you need an outfielder. You don't reward a guy who was charged with domestic abuse.

If Nola and Wheeler aren't available, who get the Opening Day start? Jake Arrieta? Zack Eflin? Spencer Howard? Stay tuned.

Summer Camp

Today was the first workout for the Phillies, who have assembled for three weeks of practice before the season starts. We hope it starts.

Nothing big happened today, but Scott Kingery, Hector Neris, Tommy Hunter, and Ranger Suarez have all been placed on the 10-day COVID list. This most likely means they tested positive for the virus. Across MLB, just 1.2 percent of the 3,800 players, coaches, and staff tested have come up positive. Which is pretty remarkable.

Bryce Harper was lobbying for a new contract for JT Realmuto and I love that he's doing it. The Phils need JT in pinstripes for the next five to six years.

And my former co-worker, Jose Moreno, posted the above photo on Facebook. He's a photojournalist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. I have no idea who the players are, but I'm guessing pitchers. Because pitchers are weird. Especially lefties. But at least they're wearing masks. #WearADamnMask