Phelps a Phil

It wasn't Mike Clevinger. He went to the Padres. It wasn't Mike Minor, who went to the Athletics. Robbie Ray is now a Blue Jay. But the Phillies didn't stand pat on trade deadline day, acquiring righthander David Phelps, a very solid reliever, from the Brewers for three low-level minor leaguers.

Since 2016, Phelps has pitched in 171 games with an ERA of 2.85 and 11 strikeouts per nine innings. Right-handed batters are hitting just .196 against him since then. He's been even better this year facing the middle of the lineup, where 3-4-5 hitters are just 1 for 18 with 14 strikeouts. Against lefties, he's allowed just four hits in 32 at-bats. He also pitched for manager Joe Girardi in New York. 

Phelps is 33 and will have a major role in this remade bullpen, which just a couple of weeks ago had an ERA well north of 9. General manager Matt Klentak has brought in Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree, David Hale, and now Phelps. The Phils also have the option of keeping Phelps through 2021. Good solid move by Klentak to fix the bullpen, which two weeks ago, was this team's biggest weakness. 

50,000! What's Wrong With You People?

Inexplicably, this blog has surpassed the 50,000-page view mark. I have no idea why you people care about my Phillies rants and ravings, but I'm really grateful you stop by and read. 

This blog started 2 1/2 years ago when I was laid off. My friends Eddie Denkin, Rob Thurston, and Scott Wishart took me to lunch to cheer me up and encouraged me to start blogging to keep my writing chops fresh. Without this band of idiots, this blog wouldn't be a thing. So thank you. I love you guys. 

I have 428 posts under my belt and I have no intentions of stopping. I want to find out what it's like to blog about a good team. Because for the life of this blog, this team has been pretty meh.  

Encouraging Signs?

The Phils have a three-game win streak and there are signs that some things are getting better. For example:

• Tommy Hunter hasn't allowed a run in his last three appearances, dropping his ERA down to a quasi-respectable 3.97. 
• Rhys Hoskins is hitting .304 with an OPS of 1.037 in his last six games,  He's homered twice and knocked in three runs.
• Andrew McCutchen is hitting .355 in his last seven games, driving in eight runs in that span.
• Brandon Workman is still a high-wire act to watch. He's allowed eight hits and two walks in just 3.2 innings—not the kind of results you want to see from a closer. 

The Phillies have a 34.5 percent chance of making the playoffs this year, and they'll try to sweep the World Series champion Nationals tonight with Spencer Howard as the starter. Let's hope manager Joe Girardi turns him loose and lets him throw more than 81 pitches. Let's see what he can do. (Photo from NBCSports Philadelphia)

Bullpen Relief

The Phillies remade their bullpen on Friday, and it's about freaking time. Opponents are slashing .347/.409/.594/1.003 against Phillies relievers. So Matt Klentak finally got off his ass and did something. Will it help? The new guys HAVE to be better than the assortment of crap they've been trotting out there this season.

The Nick Pivetta era in Philadelphia is joyously over, as he and farmhand Connor Seabold were sent to the Red Sox for closer Brandon Workman and reliever Heath Hembree. Workman was fantastic last year, posting a 2.26 ERA with 104 strikeouts in 71.2 innings. He's also a free agent at the end of the season. Hembree's ERA is 5.59, but he's struck out 10 in 9.2 innings and he's given up two homers. 

David Hale is the other new guy, acquired from the Yankees for pitcher Addison Russ, who wasn't a top prospect but had very good numbers. You have to give up something to get something, I guess. Not sure Hale is worth getting. 

The new guys have thrown 23.1 innings so far this year and allowed 11 runs. The Phillies bullpen has allowed a staggering 63 runs in 69.1 innings, which is three more runs than Phillies starters in 44 fewer innings. Hopefully we've seen the last of Reggie McClain and Cole Irvin and their ilk. 

Klentak had to do something. His job is likely on the line. 

Oh Hale, No

The Phillies have it backwards. You're supposed to trade middling veterans for minor league prospects, not the other way around. But the Phils acquired reliever David Hale from the Yankees today, ostensibly to help their extremely terrible and not-good bullpen.

Hale is nothing special. He has a career 1.432 WHIP, which means he lets lots of guys get on base. His four-seam fastball averages just over 93 MPH. The guy the Phillies gave up, Addison Russ, was not considered a top-30 prospect. Still, he has 200 strikeouts in 152.2 minor league innings pitched. Hale was designated for assignment by New York to make room for Aroldis Chapman. At least Hale's contract is dirt cheap. 

Why oh why would you trade anything of value for an almost 33-year-old guy off the scrap heap? I just don't understand GM Matt Klentak's thought process. Hopefully, trying to figure out his deals won't matter much longer, because he deserves to get fired. 

A Real Smash in the Balls

Remember Tuesday? The Phillies had just pounded the Red Sox for their fourth win in a row. That four-game win streak seems like a million years ago. Especially after today's double dose of bullpen atrocities.

I knew this bullpen was going to be suspect. But to blow two games in a space of four hours is just so 2020. The Phillies bullpen is 2020 in a nutshell, a never-ending nightmare of bad news.

How bad was the bullpen today? It started off with Jose Alvarez getting smashed in the balls with a 105-mph line drive in the first game. But he picked up the ball (the batted one, not his own) and threw to first for the out. Alvarez was carted off the field and things got worse. Tommy Hunter gave up the tying run in the sixth and Delois Guerra blew it in the seventh.

In the second game, the Phillies scored seven runs in the first inning. I was texting with a friend who knows my immense dislike of Phillies starter Vince Velasquez. He asked what inning the pitching would fail. I said it would be the first, and Velasquez would give up at least two. He didn't let me down.

The Phillies didn't score the rest of the game. The Blue Jays, however, kept chipping away. Velasquez opened the sixth by allowing a homer and a single. Then Connor Brogdon (who???) and Hector Neris BOTH did Hector Neris things and suddenly, the Jays had the lead. Neris' ERA now stands at 6.75. Brogdon is at 16.88. 

I can't blame Joe Girardi for the bullpen. His choices are extremely limited. And not very good. GM Matt Klentak assembled this shitshow and needs to pay the price. He needs to be gone. Like yesterday.

The Phils take their three-game losing streak to Atlanta for the weekend to play the first-place Braves. Expect more carnage from the bullpen. (Jose Alvarez photo by Associated Press)

Time to Talk Trades

The MLB trade deadline is Aug. 31, and unless the Phillies get better in a hurry, they should sell, sell, sell. The Phils are 5-9 and dead last in the NL East. 

I'd start listening to offers for all-world catcher JT Realmuto. There are no indications the team has made any kind of offer to JT, so they might as well send him someplace and get something in return and take a chance on signing him in the off-season. San Diego would be a perfect destination for him and the Padres minor league system has some of the best talent around. It's worth considering. I love JT and want him to be a Phillie forever, but you have to wonder if he wants to be part of this underachieving organization.

Andrew McCutchen could be trade bait, if he wasn't hitting .167 with a .425 OPS. But the most logical choice to me is Jay Bruce, who is mashing with a .924 OPS in a part-time role. Dealing Bruce would get you something in return. And if another team asks about Vince Velasquez, I'll personally drive him to the airport. 

(Image from The New Yorker)

Not So Sunny in Philadelphia

Nobody in MLB is supposed to be a pushover, but last year, the Orioles lost 108 games. So, easy pickins for everybody playing them in 2020, right? Yeah, not so much.

The Phils lost to the Orioles for the second night in a row on Wednesday, and there were familiar themes for Phillies fans—bad work from the bullpen, and a lack of clutch hitting (2-for-10 with runners in scoring position). They're hitting .220 with RISP for the year.

There were some oddities worth mentioning. Much maligned and offensively challenged backup catcher Andrew Knapp got a start last night so JT Realmuto could DH. Knapp had three hits and two RBIs. Rhys Hoskins continued to struggle. He hit into a mind-boggling three double plays and struck out once. The guy has zero luck this season. 

Last night's bullpen disaster artist was Adam Morgan, who gave up a run, three hits, and a walk in two-thirds of an inning. Morgan's ERA is now 10.13, just a tick higher than the bullpen's 9.80 ERA. 

The Orioles are 9-7 and two games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East. The Phils are now 5-8 on the year, in last place, and 3.5 games behind first-place Miami. 2020 just keeps getting weirder and weirder. (Photo from The Philadelphia Inquirer)

What a Mess

OH MY GOD PHILLIES WYD pic.twitter.com/U9f4ySCxji

— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) August 12, 2020

This pretty much sums up the Phillies night against the Orioles. Bad defense, worse bullpen. This shit is getting old. 

From Laugher to Nail-Biter in One Move

9.81 and climbing. That's the Phillies bullpen ERA after a 13-1 ninth-inning lead turned into a 13-8 nailbiter last night.  

There's all kinds of blame for this, but I think manager Joe Girardi deserves most of it. Aaron Nola pitched eight stress-free innings and threw just 89 pitches while dominating the Braves. Nola reportedly wanted to back out for the ninth, but Girardi decided to take him out to keep him healthy. Which I get. But it was only 89 pitches. He was cruising.

Nick Pivetta started the ninth inning and was truly, truly awful, even for Nick Pivetta. He started off by giving up a homer to Johan Camargo and then gave up back-to-back singles before Charlie Culbertson doubled to score a run. Pivetta somehow managed to get an out when Marcell Ozuna hit a sacrifice fly, but that scored a run. Pivetta gave up two more doubles and then mercifully got the hook. He gave up six runs, and his ERA is now 15.88.

Trevor Kelley was next, and he wasn't much better.  He struck out the first guy he faced, then threw a wild pitch before giving up a two-run homer. He got a groundout to end the day. Kelley's ERA is now 10.80. 

How bad is the bullpen? Jayson Stark sums it up nicely in a tweet from this morning:

The bullpen was so heinous it almost took away from the offensive fireworks. Bryce Harper, Roman Quinn, Didi Gregorius (grand slam), Jean Segura, and JT Realmuto all homered for the Phils, who led 10-1 after two innings. Eight of the nine starters got hits, and the Phillies ended the night with 14. The offense and starting pitching were fantastic. The bullpen, again, was straight-up garbage. And that has to change. 

My feelings about Pivetta are well-known. I hold him in almost as high regard as I do Vince Velasquez. And Kelley has no business being on a major league roster. It's time to ship the dead weight off to Allentown and see if there's anybody up there who can get people out for the Phillies. Because the guys who are here certainly can't. 

Look Away

The numbers are in—8.10 and .194—and they are ugly. 

8.10 refers to the Phillies bullpen ERA, and relievers have allowed a staggering 44 hits in just 30 innings of work. Nobody is getting the job done. It's gotten to a point where management is counting on the return of David Robertson from Tommy John surgery to bolster this beleaguered bunch. Good luck with that.

The second figure, .194, represents the Phillies batting average with runners in scoring position. Four offensive starters (Rhys Hoskins, Jean Segura, Scott Kingery, and Andrew McCutchen) are all hitting well under .200. Things are so bad that Hoskins got two hits yesterday and his average is still .172. 

The Phils are now 4-6 in this 60-game season and are 3.5 games out of first place. That's works out to 10-17 in a full 162-game season. If they have any chance of salvaging this season, the bullpen's gotta bullpen and the hitters gotta hit. It seems so simple. But they just can't do it. 

They're mixing up tonight's lineup, looking for offense. Phil Gosselin is leading off as the DH. Hoskins is still hitting second, which I can't understand at all. Drop him down in the order and take some pressure off him. 

And with the offense struggling as much as it has, now seems the perfect time to call up Alec Bohm and add him into the lineup. Let him DH, play third, and play first. Give some of the struggling guys a day off. Manager Joe Girardi today told reporters that Bohm is swinging that bat really well at the Phillies alternate site in Allentown. Let him do it here. Where it counts. (Photo from NBCSports Philadelphia)

Phils at .500

Early last season, the Phillies threw four shutouts in 18 days. They threw three more for the rest of the season. They got their first one of 2020 last night, when they beat the Braves, 5-0.

Jake Arrieta was brilliant in six innings, allowing just three singles and a walk while striking out six in 89 pitches. This version of Arrieta is what the Phils had in mind when they signed him to a three year, $75 million contract in 2018. But this being Arrieta's second start of the season, manager Joe Girardi decided his starter had thrown enough and turned to the bullpen.

Who else cringed last night at the thought of the Phillies bullpen trying to get nine outs to secure a win? But Jose Alvarez, Tommy Hunter (!), and Deolis Guerra combined to blank the Braves, giving up just one hit and striking out three. That's what bullpens are supposed to do. 

Speaking of cringing, have you checked the stats for Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery? The two are off to absolutely terrible starts eight games into the season. Hoskins is 3-for-25 so far, with one double to his credit, and is batting .120. He's walked 10 times so his OBP is .371 and his OPS is an anemic .531. Since the All Star Break last year, Hoskins is hitting just .175 with 87 strikeouts in 280 at-bats. 

During spring training, much was made of Hoskins adjusting his stance and holding his lands lower. His hands seem to be back where they were last season. Girardi might want to give the Big Fella the day off today to regroup, but I'm not sure that can happen with a doubleheader scheduled. Maybe JT Realmuto can play first in one game and Jay Bruce in the other. 

And then there's Kingery, who has just two hits in 28 at-bats this season. He could also use a day off. Move Jean Segura to second for the day and let Phil Gosselin play third. Gosselin is 6-for-10 so far, with two homers and two doubles. He's earned the playing time. 

The Phillies need to sign Realmuto to an extension IMMEDIATELY. He has four home runs and an OPS of 1.178. Arrieta's contract is off the books after this season, as is Didi Gregorius. Make JT the highest-paid catcher in MLB history. He's earned it and deserved it. He is the one guy this team cannot afford to lose. 

Spencer for Hire

The long-awaited Major League debut of Phillies top pitching prospect will happen tomorrow. Probably.

Joe Girardi: "I have no official announcement, but you can expect a young right-hander to start tomorrow. But I have no official announcement. I'll just leave it at that. Whose initials are S.H."

— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) August 8, 2020

Howard is a hard-throwing righty (upper 90s) with 281 strikeouts in just 211.1 innings. He's the most-anticipated Phillies pitching prospect since Cole Hamels (sorry Aaron Nola). The Phillies waited to bring Howard to the majors so they could control him for an extra season. But the wait will be worth. 

Howard's presence will most likely mean less mound time for Vince Velasquez, which is a really good thing. But with all the doubleheaders coming up in the next couple of months (starting tomorrow), we'll still have to see Velasquez from time to time. But rejoice Phillies fans, the Spencer Howard era is about to begin.

(Photo by The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Pendemic—Phillies Relievers Make Me Sick

There's a scene in the first Jurassic Park movie where Jeff Goldblum's character sees an enormous pile of dinosaur poop and says, "that is one big pile of shit." Welcome to the Phillies bullpen.

In the second game of yesterday's doubleheader, Tommy Hunter went all Lebanese warehouse and ruined Aaron Nola's fantastic start. In six innings, Nola gave up just one run, three hits, and struck out 12 against the mighty Yankees. 

Hunter came in and promptly allowed singles to Giancarlo Stanton and Luke Voit. He then gave up a double to Mike Tauchman that scored a run. Next up was Gary Sanchez, who Hunter hit with a pitch. Gio Urshela singled and another run scored. Hunter didn't record a single out. His sinker topped out at 91.8 mph. 

The first game wasn't much better. Austin Davis was called in to preserve an 11-3 lead in the seventh inning. He gave up four runs and four hits, but at least managed to get an out. Trevor Kelley was next and gave up two more hits. Manager Joe Girardi was forced to use closer Hector Neris in a game the Phils once led by eight runs. Neris threw one pitch and got the save. After the second game, Girardi said he would have used Neris in the nightcap had he not needed him in the first game.

Phillies relievers have pitched 16.2 innings in six games so far this year, allowing 25 hits and 17 runs, which works out to an ERA of 9.18. Opponents are hitting .338 against Phillies relievers. And since Aaron Nola and Zach Wheeler have been the only reliable starters, the bullpen figures to get torched even more. 

First a Pandemic; Next up—a Hurricane

It's almost like someone doesn't want the Phillies to play at all this season. They've been shut down since last Sunday when the Miami Pandemics lost something like half of their team to positive tests for COVID. Two Phillies staff members tested positive earlier this week and the team has been shut down. Turns out the tests were false positives. Because 2020.

They've had no new positives, false or otherwise, for the last two days, and they were allowed to practice at Citizens Bank Park today. And then word came down that Monday's game against the Yankees has been postponed to give the team an extra day to work out, since it will have been more than a week since they've played.

So they'll resume games on Tuesday. Er, not so fast, according to the National Hurricane Center, which is saying whatever is left of Hurricane Isaias will be over the Philadelphia region on Tuesday. So maybe Wednesday? Unless a swarm of locusts descends on the ballpark. At this point, nothing would surprise me. 

This team can't catch a break.