Roy Halladay is in camp with the Phillies as a special guest instructor this week and tells Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice.com that he’s enjoying his time working with the team’s younger pitchers. Halladay, who also coaches his son’s 12-U team and his other son’s varsity high school team, seems to enjoy passing his knowledge on to younger arms but tells Lawrence that he’s not yet sure if this current position will lead to a more permanent role with the Phillies organization. “I think that’s something we’re still talking about,” the former Cy Young winner tells Lawrence. “There are all kinds of options. … I’m going to enjoy this first week here, being a guest coach, and see where things go. We’ll continue talking, but, you know, I think it’s always trying to find a good fit, too.” Young Philadelphia righty Jake Thompson lauded Halladay’s baseball acumen and explained to Lawrence that he and the team’s other young arms relish the opportunity to learn from one of the best arms of the past generation.
Here’s more from the NL East…
- The Phillies may have hoped that Thompson (wrist) and fellow righty Zach Eflin (knee) were a bit further along in their injury rehab timelines by this point, but at least the club is seeing progress, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes. Both are throwing live BP sessions, with the possibility of reaching game readiness by next week. Eflin says he’s feeling stronger than ever as he continues working back from surgery to both knees, while Thompson says he’s healthy but is “still knocking off a little rust.” It remains to be seen whether either will be ready to open the season on time, but surely both are destined for Triple-A regardless.
- Matt Harvey’s spring debut for the Mets didn’t go as hoped, as Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News writes. There’s little reason to get too caught up in the uninspiring results, of course, particularly since Harvey says he was dealing with a stiff neck. (That could be its own source of concern, though it sounds as if it’s just a low-level problem and Harvey expects to make his next start.) The bigger concern, perhaps, is that Harvey was limited to working in the low-90s with his fastball. That, too, can be chalked up to the neck along with the fact that Harvey is still dialing in his mechanics after a long layoff. Club sources tell Ackert they don’t want the prized righty to come out of the gates too quickly anyway.
- Nationals ace Max Scherzer felt good in a live BP session today, as Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com reports. The veteran righty is still using a three-fingered fastball grip to protect his injured finger, but that doesn’t seem to be slowing him down. Scherzer worked up to 44 pitches in the session, so it seems as if he could be ready soon for a Grapefruit League appearance.
- Another Nationals hurler, lefty Nick Lee, is looking at a much lengthier absence. As Kerzel tweets, the 26-year-old has been diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his left arm. Lee was hoping to spend the spring working to find the control that long has eluded him. Last year, he worked to a 4.32 ERA over fifty Double-A frames, striking out 9.9 and walking 7.6 batters per nine. The Nats obviously like his arm, as he had been added to the 40-man before losing his spot last summer.
Was a time when most teams didn’t just have these special gues instructors who would put on a uniform a few days in spring training, but would be full time coaches every spring.. I remember every spring Boston would have, in uniform Dom Dimaggio, Bill Monboquette, Frank malzone, Bobby Doerr, Johnny pesky, eddie kasko and Ted Williams a few seasons in the mid-late 70’s. Few others would come and go..
Detroit would have frank Howard as remember, but the Yankees are the ones who brought along the HOF crew and those guys (several) made bus trips from Ft lauderdale often times, like mantle and ellie Howard. Dodgers would bring along Drysdale and Koufax.. those guys back then made road trips, sat in dugouts, then made the long trip back onboard team greyhound
Not too worried about Harvey…yet.
If he’s still hitting just 92-93 on May 1st, then it’s time to worry.
Agreed. This thing can end careers, so low-90s in his first spring start is fine. Results be damned.
94mph is still pretty good from Matt Harvey. More than I would have thought. You would imagine he isn’t pushing it too hard just yet.
He has a lot of stamina to build up. His whole body should be sore today. Quads, Back, Shoulder should have that feeling.
92-93
“Young Philadelphia righty Jake Thompson lauded Halladay’s baseball acumen and explained to Lawrence that he and the team’s other young arms relish the opportunity to learn from one of the best arms of the past generation.”
I thought I really had degraded memory….”past generation”? Halladay retired at the end of the 2013 season. Past the time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. And I even think there were cell phones back then.
A Generation isn’t a measure of time but a term for a collection of people living (in this case playing) at the same time. Halladay’s generation of players/teammates are most certainly in the past.
Agreed. Guys like Santana, Halladay and Lee were the last generation. Now it’s Scherzer, Syndergaard, Kershaw.
And look at what “TC” did to end Johan’s career after that amazing comeback?
Scherzer, SALE, and Kershaw. Don’t be such a homer. Syndergaard hasn’t earned the right to be up there yet
If one game with a high pitch count ended your career, you didnt have an amazing comeback in the first place
harvey is no longer prized…