The latest out of Philadelphia…
- Although the Phillies lost starting outfielder Andrew McCutchen for the season on Tuesday, they’re not shopping for help in that area right now, according to Jayson Stark of The Athletic. The Phillies did just acquire outfielder Jay Bruce over the weekend, and they’re inclined to use him, Scott Kingery and the just-promoted Adam Haseley to complement right fielder Bryce Harper, per Stark, who notes the club also has the injured Roman Quinn working his way back. Indeed, manager Gabe Kapler indicated Haseley will see quite a bit of time in center, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. However, with almost two months left until the July 31 trade deadline, first-place Philadelphia could sour on its non-Harper outfielders, including Haseley, and acquire more aid as it tries to fend off its NL East rivals.
- While Kingery has been an outfield option at times in 2019, he’s in position to take over as Philly’s regular third baseman, Salisbury observes. Kingery has been the Phillies’ primary choice at third of late, largely because of Maikel Franco’s struggles. Franco’s hitting an awful .212/.286/.399 (65 wRC+) through 220 plate appearances, while Kingery’s slashing .333/.375/.578 (149 wRC+) in 96 PA. Whether Kingery’s production is remotely sustainable is in question, but it’s easy to see why the Phillies want to improve on Franco at the hot corner. The 26-year-old Franco’s numbers have plummeted since he captured the franchise’s attention with a productive half-season in 2015.
- Reliever Seranthony Dominguez departed the Phillies’ win over the Padres on Wednesday with a mild elbow strain, Kapler said (via Salisbury). Dominguez faced just three batters, retiring one, before exiting with a trainer. Team doctors will examine Dominguez on Thursday, though Kapler noted there’s no fear of ligament damage at this point. Dominguez hasn’t been as strong as he was during his 58-inning debut in 2018, but the 24-year-old has still thrown 24 2/3 frames of 4.01 ERA/3.96 FIP ball with 10.58 K/9, 4.38 BB/9 and a 54.5 percent groundball rate this season.
There’s no scenario by which the Phils — with the players they have under contract — have the bullpen they need to win the NL East let alone make headway in the playoffs. With Kimbrel off the market, the Phils have to get busy and get creative. Bring back some familiar faces. Ken Giles through a trade. Ryan Madson through a signing.
They simply won’t be returning enough relievers off the IL to match the guys going down. Neris can’t consistently give you 5-out saves. Half their BP is AAA quality. Bruce was a great pickup but without BP help, the Phils will be out of contention by the July 31 trade deadline. Think I’m exaggerating? Look at their BP compared to that of every other contender.
Madson is retired, and not by choice!
Why wasn’t his choice,
@Matt Galvin
After watching him pitch in last year’s playoffs and especially World Series, it doesn’t surprise me at all that no team offered even minor league contract to Madson this year. He looked done.
He lost a limb?
Tis just a flesh wound.
I think that “exaggerating” is being kind. Pretty much every bullpen has its issues. Yes, they could use another arm or two, but so can almost every other contender.
Weve lost 6 bullpen arms, 2 OFers, and have been reduced to at least one opener experiment game (that we lost). We have 4 SP, none of whom have been good enough.
By my count, we need at least, AT LEAST, 3 more BP arms, 1 more OFer, one more SP and possibly a bench bat unless they stick with the gosselin/knapp/rodriguez/franco approach which is good for the worst bench makeup in the NL almost.
Harper and his 0.8 WAR sure is working out.
He got in one little slump and they all got scared….
Klentak drug his heels knowing, KNOWING, that the bullpen was in trouble for the last 2 months. 6 guys on the IL. Only Neshak and Morgan showed any signs of being serviceable. Robertson was a big question mark when he left.
Add to that the starting rotation has barely been able to get through 6 innings. And they’ve all had several absolutely terrible outings.
Now Cutch is gone, and Herrera is likely gone.
What has klentak done to address these glaring issues? Signs Bruce as a bench bat. While keuchel and kimbrel sat there.
I hate to say it but this season is not looking good anymore.
Yes, you are exaggerrating. Their bullpen is no worse than Atlanta, and better than Washington. They could use a couple arms, but they can be acquired or promoted.
Comparing the Phillies, in Win-Now mode, to the 4th place nationals who are likely sellers this year, is silly.
Who do they have that they can promote to be a part of a pennant race? JD Hammer? Lol
In case you didnt know, there isn’t exactly an abundance of qualified arms available on the market either.
So when the Nationals gave Corbin 100+ million, that move was made with the intent to tank?
I believe Neris has been plenty serviceable…
You should change your name because Brain doesn’t fit. You didn’t mention Neris who has been far better than serviceable. Everyone was complaining about Klentak in the off-season and he quietly picked up Cutch, Segura, Relamuto, and Harper. I have faith that he has solid trades in the works. It’s a little too early to give Keuchel the Cy Young award and mvp to Kimbrel.
The season never was looking good for Phillies, they made a huge mistake signing Harper. They needed pitching.
You pay someone what Harper is being paid and you should be getting Mike Trout or Yelich type output.
Didn’t realize Harper was leading MLB in strikeouts…smh what a bum
Briar Pickle britches oh oh. Now whats gonna happen, oh oh. Bad now. Bad Briar bad, oh oh.
No Quinn
Phillies fans, how much longer before it’s more accurate to say that Franco”s really only “captured the franchise’s imagination“ with that long-ago half season of quality production?