With Ranger Suarez unlikely to be ready for the first turn through the rotation this season, Phillies manager Rob Thomson announced to reporters, including Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, that left-hander Matt Strahm would start the fifth game of the season for Philadelphia, joining Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Taijuan Walker and Bailey Falter in the rotation while Suarez is on the shelf.
Strahm signed with the Phillies as a reliever this offseason but has 25 career starts in the big leagues under his belt as well. That being said, his 5.08 career ERA in 108 innings of work as a starter pales in comparison to his 3.11 ERA in 196 2/3 relief innings. That said, Strahm nonetheless represents a serviceable option to fill in for Suarez in the short-term, particularly seeing as Thomson notes he will likely be limited to between 65 and 70 pitches in his first start, as he is not fully stretched out yet. That low pitch count could help him avoid facing batters for a third time, a challenge he has only faced in 75 plate appearances in his career to this point.
More from around the NL…
- The Mets optioned infielder Danny Mendick to Triple-A today, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. Mendick, who has experience at every position except for catcher and first base, suffered a torn ACL early last season, leading to his non-tender by the White Sox in November of last year. Mendick, who slashed a solid .289/.343/.443 in 106 plate appearances prior to his injury in 2022, eventually landed with the Mets on a one-year, $1MM contract. While he was in the mix for an Opening Day roster spot, he ultimately will serve as depth in Syracuse while the final spot on the bench goes to either Darin Ruf or Tim Locastro.
- The Padres believe that veteran left-hander Cole Hamels will be able to contribute to the big league club sometime this summer, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Hamels, 39, signed with the Padres on a minor league deal after years of battling injuries, with just 3 1/3 innings of work under his belt since the end of the 2019 season. Still, with a career 3.43 ERA in 2,698 innings of work during his fifteen year major league career, it’s easy to see why the Padres decided to take a chance on the possibility he could return healthy and effective.
- The Giants have hired longtime second baseman Joe Panik as a special assistant, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports. Panik, who won the World Series with the Giants in 2014, was an All Star in 2015, and won a Gold Glove award in 2016, last played in the majors in 2021 for the Blue Jays and the Marlins. He ended his career with a .700 OPS in 818 games, slashing .264/.328/.372. According to Pavlovic, Panik recently spent time working with some of San Francisco’s young infielders in minor league camp. Panik is happy in his new role, telling Pavlovic that “You kind of want to give back because there are a lot of coaches, a lot of people that helped me get to where I was. For me to be on the other side, it’s a little weird, a little different, but I’m enjoying that part of it.”
Panik at the San Fran disco yet again!
Ooooof
Joe Panik, FOREVER S F GIANT !!
Turned the best double play in World Series history in 2014.
@talking, I’ll never ever forget that double-play. Best ever! Highlight of my spectating “career.”
I was honestly impressed that during the 2014 playoffs, one of the Fox Sports talking heads warbled “Panik in the streets of London” in an almost passable Morrissey impression.
Over/under 0.2 IP for Hamels this season?
Under …I’ll believe it when I see it, until then I’m going with 0.0 IP
I’ll take the over. But I don’t think it’ll be anything pretty. Likely a couple appearances with a bad era.
I’m going the over.
Nice to have you back Joe and good luck with the new job
Hamel name seemed like a Newspaper Filler. Fill some Space. Nothing New. Why?
Matt Strahm is a good dude with awful knees, I hope he kicks ass in Philly
I don’t want him starting much. He’s a nice bullpen piece though.
I want a player turned coach to be more honest than this:
“You kind of want to give back because there are a lot of coaches, a lot of people that helped me get to where I was…”
I’m not saying Panik blew through his millions, but just all former players say this. I want a dude to say “I lived hard…HARD! For a solid decade. I don’t know anything about coaching, but I have zero qualifications for anything else. Heck, I can barely read. I’m just glad I can still collect a paycheck”
Oh so nice of you to stereotype MLB players.
I said I’m not saying he did that. I said I want a Charlie sheen stereotype response. Reading isn’t your strong suit?
Just a dumb comment. Go back to your menial job and keep living “vicariously” through ex major leaguers, loser
Also your name sucks. “Beans for Jesus”, is that some mockery of Christianity? You just suck as a human all together.
I think it would be refreshing. To hear a coach say “look it was either this or holding a cardboard sign, and the weather is better in CA than NY so I figured I’d give it a shot out west here.”
Do you assume all people named “Jesus” are mocking Christianity? Christianity does a good job making itself look like a joke without my help.
If you want outrage you can look anywhere, no need to make some up for yourself over a screen name.
Your pfp is Charlie sheen. So you must be annoying to most people.
Well considering you added nothing to this discussion, you’re clearly not very intelligent. Mocking the God that most people worship in America and definitely in Latin America isn’t going to get you too far. Call it outrage all you want but you’ll have to answer to him. Bye bye you go 🙂
Have you ever heard of the movie “Major League?” I forget, who was the actor that played Ricky Vaughn?
If Hamels can continue to impress the Padres by playing catch ….. I am sure that A.J. Prellar is already kicking around the idea of a multi-year guaranteed contract.
Mendick, unfortunate.
That’s what she said
If the Mets select Darin Ruf over Tim Locastro, Spring means nothing. They already sent down Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Jose Peraza, all of whom I thought earned the right to play.
Ruf should be gone. With shortened benches these days, should not be room for a bench bat/DH who is position limited and the short side of a platoon. Plus, he hit poorly for the Mets last year. Would rather have JD Davis back.
If trades like that persist, in two years Met fans will be screaming for Eppler’s scalp. The GM job is above his pay grade. JMHO, but in 2023, the injuries pile up and the Mets barely finish at .500.
That said, that being said.
Good luck, Joe Panik! Toronto will miss ya.
The Padres. LOL!
The Phillies pitching staff looks like a dumpster fire to start the season