Phillies Rumors

J.T. Realmuto To Undergo MRI On Knee

By Connor Byrne | September 23, 2019 at 9:03pm CDT

Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto is dealing with a right knee issue that will require an MRI, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports. Realmuto felt a “popping” in the back of his knee during the Phillies’ blowout loss to the Indians on Sunday, though the belief is that he’s not battling a significant injury, Zolecki writes.

The Phillies are just about done in the National League, where they’re six games back of a wild-card spot as the final week of the season begins. Considering the franchise oversaw an ultra-aggressive winter but is now days away from increasing its playoff drought to eight years, it’s fair to say this season has been a letdown for Philly. However, last offseason’s trade for Realmuto – previously a star with the division-rival Marlins – has been anything but a disappointment. Realmuto has been the game’s premier catcher for the second straight year, having parlayed quality offense, terrific base running and defensive virtuosity into 5.6 fWAR/4.3 bWAR through 593 plate appearances.

The Phillies have seemingly little to play for at this point, which figures to increase their cautiousness in regards to Realmuto’s health. He’s slated to enter his final season of arbitration control in 2020, but the Phillies have made it clear that they want to extend the franchise backstop before a potential trip to free agency in another year-plus. Realmuto’s future is one of the key issues general manager Matt Klentak & Co. will address in the offseason.

Front Office Notes: Epstein, Red Sox, Orioles

By Dylan A. Chase | September 21, 2019 at 6:20pm CDT

With recently returned Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel having issued another ninth-inning meltdown today–against the NL Central-leading Cardinals, no less–Chicago fans may feel disinclined to read today’s piece from Chicago Sun-Times scribe Gordon Wittenmeyer, which doesn’t pull any punches in evaluating the job done by team president Theo Epstein and his staff this year. In Wittenmeyer’s view, blame for the Cubs 2019 underachievement should be directed at ownership and Epstein’s front office–not underperforming players or maligned manager Joe Maddon. Wittenmeyer writes: “What’s clear is that the onus of this season’s shortcomings falls on the shoulders of Theo Epstein’s front office for free agency and player development failings and Ricketts ownership for failure to exercise the market advantage of franchise-record revenues to increase spending during a seize-the-moment competitive window.”

Wittenmeyer leaves little earth unscorched in this column, citing the club’s inability to develop impact pitching, unwillingness to spend beyond ownership-established thresholds, and in-house pressure regarding the need for early-season “urgency” as factors that dragged down this year’s Cubbies. The Cubs dropped today’s 9-8 decision to St. Louis and now fall to 6.0 games back in the NL Central race.

More notes concerning FO leaders and PD staffers from around the game…

When Dave Dombrowski was relieved of his post by the Red Sox on Sept. 8, many cited the club’s thinned-out farm system as a potential impetus for the leadership change. For those interested in investigating that theory first-hand, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe took the time to explore Dombrowski’s effect on the Boston farm in a subscriber-only piece today (link). Recent farm system rankings from Fangraphs and Baseball America have placed Boston’s system as 30th and 22nd in the game, respectively.
In more Sox-related news, Jen McCaffery of The Athletic spoke with Red Sox assistant GM Eddie Romero regarding the organization’s decision to retain front office staffer Tony La Russa in the wake of Dombrowski’s ousting (link). La Russa’s title under Dombrowski had been “Special Assistant and Vice President of Baseball Operations”, but the club is in the process of how the club can augment the baseball legend’s role moving forward: “We think it will evolve into a lot more overall staff development, not just major league-focused,” Romero told McCaffery. “But those are things we’re still talking about and we’re excited with the prospect of Tony continuing to bring his vast experience and knowledge.”
Former big leaguer B.J. Surhoff was one casualty of Orioles GM Mike Elias’ midsummer front office shakeup, and Surhoff, for one, does not appreciate the way Elias handled his dismissal. In a candid interview with Dan Connolly of The Athletic, Surhoff claims that he was relieved of his duties as special assignment instructor after only having spoken with Elias on one other occasion–the day Elias was introduced as O’s GM back in November. “Am I pissed? Yeah. I’m unhappy about what happened,” Surhoff told Connolly. “Do I have sour grapes toward the organization? Well, I don’t like the way things are being handled. I just don’t like how they’re treating people. I want that to be known.” Surhoff stressed to Connolly that he could not speak for the other 30-plus employees who were issued non-renewals by Elias this summer. One of those non-renewals, longtime Baltimore scout Dean Albany, has been hired as a special assignment scout by the Phillies organization after spending 20 years in the Orioles org, per a separate tweet from Connolly (link).

Injury Notes: Cain, Segura, Hand, Betts, Upton

By Connor Byrne and Mark Polishuk | September 20, 2019 at 12:10am CDT

The latest on several notable injury situations from around the league…

Lorenzo Cain was forced out of the Brewers’ game Thursday afternoon due to left ankle discomfort, the team announced. Cain hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth, but was replaced by Trent Grisham in center field in the top of the fifth. Injuries have plagued Cain all season, as thumb, wrist, and oblique problems have contributed to his career-worst 76 wRC+ (from a .251/.316/.357 slash line and 10 homers) over 592 plate appearances. He’s “greatly wobbled,” per Tom Haudricourt of the Miilwaukee Journal, who adds that Cain could undergo more tests.
Phillies shortstop Jean Segura exited the team’s loss to Atlanta with a left hamstring cramp, Matt Gelb of The Athletic relays. The severity’s unknown as of now, Gelb notes. One of many big-ticket offseason acquisitions for the Phillies, Segura has produced a respectable 2.6 fWAR in 593 plate appearances, but he hasn’t been as effective as he was with the Diamondbacks and Mariners from 2016-18.
Indians closer Brad Hand threw a “really good” bullpen session Wednesday, manager Terry Francona said, though it’s still unclear when he’ll be able to return (via Mandy Bell of MLB.com). It was the first bullpen for Hand during his absence from a fatigued arm, which dates back to Sept. 8. Things have gone well to this point for the Hand-less Indians, as they’ve gone 7-2 since he last pitched and only needed saves in two of those wins (one apiece from Adam Cimber and Oliver Perez).
There’s nothing meaningful left to play for this year for the Red Sox, though banged up right fielder Mookie Betts still doesn’t plan to shut it down, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe writes. The reigning AL MVP, who hasn’t played since Sept. 12 on account of left foot inflammation, is aiming to come back during a four-game series in Tampa Bay that begins Friday. Betts wouldn’t line up in the field during that set, though, as the Red Sox don’t want to risk running him out there on turf. Meanwhile, reliever Heath Hembree is progressing from elbow problems and could come off the IL next week. Hembree’s balky elbow has forced him to the shelf twice this year and stopped him from pitching since Aug. 1.
Angels left fielder Justin Upton will undergo a platelet-rich plasma injection Friday, per Bill Ladson of MLB.com. The hope is that it’ll aid Upton in overcoming the pain in his right knee – a joint that has bothered him since spring training. The eliminated Angels shut Upton down for the season last week after injuries helped limit the normally terrific hitter to a .215/.309/.416 line with 12 home runs in 256 plate appearances.

Matt Klentak On Realmuto, Deadline, Pitching, Kapler & Staff

By Jeff Todd | September 19, 2019 at 6:56am CDT

While the Phillies aren’t buried yet, their season is hanging on by a thread. Against that backdrop, GM Matt Klentak addressed a variety of topics yesterday with reporters including Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com.

Looking forward, Klentak spoke glowingly of backstop J.T. Realmuto, whose big season has been a bright spot — and will likely prompt extension talks this winter. The Phillies aren’t shying away from making their intentions known.

Per Klentak:

“I think J.T. has had a phenomenal season. When we acquired him, I declared him the best catcher in baseball. He’s been better than that. He’s been everything we could have asked for. I think it’s reasonable to expect that one of our offseason goals will be to address his contract situation and whether we line up or not remains to be seen. But he has done nothing to change our belief in him or our desire to make him a Phillie for the foreseeable future.”

Unsurprisingly, much of the discussion looked back — and not necessarily at the positive aspects of the season. Klentak was probed in particular regarding the club’s quiet mid-season roster-building efforts. He explained that the organization started with a sober assessment of its “place in the standings” and injury outlook.

From there, it was simply a matter of assessing the market and “mak[ing] judgments.” Klentak cautioned against putting too much focus on the fact that the organization did not end up parting with major talent in any deals. Getting something for (almost) nothing is laudable, after all. As Klentak put it: “I understand that sometimes what you give up can serve as a proxy for aggressiveness or intent but I think there’s also a value in reading a market and trying to make the best deals that you can.”

As it turned out, said Klentak, the organization was able to secure useful players over the summer. He cited Corey Dickerson’s productive hitting and the “meaningful innings” thrown by relievers Mike Morin and Blake Parker, while explaining that starter Jason Vargas “has done largely what we’ve asked him to do, which was take the ball every day and keep us in the game.” Ultimately, Klentak said, the group of acquired players “may not have been household names, but I think most of them have performed in such a way that they’ve delivered what we hope they’d deliver.”

The rotation was a particular focus, with reporters asking about the club’s decision to pass on mid-season signee Dallas Keuchel, who has pitched well for the division-rival Braves. Klentak acknowledged, generally, that the organization will always “look at the reasons we made or didn’t make decisions and try to learn from it.”

In this case, Klentak indicated, the club felt not only that the 2018 starting staff was “healthy and effective,” but that it could take another step forward:

“There’s no question that we bet on some improvement from some of those players based on what they had shown in 2018, based on their ages, their development curve, that we thought there would be more improvement than what we’ve seen. It’s hard to look back and second-guess that thought process. It’s easy to look back and second-guess the results, just like many Phillies fans have second-guessed.”

Needless to say, the outlook of the rotation in 2020 and beyond figures to be an area of focus over the winter. There’ll be some work to do on the position-player side as well, but the Phillies face an abundance of pitching questions. Just how the front office will go about answering them remains a topic for another day.

There was also plenty of chatter regarding manager Gabe Kapler and his coaching staff. Kapler is “doing a very good job” overall, said Klentak, who said “the group is playing hard down the stretch.” While the results have trended downward in the second half of the season, Klentak says that he has observed “subtle improvements” in players that were at least partially attributable to the work of the uniformed staff.

Klentak also defended pitching coach Chris Young, who was elevated to the role over predecessor Rick Kranitz — who ended up taking the same job for the aforementioned Braves staff. “I think he and our group have made a lot of improvements along the way,” said Klentak. “But I understand why when a season has gone the way that it does his name is going to be in the paper.”

Ultimately, the Phils aren’t ready to make any final decisions about what kinds of changes will be made over the winter. “Until we play the last game of 2019, we’re not going to start talking about 2020 yet,” Klentak said.

NL Notes: Carpenter, Phillies, Pirates, Cubs

By Connor Byrne | September 19, 2019 at 12:26am CDT

The Cardinals look to be on their way to an NL Central title, but their 2019 success has come in spite of an uncharacteristically pedestrian year from third baseman Matt Carpenter. With the Cardinals trying to hold on in their division, Carpenter has taken a backseat to rookie Tommy Edman at the hot corner. While Carpenter did start there Wednesday in the Cardinals’ win over the Nationals, Edman has made twice as many starts this month (12 to six). Carpenter discussed his decrease in playing time with Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, acknowledging that Edman’s “got to play every day.” Although Carpenter went on to admit that dropping in the pecking order has been difficult, he added: “I understand part of what’s happening. Guys have played well and deserve to be in there. We’re winning and, at the end of the day, that’s ultimately what’s most important.” There’s still time for Carpenter to reemerge this year, but it’ll be interesting to see how the Cardinals handle him in the offseason if they’re convinced Edman’s the answer at third. A trade would be tough to put together, as Carpenter has two guaranteed years and $39MM coming his way after signing an extension in April. The three-time All-Star’s deal also includes a no-trade clause.

Phillies Will Pursue Realmuto Extension In Offseason

By Connor Byrne and Steve Adams | September 18, 2019 at 10:47pm CDT

Although the Phillies are hanging in the National League wild-card race as time runs out in the regular season, it seems fair to say this year hasn’t quite gone according to plan for the club. After missing the playoffs for the seventh straight time in 2018, the Phillies reeled in more established talent than anyone over the winter, with star catcher J.T. Realmuto among several big names the team added. Some of those pickups haven’t produced as hoped, which helps explain why the Phillies are 3 1/2 games back, but Realmuto has more than held up his end of the bargain.

Acquired from the division-rival Marlins last February, Realmuto has been the game’s foremost backstop for the second straight season. The 28-year-old hasn’t been as formidable at the plate as he was in 2018, but his .277/.328/.496 line with 25 home runs in 576 PA is well above average for his position. And when the athletic Realmuto has gotten on, he has graded as one of FanGraphs’ premier base runners.

Of course, Realmuto’s value extends well beyond what he’s capable of doing on offense. He’s also a world-class defender, one who has thrown out an eye-popping 43-of-91 would-be base stealers this year. Realmuto’s 47 percent caught-stealing rate is good for first in the game, while he comes in third overall in Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average metric.

The all-around package Realmuto has given the Phillies this year has been worth 5.7 fWAR/4.4 bWAR, and it’s possible he’ll draw some NL MVP consideration as a result. Regardless, the Phillies love what they’ve seen, and they’re hopeful their union with Realmuto will last for a while. General manager Matt Klentak confirmed as much as a guest on MLB Network reporter Jon Heyman’s podcast.

Asked if the Phillies will work to extend Realmuto, Klentak told Heyman: “I think it’s fair to speculate that that’ll be one of our offseason priorities this year,” adding: “We hope he’s a guy who’ll be wearing a Phillies uniform for a long, long time. It’s something we”ll address this offseason, and hopefully we’ll be able to line up. We’ll see.”

Klentak also heaped praise on the well-rounded Realmuto for his contributions, saying: “There’s really nothing on the field that this guy can’t do. He has the best foot speed of any catcher in baseball — he doesn’t run like a catcher at all — he hustles all the time. He’s a really good fit for our city, with his style of play. In the second half, he’s been on fire at that plate. He was maybe more neutral in the first half, but in the second half he’s carried us at times. And obviously the defense is probably the separator. Not only the framing improvements, but also his ability to gun down runners. It’s a joke how good this guy is behind the plate — how quick he gets rid of the ball and how frequently he’s putting it right on the bag for our middle infielders to drop the tag down.”

It’s clear Philadelphia’s aim is to lock up Realmuto, though it’s not at immediate risk of seeing him walk. He’ll be controllable for another year via arbitration, where he’ll surely get a sizable raise on this season’s $5.9MM extension if the two sides don’t line up on a new deal. Realmuto, for his part, already indicated back in June that he’d be open to an extension. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explained then, Realmuto shouldn’t have difficulty landing a lucrative contract of at least four years.

Corey Dickerson Out For Remainder Of Season

By Steve Adams | September 17, 2019 at 2:43pm CDT

The Phillies announced that outfielder Corey Dickerson has been placed on the 60-day injured list due to a fractured navicular bone in his left foot, thus ending his season. Right-hander Edubray Ramos was activated from the injured list in his place.

The move to acquire Dickerson from the Pirates for international bonus allotments and salary relief proved to be a nice pickup for the Phillies, as the 30-year-old slugger went on to hit .293/.307/.579 with eight homers, 10 doubles and a pair of triples in 137 plate appearances. Injuries prevented Dickerson from playing as often as the organization would’ve liked, surely, but he nonetheless proved to be a high-quality bat who came with a low cost of acquisition.

Dickerson’s season didn’t start until June due to a shoulder strain and will end early due to this foot injury, but the portion of time for which he was healthy will serve as a reminder to clubs of just how potent his bat can be as he enters free agency for the first time. In all, Dickerson came to the plate 279 times this season and raked at a .304/.341/.565 clip with a dozen homers, 28 doubles and two triples.

That marks the sixth consecutive season in which Dickerson has been an above-average hitter, although it’s worth noting that last year’s surprisingly excellent defensive metrics regressed toward his sub-par career levels in 2019. Bat-first corner players haven’t been treated well in free agency in recent seasons, and Dickerson’s modest 5.8 percent career walk rate won’t do him any favors in negotiating with clubs. Still, he’s a clear weapon against right-handed pitching who has held his own against southpaws (.272/.310/.409) in his career and should find work as a regular in someone’s corner outfield and/or designated hitter mix this winter.

Because Dickerson was traded midseason, the Phillies won’t be eligible to issue him a qualifying offer — not that they would be likely to do so even if he were eligible — so he’ll hit the open market without the burden of draft-pick compensation.

NL East Notes: Realmuto, Mattingly, Mets

By Connor Byrne | September 17, 2019 at 1:28am CDT

Here’s the latest on a trio of clubs from the NL East:

Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, who has proven to be one of the most valuable acquisitions of last offseason, suggested back in July that he’d be open to signing an extension with the club. While a deal hasn’t come together yet, it looks as if the team’s interested in locking up Realmuto for the long haul, according to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Lauber notes Realmuto could soon become the game’s latest nine-figure catcher, which would place him in company with the likes of the Giants’ Buster Posey and now-retired Twins icon Joe Mauer. Realmuto, a former Marlin, has been superb in 2019 – his age-28 campaign – and has continued to make a case for one of the richest paydays in the history of his position. With just one more season of control left after this one, the Phillies will have to act fast if they’re going to prevent Realmuto from leaving over the next year-plus. Having traded elite pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez for Realmuto over the winter, it stands to reason the Phillies will make a serious attempt to keep the two-time All-Star backstop in the fold.
In an interview with Andre Fernandez of The Athletic (subscription required), Marlins manager Don Mattingly once again indicated he’d like to manage the club in 2020. But if a new agreement between Mattingly, whose contract is set to expire, and the Marlins doesn’t come together after the season, he’ll be willing to go elsewhere. Mattingly said it’s his “mindset” to manage someplace in 2020, whether it’s Miami or another MLB city. The 58-year-old is in his fourth season in Miami, and though the win-loss results haven’t been pretty, Mattingly’s respected enough to potentially end up on other teams’ radars if the Marlins don’t retain him.
Mets first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith and right-hander Robert Gsellman are still hoping to return this season, per Tim Healey of Newsday. Time is obviously running out on the injured pair, however. Smith hasn’t played since July 27 on account of a stress reaction in his left foot, but the 24-year-old was among the Mets’ most effective hitters of 2019 before then. Gsellman has been down for just under a month with a partial lat tear – an injury that cut off an unspectacular campaign for the 26-year-old reliever.

NL Notes: Voth, Haseley, Lyles

By Anthony Franco | September 15, 2019 at 10:52am CDT

We’ll check in some NL postseason hopefuls with two weeks to play in the regular season.

Nationals right-hander Austin Voth has pitched himself into strong consideration for a spot on the club’s postseason roster as a multi-inning reliever, manager Dave Martinez tells Mark Zuckerman of MASN. Voth has started six of his seven MLB appearances this year, but he’s thus far maxed out at 80 pitches in September as he continues to build back up from a bout of biceps tendinitis. Working 4-5 innings at a time has clicked for Voth, who has put up a 16:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 12 innings this month. The Nats’ bullpen has taken its share of heat all season, so it isn’t surprising to hear Martinez contemplating giving the hot hand some important innings. Washington hasn’t yet locked down a postseason berth, of course, but Fangraphs gives them a 93.4% chance of getting to the NL Wild Card game.
Washington’s NL East rival Philadelphia hasn’t completely closed the book on 2019, although they’re in a decidedly less favorable position. Sitting 3.5 games out in the Wild Card race with three teams to jump, Philly’s down to a 1.6% shot at the promised land, again per Fangraphs. With that in mind, the Athletic’s Matt Gelb takes a look at the Phillies’ outfield outlook for 2020, specifically through the lens of rookie Adam Haseley. The former eighth overall pick’s .263/.328/.413 slash (92 wRC+) doesn’t jump off the page at first glance, but Gelb notes it’s a surprisingly solid season for a player who was forced to the majors after just 18 Triple-A games due to unexpected developments among the big league club. The Citizens Bank Park grass could become jumbled again in 2020, depending on how the club handles Odúbel Herrera post-suspension and how they deploy utilityman Scott Kingery. It’s a worthwhile read (subscription only) for Philly fans turning their attention to next spring.
The Brewers have climbed back to within one game of the Cubs in the NL Wild Card race, and Jordan Lyles is a big reason why, observes MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd noted two weeks ago that Lyles’ deadline acquisition from the division-rival Pirates was proving to be a quiet boon for the Brew Crew, and the tall righty has chipped in three sterling starts since then. As McCalvy notes, Lyles has made only small changes to his repertoire post-trade; indeed, catcher Yasmani Grandal attributed Lyles’ breakout to improved consistency in pitch execution and better sequencing. Soon to turn 29, Lyles is ticketed for free agency again this winter, where he figures to do better than the $2.05MM deal he wrapped up with Pittsburgh his last go-round.

NL East Notes: Freeman, Braves, Phillies, Marlins

By TC Zencka | September 14, 2019 at 11:04am CDT

Nick Markakis returned to the Braves lineup Friday night after a seven-week layoff. The Braves were able to “ease” Markakis back into action with a cupcake matchup against Max Scherzer, against whom he’s rolled to a .323/.375/.423 line in 65 career at-bats. Not bad production against one of the best pitchers of his generation. Three innings into his return, the Braves faced a fresh injury scare. Freddie Freeman left yesterday’s game with elbow soreness, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien. Freddie Franchise aggravated a bone spur while making a defensive play, but his removal was precautionary, and the Braves don’t expect him to miss any time. Freeman himself classified the injury as day-to-day, per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. He’ll be back in the lineup by Sunday at the latest. Let’s see what else is happening in the NL East…

Phillies manager Gabe Kapler’s decision-making has been under the microscope of late, and it could result in his dismissal, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required). Kapler’s competency in managing the bullpen was called into question as recently as last week, per The Athletic’s Meghan Montemurro, and as far back as game number three of his managerial tenure in Philly. With one year remaining on his contract, expect Kapler’s employment status to remain top-of-mind in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future. GM Matt Klenak’s job is safe, but even with a contract that runs through 2022, he may feel the pressure to find and install the right guy to lead this team, if indeed ownership has doubts about Kapler.
Meanwhile in Miami, Don Mattingly may have priced himself out of a job. Rosenthal suggests finances could be a primary motivator in deciding whether to return Mattingly to his role as Miami’s field manager beyond 2019. Regardless of performance, keeping Mattingly at his current price sounds like a no-go for the cost-conscious ownership group. Perhaps of even more consequence, there are rumblings that Michael Hill will be removed from his position as President of Baseball Ops, a title he’s held since a being promoted from GM in 2013. Hill has been with the organization since 2002. Scuttlebutt has long-time Giants front office frontman Brian Sabean as a potential replacement, while current Marlins VP of Player Development and Scouting Gary Denbo has be increasingly relied upon of late. Notably, both Sabean and Denbo have ties to Derek Jeter’s early days with the Yankees.

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