7 minutes ago, Uscg-green said:

Wonder how Houston cheated this time? 

Nah

4 minutes ago, Uscg-green said:

Wonder how Houston cheated this time? 

I don’t think they cheated this time. This roster was just built more for the postseason. They were definitely not as good of a hitting team as the earlier runs they had. Really their 1-5 were very good but their bottom of the lineup was not very good. However their starting pitching depth was much better than those earlier Astros teams. Javier and McCullers as 3rd and 4th starters is ridiculous. It’s like when the Phillies had hamels and oswalt as they’re 3 and 4 starters. I’d argue Javier and McCullers were in the height of their primed whereas oswalt was just exiting it. Add on their bullpen just had a bunch of guys who could throw heat and it never stopped. I’m the past they had some good rams in the pen but there were a weak link or two. This pen which really didn’t use a lefty just could dominant lineups. 

i hate the Astros but their farm system has done a terrific job scouting and building guys like Valdez, Javier, McCullers and those guys in the pen.  Heck we didn’t even see Hunter brown in this series who might wind up being the best pitching prospect they have. He has Valdez and verlander type of stuff. 

11 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Jayson stark who was on 975 during the season who said he would and eventually claimed he was told he was gonna have to have it. So unless your "sources” know more than stark that’s where i got it. 

 

I can tell you right now they currently have no plans for him to get Tommy John. Believe what you want, that's entirely up to you.

4 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

I can tell you right now they currently have no plans for him to get Tommy John. Believe what you want, that's entirely up to you.

Yes I’m gonna believe you who thinks NY and La doctors stats over Jayson stark. Right… meanwhile the Phillies have said it’s a tear of his UCL. with the time off from his thumb injury he had, he still had pain and couldn’t throw. So it’s only a matter of when not if he gets it. Only reason he was able to play was because of the new universal DH where he could still hit because his elbow was torn and hurt to the point he couldn’t throw 

31 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

Yep. And the Phillies in 2009 when A Rod and Cano got caught cheating after since they played a big role in that series and they were juicing.

I have two little nephews and already have been teaching them that they were champions along with the 2008 Phils and 2017 Eagles. 😁

To be fair, JC Romero (whose wife I am lonnnnng-time friends with) who won 2 games in 2008 was also caught juicing. I don't think there was any Astros cheating this year. They were just the better team. I'm still bummed as hell, but no shame in losing to a team that can throw Javier out there as their #4.

2 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

I can tell you right now they currently have no plans for him to get Tommy John. Believe what you want, that's entirely up to you.

so definitive.

10 minutes ago, Outlaw said:

To be fair, JC Romero (whose wife I am lonnnnng-time friends with) who won 2 games in 2008 was also caught juicing. I don't think there was any Astros cheating this year. They were just the better team. I'm still bummed as hell, but no shame in losing to a team that can throw Javier out there as their #4.

so definitive.

The issue with his elbow (torn UCL)is they tried PRP to get it better. When he was out for 2 1/2 months with the thumb surgery that’s what they tried. They were hoping that that 2 1/2 months off along with the PRP that his elbow would feel better and be respond so he could play the field. Meanwhile, when he came back, it was still bothered him and they didn’t want to push it and wind up having it tear even more.

Which means it did not work. Which means if he tries to play the field and he throwing the ball routinely there’s a chance he is in discomfort and tears it even more. So unless he says he wants to DH for the rest of his career which I’m guessing he doesn’t and the Phillies don’t want Schwarber Castellanos both playing in the outfield for 140+ games he’s gonna need it at some point in time, it’s only a matter of when he needs to get it cause the alternative of using PRP and what they tried with dominguez but now with harper didn’t work. 

Phillies bats went cold and they didn’t have enough pitching to overcome it — pretty simple.  Two things frustrate the heck out of me with the anal-ytics goofs ruining baseball, though:

Your starting pitchers have to be your aces, you need at least two (preferably three), and you ride them.  The Rays lost a chance to win a World Series two years ago when their manager kept going out and getting his starting pitcher too early — Thompson made that fatal error again tonight.  I don’t give a crap what the anal goofs say about "third time through the order, or "bullpen guys are specialists now”.  B.S.  Guys pitch out of the bullpen because they aren’t good enough to be starters.  All it takes is one guy out of the bullpen to not have his stuff, and boom — 3-run homer.  Wheeler is your horse; he has to pitch out of that.  Baker let Verlander pitch out of it, Thompson didn’t trust his ace enough.  I’d rather lose with my best starter than try to get 11 outs from the bullpen.

You should NEVER have a power hitter batting lead off.  Bugs the sh!t out of me at the best of times, but really bugs me when Schwarber is the only guy producing runs.  I saw a whole bunch of solo home runs from Schwarber all season and postseason.  Power hitters are run producers.  Cannot have him batting after the #8 and 9 guys; he has to be hitting #3 or 4.  5th at worst.  Your RBI guys are middle of the order players.

22 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

The issue with his elbow (torn UCL)is they tried PRP to get it better. When he was out for 2 1/2 months with the thumb surgery that’s what they tried. They were hoping that that 2 1/2 months off along with the PRP that his elbow would feel better and be respond so he could play the field. Meanwhile, when he came back, it was still bothered him and they didn’t want to push it and wind up having it tear even more.

Which means it did not work. Which means if he tries to play the field and he throwing the ball routinely there’s a chance he is in discomfort and tears it even more. So unless he says he wants to DH for the rest of his career which I’m guessing he doesn’t and the Phillies don’t want Schwarber Castellanos both playing in the outfield for 140+ games he’s gonna need it at some point in time, it’s only a matter of when he needs to get it cause the alternative of using PRP and what they tried with dominguez but now with harper didn’t work. 

 

20 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

Phillies bats went cold and they didn’t have enough pitching to overcome it — pretty simple.  Two things frustrate the heck out of me with the anal-ytics goofs ruining baseball, though:

Your starting pitchers have to be your aces, you need at least two (preferably three), and you ride them.  The Rays lost a chance to win a World Series two years ago when their manager kept going out and getting his starting pitcher too early — Thompson made that fatal error again tonight.  I don’t give a crap what the anal goofs say about "third time through the order, or "bullpen guys are specialists now”.  B.S.  Guys pitch out of the bullpen because they aren’t good enough to be starters.  All it takes is one guy out of the bullpen to not have his stuff, and boom — 3-run homer.  Wheeler is your horse; he has to pitch out of that.  Baker let Verlander pitch out of it, Thompson didn’t trust his ace enough.  I’d rather lose with my best starter than try to get 11 outs from the bullpen.

You should NEVER have a power hitter batting lead off.  Bugs the sh!t out of me at the best of times, but really bugs me when Schwarber is the only guy producing runs.  I saw a whole bunch of solo home runs from Schwarber all season and postseason.  Power hitters are run producers.  Cannot have him batting after the #8 and 9 guys; he has to be hitting #3 or 4.  5th at worst.  Your RBI guys are middle of the order players.

Provided there are no major additions (which I doubt-I think a leadoff hitter is a big priority for them this offseason), my lineup would be:

1- Stott L

2- Segura R

3- Harper L

4- Realmuto R

5- Schwarber L

6- Hoskins R

7- Bohm R

8- Marsh L

9- Castellanos R

5 minutes ago, Outlaw said:

 

Provided there are no major additions (which I doubt-I think a leadoff hitter is a big priority for them this offseason), my lineup would be:

1- Stott L

2- Segura R

3- Harper L

4- Realmuto R

5- Schwarber L

6- Hoskins R

7- Bohm R

8- Marsh L

9- Castellanos R

I think they are going to sign Turner. He’s good friends with harper and they’ve been linked to him since last offseason. Frankly i think they need another front end starter. I wish they’d get rodon and Turner but i don’t see both as a possibility. The thing that scares me next year is Wheeler is 33 and nola along with Suárez just pitched the most innings they’ve ever pitched. You could see a slight regression from both kind of like what happened with hamels after 2008 in 09. That’s another reason i think another front line starter important. If they get Turner i imagine their lineup would be 

turner

schwarber

realmuto

harper

hoskins

castellanos

bohm

stott 

marsh 

2 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I think they are going to sign Turner. He’s good friends with harper and they’ve been linked to him since last offseason. Frankly i think they need another front end starter. I wish they’d get rodon and Turner but i don’t see both as a possibility. The thing that scares me next year is Wheeler is 33 and nola along with Suárez just pitched the most innings they’ve ever pitched. You could see a slight regression from both kind of like what happened with hamels after 2008 in 09. That’s another reason i think another front line starter important. If they get Turner i imagine their lineup would be 

turner

schwarber

realmuto

harper

hoskins

castellanos

bohm

stott 

marsh 

Turner

Realmuto

Stott

Harper

Schwarber

 

In case anyone missed it — and I’m not scrolling back through pages of Phillies talk to check — Dicker the Kicker is going to kick for the Chargers tomorrow. He was activated off their practice squad today. Their regular kicker has been injured for a while, and the practice squad guy they have been using in his place was injured last week. That’s why he was signed in the first place. I wish him well.

7 hours ago, Alphagrand said:

Phillies bats went cold and they didn’t have enough pitching to overcome it — pretty simple.  Two things frustrate the heck out of me with the anal-ytics goofs ruining baseball, though:

Your starting pitchers have to be your aces, you need at least two (preferably three), and you ride them.  The Rays lost a chance to win a World Series two years ago when their manager kept going out and getting his starting pitcher too early — Thompson made that fatal error again tonight.  I don’t give a crap what the anal goofs say about "third time through the order, or "bullpen guys are specialists now”.  B.S.  Guys pitch out of the bullpen because they aren’t good enough to be starters.  All it takes is one guy out of the bullpen to not have his stuff, and boom — 3-run homer.  Wheeler is your horse; he has to pitch out of that.  Baker let Verlander pitch out of it, Thompson didn’t trust his ace enough.  I’d rather lose with my best starter than try to get 11 outs from the bullpen.

You should NEVER have a power hitter batting lead off.  Bugs the sh!t out of me at the best of times, but really bugs me when Schwarber is the only guy producing runs.  I saw a whole bunch of solo home runs from Schwarber all season and postseason.  Power hitters are run producers.  Cannot have him batting after the #8 and 9 guys; he has to be hitting #3 or 4.  5th at worst.  Your RBI guys are middle of the order players.

I'm far from a baseball guy. But I do understand 101. I think you are spot on and said as much to my boy after the game.

 

7 hours ago, Outlaw said:

 

Provided there are no major additions (which I doubt-I think a leadoff hitter is a big priority for them this offseason), my lineup would be:

1- Stott L

2- Segura R

3- Harper L

4- Realmuto R

5- Schwarber L

6- Hoskins R

7- Bohm R

8- Marsh L

9- Castellanos R

All we kept hearing from Smoltz was that Castellanos was going to have a great season for the Phillies next year - as if that was making me feel better about his lack of production now ... BUT - assuming that Smoltz is correct than Castellanos is your 3, 4, or 5 depending on where you want Schwarber who should also be 3, 4, or 5. I like how Stott approaches his at bats - deep counts - makes the pitcher work. But right now he doesn't hit well enough to be leadoff. My ideal lineup begins with the 93 Phillies. I really wish Len Dykstra hadn't turned out to be a rather crappy person because there are so many great stories. It's hard to celebrate that guy today. But the 93 version of The Dude was the definition of leadoff hitter. Dykstra was a hitting machine. But he was disciplined at the plate. He was always working the count and protecting the plate with 2 strikes by fouling off pitches looking for something he could drive. And he would absolutely take a walk if the pitcher was offering it. Of course Dykstra struck out - all batters do - but The Dude rarely struck out swinging at a ball. Does that player even exist in baseball today?

I don't think the 2023 Leadoff hitter is currently on the roster but here's my scenario where the Phillies are able to sign Trea Turner. I'm also hoping that Smoltz is correct and that Castellanos can be John Kruk at the plate.

1. Turner R

2. Stott L  / Jean Segura R

3. Castellanos R (Smoltz version) (or 5)

4. Harper L (or 3)

5. Schwarber  L (or 4 or 6 or 2)

6. Realmuto R (or 5 or 2)

7. Bohm R

8. Hoskins R

9. Marsh L

 

The problem would be where to play Turner. With Castellanos in the lineup he or Bryce are going to be DH. I like Jean Segura - someone was going to be the odd man out. 

A really good breakdown of our offense by one of our former qbs. 

He brings up some interesting points, especially on how our tendencies can be used to create explosive plays. 

One example he used was the deep ball to quez against the vikings, which was open because the safety thought jalen was throwing the deep out to goedert. It was a good example of hurts reading the defense and making them pay for guessing wrong. 

 

I think the best way to sum up my feelings about the Phillies losing is it sucks.   I'm not angry or sad but it sucks.  They had opportunities.  We can talk about Wheeler getting pulled and if he just gets out of the 6th but the meat of their order just went ice cold at the exact right time.  You could tell they were trying too hard to break the slump with how quickly they were making outs.  It seemed they were counting on a big hit with 2 outs every inning because the 1st two batters of every inning were easy outs.  It REALLY sucked to see Kyle Schwarber's last at bat of the year go down with a freaking BUNT attempt strikeout.

Add that to all of the bounces going the Astros way.  Whether that was luck or just better players making plays when it mattered, it sucked to see Hopkins blow a play at 1st letting a run in just to be followed up by their 1st baseman making a terrific play to save 2 runs.   Plays were there to be made, the Astros just made more of them.

One thing that crossed my mind is that we never would have been in this situation had the DH rule never made it's way to the NL.  Harper would have been put on ice for his elbow and we wouldn't have been able to see him perform the way he did. 

Not sure I see this team back in the WS next year.  This is a paid for team of veterans players for the most part.  There isn't really room to grow.  These guys are who they are.  They need to buy more players and see if they bond and Thompson can manage them.  We might see Stott take the next step to become the lead off man and it would be great to see Derek Hall show he can be an every day 1st baseman but I don't see many areas for this team to continue development rather than hope aging players can keep it up. 

1 hour ago, Nivraga said:

I'm far from a baseball guy. But I do understand 101. I think you are spot on and said as much to my boy after the game.

 

All we kept hearing from Smoltz was that Castellanos was going to have a great season for the Phillies next year - as if that was making me feel better about his lack of production now ... BUT - assuming that Smoltz is correct than Castellanos is your 3, 4, or 5 depending on where you want Schwarber who should also be 3, 4, or 5. I like how Stott approaches his at bats - deep counts - makes the pitcher work. But right now he doesn't hit well enough to be leadoff. My ideal lineup begins with the 93 Phillies. I really wish Len Dykstra hadn't turned out to be a rather crappy person because there are so many great stories. It's hard to celebrate that guy today. But the 93 version of The Dude was the definition of leadoff hitter. Dykstra was a hitting machine. But he was disciplined at the plate. He was always working the count and protecting the plate with 2 strikes by fouling off pitches looking for something he could drive. And he would absolutely take a walk if the pitcher was offering it. Of course Dykstra struck out - all batters do - but The Dude rarely struck out swinging at a ball. Does that player even exist in baseball today?

I don't think the 2023 Leadoff hitter is currently on the roster but here's my scenario where the Phillies are able to sign Trea Turner. I'm also hoping that Smoltz is correct and that Castellanos can be John Kruk at the plate.

1. Turner R

2. Stott L  / Jean Segura R

3. Castellanos R (Smoltz version) (or 5)

4. Harper L (or 3)

5. Schwarber  L (or 4 or 6 or 2)

6. Realmuto R (or 5 or 2)

7. Bohm R

8. Hoskins R

9. Marsh L

 

The problem would be where to play Turner. With Castellanos in the lineup he or Bryce are going to be DH. I like Jean Segura - someone was going to be the odd man out. 

I don't like the lefties back to back.  We need Realmuto to rest more often, which means him not batting in the 'heart' of the order.

Move Realmuto to 2, Harper to 3, Castellanos at 4 and Scwarber at 5.  You can flip Stott up to 2 against righties when you give Realmuto time off.

7 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Not sure I see this team back in the WS next year.  This is a paid for team of veterans players for the most part.  There isn't really room to grow.  These guys are who they are.  They need to buy more players and see if they bond and Thompson can manage them.  We might see Stott take the next step to become the lead off man and it would be great to see Derek Hall show he can be an every day 1st baseman but I don't see many areas for this team to continue development rather than hope aging players can keep it up. 

Always hard to achieve and in their division there are the Braves and Mets.  

Good 

27 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

 

Not sure I see this team back in the WS next year.  This is a paid for team of veterans players for the most part.  There isn't really room to grow.  These guys are who they are.  They need to buy more players and see if they bond and Thompson can manage them.  We might see Stott take the next step to become the lead off man and it would be great to see Derek Hall show he can be an every day 1st baseman but I don't see many areas for this team to continue development rather than hope aging players can keep it up. 

I disagree.....in that you have Painter, Abel and McGarry as pitchers....need to have 1 or 2 of them be what we hope them to be.  Watching the World Series, the Astros hitters def. stepped up but the biggest difference in my opinion was the pitching depth.  So....it's time for 1 or 2 of these prospects to be put into the rotation and see what they have.  From a line up perspective, hopefully Castellanos goes back or at least closer to what he has been in his career.  Stott continues to mature.  Marsh continues to mature.  And well Hoskins....gets shown the door.  I like him, loved the bat spike....but for the money he is going to require, buh bye.  Bring in Hall.

So starting pitchers would be Wheeler (1), Suarez (2), Nola (3) and then somehow having Painter, Abel and McGarry as (4) and (5).  

I'm not going to get into the line up.....but no matter what, the team will be competing for the Playoffs again next year, and for a while.....get better pitching depth (which they have the prospects to do internally)....continue to bolster the bullpen (go get)....and hope Castellanos becomes what he has been.

No matter what, this was a lot of fun for sure.....I can't stand regular season baseball.  Too much means too little...too many games, waaaaaay boring.  But I will say that this playoff run where every pitch, every play, every at bat matters....well it was great to watch.

If the reports are true about what the Rams offered for Burns and McCaffrey then they really are nuts.

Two 1sts and a 2nd for Burns?  That's insane.  Carolina is stupid for not doing it.

Regular season coaching leaders by winning percentage.  Min 25 games.  Super Bowl era.  (Yes, I cherry picked.)

 

4 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

Regular season coaching leaders by winning percentage.  Min 25 games.  Super Bowl era.  (Yes, I cherry picked.)

 

 

Surprised that Andy and McCay don't make the list. 

BTW, I am thankful for the Phillies season.  It was a great ride.  It had been a long time since I jumped out of my chair while watching a baseball game.  The team delivered for the fans.  There is no shame in losing the WS to the best pitching staff in the league.

1 hour ago, Iggles_Phan said:

I don't like the lefties back to back.  We need Realmuto to rest more often, which means him not batting in the 'heart' of the order.

Move Realmuto to 2, Harper to 3, Castellanos at 4 and Scwarber at 5.  You can flip Stott up to 2 against righties when you give Realmuto time off.

you could see that relamuto just didn’t have as much left in the tank after game one. For the rest of the series he was 2-20 with 12Ks. Some of that is Astros having great pitching and some he just look like he gave everything he had. The way stubbs hit this year I’d have been Ok giving him more time off. However one reason he had to play more is the Phillies is putting themselves in a 22-29 hole. So down the stretch he was forced to play more cause they were basically all must win games. then in september getting swept by cubs and giants and just not playing good baseball made him also have to play much more down the stretch. If the Phillies didn’t start off in that hole and played better in series in September I’m guessing he’d have gotten more time off which may have helped.

Also not helping matters the Phillies needed his bat after harper got hurt. They were basically in need of him playing the way he did otherwise they likely miss the playoffs with how castellanos was not very good hitting wise and missing Harper’s bat. 

Last time we saw the Eagles play a game on Sunday was October 16th and we won't get to see them play on Sunday again until November 20th.  

Good trade