Ummm...it feels reactionary and almost unforgivably stupid to ask the question I'm about to ask.

4th starter in the playoffs. 3 months ago, it was Ranger Suarez...because Luzardo was so hot he was practically considered 1b or the 2. 1-2 months ago, it was Luzardo. The last few weeks, everyone assuming Luzardo goes to the pen and it's Nola.

If Nola and his 90mph fastball start getting lit up through August and Sept and Luzardo keeps doing what he's doing...who the heck is the 4th starter? And...gulp...here goes....does Walker enter that conversation?

This is getting a bit too cute, but this is right up Toper's alley...

I almost wonder if you consider a Nola/Luzardo/Walker bullpen game. All 3 particularly struggle with the 2nd pass through a lineup. It allows you go to R/L/R. Warm each up as a starter for the game let them go as long as they are cruising and have a quick hook with trouble. Have the goal of each giving you 2 innings.

11 minutes ago, iladelphxx said:

He's been good in both roles

It’s cause his last two appearances as a RP he had 4.2 IP 0 ERs. And one was in a 13-0 blowout. His first 9 appearances he had a 5.21 ERA. His previous 8 appearances before his last two as a RP his era over that stretch was at 6.92 ERA.

Castellanos since July 1st has essentially been what he was back in 2022.

Since July 1st his slashes are:

.197/.222/.328/.550

Kepler has even managed to be better than that over that time (granted far less ABs):

.205/.277/.356/.633

Angels helping us out tonight by smoking the dodgers

7 hours ago, eagle45 said:

This is getting a bit too cute, but this is right up Toper's alley...

I almost wonder if you consider a Nola/Luzardo/Walker bullpen game. All 3 particularly struggle with the 2nd pass through a lineup. It allows you go to R/L/R. Warm each up as a starter for the game let them go as long as they are cruising and have a quick hook with trouble. Have the goal of each giving you 2 innings.

Not sure you want to bring Walker in from the bullpen into a high leverage situation in the playoffs. According to fangraphs, he’s been given 4.1 innings of what’s considered high leverage situation (not many). He’s given up 6ERs. So a 17.2 era. By comparison in low leverage situations he’s had 39.1 IP and just 8 ERs and a 1.84 era (which I’m guessing is like starting a game for first couple innings as it’s why he has majority of his innings in low leverage). In medium leverage it’s 35.1 IP and 17 ERs and a 4.36 ERA

Hypothetically i believe if the Phillies get the bye to the nlds, they only need 3 starters due to scheduling. I remember hearing the nlds has game 1 Saturday, game 2 Monday, off day Tuesday, Wednesday game 3, Thursday game 4 and then Saturday game 5. Essentially wheeler and Sanchez would get 2 starts each if it goes 5 games. So basically wheeler, Sanchez and whomever as 3rd starter. In the nlcs if they make it there then you’d need a 4th starter.

Now if the Phillies play in the wild card it’s 2 games then 3rd starter begins nlds on Saturday. However if it goes 3 games then going to need your 4th starter to begin game 1.

Frankly at this point Walker pitches like he has since going back to the rotation can make the argument for him as the 4th starter. Especially if Suarez continues down this path and nola comes back and struggles. However I’d imagine the 3rd and 4th SP at the moment would be 2 of 3 of nola, Ranger and luzardo but that could very easily change with how Ranger, Nola, Walker and Luzardo finish the year

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

Not sure you want to bring Walker in from the bullpen into a high leverage situation in the playoffs. According to fangraphs, he’s been given 4.1 innings of what’s considered high leverage situation (not many). He’s given up 6ERs. So a 17.2 era. By comparison in low leverage situations he’s had 39.1 IP and just 8 ERs and a 1.84 era (which I’m guessing is like starting a game for first couple innings as it’s why he has majority of his innings in low leverage). In medium leverage it’s 35.1 IP and 17 ERs and a 4.36 ERA

Hypothetically i believe if the Phillies get the bye to the nlds, they only need 3 starters due to scheduling. I remember hearing the nlds has game 1 Saturday, game 2 Monday, off day Tuesday, Wednesday game 3, Thursday game 4 and then Saturday game 5. Essentially wheeler and Sanchez would get 2 starts each if it goes 5 games. So basically wheeler, Sanchez and whomever as 3rd starter. In the nlcs if they make it there then you’d need a 4th starter.

Now if the Phillies play in the wild card it’s 2 games then 3rd starter begins nlds on Saturday. However if it goes 3 games then going to need your 4th starter to begin game 1.

Frankly at this point Walker pitches like he has since going back to the rotation can make the argument for him as the 4th starter. Especially if Suarez continues down this path and nola comes back and struggles. However I’d imagine the 3rd and 4th SP at the moment would be 2 of 3 of nola, Ranger and luzardo but that could very easily change with how Ranger, Nola, Walker and Luzardo finish the year

Are we at the point where we can dump Walker’s salary in the offseason?

1 hour ago, Blazehound said:

Are we at the point where we can dump Walker’s salary in the offseason?

With a year left of his contract and coming off a season where he showed he can be a solid starter probably have an easier time moving him then Castellanos. Castellanos has been awful since July 1st, awful as a defensive player, his bat speed has dropped by nearly 2 mph and the fact it got out he said something to Thomson that got him benched for a game doesn’t help

Yeah i think schwarber gets 5 years and around 180-200 mil. Said this a couple months back, i think the Phillies wanted a 3 year deal and would do like a mutual option for a fourth at something like $135-150 mil. I don’t think they wanted to go to a 5th year and now with what he has done it’s likely he gets that 5th. Wouldn’t be shocked if he gets a team to do a club option for a 6th where it’s a 2-3 mil buyout if they don’t pick it up.

3 hours ago, iladelphxx said:

The fascinating thing with his changeup is that it's better than the camera can show. When you watch a game, the pitch certainly looks good. Really nice movement, you can see the different speed. But an offspeed pitch that breaks in on a lefty and away on a right...it's just very counterintuitive for MLB hitters. So it's not necessarily one of those wow pitches on camera, but it's funny how consistently stupid MLB hitters look trying to deal with it. They chase it so far out of the zone.

1 minute ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I realize the farm isn't all about stats, but how could one be surprised that they thought Tait was a better prospect than someone who was hitting like .200 with some fielding issues at the time of the trade?

9 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

I realize the farm isn't all about stats, but how could one be surprised that they thought Tait was a better prospect than someone who was hitting like .200 with some fielding issues at the time of the trade?

Just pointing out Tait from May 31 til the trade was hitting .228/.312/.367/.679. And that was in A ball. Plus also been rumors that Tait is going to have to move from being a catcher to either 1b or DH

1 hour ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Just pointing out Tait from May 31 til the trade was hitting .228/.312/.367/.679. And that was in A ball. Plus also been rumors that Tait is going to have to move from being a catcher to either 1b or DH

I was/am ALL for trading Tait. Statistically, they probably sold high on him, even if he is only 18. Most likely path for him is to get moved to 1b/DH, at which point the evaluation of his bat goes into a different basket. Given that he's only 18, is there a chance that he does evolve into a middle of the order bat at 1B/DH? Sure. But it's not a reliable projection right now. So 3 years from now, I think he's either going to project as a bat light 1B or a solid hitting catcher with deficiencies in the field. And that's not going to play as a major prospect/asset.

Granted, I still think Miller is going to end up as a right-handed hitting Stott with a bit more power and far less range and virtuosity in the field, but I digress.

27 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

I was/am ALL for trading Tait. Statistically, they probably sold high on him, even if he is only 18. Most likely path for him is to get moved to 1b/DH, at which point the evaluation of his bat goes into a different basket. Given that he's only 18, is there a chance that he does evolve into a middle of the order bat at 1B/DH? Sure. But it's not a reliable projection right now. So 3 years from now, I think he's either going to project as a bat light 1B or a solid hitting catcher with deficiencies in the field. And that's not going to play as a major prospect/asset.

Granted, I still think Miller is going to end up as a right-handed hitting Stott with a bit more power and far less range and virtuosity in the field, but I digress.

The intriguing part with Tait is his power at 18 and his bat swing at that age. I think twins are banking on him maturing and already having that down. I still do that trade for Duran even if he does pan out. When trading top 100 prospect you have to get players like Duran or close to that quality. This trade was similar to what Phillies did to acquire cliff lee originally.

Miller i think is going to wind up playing SS and move Turner to 2b and allow stott to leave. I’ve said this before i think stott is the type of player that goes to a team like St. Louis, Milwaukee or Cleveland and the hitting coach helps him be closer to what the Phillies believe. Seeing it with him right now it took them 4 months to adjust his swing and stance and it’s paid off. Imo long did a poor job since it took him this long to realize it. A better hitting coach does this after he struggled last year and the first month.

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

The intriguing part with Tait is his power at 18 and his bat swing at that age. I think twins are banking on him maturing and already having that down. I still do that trade for Duran even if he does pan out. When trading top 100 prospect you have to get players like Duran or close to that quality. This trade was similar to what Phillies did to acquire cliff lee originally.

Miller i think is going to wind up playing SS and move Turner to 2b and allow stott to leave. I’ve said this before i think stott is the type of player that goes to a team like St. Louis, Milwaukee or Cleveland and the hitting coach helps him be closer to what the Phillies believe. Seeing it with him right now it took them 4 months to adjust his swing and stance and it’s paid off. Imo long did a poor job since it took him this long to realize it. A better hitting coach does this after he struggled last year and the first month.

The thing with Stott...slow hands stay slow. He's already got a compact swing with little power. Can always tweak, but there's only much they can do to shorten and quicken him up. He'll get hot, cold, down years, better years...but he's just always going to be limited at the plate with that bat speed. Everyone tried to pretend that he stunk last year because of an injury....but at 28 years old (in about a month), I think the reality is that he's just not a good hitter and never will be.

Look...Sosa isn't much older and we are all comfortable saying that he is what he is...a nice utility platoon player. That's what Stott is.

47 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

The thing with Stott...slow hands stay slow. He's already got a compact swing with little power. Can always tweak, but there's only much they can do to shorten and quicken him up. He'll get hot, cold, down years, better years...but he's just always going to be limited at the plate with that bat speed. Everyone tried to pretend that he stunk last year because of an injury....but at 28 years old (in about a month), I think the reality is that he's just not a good hitter and never will be.

Look...Sosa isn't much older and we are all comfortable saying that he is what he is...a nice utility platoon player. That's what Stott is.

Tbh they needed to change his stance and where he kept his bat. He wasn’t getting enough speed through his swing and power. Since the 23rd it’s up i believe 6-7 mph exit velo. It’s why I’ve been saying i think a better hitting coach would’ve made that adjustment way sooner. I think he’s likely a good glove second baseman. However if you got .250-.260 type hitter with a .320-.330 OBP that’s fine for second base and bottom of the lineup. I think the misconception was he was going to be chase utley type hitter. He is never going to be that. I do think he can be what somewhat less Nico hoerner. He doesn’t hit for great power. His approach is good cause he sees a ton of pitches and works counts but gets on base and has become a .270-280 hitterp.

Well Ranger is toast

Ranger getting absolutely peppered by a mid Reds line up. Same thing every year. Guy has no stamina.

Edmundo really needs to stop playing vs. RHP. Hes hitting .210 and OBP is .225.