GAME RECAP: No Game Yesterday
Phillies took the day off to
get acquainted with the new environment brought about both by trades and an
unusually excellent record in the second half.
OTHER
NOTES FROM THE DAY:
- It will be interesting to see if Ryan Howard starts for the Phillies against Wood and the Dodgers. On the one hand, Howard has hit safely in his last eight games, his longest streak since April 17-30, 2013. On the other hand, Howard normally sits against left-handed pitching and Wood is no exception. Howard has only faced Wood four times despite the amount of times Wood has faced the Phillies. Wood has gotten the best of Howard as he is 0-for-3 with a walk.
NEXT
GAME:
Jimmy Rollins played 1,047 games in Philadelphia wearing red and
white. Tuesday he'll make his first appearance in blue. Traded to the Dodgers
in the offseason, the player with the most hits, most doubles and third-most
runs scored in Phillies history will return to Philadelphia as a visiting
player when the Phillies host the Dodgers for the first contest of a three-game
series. This won't, however, be the first time that Rollins plays against his
former team. The Phillies and Dodgers played a four-game series in early July,
a series in which the Dodgers took three out of four games. In that series,
Rollins went 5-for-15 with two doubles, a home run, five RBIs and four runs
scored.
Alex Wood will be making his Dodgers debut Tuesday after Los
Angeles acquired the pitcher from the Braves before the non-waiver Trade
Deadline. Wood, a 24-year-old starting pitcher in his third season in the
Majors, was 7-6 with a 3.54 ERA in 20 starts with Atlanta this year. Wood is
having the worst season of his career by WHIP, as he is allowing 1.408 men on
base per inning and is allowing 10 hits per nine innings. As a
former Brave, it is no surprise that Wood has an extensive history against the
Phillies. The left-hander has made seven starts and 12 appearances with a 3.07
ERA over those 44 combined innings. Wood tossed his only career complete game
against the Phillies in 2014.
PHILS PHACTS:
Preparation Pays Off – General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. took a seat in his box
Sunday morning at Citizens Bank Park, and he spoke for more than 20 minutes
about everything that happened in the days, weeks and months before Friday's 4
p.m. ET non-waiver Trade Deadline. And Amaro never checked his phone. He
checked it constantly before the Deadline. Amaro had text discussions with
teams as late as 5 in the morning on Friday, trying to find the best return for
the Phillies' talent. "Nobody really sleeps when you're talking to teams
on the West Coast," Amaro said. In the end, Philadelphia sent Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman and $9.5 million to Texas, Jonathan Papelbon to Washington and Ben Revere to Toronto for eight Minor League
prospects and one big league pitcher. Including the prospects the Phillies
received in December for Jimmy Rollins, Marlon Byrd and Antonio Bastardo,
they have added 12 Minor League players to the organization in the past seven
months, including 10
that rank among the Top 24 in their system and three
in the Top 69 in baseball, according to
MLBPipeline.com. "You've got to give quality to get quality," Amaro
said. "We think we did that." The process started in October, weeks
after Phillies president Pat Gillick announced the team planned to rebuild,
untethering Amaro from the pursuit of the postseason with a core of aging
veterans. The Phils quickly identified a list of teams that could be a fit for
Hamels and others, and they scouted those organizations thoroughly from Spring
Training through last week. "This was as well prepared as we've
been," Amaro said. "There were no shortage of suitors, and when
you're talking about five or six teams to cover all those players and all those
prospects … we started to target some of those guys during the offseason. The
scouting and the addition of the analytics portion of these evaluations put us
in the best position to be ready to make the trades." Quality is key. Some
folks considered the Phillies' farm system to be among the bottom third in
baseball before this season. Following the 2015 Draft and the prospects they
received from Texas, Washington and Toronto, some believe they have catapulted
into the top half, if not the top third. But quantity is key, too. "They
always say to get five if you need 10," Gillick said. "It's a numbers
game. We think we got the numbers, and we think we got the quality. Hopefully
out of that group, we'll get four or five of them that'll be able to perform in
the Major Leagues." "You want to dream as much as you possibly can,
but you also have to be realistic about the players," Amaro said. Think
back to the trades the Phillies made for Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence. How many of those prospects came back
to haunt Philadelphia? Carlos Carrasco? Travis
d'Arnaud? Jon Singleton? Jarred
Cosart? If one of the two hitters the Phils acquired for Hamels (outfielder
Nick Williams and catcher Jorge Alfaro) and one of the three pitchers (Jake
Thompson, Jerad Eickhoff and Alec Asher) become above-average big league
players, the trade will be considered a win. If any more produce, it will be a
bonus. "We're not going to hit on every player," Amaro said.
"Very, very rarely does that ever happen. We wanted to create as much
depth as much as we possibly could, so if we have two or three guys fall by the
wayside, we still have a chance with four or five of the others guys." * *
* * * The Phillies were in a unique situation leading up to the Trade Deadline,
with Gillick in his final couple months as president, Amaro in the final couple
months of his contract and Andy MacPhail as the president-in-waiting, observing
and offering opinions throughout the process. "He did an excellent
job," Gillick said about Amaro. "He's going to do things in a
professional manner. He's going to do things he thinks are in the Phils' best
interest. People might think he's doing something to save his job, but I've
always said I have confidence in him that he's going to carry out his
responsibilities in a professional manner." Of course, MacPhail will have
the final say on Amaro and others in the front office. What does he think about
Amaro and his team's performance at the Deadline? Few know that answer, because
MacPhail has not commented publicly. "Andy has been here a month or so, so
he knows what's transpired," Gillick said. "I don't have to go to bat
for [Amaro]. Andy is observant. Andy takes everything in, so he'll make his own
decision." Said Amaro: "I'll never change the way I go about my
business, regardless of my job status. It's not about me. It's about our
organization, trying to move it forward. My job now is to get us back to the
point where we're doing that again. And to do it in an efficient way and to do
it with a more long-term effect." * * * * * The Phillies could still
upgrade their system this month in an August waiver deal. There is interest in Chase Utley. Ryan Howard, Aaron Harang and Jeff Francoeur
could be options, too. But Gillick and Amaro already see a stronger farm system
than a year ago. "I think it's made a tremendous jump from a depth
standpoint and quality standpoint," Gillick said. "This day and age,
you never know how quickly things can develop," Amaro said. "[Astros
GM] Jeff Luhnow did a fantastic job with his organization. They're a contending
team a year or two before they thought they'd be a contender. Now they're going
for it."
Knapp Makes The Team – Left-hander John Means barely snuck onto MLBPipeline.com's Orioles Top 30 Prospects list,
checking in at No. 29. While he may not have the highest profile in Baltimore's
system, he's raising it after his performance in July. Means allowed just six
earned runs in six starts last month, saving his best outing for last. He
tossed low Class A Delmarva's first no-hitter in 17 years on Friday, striking
out nine in seven innings to beat Charleston, 4-0, in the first game of a
doubleheader. Just three RiverDogs runners reached base, one each on a walk, a
hit batter and an error. Means' gem earned him Prospect Team of the Week
recognition for the second time in three weeks. Here are the rest of the top
performers for the week of July 27 - Aug. 2: C: Andrew Knapp, Phillies (No. 17 prospect):
7 G, .444/.500/.778, 5 R, 6 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 6 SO. The first college
catcher selected in the 2013 Draft (second round), he got displaced as
Philadephia's top catching prospect when Jorge Alfaro arrived from the Rangers
via the Cole Hamels trade.
Knapp, who's batting a combined .292/.368/.431 with four homers in 91 games
between high Class A and Double-A this season, still might beat Alfaro to
Citizens Bank Park. 1B: Bobby Bradley, Indians (No. 7 prospect): 6 G, .381/.500/1.048, 9 R, 2
2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 6 BB, 9 SO. A year after winning the Rookie-level Arizona
League Triple Crown in his pro debut, he leads the low Class A Midwest League
with 18 homers and a .486 slugging percentage. Bradley has a sweet left-handed
swing that should translate into hitting for average as well, though he'll have
to cut down on his strikeouts (113 in 79 games). He's batting .253/.343/.486
overall. 2B: Jose Peraza, Dodgers (No. 4 prospect): 6 G, .435/.435/.739, 6 R, 2
2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SO, 2 SB. Part of a 13-player deal with the Braves
and Marlins last week, he went 5-for-10 with a homer in his first three games
in his new organization. The speedy Peraza, who could take over at second base
in Los Angeles if Howie Kendrick departs
as a free agent this offeseason, is hitting .299/.322/.389 with 27 steals in 99
Triple-A games. 3B: Austin Riley, Braves (No. 18 prospect): 7 G, .393/.433/.857, 7 R, 2
2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 1 BB, 7 SO. Though scouts liked him more as a
pitcher coming into the 2015 season, he was more impressive as a hitter as a
Mississippi high school senior and signed for $1.6 million as the 41st overall
pick in June. Though Riley was promoted to the Rookie-level Appalachian League
on Friday, he's still tied for the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League lead with
seven homers and is batting .267/.343/.517 between the two stops. SS: JaCoby
Jones, Tigers (No. 13 prospect): 6 G, .409/.440/.818, 7 R, 3
HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SO, 2 SB. The Pirates promoted Jones to Double-A last
Monday, then traded him to the Tigers for Joakim Soria on Thursday. Jones homered three times
in three games with his new organization, and he is now hitting .253/.313/.396
with 10 homers and 14 steals in 99 games between high Class A and Double-A this
year. OF: Lewis Brinson, Rangers (No. 4 prospect): 6 G, .458/.440/1.083, 4 R, 4
2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 5 SO. He becomes just the fourth prospect to earn
PTOW recognition in consecutive weeks, joining Cubs catcher Kyle Schwarber, Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes and Astros second baseman Tony Kemp.
Brinson ranked second in the high Class A California League in all three slash
stats at .337/.416/.628, and he also had 13 homers and 13 steals in 64 games
there before getting promoted to Double-A on Friday. OF: Max Kepler, Twins (No. 7 prospect):
6 G, .292/.357/.792, 5 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 3 BB, 6 SO. Signed out
of Germany for a then-European-record $800,000 bonus in 2009, he's still just
22 and is beginning to deliver on the offensive promise that Minnesota saw in
him. Kepler tops the Double-A Southern League in hitting (.328), ranks second
in on-base percentage (.408) and slugging (.543) and has 41 extra-base hits
(including six homers) in 80 games. OF: Tyler O'Neill, Mariners (No. 7 prospect):
7 G, .379/.387/1.000, 8 R, 3 2B, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 1 BB, 8 SO, 2 SB. He went
deep in five of his seven games last week and eight times in his past 11
contests to take over the Cal League lead with 24. O'Neill is still raw at the
plate, as his .258/.297/.554 line and 100/15 K/BB ratio would attest, but his
power is for real. LHP: John Means, Orioles (No. 29 prospect): 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 1 CG, 1
ShO, 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 0.143 WHIP. An 11th-round pick out
of West Virginia in 2014, Means is a finesse left-hander who relies heavily on
his changeup and control. In 20 starts this year, he has gone 8-7 with a 3.48
ERA, has a 78/22 K/BB ratio in 103 1/3 innings and a .290 opponent average. RHP:
Luis Severino, Yankees (No. 1 prospect): 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 6 IP, 1
H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO, 0.167 WHIP. His 1.91 ERA and 0.929 WHIP easily
would lead the Triple-A International League if he had enough innings to
qualify, but New York's top prospect probably won't get the chance to
accumulate them. The Yankees announced that they'll call up Severino to start
against the Red Sox on Wednesday. He has nothing left to prove in the Minors
after going 9-2 with a 2.45 ERA in 19 starts between Double-A and Triple-A at
age 21, including a 98/27 K/BB ratio in 99 1/3 innings.
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies are starting the season as expected and are now at the bottom of the
NL east at 41-65. Given the departures, aging stars,
injuries, and performance so far this season, this could end up being the
worst team in franchise history! All time, the Phillies are 50-61-0 on
this day.
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