Phillies Still Have Some Work To Do

EXHIBITION GAME RECAP: Red Sox Route Phillies 5-1

Home runs by Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts helped the Red Sox to a 5-1 win over the Phillies on Sunday afternoon at JetBlue Park. Knuckleballer Steven Wright, who is competing for a spot in the Red Sox's rotation, went 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts. "He certainly helped his cause today with a solid outing," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "I thought he did a nice job with his fastball and his curveball in the early innings to get back into some counts. And then he got a better feel for his knuckleball as the game went along. But to get him up over a 100 pitches here today, today was a good step for Steven." Phillies right-hander Jerad Eickhoff exited after five-plus frames, allowing five runs on 11 hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Eickhoff was making just his second start because of a fractured right thumb earlier in spring. "He's rusty," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "He made a lot of real good pitches with his curveball, but he didn't locate his fastball real well. He's behind everybody, so I'm not concerned about it. He did OK." Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia and Bogaerts -- Boston's 1-2-3 batters -- combined for seven hits, three runs and two RBIs. The Phillies opened the scoring in the first inning when Odubel Herrera, who went 3-for-3, reached on a one-out single and scored on Maikel Franco's double off the replica Green Monster in left-center field. Franco, who leads all Major Leaguers with eight home runs this spring, just missed another. The umpires, who convened to discuss the drive, let the on-field call stand. Boston went ahead in the bottom of the frame when Betts and Pedroia led off with doubles. David Ortiz's RBI groundout scored Pedroia to make it 2-1. The Sox added two more in the fourth on Bradley's two-out home run, scoring Ryan Hanigan, who had reached on a single. It was Bradley's third dinger of the spring. Bogaerts led off the fifth with his second long ball of the spring.

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Vince Velasquez has an important start on Monday afternoon against the Blue Jays at 1:07 p.m. ET in Dunedin, Fla. It can heard live exclusively on phillies.com. He is competing with left-hander Adam Morgan for the No. 5 spot in the Phillies' rotation, so Velasquez needs another strong showing to perhaps clinch it.

PHILS PHACTS:

Getting His Swing Back – If the Phillies stand pat, it looks like Odubel Herrera, Peter Bourjos and Rule 5 Draft pick Tyler Goeddel will be in the starting lineup Opening Day on April 4 in Cincinnati against the Reds. Some combination of Cedric Hunter, David Lough and Emmanuel Burriss could round out the outfield. Herrera went 3-for-3 in Sunday's 5-1 loss to the Red Sox at JetBlue Park. He is 5-for-10 with one double since missing nine games because of a bruised left middle finger. "I feel fine," Herrera said through the Phillies' translator. "I don't think it's an issue anymore. The more I play, the better I feel." But what about the rest of the outfield? Bourjos hit .200 with a .623 OPS in 225 plate appearances in 2015. He is batting .311 with a .948 OPS in 45 at-bats this spring. Goeddel has never played higher than Double-A. He has posted a .250 average with a .674 OPS in 52 at-bats. The Phillies have said they are not aggressively pursuing outfield help, despite injuries to Aaron Altherr and Cody Asche, and production concerns surrounding the others. But that could be because they figured players would become available before the end of the month. That is exactly what is happening. Yankees outfielder Chris Denorfia opted out of his contract. Some in the organization like him. David Murphy could opt out of his contract with the Red Sox on Sunday. The Indians released Will Venable. Other teams will be making moves in the next week, so the Phillies should have more options to choose from. But at least Herrera is hitting the ball well. "He's a freak," manager Pete Mackanin said. "He's just a real different kind of hitter. He's got such great hand-eye coordination. It doesn't take him long to get on track."

Who’s On First? – Ruben Amaro Jr. tried to steer the conversation on Sunday from his Phillies past to his Red Sox present. Amaro is the Red Sox's first-base coach. His nearly seven seasons as Phillies general manager ended in September. "I'm proud of the things we did there," Amaro said Sunday morning at JetBlue Park, where the Phillies played the Red Sox in a Grapefruit League game. "The Phillies are the Phillies, and they have their own organization. I was fortunate to be a part of it. I'm on a new chapter now, and I'm loving what I'm doing. And I've kind of moved on. I mean, listen, I'm going to watch and see how those guys progress, obviously, but for me it's about moving my own baseball life forward." But one wonders how Phillies history might have changed with a hit here or a pitch there. The Phillies had the best record in the Majors in 2011. They won a franchise record 102 games with one of the best rotations in baseball history. But Chris Carpenter outdueled Roy Halladay in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, 1-0, ending the Phillies' season of high expectations with massive disappointment. If Cliff Lee held a four-run lead in Game 2, if Raul Ibanez or Chase Utley squared up a couple of warning-track fly outs a little more in Game 5, maybe the Phillies win the series and maybe they win the World Series. And maybe Amaro remains GM. "In '08, we ended up being the best team in baseball because we won the World Series, but I don't know if we were the best team in baseball," Amaro said. "When you get to the playoffs, it's about whether you can execute at that moment, whether you can make the pitch, whether you can get the big base hit. We did it in '08. We didn't do it in '09, '10 or '11. I'm every bit as proud of those teams. They were good friggin' teams. They were good teams." Everybody knows what happened next. The Phillies started their fall to the bottom of the NL standings the following season, and they finished with the worst record in baseball in 2015. The Phillies fired Amaro in September, replacing him with Matt Klentak in October. "It was clear that changes were going to be made," Amaro said. "That didn't stop me from trying to do my job. We continued do things the way we operate, and hopefully the Phillies will benefit from that." The Phillies' farm system jumped from one of the worst to one of the best in little over a year, specifically from the moment former Phillies president Pat Gillick gave Amaro permission to begin the rebuilding process following the 2014 season. Big reasons for the drastic improvement are the trades Amaro made before he lost his job. The biggest is the one that sent Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman to Texas in July for Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, Jerad Eickhoff and Alec Asher. Thompson, Williams and Alfaro are three of the top 100 prospects, according to MLBPipeline. Eickhoff, who started Sunday's game in Fort Myers, will open this season in the Phillies' rotation. The Phillies have been praised for that trade, although it remains to be seen how many of those players fulfill their potential. But it is a little ironic that the same guy that got criticized for being allergic to analytics might have made the trade that helps the Phillies return to the postseason in a couple of years. "We did that because we had good scouts," Amaro said. "Mike Ondo is a very, very good pro scouting director. We had people who know baseball and know players. I think we did that [trade] because of that." Members of the new Phillies' regime have said the analytics system was way more advanced than they had anticipated, based on nothing more than the world's outside perception of it. If that is true, then why did the Phillies try to seem so unanalytical at times? "We didn't think it was all that important for us to have to advertise what we were doing," Amaro said. "Why do we have to advertise what we do? Am I doing it to save my job or what? We were a little behind I think with some of the analytics. The reality of it is we won without the analytics. We had the best team in baseball without the analytics … a full analytics core. Could we have been better? Maybe. There's always ways to improve, but that's probably why I'm in a uniform now." Amaro said he is enjoying his new job. He lost 15-20 pounds since the fall, looking fitter than he has in years. His former employees noticed. "Damn, what happened, man?" Phillies bench coach Larry Bowa said, lifting up Amaro's blue batting practice pullover to reveal Amaro's thinner frame. "You look good." "I'm trying to be like you," Amaro said. Amaro chatted with a few of his former players on Sunday prior to Boston's 5-1 win. He is following Maikel Franco, Cesar Hernandez and others. He certainly will follow the progress of the prospects he acquired. "Like I said, I'm proud of the things we did there," Amaro said. "We had a lot of great years, a lot of fun, fun years. Obviously when there's change made there's a reason there's change. That's not stuff I can control. I'm enjoying what I'm doing now, and we'll see what happens after I get this opportunity and see how it goes."

Today In Phils History - I can't believe that it has already been 5 years since the famous Sports Illustrated cover featuring Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels, and Joe Blanton hit the shelves. In the same vein, it doesn't seem possible that it has already been 16 years since Mickey Morandini returned for his second stint with the team. However, it is easy to believe that it has been 100 years since the Phillies completed a 7 game exhibition sweep of the Cubs.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies have an impressive record this spring… 14-9-3 (15-9-3 if you include the exhibition game against the University of Tampa). With the Phillies having finished the 2015 season with a spectacularly awful record of 63-99 it will be interesting to see what kind of team new President Andy MacPhail and GM Matt Klentak put on the field. At the same time I am definitely looking forward to the games against Boston with former GM Ruben Amaro on the field. Given the departures, lingering contracts, a history of injuries, bipolar performances, and unproven talent, it should, at the very least, be an interesting season for the Phillies. Who knows, maybe they can avoid 100 losses... hopefully by more than one game!

Travel And Anticipation

YESTERDAY IN POSTSEASON PLAY:

The Royals and Mets spent yesterday traveling to the east coast while the rest of the baseball world spent the day in eager anticipation of the match-up of two young, hard throwing, pitchers that are set to take the mound in game 3. This could either mean a contest dominated from the mound or we could be seeing some really long homeruns. Maybe both. These duels don’t happen too often in the World Series so sit back and enjoy a potential glimpse at future dominance.

Game 3 Preview:

These guys throw fastballs that buckle knees and test nerves and shatter bats. They challenge the body for sure, but they challenge the mind, too. Are you willing to crowd the plate when the guy out there is throwing 100 mph? OK, just checking. Take all the time you need to answer. Welcome to Game 3 of the 2015 World Series on Friday at Citi Field. This is power pitching versus power pitching -- Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard and Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura. At a time when 95-mph fastballs have become almost commonplace in baseball, these guys have power that's special even by the new normal. Syndergaard's fastball averaged 97.4 mph this season, tying him with Yankees right-hander Nathan Eovaldi for tops among Major League starting pitchers, according to Statcast™. Ventura is a tick behind, with a fastball that has averaged 96.8 mph this season, which is third among big league starters. Syndergaard's fastest pitch was clocked at 101.4 mph this season and touched 99 mph three times in the first inning of his last start. Ventura has cranked it up as high as 100.6 mph this season. They generate all that power from different body types. Syndergaard is 6-foot-6, 240 pounds and 23 years old. He's the physically imposing textbook definition of a power pitcher, with a release that looks absolutely effortless. No team in baseball has handled 95-mph (and up) fastballs better than the Royals this season. They're also quick to point out that the Mets' kid pitchers are more than hard throwers. "It should be fun," Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. "I'm sure there'll be three digits up there a lot of times. Those guys over there, they don't just throw hard. In looking at Syndergaard's last start, he mixed up his stuff against the Cubs a lot. It wasn't just going out there and trying to pump heaters. I don't think you're going to see either guy doing that." Yordano is a year older than Syndergaard at 24. He's listed as 6 feet, 180 pounds and generates all that velocity with a whiplike delivery in which he drives smoothly off the mound to home plate. Part of the game inside the game on Friday will be the radar-gun readings at Citi Field. Hitters will use them to gauge how hard the pitcher is throwing in the early innings and if the velocity diminishes as the game wears on. And in a game like this, might both pitchers be glancing at their own velocity -- and also that of the other guy? Mets manager Terry Collins said it's far broader than that. "Both sides do [look at the radar-gun readings], believe me," he said. "You go to any park nowadays, and every team is looking to see how hard the guy is throwing. Because nowadays there are so many hard throwers that you kind of have to gauge. "I think it's become a huge part of the game to know how hard somebody is throwing. Because you've got to make adjustments at the plate. And all the film that you have on all these guys, you can't get a true feel until you get in the batter's box." Royals manager Ned Yost said: "Everybody looks at it. That's the first question they ask in a new stadium. Everybody up and down the dugout is asking, 'Where is the radar-gun reading?'" For his part, Ventura said there are more important things than simply throwing hard. "Right now I'm not focused on velocity," he said. "I'm simply focused on pitching deep into the game, keeping the game close and giving my team a chance to score runs. I just want to do my job." Likewise, Syndergaard said his game is to locate his pitches, mix them up and change speeds. If he does those things, he'll be effective at both 93 mph and 99 mph. Both pitchers have taken different paths to get to Game 3 of the World Series. Ventura was Kansas City's Opening Day starter, but spent a month on the disabled list at mid-season with an irritated nerve in his pitching elbow. He had some very good starts and some very bad ones after his return. He hasn't finished six innings in any of his four postseason starts, but is fresh off his best outing -- one earned run in 5 1/3 innings in the clinching Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against Toronto. Syndergaard made his Major League debut on May 12 as the latest in a string of heralded Mets prospects. He has been as good as advertised, especially in the postseason, during which he has a 2.77 ERA after two starts and a one-inning relief appearance. Collins said Syndergaard was in the conversation to start Game 1 of the World Series. "When he first got here, we saw 96 [mph]," Collins said. "What he's doing now, I have never seen that. I've never seen 98, 99 and 100. I've seen good, good power stuff. But I've seen a guy grow and learn how to pitch here, where he will go to his secondary stuff in certain counts." One of the best parts of all this is that Syndergaard and Ventura are so good and so young that they could rank among baseball's elite pitchers for years to come. But they may never pitch on a bigger stage than this one. They're both capable of delivering a World Series memory. Here's hoping.

POSTSEASON PREDICTIONS: Read my post from October 6th to see how many I have gotten wrong!

CURRENT POSTSEASON PICTURE:

World Series

Kansas City leads Series 2-0

Kansas City at New York

Game 3: Friday, October 30, at 8:00 PM

PHILS PHACTS:

Crawford Goes Down In AFL – J.P. Crawford's time in the Arizona Fall League has come to an end after just five games. The Phillies' top prospect, ranked No. 5 on MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 Prospects list, was the highest-ranked prospect in the Fall League this season. Crawford went 3-for-20 (.150) with three singles, two walks and six strikeouts for the Glendale Desert Dogs. Crawford sustained a mild left thumb sprain while making a tag in a Fall League game. An MRI exam revealed a partial tear of the UCL ligament, but it will not require surgery. Crawford's thumb will be in a splint for the next three to four weeks, but he is expected to be 100 percent healthy by Spring Training. The 20-year-old Crawford is a two-time Futures Gamer who spent most of the year in the Double-A Eastern League in 2015. He hit a combined .288/.380/.414 over 430 at-bats between Clearwater in the Florida State League and Reading in the Eastern League. To replace Crawford, the Phillies have sent infielder Drew Stankiewicz to Glendale. Stankiewicz was an 11th-round pick of the Phillies inn 2014 out of Arizona State who split the year between Lakewood in the South Atlantic League and Clearwater.

We Have A Dubee Sighting – Roy Halladay once said he respects few pitching coaches more than Rich Dubee. Dubee served as the Phillies' pitching coach from 2005-13, when the organization won one World Series, two National League pennants and five NL East championships. Dubee, who spent the past two seasons working in Atlanta's Minor League system, will return to the big leagues next year as the Tigers' pitching coach. Detroit announced the hiring Thursday afternoon. It is not a stretch to say Dubee has some supporters in Detroit. He is close with Tigers bench coach Gene Lamont. He worked for years in Philadelphia with bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer. He spent one season in Philly with hitting coach Wally Joyner. Dubee also served as Jim Leyland's pitching coach with the Marlins in 1998. Leyland is the Tigers' special assistant to the general manager.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies finally put an end to the season finishing in last place in the NL East with a record of 63-99. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and bipolar performances, this has ended up being one of the worst seasons in franchise history! However, there are some former Phillies still making headlines in the playoffs this year.

Offense Comes Alive To Secure 4th Win In A Row

GAME RECAP: Phils Beat D-Backs 7-5

Before Friday, the Phillies didn't have a three-game win streak in 2015. Now the streak is four. The Phillies, who improved their record to 15-23 with the win, defeated the D-backs 7-5 in an offensive affair Saturday that saw a combined 23 hits and 11 pitchers used. "Well, I like what I've seen," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said about the team playing better offensively, including tying a season-high seven runs Saturday. "It's coming from different guys. It's more consistent up and down the lineup. I don't know. Warmer weather, having some at-bats under the belt, whatever it might be. The timing seems to be good right now." Jerome Williams went five innings of two-run ball for the Phillies, giving up seven hits and striking out four in a winning effort. Archie Bradley took the loss for the D-backs in his return from the DL, only lasting two-plus innings and allowing four runs on five hits and three walks. "It kind of snowballed on me," Bradley said of the three-run Phillies third. "I couldn't get it back. Up here, you have to make adjustments quicker than that. It kind of unraveled and I couldn't get it back." Jonathan Papelbon closed the game out and is now nine-for-nine in save opportunities this season.

OTHER NOTES FROM THE DAY:

·         Despite the wet environment, the Phillies bats awoke with 13 hits, six of which were for extra-bases. Jeff Francoeur started the offense off for the Phillies in the second inning with a home run over the left-field wall and doubles followed from Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz, pinch-hitter Andres Blanco, Grady Sizemore, who finished with his first four-hit game since August 2008, and Chase Utley, who recorded his second two-hit game of the season.

·         Though he was forced to wait about an hour and a half between throwing the third and fourth innings, Williams came back out and threw two innings post rain delay. He swiftly sat down the first two hitters he saw in the fourth innings before two singles and an error by Utley charged Williams with an unearned run. "No hesitation at all," Williams said about coming back out. "My arm is durable enough to go out there and pitch, even with the delay. I just wanted to go back out there and help the guys out."

·         "He has a resilient arm. He didn't throw a lot of pitches. He was able to stay warm." -- Sandberg, on his decision to send Williams back out to pitch, despite a 1 hour, 17 minute rain delay.

·         A rain delay halted this game in the bottom of the third inning. The Phillies had scored two runs off of three hits and two walks and had the bases loaded with no outs before the delay, which began at 8:10 p.m. The delay lasted for one hour and 17 minutes before the game resumed at 9:27 p.m.

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Sean O'Sullivan makes his fourth start for the Phillies, and second since returning from the 15-day disabled list because of tendinitis in his left knee. O'Sullivan is looking for his first big league win since May 12, 2011. He is 0-9 in 18 appearances since.

PHILS PHACTS:

Returning To Form – Sometimes a hitter just needs some opportunities. Over his last six games, Grady Sizemore is proving this to be true. The outfielder came into Saturday's game hitting just .238 on the season but was 5-for-15 in his previous five games. Already swinging a hot bat, Sizemore turned that 5-for-15 into a 9-for-20 streak Saturday with a 4-for-5 performance in the Phillies' 7-5 win, in which the lefty singled three times, doubled once and scored a run. Sizemore, who hasn't hit particularly well since his return to baseball in 2013, said that this steady stream of at-bats is what has triggered his offensive prowess. "It felt good to have some good swings and get the win," Sizemore said. "I felt like I didn't have a lot of at-bats or a lot of consistent at-bats, so I try to just do what you can to stay sharp and relax up there and keep grinding it out." Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg agreed, saying the progression from pinch-hitter to regular player really eased Sizemore into a comfort zone, leading to this recent hot streak. "Grady just seems to be clicking right now," Sandberg said. "He gave us some real good pinch-hits, he got some hits and I think that got him rolling. Now with some starts, he seems to be in a groove. He's just seeing the ball real good, squaring it up." Being that Sizemore is one of the many Phillies' outfielders in danger of losing his job when Cody Asche and Domonic Brown are recalled from Triple-A, one would naturally assume that Sizemore's jump in production is coming from the place of a guy wanting to keep his job. However, Sizemore said that as a Major League Baseball player, he needs no extra incentive to try his hardest. "You can't really worry about what you can't control," he said. "There's no need for motivation for any player. You want to go out there and get better every day. So you just focus on what you can control and go from there." That being said, Sizemore also acknowledged that the team has been struggling offensively this season and though the offense has looked good over the team's four-game winning streak, changes probably will be made to the outfield and to the lineup in coming weeks. But, as one of the veterans of the clubhouse, Sizemore said he knows how to look past both the struggles that have happened and the adversities that may be coming. "You look for the positive and you work off of that," Sizemore said. "We had some tough breaks and obviously we weren't playing very well, but you know it's going to turn around. You just keep doing what your routine is, whatever that works and you make adjustments every day and you work from there."

Moving Down To Move Up – It might be a coincidence, but Chase Utley must love the results. He is 3-for-6 with two doubles and two RBIs in two games since Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg dropped him from third to sixth in the Phillies' lineup. Utley went 2-for-3 with one double and two RBIs in Saturday night's 7-5 victory over Arizona at Citizens Bank Park. "Nothing different," Sandberg said. "He's hitting balls away from the glove and defense. It's good to see." It was Utley's second multi-hit game of the season and his first since April 14, when he homered twice and had three hits against the Mets at Citi Field. Utley singled to center field in the third inning Saturday to score Grady Sizemore to hand the Phillies a 3-0 lead. He doubled to score Maikel Franco in the fifth to make it 5-3. Arizona right-hander Addison Reed intentionally walked him in the sixth to face the right-handed-hitting Jeff Francoeur. There has been plenty of discussion about Utley because his struggles have extended for nearly a year. He has hit .217 with 17 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs, 69 RBIs and a .612 OPS in 587 plate appearances since May 29. Could Utley abruptly retire like Mike Schmidt in May 1989? Could the Phillies bench Utley to prevent him from reaching 500 plate appearances this season, which would automatically vest a $15 million club option for 2016? Utley left the clubhouse almost immediately Saturday night and was unavailable to comment. But Utley has run into some bad luck. His .118 batting average on balls in play entering the game was 178 points below the game's average and 182 points below his career average. "I thought he's looked really good," Sizemore said. "It's a small sample of what we've seen. 120 or 130 at-bats isn't a lot for anybody. So we can't get too carried away with what anybody's doing right now. A couple things fall here or there it's a different story." FiveThirtyEight.com this week compiled MLB.com's Statcast™ information on batted ball velocity. It wrote: "Utley's batted ball velocity is a little below average, not elite -- but below average would be an incredible improvement from Utley's (.455) OPS." In other words, Utley might not be the player he once was, but he is not a .138 hitter, either. "In Utley," FiveThirtyEight.com wrote, "we have a player whose Statcast™ data doesn't match the conventional narrative. If the commentators and traditional data sources are correct, Utley is headed toward a premature retirement. If Statcast™ is right, Utley has an about average bat, one that should recover. The Phillies just have to stick by him long enough to let him do it."

Welcome Back To Philly – The Phillies on Saturday acquired infielder Jayson Nix from the Orioles for cash considerations. Nix will report to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Nix appeared in 18 games last season for the Phillies. He has spent the 2015 season with Triple-A Norfolk, hitting .167 with a .388 OPS in 25 games.

THE BEGINNING

The Phillies are starting the season as expected and are now at the bottom of the NL east at 15-23. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and performance this spring, don’t expect their competitive place in the standings to last. All time, the Phillies are 49-46-0 on this day.