Phillies Take The Day Off To Work

GAME RECAP: No Game Yesterday!

The Phillies actually seem like they are earning their days off so far this season.

PHILS PHACT:

• Left-hander James Russell cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He had an 18.69 ERA in seven appearances with the Phillies.

NEXT GAME:

Philadelphia gets its first day off since April 5, the day after Opening Day in Cincinnati, on Thursday before beginning a three-game weekend set in Milwaukee on Friday at 8:10 p.m. ET. Aaron Nola will pitch, looking to get back on track after allowing seven runs in five innings to the Nationals on Saturday.

PHILS PHACTS:

Working On A Few Things – Phillies outfielder Peter Bourjos had a big night Wednesday in a victory over the Mets, but he might be hard to find this weekend at Miller Park. Darin Ruf should be easier to spot. "This whole series, I might play Ruf, while Peter is kind of working on a different approach at the plate," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. Bourjos, who had game-tying and game-winning hits Wednesday against the Mets at Citizens Bank Park, entered the series against the Brewers hitting .191 (9-for-47) with five doubles, three RBIs and a .506 OPS in 15 games. "We're trying to get him moving to the ball instead of rotating around the ball," Mackanin said. "So we're going to work on that for maybe two or three days, because Ruf can help us offensively. But I can't afford to wait for a lefty, because we haven't seen really many lefties. I'm kind of forcing the issue." Ruf entered the series hitting .111 (3-for-18) with one double, one RBI and a .317 OPS in 12 games.

Today In Phils History – First, let us start with the most important celebration of the day as we wish former Phillies second baseman Mickey Morandini a happy 50^th birthday! The rest of the moments from this day in Phllies history all come down to the number 1… In 1905, a one on one between Giants' captain Dan McGann and Phillies catcher Fred Abbott leads to a riot at the Baker Bowl. Five years later, Earl Moore and Bert Humphries combine to 1-hit the Braves. Moore would repeat the feat by himself exactly 1 year later against the Giants. Slugger Gavvy Cravath hits his first home run of the 1914 season on this his way to a then record 19 homeruns all of which he hit at the Baker Bowl. In 1957, John Kennedy became the first African-American to play for the Phillies. Six year later, Art Mahaffey became the first Phillie to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. And, finally, just three years ago Jonathan Pettibone made his major league debut becoming the first player born in the 1990s to play for the Phillies.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 7-9 this season putting them on pace to meet most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 46-40-1 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!

Injuries And Opportunities

PHILS PHACTS:

Another Injury – The Phillies expect right-hander Jerad Eickhoff to be in their five-man rotation come Opening Day. But Eickhoff experienced a setback recently with a non-displaced fracture in his right thumb. The Phillies said it should not affect his ability to start the season, although manager Pete Mackanin said Eickhoff has not yet thrown a bullpen session. "He did it bunting before camp started," Mackanin said. "A ball just got away from him. But he shouldn't be far behind. It set him back a little bit, but not much." Eickhoff, 25, went 3-3 with a 2.65 ERA in eight starts last season with the Phillies, who acquired him in July in the Cole Hamels trade with the Rangers. If healthy, he is expected to open the season in the rotation with Aaron Nola, Jeremy Hellickson and Charlie Morton. The No. 5 job is wide open with Vincent Velasquez, Brett Oberholtzer and Adam Morgan the top candidates.

A Quartet Of Closers – The moment the Phillies traded Ken Giles to the Astros, they needed a closer. They already needed a setup man, and maybe another reliable reliever or two. They signed David Hernandez to a one-year, $3.9 million contract shortly before the Giles trade in December. But rather than sign another free-agent closer or setup man or acquire one in a trade, the rebuilding Phillies made more minor moves, which included signing four reclamation projects to Minor League contracts with invitations to Spring Training: right-handers Andrew Bailey, Ernesto Frieri and Edward Mujica and left-hander James Russell. The Phillies hope one of them can be their closer or setup man in 2016. If they are lucky, two or more of them will find their mojo and stabilize a bullpen that has few certainties other than maybe Hernandez and Jeanmar Gomez. "I can't say they're all going to be as impressive," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said Friday afternoon at Bright House Field. "I'd like to believe that more than a couple guys are going to make our job difficult. I'd like to believe that all of them are going to compete well enough that we're going to have a tough decision to make. That's what we're hoping for." Bailey, Frieri, Mujica and Russell have made a combined 1,395 appearances with 226 saves. But each of them has plenty to prove. That is why they are here. "I know they're rebuilding," Russell said. "But it's always a good opportunity for somebody that's not coming off the greatest year and trying to get back on track." Russell, 30, had a 5.29 ERA in 49 appearances last season with the Cubs. He posted a 1.71 ERA in 33 appearances from May 5 through July 7, but had an 11.08 ERA in 16 appearances the rest of the way before the Cubs designated him for assignment Sept. 1. "I don't know what it was last year," Russell said. "I felt like I was cruising for a little bit then had a couple bad outings going into September that really hurt me. If I could take away three outings, I have a great year again." In fact, remove Russell's two worst performances in August and he had a respectable 3.16 ERA in 47 of 49 appearances. Bailey, 31, has pitched in just 59 games the past four seasons because of a shoulder injury. He pitched with the Yankees last season. He had a 1.80 ERA in 28 Minor League appearances before he posted a 5.19 ERA in 10 appearances with New York. Before injuries hit, Bailey, who is from Haddonfield, N.J., had a 2.07 ERA with 75 saves from 2009-11. He made the American League All-Star team twice. "I'm coming off injuries and working my way back, so it's the opportunity I was looking for the most," Bailey said. "The Phillies presented me with a great one and I hope to take full advantage of it." Frieri, 30, had a 2.76 ERA in 228 appearances from 2009-13, but he had a 7.34 ERA in 48 appearances with the Angels and Pirates in 2014. The Rays have had tremendous success fixing pitchers in the past, so they took a shot on him in 2015. Tampa Bay designated Frieri for assignment in June after he posted a 4.63 ERA in 22 appearances. At the time they said they needed more relievers who could pitch multiple innings, and they thought Frieri was just a one-inning pitcher. Mujica, 31, is a former All-Star who has made 494 appearances with 50 saves in his career. He had a 4.75 ERA in 49 appearances last season with Oakland and Boston. He has battled a neck injury the past couple of seasons, which he said has been resolved. He also fractured his right thumb in May. He said he might have returned too early from that injury. "It's a different experience for me," Mujica said about being in camp as a non-roster invitee. "This is my first time in this position. You don't have a spot on the roster. It's a little crazy." But while each pitcher can point to a reason for his recent struggles, there is no question each will need to pitch well to win a job. They are guaranteed nothing, which is why the Phillies are taking a shot. They are low-risk, high-reward arms on a roster filled with inexperience. "We don't know yet," Mackanin said about who will be the Phillies' closer. "That's one of the things that's going to be a lot of fun looking at. By the end of Spring Training, we'll come up with somebody. We'll look at all of them."

Will They Win Again? – Everybody wants to know the Phillies' time frame to win again. Could it be 2017, '18 or '19? Phillies president Andy MacPhail and general manager Matt Klentak have wisely not offered any hints because nobody truly knows when they will win again. But they do believe '16 should give them a pretty good idea about it. "What we're going to find out this year more than anything is what kind of track we're on," MacPhail said Friday evening at Grapefruit League Media Day. "Are we on a fast track? Are we on a medium track? Are we on a slow track? That's going to be determined by the 25 we break with. It's also going to be determined by how some of those next-level guys progress and how many of them demonstrated they're ready to come to the big leagues." Those next-level guys include six of the top 100 prospects in baseball, according to MLBPipeline.com. They will be in camp this spring: shortstop J.P. Crawford, outfielder Nick Williams, right-hander Jake Thompson, right-hander Mark Appel, catcher Jorge Alfaro and outfielder Roman Quinn. "Matt has said this and he's absolutely right," MacPhail said. "You don't want to have to send somebody back. So it's important for the organization, when they promote them, they've got to feel like they're going to stick."

Today In Phils History - What may be surprising to some is that Shane Victorino made an appearance on a CBS drama on this day 4 years ago. What is not surprising is that the show was Hawaii 5-0. 

THE BEGINNING:

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!

Phillies Pursuing Quantity Over Quality

PHILS PHACTS:

Taking A Flyer on Hellickson – Phillies general manager Matt Klentak is fulfilling his promise of acquiring as much pitching as possible before next season. The Phillies announced Saturday afternoon they had acquired right-hander Jeremy Hellickson from the D-backs for Minor League pitcher Sam McWilliams, who was ranked as the No. 27 prospect in the Phillies' system by MLBPipeline.com. Hellickson, 28, went 9-12 with a 4.62 ERA in 27 starts last season. "This offseason we made it a priority to add a stabilizing influence to our young rotation, and we think we found that guy in Jeremy," Klentak said in a telephone interview. "I think one of the things on top of the obvious is that he's a veteran guy, but still just 28 years old. He'll pitch at 29 this season, so we're excited that he's still in his prime. And more than anything, he's a competitor. He wants the ball. We've talked about building an environment and we think he'll be a very positive influence on our staff." Hellickson, who won the 2011 American League Rookie of the Year Award with the Rays, can become a free agent after the 2016 season. The Phillies are hoping for a bounceback year from Hellickson before he hits the market, much like they hope for from recently acquired relievers Dan Otero and James Russell. "I think that's right," Klentak said. "We offer an opportunity to players to come in and get back to the form they've shown in the past. And that's probably true all three of those players. We like what he has done in his career. He's a good fit for us." Hellickson went 22-27 with a 4.86 ERA in 72 appearances (71 starts) the previous three seasons, but he provides the Phillies a sorely needed veteran presence in their rotation. Free agents Aaron Harang, Jerome Williams, Chad Billingsley and Cliff Lee are not expected to return, which leaves the Phillies with a host of young and inexperienced starters like Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, Adam Morgan, David Buchanan and Alec Asher. Hellickson figures to be the first of at least one or two more veteran starters the Phillies will acquire this offseason. "We're open to anything," Klentak said. "This doesn't preclude us pursuing anything. We'll continue be open minded. We felt adding him early as a stabilizing influence made sense. I think pitching depth can be built a lot of ways. We acquired one on a waiver claim [Otero], one on a Minor League contract [Russell] and one in a big league trade [Hellickson]. That will continue to be a goal." The Phillies selected McWilliams in the eighth round of the 2014 MLB Draft. He went a combined 2-5 with a 4.19 ERA in 16 games (12 starts) the past two seasons with the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Phillies.

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, at least Ryan Madson got another ring this year.