Philly Front Office

Debuting a new feature for this series: players in the wrong jerseys. Bonus points if it is insulting to the other team. For example, Jayson Werth in his pre-Phillies Dodgers jersey. This is not that. Ron Gant should never be wearing a Phillies jersey. He was the only Brave I didn’t hate growing up though and them always being on TBS.

Phillies Beat Dodgers 2 Games to 1

Game 1: Phillies 3 – Dodgers 2

Jesus Luzardo announced himself and the Phillies to the rest of the league. He went 7 innings and absolutely dominated the previously undefeated Dodgers. Luzardo having that kind of upside means the Phillies have at least two elite starters (and very possibly more) come playoff time. No one has any worries about Wheeler, but slotting Luzardo and Cris Sanchez behind him is huge. Also, when was the last time you saw a strike him out, throw him out douby play to end a game? JT seems to have fixed whatever was holding him back.

Game 2: Dodgers 3 – Phillies 1

We had Roki Sasaki on the ropes and we let him off the hook. We were dutifully taking pitches in the first two innings before succumbing to his forkball (I’m with you Kevin Stocker) in the 3rd and 4th. That’s all he lasted, but the Phillies could have knocked him out sooner. Not helping the cause was Alec Bohm. I know everyone is piling on him right now, but it’s with good reason. We were supposed to get post-Happy Place Happy Gilmore this season with Bohm, but he hasn’t changed. He still swings at every first pitch and still pouts like my 5 year old. His first pitch swinging, rally killing, double play in the 9th seemed to be the last straw as he was benched for Game 3. Aaron Nola was okay in this one, going 6 and giving up 3, but he is now up to 4 homers allowed in 2 starts. There isn’t a bad pitch of his that isn’t launched.

Game 3: Phillies 8 – Dodgers 7

This one was WILD. Even after an early Nick Castellanos grand slam, i don’t think anyone thought it was over. The Dodgers are just relentless. Even with no Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani held in check, we still had to deal with Teoscar Hernandez. He went homer, homer, double off Cris Sanchez with 4 RBI. Do you know how Sanchez did against the rest of the Dodgers? 3 singles. That’s it. 9 Ks. Not sure how one guy can solve a pitcher when the rest of his teammates are so lost, but here we are. The story in this one was Tyler Glasnow giving up 5 walks in 2 innings with a mist falling on the field. Whether he literally couldn’t get a grip or figuratively lost his grip, we’ll never know. Great seeing the Phightins keep fightin.

Phillies Going to Atlanta for 3 Games

We cannot let up on the Braves. I want the same intensity and sense of urgency we saw with the Dodgers to knock these MFers out. They come in 1-8 after splitting with the Marlins before a rain out on Sunday. No one on the Braves is hitting very well, but we don’t want our guys to be their slump busters.

Tuesday, April 8 at 7:15p – Zack Wheeler v. Chris Sale

This is about as good of an April pitching matchup as you will ever see. The Cy Young winner and runner up facing off in a basically must win game for the Braves. Atlanta hitters have seen a ton of Wheeler over the years without much success. Of the regulars, only Austin Riley and Matt Olson have OPS’s in the low .700s. The Phillies haven’t seen much of Sale considering he arrived in Atlanta last year. Only Nick Castellanos has seen him more that 6 times (it hasn’t been pretty). In the early going though, Sale hasn’t been himself. He’s gone 5 IP and given up 3 runs in each start. That’s not bad, but it’s not 2024 Sale. I can’t imagine we are going to see Bryson Stott or Brandon Marsh against this lefty though.

Wednesday, April 9 at 7:15p – Taijuan Walker v. Grant Holmes

This was supposed to be Shwellenbach, but the Braves mixed things up after the rainout. Not going to lie, this is better anyway. A reliever by trade, Holmes started his last outing giving up 4 in 4 innings while throwing 89 pitches. We just need to continue our early season patience to knock him out of the game early. If we can tax their bullpen on Wednesday, Thursday could get easier (and we are going to need it). He is a righty who needs to be annihilated because…Taijuan Walker. He was shockingly great in his first outing, but this is probably a house of cards. If he can get through this one though, he is a Taijuan RUNNER! Damn, that was a bad joke.

Thursday, April 10 at 7:15p – Jesus Luzardo v. Spencer Schwellenbach

It may sound blasphemous, but this one has a chance to be better than Tuesday’s matchup. Schwellenbach is the real deal. He has given up 3 hits and 1 walk (plus a hbp) so far in 14 innings of shutout ball. He carved us up last year too. We don’t have much history with him, but Harper sees him well. At least he’s a righty. Luzardo is a mixed bag with the Braves with Albies and Albies and Ozuna knocking him around but handling everyone else. Considering his previous injuries though, you may have to throw out the stats with the now healthy Luzardo.

Next Up: at St. Louis Cardinals

Friday, April 11 at 8:15p – Aaron Nola v. TBA

Saturday April 12 at 2:15p – Cristopher Sanchez v. Mr. Mustache Miles Mikolas

Sunday April 13 at 2:15p – Zack Wheeler v. Matt Liberatore