Philly Front Office

Giants Out

It felt like the Phillies were fighting themselves the whole series. Getting up, then either losing the lead or fighting desperately to hold it; almost never getting the runs home when we needed them; pitching well until falling apart. I guess that’s the Phillies season as a whole so far, but never more in the spotlight than this series.

Game 1: Again, the Phillies failed to heed a pretty straight forward scouting report with a pitcher known to have reverse splits, inexplicably leaving Edmundo Sosa on the bench for this one. Kepler had an infield single and a fielder’s choice off Roupp and Stott singled to open the game, but when you are trying to find a reason to get one of your best early season hitters in the lineup, you can’t simply ignore basic scouting reports. The Phillies squandered a 3-0 first inning lead with a blow up inning by Walker in the second, aided by his own throwing error.

Game 2: Not a ton to complain about in this one. Facing old foe Justin Verlander, the Phillies did their job taking pitches and not managing to strike out very much. They eventually got to him in the 6th and took the lead for good. Jesus Luzardo wasn’t his typical dominant self and neither was Jose Alvarado…until he was. Coming in in the 8th Alvarado gave up 3 singles to start before going pop out, strike out, fly out to essentially save the game.

Game 3: Aaron Nola is not having a very good start to the season. It hasn’t been truly horrible, but he got knocked around right away in this one giving up 4 runs in the first. The Phillies got 2 back in the bottom half, but continued a really bad trend of squandering opportunity. Single, walk, walk to start and only score their 2 runs on 2 more walks. Getting a big hit with runners on 3rd just isn’t something this team can do for some reason. We tied it up in the 4th on a Harper home run, but Nola threw it away in the 6th and game over. We went quietly after that.

Game 4: We desperately needed this split and thankfully Cris Sanchez came up huge with 7 innings of 2 run ball and 12 Ks. 5 runs in the first really helped take away the anxiety in this one.

Marlins Up (Home)

The Marlins had been a surprise of the season so far but were just swept by Arizona. The pitching hasn’t been as good as you would expect so they are winning with a high batting average and defense. They have 3 guys hovering around .300 and a guy named Matt Mervis has half the team’s homers with 6. This better not be another annoying Marlins series with them seeing-eye-singling us to death. If it were in Miami, it would already be a series loss.

Friday, April 18 at 6:45p – Zack Wheeler v. Sandy Alcantara (R)

Alcantara has not been back to his regular self so far. He is walking a lot of hitters and not striking anyone out as you would expect, even against bad lineups in Washington and Pittsburgh. Wheeler has had his hiccups so far too and is notoriously spotty against the Marlins. On paper this is a great matchup, but I’m dubious.

Saturday, April 19 at 1:05p – Taijuan Walker v. Cal Quantrill (R)

No idea what we are getting in this one from either guy. Quantrill was lit up by the Mets, shutout the Braves, then gave up 12 baserunners in 5 innings to Washington. Righties are destroying him this year, but doesn’t have significant split differences over his career. Walker gave up his first runs of the season last time out in a bad second inning against SF, but overall didn’t pitch badly. It would be very nice for the Taijuan train to not go off the tracks.

Sunday, April 20 at 1:35 pm – Jesus Luzardo v. Connor Gillespie (R)

There are a LOT of puns to be made with Jesus rising against his old team on Easter Sunday…but I’m above that and won’t engage. Gillespie has made 4 starts this season and has yet to make it out of the 5th. He was absolutely annihilated last time out to the tune of 8 runs against Arizona. Other than that though, he hasn’t been terrible. Is he getting worse or was that just a blip? I think it was a blip. This is another reverse split guy who has given up 4 homers to lefties but otherwise keeps them in check. Its strikeout or homer for Harper and Schwarber in this one. The Phillies REALLY should start Sosa in this one but probably won’t because AGAIN they do not actually use simple scouting reports.

New York Mets On Deck (Away)

Monday, April 21 at 7:10p – Aaron Nola v. Tylor Megill (R)

Tuesday, April 22 at 7:10p – Cristopher Sanchez v. Griffin Canning (R)

Wednesday, April 23 at 1:10 pm – Zack Wheeler v. David Peterson (L)

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Mr. Marlin Jeff Conine played for 6 teams over his career including 28 games for the Phillies in 2006 at age 40. For as much as we attach him to the Marlins, he was no different than any other Marlins “stars” over the years, only playing there from 93 to 97 before returning late in his career. Still, for a franchise so bereft of associable players that they still do not have any numbers retired, Jeff Conine is their guy. I wish I had this jersey to flex on the few Marlins fans out there. That would show them for employing Cody Ross and Dan Uggla during my formative years.