Philly Front Office

Why do the Phillies always feel the need to end things on a bad note? That was a completely winnable game against the Nationals yesterday, but they barely showed up. After winning a thriller and another more comfortably, yesterday was a stinker. It didn’t have to be. You might want to blame the one bad inning or the defense, and that would be warranted, but just please don’t forget Rob Thomson.

Thomson and the coaching staff seem deathly allergic to any kind of scouting. Time and time again this year, they have completely ignored even looking up basic splits. Traditionally righties fair better against lefty pitchers and vice versa…but not all the time. Last night was the most egregious instance so far. Brad Lord of the Nationals is one of those non-traditional matchups. Despite being a righty, in roughly the same amount of at bats he is giving up a triple slash of .409/.469/.523 against righties. Basically, righties are Ted Williams against him. Lefties are hitting .209/.306/.302. Thats below replacement. It took me all of 30 seconds to know this, but the Phillies couldn’t be bothered. They stacked the lineup with lefties and even hit switch hitter Rafael Marchan from the left side. The lefties went 2-12 against him while the righties went 4-8. They could have given Stott the day off for Edmundo Sosa. They could have sat Harper or Schwarber for the first time all season. Instead of Max Kepler, why not Weston Wilson? Can we please stop defending Rob Thomson simply because the players like him?

Next Up: Home Against the Arizona Diamondbacks

Corbin Carroll is back to being the menace that was predicted from his rookie season. He has 9 dingers and 4 triples already while hitting .286. Drew Naylor took over for Christain Walker and is even better than they could have hoped for, hitting .319 with a ton of doubles. First baseman Pavin Smith and third baseman Eugenio Suarez can’t hit a lick against lefties but are both destroying righties, so don’t expect to see either in the lineup tonight or against Ranger on Sunday.

Speaking of Ranger, he’s back! He makes his delayed season debut on Sunday and it can only help the team. Watching him on the mound is a total pleasure. I think we are all hoping he gets to field the ball and does that wait just a second longer than you would think move before throwing to first. It’s the most casually exhilarating play in baseball.

May 2 at 6:45p: Jesus Luzardo v. Merrill Kelly

Kelly got absolutely blasted earlier in the season at Yankee Stadium to the tune of 9 earned runs in 3.2 innings. That’s why his ERA looks like a disaster. Since then, he has been going around 6 innings and been giving up around 2 runs. That’s what to expect from Kelly. Nobody hits well against the righty (except the Yankees apparently) and this should be a pretty solid pitcher’s duel as Jesus Luzardo has been incredible for the Phils

May 3 at 6:05p: Aaron Nola v. Brandon Pfaadt

Aaron Nola finally got his mojo back last game going 7 innings of 1 run ball but is still looking for his first official win. Pfaadt is having a solid season so far, making it to the 6th and giving up around 1 run for the most part with just an early season blemish on his record (4 runs against Washington). Lefties can tune him up though and he is prone to giving up a lot of hits, just not big ones. Let’s hope Nola finally notches his first win of the season.

May 4 at 2:05p: Ranger Suarez v. Eduardo Rodriguez

It has been kind of a mixed bag for the lefty Rodriguez as he can run up some gaudy strikeout totals but gets hit around too. He’s given up 16 hits in his last 2 games. Lefties and righties are hitting him at a .289 clip but righties are slugging 200 points higher and have nearly a .900 OPS. As mentioned earlier, we get a little reprieve here, as much as it could be considered a reprieve not having Zack Wheeler on the mound. Because of the start by Ranger, lefties Pavin Smith and Eugenio Suarez will likely not be in the lineup.

On Deck: at Tampa Bay Rays

May 6 at 7:05p: Zack Wheeler v Drew Rasmussen (R)

May 7 at 7:05p: Cristopher Sanchez v. Shane Baz (R)

May 8 at 7:05p: Jesus Luzardo v. Ryan Pepiot (R)

Picture: Jean Segura

Segura only played one season in Arizona before being traded to Seattle for Ketel Marte. This was before the Mariners traded him to the Phillies for JP Crawford. I feel like everything worked out for everybody which is perfect for one of the Phillies its almost impossible to not like.