Phillies 2026 News and Discussion

[Philsmania]

What would Rollins have been with ABS, 5'4"-5'5"?

Short guys might make for a pretty compact strike zone.

[zambonir]

I would say that at least the teams have their own accurate measurements before they sign or draft a guy, but, well.... Makes for an interesting calculus for prospects, exaggerate your physicality or advertise your narrow strike zone?

I was surprised Marchan's height stayed the same. Stubbs seems to have gone from 5'10" to 5'9" and even that seems generous, though I've never seen him up close.

This is Marchan batting with Stubbs behind the plate at the pre-playoffs scrimmage

[andyb]

Team Italy faceoff in Colorado tomorrow with Nola vs Lorenzen.

[BostonRoss]

What would Rollins have been with ABS, 5'4"-5'5"?

Short guys might make for a pretty compact strike zone.

I stood next to Jimmy once, and he seemed to be about an inch shorter than my 5’8”

[bkox]

In other news.. Jose Altuve is now officially eligible to be a munchkin but no longer allowed to ride roller coasters

[zambonir]

Wheeler will make at least two more starts. He could make as many as four, rehab clock-wise. But at least publicly they still seem to view this as a normal spring training period for a normally healthy pitcher who may still not be fully dialed in by his first real start, rather than an injured guy who has to be babied. The question Gelb raises is, will the velocity ever fully come back, or is it likely to be waning anyway at his age.

Phillies preach patience as Zack Wheeler works to add velocity to fastball

[andyb]

It is interesting they are making sure Wheeler is pitching every 5th day. I know he has historically been a little better on 4 days rest rather than 5 and that he prefers it and the routine associated with it. But there is also the reality that he is older and may need more rest these days. Plus there are more 5-day rest starts than 4-day these days especially because the Phillies rarely skip the 5th starter.

Fatigue could explain the lack of velocity but I am always wary when an older player resists changing their pattern (like JT catching for instance).

A corollary is Griff McGarry. Historically he has no command in short relief and has only been able to settle down in a starting role. Should we develop him like that even though he might be a 5-inning pitcher when his stuff really screams short relief? In other words should we force him in the role he is less good at because the best pitcher he can be is in that short relief role? With Wheeler should we teach him to adapt to more rest and fewer innings because that is the best pitcher he can be now?

[zambonir]

Two very different questions, McGarry just might not be a major league player if he can't figure out how to succeed in one role or the other. He's also clearly not a priority since they didn't know if he'd be back.

But taking Wheeler aside and telling him that - between his age and injury, plus the reality that his preferred routine is hard to maintain - he has to change is probably not unreasonable.

I saw one of the writers suggest they might go six-man for a while too (to reduce mileage on both Wheeler and Painter) but the writers always seem to say that.

[andyb]

Roster move for Kerkering likely today. Bacchus has all 3 options left and has been mediocre so he is almost certainly the move to make. Duran and Banks are the only other relivers with an option left.

The starting pitching move for Wheeler will be trickier if they decide to keep both Painter (who of course has all of his options) and Walker (who would almost certainly clear waivers but could resist a move to the minors and become a free agent). Bowlan and Mayza seem useful so far. Pop is probably the odd man out if they keep all 6 starters.

[Philsmania]

I saw on social media that Backhus is going down.

[zambonir]

Yeah they might just have to waiver-trade Pop. He might have slipped through waivers in March had he not technically taken Kerkering's spot to begin with but now that he'ls looked decent....

I suppose it's possible they could sell Walker on sticking to a starter's schedule and accepting the assignment. Otherwise I don't think they will consider DFAing him for a second. They'd rather lose a fungible reliever than a good #6 starter and he'll just be the long man until the next rotation injury. And Painter would really have to scuffle for his next two starts to get optioned, especially if Walker's results continue to be no better.

[andyb]

The Painter question is legitimately whether it would be best for him to work on a few things in AAA like Abel did last year.

With Walker I don't think he'll ever be that good, but I also have doubts about him in a bullpen role. I suppose if he is bad in 2 more starts they'll have the license to send him down and let him refuse the assignment if he thinks another major league team would claim him.

The mistake would be a 6-man rotation. Why go from 1 weak spot every 5 starts to 2 out of 6? The schedule already provides off days so there are few 4-day rest starts. Given how we can easily use 4 relievers in any short start, I really like having an 8-man bullpen. It all could work out with injuries but Pop probably will be more useful from the bullpen than Walker. Not a huge difference and our lack of starting depth means the safe choice could still be Walker. This is not an obvious choice for DD and it will be interesting to see what he does.

[zambonir]

I don't think there's much chance of them going 6-man either. Though there's always the tandem option. Didn't they do that with the two Walkers at least once last September?

With Abel it was really just as much that he wasn't good enough to help the major league team as it was for his development (it also suited them to keep him from having any more bad MLB starts pre-trade deadline). Technically he's still not good enough!

With Painter, we'll see, but it wasn't that long ago the conventional wisdom was every inning he pitches in AAA is one he can't pitch for the Phillies later. Obviously that thinking preceded the season he actually had last year.

[andyb]

An occasional bullpen game can certainly be done in stretches without an off day without going to a pure 6-man rotation. In general though I think I would prefer keeping on the 5-man and limiting pitches (85-90 during those stretches and not 100+) to keep the pitchers fresh.

Bullpen games in September are a little easier of course with the extra pitcher and sometimes the ability to call somebody up like Rangel to just pitch 3 or 4 innings and not care about losing a AAAA pitcher in September that would not have options the next season anyway.

The one thing I notice about 6-man rotations is that managerial patterns don't shift much. We are not going deeper in games so the bullpen needs to handle just as many innings with one fewer player. And going to 6 means we have 2 guys less likely to go deep in games. Better IMO to stick with 5 and occasionally do not send out the guy with 90 pitches for an extra inning.

[andyb]

With Painter, we'll see, but it wasn't that long ago the conventional wisdom was every inning he pitches in AAA is one he can't pitch for the Phillies later. Obviously that thinking preceded the season he actually had last year.

That was when he was 19 and had stuff that appears to be better than the current version. Now I am fine with him refining his stuff and getting us an extra year of control on the back end.

[zambonir]

The control thing is certainly interesting. I wonder if they will try to extend him. Rosenthal has talked about the CBA being a factor several times - specifically the possibility that players will reach FA sooner in exchange for accepting some kind of cap. If that happens the likes of Emerson and Griffin will have given up more than they currently are.

Of course Painter is a Boras guy so that is probably moot. And as much as Boras talked about being glad Painter isn't debuting too young, he'd probably squawk at service time manipulation too. But it's only manipulation if he isn't struggling.

[andyb]

The CBA and potential lockout have nothing to do with any of this. Rosenthal and the like are just repeating talking points and not team is making any decisions based upon that. Even all these long contracts for rookies yet to debut have nothing to do with a revised CBA.

If there is a strike or lockout everyone will lose money. There won't be a salary cap but there could be shorter paths to free agency and more revenue sharing and higher salaries to younger players. Service time will likely be less relevant in any new collective bargaining deal though it is such a minor factor in thinking for teams like the Phillies that it is not a factor here. Even Boras players are agreeing to some of these long term deals because cost certainty works both ways for the teams and the players in a risky business.

[BostonRoss]

It’s possible someone else gets hurt before Wheeler gets back. If not, if one of Painter and Walker is not pitching well, send him down (or DFA Walker if he declines). If both are pitching well, that’s a good thing, but I agree a six-man rotation is unwise.

[andyb]

The problem with a DFA to Walker is he is probably better than anyone we have in AAA at the moment and we might not want to lose him. That may not be the case if he has a couple more bad starts but it is probably the case now. Not sure they want to go with Cabrera just yet and the other options (Rangel, Wilson, Davidson) are not better than Walker. It is not Walker's fault that he makes $18 million a year and at this stage is barely worth $2 million on the open market. The other options are really not worth $2 million either.

[Philsmania]

The Painter question is legitimately whether it would be best for him to work on a few things in AAA like Abel did last year.

Sometimes it's just better to let a guy take his lumps early. Not saying Painter is a HOFer but Smoltz and Glavine got hit around like piñatas their rookie seasons. However, one key difference is that those Braves teams were rebuilding while this Phillies team is contending.