Phillies News and Discussion 2025 Season

[phillychuck]

Turner is playing hiself off of a full-time role at SS. You could just switch him with Stott, but that probably won’t play well politically.

[zambonir]

And Stott still isn't considered a great defensive SS, and Sosa probably still isn't a 600 AB player. Nobody's doing a major in-season position change. Turner just has to be better. But he's hardly the only one. And he's now hitting .290.

It's pretty amazing what this team is doing OBP-wise. They've just got no pop. And they need it to bail out the defense and bullpen.

John Foley actually wrote an article about his repeated 15-13 tweet the other day. It actually is pretty crazy to see what the '08 team looked like in July. And I certainly remember the 2010 team being possible deadline sellers.

We don't know as much about the Phillies as we think we do | OnPattison

[Philsmania]

Turner is playing hiself off of a full-time role at SS. You could just switch him with Stott, but that probably won’t play well politically.

I've been a proponent of Turner being moved to left eventually, if not sometime this season, then next season. He'll probably need to be coaxed into it though.

[andyb]

Turner is playing hiself off of a full-time role at SS. You could just switch him with Stott, but that probably won’t play well politically.

Stott is really not better at SS though. I think Miller at SS and Turner in the OF somewhere is really the answer. Possibly 3B as well. Last night was a combination of mental (not touching 2B) and mechanical errors (airmailing the throw) and that is frustrating to watch because range-wise he is still at least average at SS.

The whole team has decided to be mediocre defensively unfortunately at the same time. Yesterday was an easy win with decent fielding.

[Callison]

Agree that Turner to LF could have solved two Phils' problems and saved $10M for the pen. Sosa is the strongest defensive IF on the Phils, IMHO, and he should play ss. But there is bias against Sosa like there is faith in Rojas, so that idea will never see the light of day.

Also wonder if the Phils are afraid to ask Turner to play LF. I'm guessing it's never been discussed.

Wasn't long ago that the Phils' pen was nearly dominant. Here's hoping some of these new pitchers can turn it around. The prestigious "Juevitos de Ferro" award goes to Alvarado for striking out the side with the bases loaded.

IMHO, everybody is still wondering how good this team can be and knows they could be a lot better any minute.

Fantastic game yesterday. Could have been cut from "Major League".

[andyb]

Sosa tends to get overexposed offensively when he plays every day. I don't think there is bias against him. They just do not see him as a better overall (offense+defense+baserunning) SS than Turner.

That is why I think Miller forces the move if he can stay at SS.

[VoteForKalas]

Does anyone else agree that it's time to see if Turner can play center (or left, with Keppie moving to center), and install Sosa at short?

Will it help Turner SLG higher than .400?

[VoteForKalas]

But there is bias against Sosa like there is faith in Rojas, so that idea will never see the light of day.

Not really. It is more that the more Sosa plays, the worse numbers he tends to post. He is the classic player who is better off the bench and as a super sub instead of an everyday starter.

[andyb]

Will it help Turner SLG higher than .400?

That is something I have been watching too. His walk rate is up likely at a cost of power (from aggressiveness). Hopefully these are adjustments he is making and not a sign of age. He is almost as fast as ever, so hoping this is just a hitting mechanics funk. What makes Turner special these days is the combo of above average power and speed - not really plate discipline.

[zambonir]

His OBP is about to pass his SLG right? I'll still take this slump over the one from 2022. He'll come around. If nothing else the speed should also be creating doubles.

[Jazzhead]

Sosa tends to get overexposed offensively when he plays every day. I don't think there is bias against him. They just do not see him as a better overall (offense+defense+baserunning) SS than Turner.

But that is not the question. It is whether the team is, here and now, better with both Sosa and Turner in the lineup, with Sosa steadying the defense. The question then becomes whether Trea in left field provides more offense than the current leftfield tandem of Kepler and Marsh.

[andyb]

But that is not the question. It is whether the team is, here and now, better with both Sosa and Turner in the lineup, with Sosa steadying the defense. The question then becomes whether Trea in left field provides more offense than the current leftfield tandem of Kepler and Marsh.

Well, the first part is they think Sosa's offense gets worse when he plays more. The Phillies believe Turner is better offensively.

Then part 2 is that the Kepler/Wilson platoon is also not necessarily bad. Kepler looks like he'll give you a 750 OPS with at least average defense on his side of the platoon. Too soon to tell about Wilson but in small samples his offense against LHP has been good.

The Phillies are being rational. Turner is their best overall shortstop and the LF platoon probably produces more offensively than Sosa would. As I said, the Phillies want something better than Turner as an overall shortstop and at the moment they probably don't have that. The Marsh question is also about Rojas too since ideally he plays CF against RHP.

These things will sort themselves out, but moving Turner now without something better just does not seem to be a solution that makes the overall team better at the moment. More Sosa and less Kepler is just not a big improvement.

[Matt_Winkelman]

Kepler is currently hitting .275/.383/.435 off of RHPs. Unless you are platooning Sosa and Kepler and moving Turner around you aren't improving your offense and asking Turner to move between two positions is actually insane.

So the clear answer is they are not better playing Sosa at SS.

Is this something worth watching next offseason or if Aidan Miller goes from disappointing year to crazy run, sure. But Trea Turner is playing shortstop the rest of the year because it is clearly the best thing for their team.

[Austinfan]

I think it's more likely, if Kemp maintains this pace, that they move on from Bohm at 3B next year.

[zambonir]

I think that's probably likely regardless of Kemp (and also still unlikely that he's an everyday starting 3B given he's not good defensively right? Plus the last guy we had with an 1.100 OPS in Allentown was still under .700 in the majors and plays in Korea now).

Right now it would be Wilson hearing footsteps.

[phillychuck]

I think it's more likely, if Kemp maintains this pace, that they move on from Bohm at 3B next year.

Unfortunately, Kemp makes Bohm look like a gold-glover at 3B. He’s a born DH/utility guy. Would really be great if he could learn to play LF well. Not holding my breath, though. This year he sure can play better well, though.

[Austinfan]

Meanwhile, Rojas is hitting .300. He should have spent a full season in AAA, so it makes no sense not to be patient with him, it's not like the alternatives are hitting that well that you want to give up his defense to upgrade the 9 hole. He's still only 24.

Give Crawford and Kemp to July to see if they're for real, give Marsh a chance to turn it around, see if Wilson can be the RH part of a platoon. Then think about making moves after the Allstar break.

And keep an eye on "Babe Ruth" Fergus!
(6 HR in 41 AB, but also 21 K, forget 3 outcomes, he's simplified down to two outcomes).

[andyb]

Fergus is already pretty much seen as an organizational player that will just fill holes or the bench at various levels as needed.

[Squire]

Phillies made a peculiar trade

Traded RHP Enrique Segura to the Rangers for RHP Daniel Robert, a 30 year old relief pitcher who appears to be hurt a lot. He was optioned to Lehigh Valley

https://x.com/Phillies/status/1917939133839708574

[Austinfan]

This sounds like they didn't see any future for Segura.
Robert is more depth for AAA, nothing says he's a ML pitcher other than a high K rate, at 30, not a lot of unlocked potential.
But if you're going to promote someone, you need a warm body to replace them.