I had this whole post drafted and scheduled...and then the Mets no-hit my team.
And it's a little awkward now, cause here I was saying constructive things about them, and then Tylor Megill and the gang go and absolutely blank them at home. I knew the Mets series would be tough, but not 'can't even do anything against Joely Rodriguez' tough. The other night, this team was having a great time braising Ryan Feltner, and now, faced with a better team, we can't do anything? Is this really what we're up against, once again?
It's awful. Absolutely awful. Happy for Megill, Lugo, Rodriguez, Diaz, the whole gang. But man do I wish some of the energy I witnessed was on display last night.
Here now, the post I originally had drafted, with some minor alterations-
A few notes on the 2022 Phillies, after seeing them beat the Rockies a few days ago:
- Alec Bohm, it seems, is gonna be one of those jekyll and hyde type infielders, like Rickie Weeks, Jason Kipnis and J.J. Hardy, who's incredible one year and mediocre the next. I thought he was fantastic his rookie year, and thought he was dreadful last year. The other night he was throwing some contact hits in, playing better in the infield [though not without some mistakes], and looked to be more of his 2020 self. I'd love to see more of it. Kid's tied with Bryce for the lead in RBIs with 14. You love to see it.
- The pro-offense schematic is gonna be problematic if we're gonna continue to start Schwarber, Herrera and Castellanos in the outfield. There were a few plays on Wednesday that could have sopped up runs had there been a better outfield. And I do get it- Roman Quinn and Matt Vierling are better defensive players but neither of them are hitting right now. This would be helped a bit by Mickey Moniak if he wasn't hurt. I get it. But I worry that the outfield is gonna lose us some games, especially against fellow competitive teams like the Mets.
- Not that they especially needed them the other day, but a game without them really reminded me of how valuable Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto are to this team. I know J.P. Crawford has become a big star after getting some room in Seattle, but it remains to be seen if that ever would have happened had he stayed in Philly. Segura, meanwhile, has slowly found his way into a nice position as a versatile bat with great infield perks. J.T. is still J.T. Undeniably the best player on this team, still a great defensive catcher, and skilled at so many useful aspects the Phils have needed help with. Yet neither of them could get hits off of the Mets' pen when it counted.
- The bullpen isn't quite as terrible as it has been in recent years, but you can't get them all working in one night. The other night Jose Alvarado and Jeurys Familia were being testy and Brad Hand was efficient, and then Thursday night Hand was the tricky one. Then Nick Nelson goes and nearly gives up more points when we're already being no-hit 3-0. It's also upsetting to see Cristopher Sanchez, who looked so good in Spring Training, to be struggling so much thus far. I do think eventually he'll handle a starting position with gusto, but he needs to get used to the majors a bit more.
- I give Dombrowski credit for finding useful players from other rosters. Garrett Stubbs, Johan Camargo, James Norwood...all really sharp pickups that have paid off for us thus far. I also credit him for giving us middle relievers like Brad Hand, Jeurys Familia and Corey Knebel, and paving the way for Knebel to become a great closer again.
- Right now Realmuto, Harper, Castellanos, Gregorius and Bohm are hitting, and Hoskins and Schwarber are not. I would like us to get those two to the level of the rest of the team without losing the rest of the team.
I will be seeing these guys again next Wednesday against the Rangers. I hope they're similarly sharp then. And maybe they can put up some points against the Mets in this series. Anything. I'll take ANYTHING.
Coming Tonight- He's locked up and searching for an MVP. Will this finally be his year?
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