Posts Tagged ‘Team TSP’

Following The 40: Off-season Primer

October 12th, 2015 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Following The 40: Off-season Primer | Filed in Baseball, General, MLB, Phillies

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As the Phillies off-season begins, the first order of business was to pair down the roster to 40 players including ones that would be coming off of injured status. Earlier last week, the Phillies outrighted Justin De Fratus (who recently elected free agency), Jonathan Pettibone, Adam Loewen, Ken Roberts, Erik Kratz, Jordan Danks, and Chase d’Arnaud. The roster currently stands at forty, but with a strong likelihood that Cliff Lee, Chad Billingsley, Aaron Harang, Jerome Williams, Brian Bogusevic, Jeff Francoeur, and Andres Blanco all head to free agency.

Francoeur and Blanco are expected to be asked to return, but will both certainly be given offers with other clubs. Domonic Brown may have seen his last inning as a Phillie as he has a very strong chance of being non-tendered a contract. Jesse Biddle and David Buchanan are both likely to be outrighted in the near future due to their respective injury statuses. That sets the Phillies at 30 players.

Whoever the next General Manager may be, while they have the resources, there probably won’t be any huge splashes for 2016. In fact, the Phillies acquisitions will most likely be role players and players coming off of injury looking to establish value. The rotation will most likely consist of Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, and Adam Morgan as pitchers three thru five with Alec Asher and Severino Gonzalez given opportunities.

Matt Harrison, whom the Phillies acquired at the trade deadline in the Cole Hamels deal, could also be an option if he is healthy enough to compete. The Phillies could also add from within with Zach Eflin and Ben Lively as potential candidates. My personal targets for the Phillies to add from free agency: Mat Latos or Doug Fister.

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The Best & Worst of Ruben Amaro Jr (Part 2: The Worst)

November 5th, 2013 by Mike H. | Comments Off on The Best & Worst of Ruben Amaro Jr (Part 2: The Worst) | Filed in Baseball, General, Phillies

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Although I’ve obviously had this portion of the two-part series done for a while now, I figured I’d better get it out of the way before Amaro makes a significant move of stupidity before Christmas (because we all know Rube likes to get his shopping done early). I think that it is important to note prior to revealing this list, that they are not in order of financial pain, even though the majority of Ruben’s self-inflicted problems are monetary ones. (more…)

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Minor Leaguers Of The Week: 4/9

April 9th, 2013 by Mike H. | Comments Off on Minor Leaguers Of The Week: 4/9 | Filed in Baseball, Phillies

Considering the numerous members of Team TSP that focus on the Phillies, I thought I’d spend time this season focusing on the players on their way up. I’m hoping to make this a weekly occurrence short of something newsworthy.

Pitcher of the week goes to Lakewood’s Josh Warner. Warner only lasted 5 innings in his season debut, but struck out seven and only walked one batter. Another stat the stuck out to me was his groundball to flyball ratio of 3.00. Warner definitely kept the Kanapolis hitters guessing all night. Hopefully this trend of success continues for the young right hander.

Honorable mention goes to top prospect Jesse Biddle, who should be sure to headline this list multiple times this season. Biddle struck out six and walked one against New Hampshire.

Position Player of the Week goes to Lehigh Valley’s Cesar Hernandez. Hernandez was en fuego, hitting a ridiculous .455 in his first 22 at bats. While he may not have that home run distance, four of his ten his have been for extra bases including three doubles and a triple. If the Phillies choose to part ways with Chase Utley  after the season, the Phillies definitely have a viable alternative.

Honorable mention goes to Reading outfielder Anthony Hewitt. Never thought I’d see the day where not only did Hewitt make it so close to the bigs, but he also hit for a batting average higher than his weight.

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