All Star Break Report Card

The Phils All-Star catcher JT Realmuto - that's pronounced Jay Tee Reel Moo Toe

When I last wrote to you the whole town had been lit on fire by Bryce Harper and the Phils shiny new offense after a week of monster bombs and wins at the Bank. I stated the Harper signing had already been justified. I’m standing by that at the his first All-Star Break of what should be 13 seasons in red pinstripes. It is the first season he is not an All-Star since 2014, though he made it last year hitting 214 at the Break. The honeymoon period ended quickly enough, the dust has settled to an extent, and the Phils weaknesses are glaring and evident through 90 tumultuous games that have left them right in the thick of the playoff hunt.

Sitting in 3^rd place in the NL East at 47-73 the Phils would play the Nats in a one game wild card playoff if the season were to end at the Break. We’d all take that if that’s how the season ends. The Phils are a half game back of Harper’s former ballclub, and they will welcome those Washington Nationals to town this  weekend in an immediate showdown to begin the second half. The young free-swingin’ Atlanta Braves are in first place (Dansby Swanson is a leading candidate for who you can hate on to replace Chipper Jones). All of these teams can be had it would appear, so it will be fun to see what they do in the dog days coming up. With that brief synopsis of where things stand, let’s see how we got here.

If I had more time or talent I’d really like to reel off a We Didn’t Start the Fire synopsis of the antics we’ve been witness to the past three months.

Harper, Kapler, Arietta, Nola, Eflin, and Pivetta…

Something like that.

The team has been erratic in every sense of the word. But what I must start with, and dwell on, and belabor more than anything is that Matt Klentak did not address the starting staff and placed way too much faith in an unproven rotation. When you couple that with a  farm system that does not seem to produce any Major League capable starters with any kind of regularity then you find yourself with a 4.64 staff ERA. These _____ing guys, and now I’m including the bullpen, have completely forgotten how to keep the ball in the yard. The 2016 Cincinnati Reds gave up a record 258 long balls. The Phils are on pace to give up 275, and I’ll be damned if the Orioles haven’t given up 17 more home runs than the Phillies to date. My god the O’s must they be a fun team to watch. Ha!

Anyway, 1.7 homers a game the Phils are giving up. It is the worst in the NL. For some fun perspective, the 2019 Phils have given up 153 round trippers. The vaunted 2011 squad gave up 120 the whole season. Suuuure, these balls aren’t juiced per the commissioner. Give me a break, it’s insulting to make fans believe something isn’t different about the game now compared to then.

So, I’m giving out a report card grade and sharing anywhere from a few paragraphs to a few words based on my observations during the first half. Please note you can click on the stat lines to enlarge them.

Bryce Harper B-

Let’s start by concentrating at least some of your Ts and Ps on Bryce having a hot second half like last year.

Here’s his 2018 split

Harper will be inextricably linked to his massive contact the entire time he is here so the microscope will never really let down its glare. Kind of hot, I’ll bet. I have two main beefs, but overall I’ve been happy with his first 90 games here. The biggest beef is this strikeout rate, and he seems to be coming back to more career average levels of late. He’s whiffed 105 times in 395 plate appearances or once every 3.76 trips to the plate. The way he strikes out scares me more than anything though. Ryan Howard was a big fan of the Pedro Cerrano strikeout, he missed the breaking balls. Bryce can’ t seem to catch up to a fastball. Kind of freaks me out since he’s 26. Hopefully It’s just timing.

The second beef is the lack of power. I suppose 16 home runs at the break doesn’t sound awful but the 470 slugging percentage would be the 3^rd worst in his 8 seasons of at least 100 games played. The average or the power need to go up. Preferably both.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised with his arm from the outfield. His defense has been a bit better than I expected, but I was not expecting much. He needs to get his head out of his ass while running the bases as he is constantly TOOBPLAN (Thrown out on base paths like a nincompoop). I like the aggression but his instincts are not on par with say a Scott Rolen when looking for the extra base.

Aaron Nola  - C

 Until about two weeks ago I would have told you Nola was easily the biggest disappointment of the first half. Now it's just a close with a couple other guys. After a brilliant 2018 campaign, where we were finally at a point with a starter that felt something like what we had with Halladay/Hamels/Lee, Nola said so much for that. In  his 15^th start of the season where he almost blew a large lead against Atlanta he saw his ERA balloon to a season high 4.89. Man oh man, he was hit by the can’t keep the ball in the ballpark bug that somehow hasn’t infected pitching coach Chris Young enough to get fired. I had to look up who the pitching coach is just now and I watch a lot of Phillies baseball, I got him not making it to 2020 spring training. Back to Nola, he seems to have righted the ship. He completely dominated a red hot Braves lineup last week with 8 shutout innings and followed it up by not blowing it against the hapless Mets on the last game before the break. Cross young fingers we’ll see more of this Nola, but just know it is shitty he was even capable of that kind of first 15 starts.

Jake Arrieta - D

 This guy is up there on the all-time prick list. What a total Jack Parkman without the stats. Somebody tell Arrieta this aint Chicago and he didn’t win a World Series or a Cy Young here and we don’t give a shit about any of that. How bout taking some accountability for yourself and, I don’t know, keeping the goddamn ball in the ballpark. Perhaps if I said this to Jake’s face he would put a dent in my skull. Grow up Jake. Or have surgery and miss the rest of the season. Choice is yours.

Zach Eflin - B

Eflin has 17 starts here are the earned run results:

Zero – 2 starts

1 earned – 5 starts

2 earned – 3 starts

3 earned – 3 starts

4 earned – 1 start

6 earned – 3 starts

When it goes good for Zach, it goes good. He has two complete games which leads the NL. LOL. When it goes bad, it goes real bad as you can see he’s stayed in long enough to give up 6 runs on 3 separate occasions. If he can, stop me if you’ve heard this before, keep the ball in the ballpark he could possibly be a starter on a playoff team.

Nick Pivetta - D

Pivetta is a poor man's Eflin. See above, but worse, much worse.

Vince Velasquez - C -

If you take a look at the line for that night's game and you see the Phils are +240 against the Reds you know Vince Velasquez is starting. Bullpen or bust for Vince.

The Bullpen - D +

The D+ is mostly accounted for by their durability. Dave Robertson was the big signing. Who?! Adam Morgan was good then he hit the IL. Pat Neshek sidewinded his way to a decent start then he started bitching about coming in to games on 3 days rest and couldn't stop giving up home runs on his way back to the IL. Ramos? Nicasio? Dominguez? Hunter? Arano, De Los Santos? All hurt or ineffective, some both. Hector Neris has been solid and he gets them the + in the D +. Sure he's blown his fair share, but he doesn't instill fear in fans like the rest of them do.

Rhys Hoskins - B +

Rhys hits for extra bases, his 530 slugging is second to only Scott Kingery who has played 30 fewer games. He walks a ton, leading the NL with 68. He appears to be a capable leader with Harper. His defense at first base isn't as bad as his defense in the outfield so it's nice that he's found a spot there. He is not on the Rico Brogna level of picking bad throws clean but I've seen him grab his share of short hops. I like that.

Unfortunately I just don't find myself getting behind Rhys with my usual vigor for a player of his caliber. I am reminded of the line from Ace Ventura when he rebuffs Lois Einhorn / Ray Finkle when she comes on to him in the police station. She asks him if it's another woman as to why Ace won't pursue relations and he replies, "No, you just don't do it for me." This is not exactly a direct comparison on my feelings for Rhys, but that line is apt because at this point he just doesn't do it for me. The way he spells his name honestly doesn't help matters, but that's just me.

Jean Segura - C

Jean is up to 278, which is 22 points lower than his lowest batting average in the past 3 years. He started off gangbusters and then he didn't bust it down the line on an infield fly in San Diego and the whole goddamn season unraveled. Ian Kinsler let the pop fly drop so he could double up Andrew McCuctchen who was on first base. Cutch got caught in a rundown and there went his ACL. Jean said he lost sleep over the incident. His batting average certainly lost some steam. A few weeks later Jean failed to bust it on a leadoff base hit in the first inning against Max Scherzer that led to a run not being scored. 

Jean is a tremendous addition to the ballclub and he has given my buddies and I the ability to constantly use the "Gene's Trash" Seinfeld reference, which has added a decent amount of enjoyment to my life. Still the fact remains he inadvertently cost Cutch the season and then didn't have the presence of mind to not make a similar mistake less than a month later. Come on bro, we need better than that.

JT Realmuto - B +

JT is better than I think he is and I'm taking him for granted but I'm not completely sold yet. His defense is without a doubt top notch but I believe we almost all expected more from the bat. We were sold a large bill of goods for him and he's filling it for the most part. I'm looking for a big second half from the Phils loan All-Star.

Jay Bruce - A

Jay has played 28 games for the Phillies. He has 29 RBI. Check out that slugging! This is a good one for Klentak if you're keeping track, which if you're reading this...

Andrew McCutchen - ACL

Cutch was leading the NL in walks when he went down. He seemed to be coming on a bit and the Phils took a complete nosedive when he went down. It took a while to figure out the leadoff spot and he really appeared to make them go considering what we saw when he left. 

Scott Kingery - A -

Kingery leads the team in slugging. He's got 11 bombs and has filled in everywhere he's been needed to fill in. Most notably the leadoff spot perhaps. He has stepped into the role and provided pop and speed. At what point do you think the brass gives up on Cesar and puts Kingery at second base where he could be for the next 8-10 years? 

He should have more than 5 steals with a nickname like Scotty JetPacks but that's probably my only beef.

Lastly, check out the highlighted section of his stat line. Catcher and first base are the only positions Kingery hasn't played this season. He's got a 13.50 ERA in 1 and a third, not shown in the stats.

Odubel Herrera - F Off

Turns out Odubel is a reprobate. Herrera had one home run on the season before he got arrested for allegedly roughing up his girlfriend at the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City over MDW. She dropped the charges but regardless Odoobs is basically a scum bag per a police report that anybody could read if they wanted to and most likely will never play for the Phillies again after his 85 game suspension is up. So much for him being my favorite player huh. Rough year for Odoobs. Hope his woman is pulling a Steve Miller.

Gabe Kapler - B - 

Charlie Manuel

It's hard to manage when you have Jerad Eickhoff and Nick Pivetta combine to make 21 starts with ERAs both 5.50+. It's hard to manage when Pat Neshek refuses to go in, and Dave Robertson's arm fell off, and Juan Nicasio has to go on a 3rd straight night, or when you have to choose between Phil Gosselin or Sean Rodriguez to pinch hit because you have to pinch hit 3 times a game  because of all the other aforementioned reasons it's tough to manage. Gabe is keeping this ship together but could sprinkle a little more discipline in for the old-school guys. Segura should have been yanked and/or sat after his incidents. 

I love that line in Little Big League "How hard can it be to manage? You're in the AL!"

I've enjoyed the fire he has shown getting tossed from two games in quick succession when things were really going South for the Phils in their customary June swoon. I was at the Mets game where Joe West tossed him for doing nothing. One note on my trip to that Mets-Phils game. I have a feeling I'm going to really enjoy the Robinson Cano in Queens era.

Having said all that, Gabe still over manages and makes some decisions where I question what logic he is employing. He'll pinch hit a catcher in the 6th if it suits him. Don't ask no questions.

Matt Klentak - B -

He brought in Realmuto, Segura, and Harper in the offseason. He's allowed Eickhoff, Pivetta, and Velasquez to continue to be Major League starters. He drafted Mickey Moniak with the number one overall pick in 2016. What do you think?


I'll give the Phils overall a B -. They haven't played their way out of it but they certainly have the feel of an underachieving bunch right now. They've got 60 games to change that feeling.

** My apologies to Maikel Franco

Instant Gratification

Honeymooning with Harper

Here we are, April 3^rd. I can barely breathe I’m so far up to my neck in tax returns but I felt it necessary to waste some time for a discussion on what every one is talking about. Bryce Harper and the Phillies. Today’s loss was more exciting than any game in the past five years. Harper has brought an electricity to the team, the city, and the fan base so quickly I can’t say I’ve ever experienced anything like it.

The season is less than  week old and Harper and his team, it is his team I’d say, have already provided such instant gratification that you would not believe a Hollywood script written like this about the first 5 games of a baseball season.

Regardless of whether this hot start propels the Phils on to a great season and beyond, the Harper signing has already been justified. There is an effect happening with Bryce Harper that only a player of his stature could conjure in a sport that more than a few people in this town had written off as an also ran since Chase Utley stopped being the best player in it. Harper has immediately captivated the city by embracing it with a vigor you are used to seeing from someone like Brian Dawkins or Allen Iverson.

Since the signing and my post that hinted that Harper is a different person than we may have believed him to be when he played for the Nationals; I have seen him do nothing but double down on that sentiment. He has continually stated how he wants to set roots in this city (He and his wife Kayla put a birth announcement on instagram in front of the Ben Franklin Bridge!) and his embracing of the fans is refreshing for a sport that’s average age viewer does not know how to save it as a PDF. It feels like every interaction the cameras catch him having appears to be positive. He bows to the crowds thanking them for their enthusiasm. He's shooting bow and arrows after home runs with Maikel Franco, so Franco. He's waving "Hi!" to Odoobs from the dugout after Odoobs doubles (Odubel doubled 3 times Monday night). He appears to have a different handshake with just about every teammate like he's Lebron James forcing something in Cleveland except it's here and it's us so it's cool. Ask John Middleton if he thinks all of this stuff is good?

The opening weekend series in Philadelphia could not have gone any better for Gabe Kapler’s crew. Harper did not join in on the offense party that was the 10-4 opening day victory but the holdovers in the lineup from last year certainly did. Maikel Franco homered and Rhys Hoskins hit a grand slam following a Harper intentional walk. This game gave us a glimpse of what we know this offense should be capable of. Hell Franco was the best hitter on the team last year and he’s been crushing the ball in the 8 hole through 5 games. Oh, and Andrew McCutchen led off the season with a home run.

The crowds have showed Harper love normally reserved for a guy who just cured their kid’s cancer. The guy will do some wrong in 13 years but believe me when I tell you he can’t do anything wrong right now for this fan base.

So hopefully you were watching early Saturday evening when Harper stepped to the plate for the 8^th time as a Phillie against none other than former Phillies' first round pick and Philadelphia area native Jessie Biddle. The lefthander missed his spot and Harper unloaded for an upper deck 465 foot blast into the cold early spring night. Pandemonium at the ballpark. I was up out of my seat at my friend’s house celebrating, scaring the shit out of his dogs and in turn my daughters. I didn’t care. Harper just went yard. First of 400 or so as a Phillie.

Move ahead to Sundee night and the home town Philadelphia Phillies are on Sunday Night Baseball for probably the first time since Joe Morgan and Jon Miller had the gig. All eyes are on South Philadelphia as the Phils look to get out the brooms. 

Oll Jake Arrieta got the start and it was very Jake Arrieta. That is to say he had control issues but was ultimately effective. Dude walked  6 and only gave up 1 unearned run on a brutal passed ball. Only blemish I’ve seen from JT Realmuto and his hose for an arm by the way. Also, full disclosure I did not know one thing about JT before we got him. Sad! I know. Anyway, couldn’t believe he was a white guy! Jacob Tyler is from Oklahoma. The more you know..

Back to the game. Andrew McCutchen hit his second homer of the early going and the Phils were up 3-1 when Harper led off the 7^th with a frozen rope into the bleachers in right that caught ARod off guard in the booth. The fans needed a curtain call and he acknowledged. Electric (boogie woogie woogie?). Phils sweep the division rival Braves to start the season.

Tuesday night in DC was the real theater. The once proud son of the city was returning to the town he spurned despite being offered $300 million. Bob Costas and John Smoltz were in to broadcast the game nationally for MLB Network. The DC mayor tweeted and deleted a depiction of Harper as Benedict Arnold earlier in the day. The front row of a section in right field featured 7 guys wearing shirts that spelled out T R A I T O R. The Nats played a video tribute to him prior to the game that was showered with boos. When introduced to bat in the first he received a welcome of boos that would have made the hearty Philadelphia fans say, “yeah, that’s not bad.”

None of that mattered. The Phillies and Bryce Harper can hit. It didn’t hurt that Zach Eflin gave up nothin over 5 innings, striking out 9 and giving up only 3 hits and a walk. He was pulled with men on base in the bottom of the 6^th  for a pinch-hitter and that did not turn out to haunt old Gabe. Harper and his team made sure of it. In that same bottom of the 6^th Jean Segura shot a bases clearing 3 run double down the right field line to give the Phils some breathing room. Harper came up next and singled away from the shift to score Segura and pad the lead even more for the Phillies who were playing their second straight game on national television. They probably had two all of last year.

For the piece de resistance Harper made staying up til 11 to continue watching a game that was delayed at the start more than worth it. You could almost say this one was a carbon copy of the titanic upper deck bomb he hit Saturday night for his first of the season. This one, his third in four games, reached the upper deck and sailed right over about 1,000 or so crazed Phillies fans who had made the trip to DC and conspicuously congregated their seating in right field. Pandemonium in right field. Harper took a brief look at the majestic blast, took a few steps, and sent a sideways helicopter bat flip high into the air as he began his trip around the bases.

The Phils are back.

Thanks Bryce.

The Phillies Sign Bryce Harper

Welcome Bryce, stay a while..

December 14^th, 2010. That was the day Cliff Lee signed with the Phillies. That was a pretty good day.

The time of year that coincides with the baseball’s winter meetings is generally referred to as “Hot Stove Season”. This year the pilot was out despite superstars Bryce Harper and Manny Machado entering free agency in their absolute prime.

By the time mid-January rolled around I had heard enough hot takes, twitter rumors, tips from Jerry in Baltimore who’s cousin works for the Phillies’ ticket office, “Sources:” and overall bullshit that everyone was feeding on surrounding these two guys.

I knew a couple things.

I knew Bryce Harper’s agent is Scott Boras. If you’re reading this blog you probably know the name JD Drew and can surmise how I feel about Scott Boras. Call me unsympathetic to the plight of Boras and his clients but the guy is not good for the game.

I know you can’t have a player who just came off a contract year where he hit 249 flatly reject a $300 million offer from the only pro team he ever played for, and then sit idly without a team until 2 weeks in to spring training and think you are dealing in reality.

Thankfully, I know that Major League Baseball doesn't deal in reality in regard to money or fan perception.

So by early February I had told my boss Dave that I did not want to hear one more thing about Harper until he was actually signed.

As the weeks dragged on Dave made it a point to walk into my office each morning and ask me if I had heard any news on Harper as he held the sports page and chuckled.

Thursday morning, 2/28, I was on my commute to work and gave old Angelo Cataldi a chance on the dial. This curmudgeon had officially had enough of the Bryce Harper saga. Before 7 AM he was leading a crusade to gather as many people as he could to attend Harper’s first game as a visiting player to make sure he felt the full wrath of Philadelphia’s fans for toying with our fan base for months. Cataldi went as far as to call Harper a maggot for the drawn out spectacle.

Fast forward half a day later and I’m returning to work after picking up some Turkish Taffy for the office and listening to the same sports radio station 94.1 WIP when a sounder came on and broke into the live radio broadcast.

HARPER SIGNED!!!!!!!

This is the Best!

I returned to the office parking lot laying on the horn in celebration.

Man, I wonder how the crow Angelo ate Friday morning tasted. What a colossal prick.

Wow! What an offseason for our Fightin’ Phils. An argument can be made that GM Matt Klentak had already had a stellar off-season adding the likes of catcher JT Realmuto, shortstop Jean Segura, reliever Dave Robertson, and former MVP Andrew McCutchen who I think will win the award for weirdest to see in Phillies pinstripes.

Still, owner John Middleton knew as well as anyone that Gabe’s group lacked the player that would put the juice back in the ballpark that we all have missed since Ryan Howard was lying on the first base line with a torn Achilles.  

That’s why Middleton knew that he needed to give Harper, and Boras, what they wanted. You’ve heard it before, and I’m here to reiterate, it’s not our money so why should we worry about it? Baseball is such a joke it doesn’t even have a salary cap to level the playing field so spend away John.

13 years. $330 million. There is a signing bonus, I believe of $20 million this year, but I did not independently confirm that. The last 3 years will be less money than the first 10. Here is the official breakdown per MLB Reference:

Must be nice

The years, no trade clause, and the lack of opt outs tell you more about Harper than you thought you knew. Baseball is a different animal when it comes to contracts when compared to other sports. The money is guaranteed for longer periods of time and larger amounts, generally speaking. My impressions of Harper were superficial and I assumed him to be a primadonna of sorts. I thought he could pull a Lebron James and refuse to commit anywhere long term if Boras didn’t get record dollars. 

This contact tells me something different. He could have done, well, who knows what the hell he could have done but the meetings had to be crazy right? Seriously though, I have very little doubt he could have taken less years for more money a year, or at the very least structured a deal with opt outs or waiving no trade clauses. Harper did not do that. Bryce Harper has pushed all his chips in with the Phillies for the next 13 years and holy shit let’s just take it in for a minute. Let’s take a breath. Let’s embrace it and appreciate the fact that the Philadelphia Phillies were able to land the biggest free agent in the history of the sport.

In Harper, Middleton got enough juice to move a reported 180,000 tickets in 48 hours since the news of his signing. Gabe got the left handed power bat the lineup was craving.

We’ve all done it, well, I hope you’ve done it, but let’s see what this lineup looks like assuming everyone is healthy at the end of the month.

Alright Mae lead off centerfie— whoops wrong lineup.

Cesar Hernandez – 2B

Jean Segura – SS

Bryce Harper – RF

Rhys Hoskins – 1B

JT Realmuto – C

Andrew McCutchen – LF

Maikel Franco – 3B

Odubel Herrera – CF

That just sounds like runs to me. Who knows what batshit crazy lineups Gabe will wind up employing and I know there is talk about batting Harper in the 2 hole. I’m not with that camp. The analytics have their place and I do believe they give you an edge but your best hitter needs to hit 3. Harper needs to be the Phillies best hitter. Rhys Hoskins batting 4 and cleaning up should be the perfect protection for Harper to get pitches to hit. Most guys are going to make better contact on pitches in the strike zone. If there are people on base and people on deck the pitcher does not want to face then the guy at the plate is going to see more pitches in the zone.  Baseball is not rocket science; there’s a component of people who will tell you I’m the asshole when I don’t fully embrace the analytics revolution in baseball and I’ll live with that. But if you didn't think Chase Utley got better pitches to hit because Ryan Howard was on deck you weren't paying attention.

Honestly, the way the lineup gets filled out does not matter all that much. It will be nit-picking for the sake of it with the names that will fill it out in 2019 after the names that have filled it out for the past 5 years. Most importantly, we can expect to see Bryce Harper penciled in until my 5 year old daughter is headed off to college.

Catch you guys wearing number 3 Phillies jerseys drinking $9.75 light beers at the ball park.

Let's go PHILS!!!!