Philadelphia Phillies open thread

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Comments

[PLM]

Yes Virginia there a new thread..

[PLM]

One guy i would consider trading and i hope his stock doesnt fall too much is Byrd. Its possible why they inked Sizemore as well..

[Juums]

Oh? We're finally requiring a login of some sort? Fun. (I have apparently become The Poster Formerly Known As Juums.)

It's clear something's going to give in the current OF, PLM. Just a question of what. That Byrd and/or Mayberry are dealt is possible, as they could be replaced by Sizemore if he performs well enough at LHV to get a call-up (as his MiLB seems to expect him to) and Ruf (when he returns from the DL). It could also signal the upcoming demotion of Dom Brown and/or TGJ. Or perhaps even Ben Revere, though I'd become a fountain of incoherent rage if that happened.

That'd be profoundly stupid, but as these are the Phils we're dealing with, a Benji demotion isn't out of the question. No matter how little sense it makes.

[Juums]

Or perhaps I'm just back to being me again? (I think?) TypePad is a very silly thing. A needed thing, but still quite silly.

But yes, interesting times in the OF. If the present OF squad survives past July 31, it'll either be because the Phils have pulled off an improbable run where they win 60% of their games between now and then or because they've convinced RAJ they could do the same and he sits too long on them too long.

[Cyclic]

Ruf isn't on the DL

[Cyclic]

When you say "present OF" do you include Dom Brown?

He's lost his everyday job I think. Platooned at the very least.

He definitely should have been demoted. And Ruf never should have been back at AAA and therefore wouldn't have gotten hurt.

[Bob McKennon]

Byrd could be dealt, even though I personally would hate to see him go. He's not the problem with the team, and it's been a pleasure this season not to see fly balls hit to right field become an adventure.

[Juums]

Cyclic:
The LHV roster on milb.com indicated Ruf was on the 7-day DL. Even if he's off it, he's still not in fighting trim, though my statement should've read "when he returns from his injuries" if he is indeed off the DL.

I do include Dom in the present OF, as even if he's been platooned, he'll still be getting the lion's share of PAs. You've got to think if the Phils are going to send him down to LHV, they need to do it sooner rather than later, to give him the maximum number of PAs to experiment with whatever he's going to experiment with. If you wait until the All-Star Game or the trade deadline, you're looking at him having 4-5 weeks down before coming back up when rosters expand. And if your goal is breaking things down to basics to get him back on track, that might not be long enough to do everything that needs done.

[LorecorE]

Wow, beerleaguer login, nice. Step 2 is actually remove whoever logs in and spews the hate/nonsense.

But other than that, we should be good to go. I look forward to being one of the first banned after Jake makes my head explode about why the Phillies should be buyers at the deadline this year.

[LorecorE]

Byrd is definitely a good trade chip, it was the whole basis for his signing in my opinion. His numbers are making the gamble pay off.

[GBrettfan]

For a while I thought this was a farewell header with no ability to post.

Thanks for the new thread, JW!

Tony Gwynn, Jr., spoke to reporters after the game. Video and story here:

http://www.csnphilly.com/baseball-philadelphia-phillies/tony-gwynn-jr-gets-ovation-phillies-snap-skid

[tomasher]

I need to stop listening to sports talk radio. According to them, the only good thing about this team is Ken Giles.

Here's to hoping that Dom can find his proper swing again, and that the guys in their 30's can keep the hands of time moving to a minimum.

[awh™]

Juums, you raise an interesting question:

How does the addition of Sizemore affect the bench?

Here are the OF options:

Mayberry, OF, 1B
Gwynn, OF
Revere, CF, RF (has he played LF?)
Byrd, OF
Brown, LF

Ruf, LF, 1B (DL)
Sizemore, OF - LV

So, if Sizemore hits well enough at LV to earn a spot on the MLB roster, who goes...

and, if Ruf comes back and hits his way back on the roster, who goes?

Possibilities:

Sizemore up, Brown to LV
Sizemore up, Revere to LV (unlikely, IMO)
Sizemore up, Gwynn sent down/released
Sizemore up, Mayberry traded (unlikely, who's the RH bench bat?)

Ruf gets called up and hits; gets traded instead of Mayberry.

There are a lot of possibilities if Sizemore gets called up.

If that happens, either Gwynn or Revere becomes the redundancy - NOT Mayberry - and it's probably Gwynn that loses out, because either Sizemore (who can apparently still steal bases) or Revere are on the bench as the LH OF bat/defensive sub/PR.

But the reason I mentioned that it may be Ruf who gets traded if they think they can get something for him, is that they may value Mayberry's versatility™ over anything Ruf can do at the plate - which I believe is a mistake, because Ruf can at least hit RHP a little.

[clout]

A couple of things before we get all BL crazy about Grady Sizemore.

1. He is now a pretty bad defensive outfielder. Not Dom Brown bad, but definitely below Marlon Byrd.

2. He hasn't had a good year with the bat since 2009.

It's certainly worth looking at him at LV, but they had a chance to keep a guy way better than Sizemore and passed. Abreu is sporting a .775 OPS at the moment.

[Brooklyn Phillies]

Hey guys, I listen to games on the radio often, and I have sometimes been intrigued by the little song snippets that they play as they're coming back from commercials. Some of the songs are familiar, and some I know only those few seconds that make it onto the radio -- they've been using the same ones for years.

Yesterday I discovered that if I have the game broadcast playing on my phone, the "What's this song" app can usually tell me what the song is.

So without further ado, I present my (work-in-progress) list of
Phillies Radio Music Coming Back from Commercials

[clout]

Current OPS+

Abreu 122
Mayberry 120
Revere 73
DomBrown 65
Gwynn 27

[Juums]

The fascination with Bobby Abreu remains amazing, because it usually ignores the grim logic NL bench construction. If Bobby Abreu is carried, your other OF must be a competent defender at all three OF positions. So that means, in all likelihood, the man left standing is Tony Gwynn Jr. as, at the time the roster decisions were being made, Mayberry was perceived to have slipped defensively and was no longer capable of being a passable backup CF.

Alternatively, you can opt to carry a RHB bench bat who trade defense for situational thump, but they still also have to be the backup CF. Which leaves you with John Mayberry and the long-term exile of Darin Ruf to AAA, a guy whose career line shows more offensive upside than Mayberry or this year's incarnation of Abreu. (Though in a sample size of ~330 PA.)

Those're really your only choices: Abreu and TGJ, in which your 4th OF is an eight-hole hitter at best but a good defender, or Abreu and Mayberry, where you've got proper platoon thumping available in any circumstance off the bench but whose defense leaves a lot to be desired. And, in either case, Ruf becomes an also-ran who would only see The Show if injuries laid Ryan Howard or Dom Brown low. One can, of course, critique the choice the Phils made, but it is not as if Bobby Abreu offered some vast improvement over the other potential bench OF configurations that were possible with the candidate pool in Spring Training.

[awh™]

"A couple of things before we get all BL crazy about Grady Sizemore."

clout, I don't think anyone is "BL crazy".

[awh™]

Juums, to be fair, I think clout's position is that Abreu's -0.4 bWAR of 0.1 fWAR is the only thing standing between the Phillies and 4th place.

[Cyclic]

What AL team did Abreu end up with anyway?

And there are seriously people who would rather have Gwynn Jr. on this team right now than Bobby Abreu?

[Juums]

Cyclic:
I'd take TGJ and a manager who knows how to use him over Bobby Abreu in a heartbeat. (I.E. the day TGJ pinch hits in a non-extra-inning game is the day the manager hangs himself.) Does that count?

[Cyclic]

TGJ is the first bat off the bench, remember.

[M. Martinez]

In the small world department, when the Pirates called up Worley guess who got sent down?

MiniMart.

But I'll be back.

[Juums]

Cyclic:
Are we sure we can't kneecap Sandberg or something? Just for this one question? Because if my choices are TGJ or Abreu, knowing that Sandberg views TGJ as a legitimate PH option, I'm sorely tempted to take Abreu.

But then I remind myself that defense matters, too! And Abreu's done pretty exactly what was expected him: Hit a little and be terrible on the field. TGJ at least has a decent glove. (Excluding that play in RF against the Blue Jays where he decided to play Twister on the turf instead of catching the ball.)

[MG]

Ruiz started again last night and has now started 64 games through the Phillies first 76 games. That has him on pace for 133 games.

Manuel relied on him too much and now Sandberg is running him into the ground.

I wish we would have just signed Arencibia in the off-season so we could have had a viable defensive replacement for Ruiz who has some pop and can give him a rest. Or just use Rupp. Otherwise why is he up with the team?

[awh™]

Bench construction if Sizemore gets called up?:

Sizemore - OF
Mayberry - backup OF, backup 1B
Hernandez - 3B, 2B, SS, CF
Nieves/Rupp - C

Who's the 5th man? Cedeno? Brignac?

Or, do they go with one UT IF - (healthy)Brignac/Hernandez, and with Ruf instead of another UT IF because they eant the stick on the bench?

Sizemore
Mayberry
Ruf
Brignac/Cesar
C

Or, if Ruf is healthy and hitting, do they see what they can get for Maybeery, and the bench becomes

Sizemore OF
Ruf LF, 1B
Brignac
Cesar
C

Lot's of possibilities, and pressure on them to do something if Sizemore proves he can do it.

[clout]

Juums: Correct me if I'm misunderstanding, but you seem to be saying that keeping Tony Gwynn Jr. over Abreu was a good move. Is that correct?

[aksmith]

I like the new setup with having to sign in. I wonder if there will still be spoofing. I that possible with typepad?

[awh™]

MG, I agree, Chooch needs more days off. He's not 27 anymore.

[awh™]

Smitty, no, because each userID is unique.

To wit, no one else on typepad can use "aksmith" or "awh™".

At least I think that's how it works.

We may have less people around, but at least the trolling will be minimized.

[PLM]

If the Phils where say 3 games above .500, Rupp would be in there more. As is they going to run Ruiz 85% of the time. Any word on Nieves?

[Juums]

Clout:
I'm saying that Bobby Abreu did not make sense with the potential bench pieces we had and that, had we kept Abreu, bench construction logic led down the path to a TGJ-style guy, if not TGJ himself. (Of which there was nothing wrong, but that would make our primary pinch-hitter vulnerable to LOOGYs, without anyone else on the bench really capable of doing anything with a stick.) And if we were going to carry a pure-bat 5th OF, I'd've rather had Ruf over Abreu.

But yes, with the team we have, if I could only have one, I'd rather have TGJ than Bobby Abreu. TGJ is what he is: An above-average OF defender who can get on-base at an average rate against RHP and maybe steal a base or two once there. In short, a glove-first 4th OF who should only be started against RHP and batted 8th when he does, who won't kill you in the process. Abreu's a pure bat whose only utility on an NL team is as a pinch hitter, as getting on-base remains his calling card, though he can't hit enough to justify semi-regular OF time due to his defense being a massive liability. As I've said before, Abreu's archetype is not useless and a .350 OBP off the bench is nice to have, but only to a team that has the roster to carry someone who literally cannot field.

TGJ's bat is down this year, which stinks when it was barely adequate against RHP for an eight-hole guy in the first place, but given his off-the-field situation, it's hard to hold that against him. (It's also a 103 PA sample size, which has its own issues.) And while Abreu's bat has been a pleasant surprise, his defense hasn't, and the Phils would invariably field him more than the Mets due to the relative inferiority of the Phils' other bench OFs compared to the Mets'. And all of this doesn't reach the fact that TGJ's usage as a PH is on Sandberg's head, not TGJ's.

[LorecorE]

Pete Kozma got cut. How the hell do Zach Cozart and Jordy Mercer still have jobs?

Give them Rollins.

[PLM]

My earlier post regarding Byrd was assuming the Phils fell out of contention...TGJ Meh he sucks..Good OF but nothing much..

[Dickie Thong]

> Any word on Nieves?

He went on the DL yesterday.

[LorecorE]

Gwynn's bat is down, but its so bad to begin with that it doesn't really matter.

[Juums]

Lorecore:
That's a good -- though depressing -- way to look at it. There's a reason he's a 4th/5th OF, and that when the best praise you can give his bat is that he's got a league-average OBP against RHP, it's a fair indication why.

[dragon]

Requiring a login is a pain in the butt but will be worth it if gets rid or the trolls, trash and junior sociopaths. It will be good to reserve this site strictly for the greater baseball monocracy - and before anyone gets their shorts in a bunch, I include myself in that esteemed group.

[PLM]

Thanks Dickie..

[bullit]

the standing O for tony gwynn jr and sr lasted a full 40 seconds. pretty classy from baseball's coarsest fans. i hope tgj keeps wearing the old-style blousy knickers in honor of his father. looks very dazzy.

[LorecorE]

disagree. the reason why he's a 4th/5th OF is because the Phillies are stupid.

The reason why he was a minor leaguer last year is because he's not good enough to be 4th/5th OF.

[awh™]

Greg Dobbs DFA's by the Nats.

Ruben? Ruben?

[dragon]

I like TGJ as a person, but you can't carry a .153 hitter on your roster. His bat is way too weak. Sorry, but he belongs in AAA.

[Account Deleted]

YAYYYYYY JW!!!!! TO THE LORD, PRAISES BE!!!!!

ya'll know what I'm talkin' 'bout...

[Juums]

Lorecore:
The fact that TGJ spent last year in the Dodgers' organization, infamous for its OF logjam at the MLB level, had nothing to do with why TGJ was an MiLBer all of last year? Nothing at all?

He's a journeyman because even at his best he's not good as a hitter, but there're a finite number of players who are above-average CFs. So long as there are organizations with dearths of good defensive OFs -- like the Phils were this off-season -- there will opportunities for guys like TGJ to get playing time in MLB. That his bat has gone from merely being "bad" to "putrid" in a 100 PA sample size doesn't invalidate the logic of the signing in the first place.

[Phillibuster]

Hey, hey, login required. Pretty darn jazzy.

[Cyclic]

Juums, I like a lot of your posts, but you must be exhausting yourself jumping through hoops to find ways to defend Gwynn Jr.'s presence on the roster... then and now.

[Phillibuster]

Meh. TGJ ain't great, but I do agree that, given the Phillies' roster needs, he makes more sense than Abreu. In much the same way that we couldn't afford to carry Matt Stairs this year (outside of the broadcast booth - and perhaps even then at times?), an all-OBP, middling-power, no D, low-BA, low-speed player simply couldn't fit on this roster over the long haul.

I could see carrying him for a few weeks or even a month, but primarily after roster expansion.

[Cyclic]

Anecdotal, but I can think of a heck of a lot more times this season where I've said "It sure would be great if we had a PH who could actually hit in this situation" than "It sure would be great if we had a defensive sub who could actually field right now."

[Juums]

Cyclic:
Not really. Our OF defense was terrible last year. So they signed a bench OF who was by all reports a good defensive OF to an MiLB deal, who's a AAAA journeyman at this point his career because his bat stinks. (And was never good in the first place.) He had a good Spring Training and none of the other guys who fit the mold on the bench for which he was competing impressed, so he made the MLB team. He's come out and done what's expected of him, doing some good work in CF and being absolutely terrible at the plate. (And making at least one horrific play in RF.) A better option hasn't presented itself internally or externally as a potential backup CF/competent defending 4th/5th OF until the Sizemore signing, and even then Sizemore might flame-out gloriously in LHV in addition to having a Dom-esque line Boston. Unless you want to go back to Mayberry being the backup CF/first OF off the bench, when pretty much everyone agrees he's done as well as he has this year because he's not been cast in that role.

Has it been infuriating seeing TGJ lead off and be used as the first bat off the bench? Absolutely. But that's on Sandberg's head, not TGJ's. Which, I think, is why I take umbrage at some of the hate thrown at TGJ.

[Juums]

Re: wanting a PH off the bench, that's why Mayberry being on the bench has always puzzled me. If you're going to have an all-glove bench OF like TGJ, your other OF needs to be able to hit, regardless of a pitcher's handedness. And JMJ, while he is better than he usually gets credit for, is not a threat against RHP. That was always the logic of Ruf over him, because at least Ruf has shown he can MLB-grade RHP in a small-ish sample size. (And has a respectable MiLB line against RHP as well.)

That's also an argument to keep Abreu over Mayberry, for that matter. Or, if you were willing to endure the defense, a bench of Abreu and Mayberry/Ruf. I'd prefer to have a viable defender to rest my starters periodically over the potential thump of an all-bat OF bench, but reasonable folks can differ about that.

[Dickie Thong]

How long before the Phils can DFA TGJ without looking like absolute dicks?

[PLM]

If this was say the 96 Indians OF then i could see maybe carrying a guy like TGJ to give one of the 3 starting OF'ers a occasional day off, Pinch Running etc. The guy hit .300 and had a near .400 on base in the minors last year. You think that could at least translate to a .250 at MLB level. As is he is AAA/AA stowaway player.

[Account Deleted]

If the Phillies are over .500, less than 5 games out, and most importantly playing clean consistent baseball at the deadline.......

THEY SHOULD BE BUYERS!

[Juums]

PLM:
That was a .300/.393/.384 line in the PCL. So there's always going to be a lot of regression from that, though the SLG is more or less in line with his career ISO, so the regression wouldn't be as severe as it is with some others. Regression to something like his career line of .239/.309/.311 (or .244/.318/.321, if properly platooned) is to be expected and illustrates what he does: He's basically Ben Revere with markedly less good contact skills, but draws more walks to mitigate some of the OBP drop-off from the decrease in contact. His odiousness -- above and beyond being a guy with a career .620 OPS -- this season comes from sample size noise, as in his 103 PA, his BABIP is .200, which runs well below a career average of .288. Either he's somehow lost a ridiculous amount of contact skills this off-season, or he's just having some bad batted ball luck, which is making an already bad line look much worse in a small sample size.

Is pointing out that TGJ is not as bad as some make him out to be defending him? I don't think so: If there's a better fit, DFA him tomorrow to make room on the 25-man. But I certainly don't think that's the case with our in-house candidates, and nobody's tickled the waiver wire recently who fits the mold of a competent-defending backup CF recently.

[curt]

If the roster is going to include guys like Gwynn, Cedeno, Sizemore, why not Raul, Dobbs, maybe Vic? The team would be no worse, and a reunion tour has marketing advantages.

[clout]

OK, I realize I'm down the rabbit hole here, but a majority of posters appear to believe that having a bench guy with an OPS+ of 27 is better than having a guy with an OPS+ of 122 because the first guy is better on defense in the OF?

Because OF defense is so crucial for a bench guy that it more than offsets an OPS+ of 27?

Can someone help me out here? Anyone?

[Cyclic]

I'm with you, clout. And I think Juums is usually pretty clear headed and rational about stuff.

[awh™]

Juums, no one here throws hate at TGJ.

We just don't think he's a good enough hitter to merit a spot on an MLB bench.

Now, I'm not sure that Abreu is the alternative, but speaking for myself, it's a little frustrating watching some of the PH options that the Phillies have run out there this season in key situations. TGJ is not the only bad bench bat they've had, because Galvis ain't so great either, and Jayson Nix was packed off pretty unceremoniously as well.

[Cyclic]

I once read on Beerleaguer that the Phillies could have used Abreu's bat.

[aksmith]

Clout, need to agree with you on this one. I think Juums is a really quality poster. But, on TGJ, not so much.

Juums - There are less fallow fields to plow on the topic of Phillies baseball.

[awh™]

Jake, it's like this:
.

[Cyclic]

OPS+

Utley 125
Asche 118

Hopefully Utley has another hot streak or two coming.

He's .239/.313/.301/.613 since May 25. (.268 BAbip)

I didn't expect the .950 OPS to last forever, but this has been a really long down swing.

[awh™]

Cyclic, he's had lengthly downswings before.

[Cyclic]

Yeah, you're right. I just cherry picked this line from May 25-Aug 30, 2010:

191 PA, .221/.319/.282/.602

His OPS started at 1.016 and ended that stretch at .801. He still went on to finish that year .275/.387/.445.

Hope this year is like that.

[Juums]

Clout:
At the time roster decision was made, I'd rather have had the 31-year-old guy with a 72 career OPS+ who's an above-average OF defender and baserunner than the 40-year-old guy who is a poor OF defender and runner who has a 129 career OPS+, but who also hasn't been in affiliated ball since 2012 and posted a .246/.361/.344 (97 OPS+) line the last time he was in MLB. To otherwise pine for Abreu's 122 OPS+ (which is fueled by a .475 SLG) in light of such is indulging in hindsight.

But as Awh says, there're are other fields to plow in Phillies baseball. The Royals are apparently in the market for an RF and Marlon Byrd's name has come up. Which is ironic, as I was just thinking the other day that Norichika Aoki, who hits the free agent market after this year, looks like a good buy-low candidate.

[awh™]

Here's another, from July 30 2011 to Aug 20th:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?t=b&id=utleych01&year=2011#1062-1079-sum&share=0.03#1062-1087-sum:batting_gamelogs

His OPS went from .884 to .805 in 26 games, and he had only 1 HR and 8 RBI in 118 PA.

[awh™]

Oops, shouldsay Aug 30th.

[Cyclic]

Rollins
Ruiz
Utley
Howard
Byrd
Asche
Brown
Revere
Burnett

[Cyclic]

"To otherwise pine for Abreu's 122 OPS+ (which is fueled by a .475 SLG) in light of such is indulging in hindsight."

Go back and look at posts from when he was dropped. I disagreed then and still.

[Cyclic]

Did anyone notice this?

"Although there are questions about whether Sizemore, a former two-time Gold Glove winner, can still play centerfield, Amaro said he would play predominantly in center for the IronPigs. He'll also see some time in left, Amaro said."

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/phillies/Phils-sign-Sizemore-to-minor-league-deal.html

Sounds like a possible prelude to a Mayberry move...

[awh™]

Cyclic, actually, if you look at the entire season, Utley went from an OPS of .884 on July 30th to an OPS of .769 byt the end of the season.

Over his last 213 PA, he hit .226/.305/.337 (.642) with only 3 HR and 12 RBI.

And that was in a 102 win season, so we likely don't remember that Utley was not very good the last two months.

[Cyclic]

Good finds. Well like I said, given enough PA, and assuming he's healthy (!), it's reasonable to think/hope he'll have another upswing coming.

[awh™]

I would seriously consider flipping Revere and Brown in that lineup, unless the Pitcher bats 8th and Revere 9th.

[Cyclic]

We'll never have the pitcher batting 8th, so Revere 8th will always be annoying.

At least Chooch is 2nd. Though he's in a slump of his own, 0 for his last 12.

[Juums]

Cyclic:
Yes, yes you did. My point was a justification of why I feel the way I do. As what more can be said? Abreu's worked out better for the Mets than TGJ has for the Phils, and that Abreu's power surge would be useful here, all other things being equal. But I still think Abreu was a poor fit out of camp and TGJ made more sense at the time the 25-man was finalized, even if it didn't work out. (Which is why I'm never destined to land in baseball operations.)

Re: Sizemore, I think you're right, though whether it's just a Mayberry move will remain to be seen. Sizemore's time-table is also ridiculously short in LHV, as his opt-out date in his MiLB contract is around the All-Star Game. Somebody clearly expects something to give on the MLB squad to give him an opt-out date that's three-and-a-half weeks from when he reports.

[M. Martinez]

Although there are questions about whether Sizemore, a former two-time Gold Glove winner, can still play centerfield, Amaro said he would play predominantly in center for the IronPigs. He'll also see some time in left, Amaro said.

Brown (.596) and centerfielder Ben Revere (.615) had the third- and fifth-worst OPS, respectively, among the 60 major league outfielders who qualified heading into yesterday.

Prelude to a Revere trade?

[Cyclic]

In your dreams.

[M. Martinez]

Might the twins be ready to deal May for Revere?

[Juums]

More likely that, if the Phils determine Sizemore can be even an average CF, that Dom gets sent down and Benji gets shifted over to LF, where his range will put up very gaudy numbers in the advanced defensive metrics, as he did in his ~800 IP of RF play in Minnesota.

That said, if Benji can return to being the 80-85 OPS+ guy he was in Minnesota, he might just be a good enough LF defender to warrant starting there. But that depends a lot upon just how good you think his LF defense might be and whether one trusts defensive metrics enough to give credence to their beliefs on defense. (It's also a very SABR-ish view of things, as his defense has to be insanely good to generate enough value to make up for his bat not being anywhere close to league-average for the position.)

[Cyclic]

If the Phillies are known for anything, it's having a very SABR-ish view of things.

[Juums]

Cyclic:
Which is why Benji will be batting 5th once he does move to LF, because the LF's always a thumper who needs to drive guys in.

[Cyclic]

By the way, it will be a little damning if "Reality" doesn't show up with a TypePad handle.

[aksmith]

Lincecum just no-hit the Padres for the second time in two years. Do no-hitters against the Padres count? Because the Phillies swept the Padres, so are they really a major league team?

Of course, the Phillies swept the Braves, too. But it's possible the Padres were masquerading as the Braves.

[awh™]

The Phillies will only move an OF if Sizemore shows them enough in LV to merit a call up.

At that point the OF would consist of

Revere
Byrd
Brown
Gwynn
Mayberry
Sizemore

with one of them having to be shipped out or down.

also, Ruf will be lurking and may be on a rehab assignment by then. If he's hitting at LV and knocking on the door, then the OF would consist of

Revere
Byrd
Brown
Gwynn
Mayberry
Sizemore
Ruf

So, the question would be...

Given the above 7 players, what is the optimal mix of 5 of them at the MLB level?

There are no Trouts or Victorinos (guys who are good both offensively and defensively) there except Byrd, so if you make the assumption that Byrd doesn't get traded, who are the other four?

If Byrd gets traded, who are the 5 guys you keep?

If Mayberry gets traded, who else do you keep?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Cyclic]

Nats lost today too. Time to make up some ground!

[Cyclic]

Good post, awh. But we obviously don't have enough information right now. Not only because of those who could be moved, but also because we don't know how well they will be playing.

It could be a really great problem to have if multiple guys are tearing it up. But more likely that won't be the case.

Personally I see Mayberry being traded and Gwynn being dropped. So mine would probably be Brown Revere Byrd Ruf Sizemore. I'm not sure that's optimal.

[Juums]

Awh:
I think Byrd gets dealt, because he's arguably their best trade piece at present and the FA market this coming off-season has a decent crop of guys who are good on both sides of the ball who can be acquired for moderate years and dollars. (A cursory look shows guys like Norichika Aoki, Seth Smith, Chris Denorfia, and Denard Span being available and who all fit into that category.) If Sizemore pans out, Mayberry's also probably gone, because he's another guy who's had a good year and is a fit for a team that needs a RHB bench bat, though he probably won't bring back much.

Which would leave us with:
Sizemore
Revere
Brown
Ruf
Gwynn

Though given Dom's current straits, that makes it hard to send him down. I'd expect, if Mayberry were dealt, another deal would bring in a Nate Schierholtz-type throw-in who could be fifth man in the MLB bench mix. (If not, then you've got a Sizemore/Benji/Ruf/Mayberry rotation going on between the three OF spots.)

[Cyclic]

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/phillies/For-Ken-Giles-a-dominant-first-impression.html

This was a great writeup on Ken Giles.

Hope this kid remains one of the good stories from this season and a viable/key contributor to the bullpen for years to come.

[Cyclic]

Is Cody Asche currently playing over his head offensively (.787 OPS, 118 OPS+)?

[Cyclic]

Speaking of the Utley and Ruiz cold streaks, Rollins has been similarly cool in June, .241/.293/.361/.655.

It's almost as if their recent winning has more to do with the pitching than the offense...

[Jake]

Is an 80-85 OPS+ (if he can get there, which is no sure thing), even with really good defense, enough to be a starter in a corner OF spot? To me Revere's gotta be a CF or a bench player

[Cyclic]

I'll go on record saying I'm confident Revere will finish this season with an OPS+ in the 88-95 range.

[Juums]

Jake:
Here're Benji's career OPS+ postings to date:
2010: 16 (30 PA)
2011: 72 (481 PA)
2012: 89 (553 PA)
2013: 93 (336 PA)
2014: 72 (263 PA)
Career: 81 (1,663 PA)

So yes, he's capable of doing that and that this season would be right in line with 2012-13 if Revere's walk rate returned to his career norm.

Whether that's good enough to stick in LF depends upon your definition of "really good" defense. The conversation can only really occur if it's up in the 20 DRS/year or UZR/150 range, and probably has to be better than that. Which is where his RF defense was in Minnesota and so he should be able to outperform that in LF, but in <1,000 IP sample size, so all of the normal caveats about defensive metrics and sample size apply.

[Cyclic]

Can Michael Martinez be had in a trade? He'd certainly bring Versatility™ and help clear up our OF picture quite nicely.

[curt]

8 pitch inning. And away we go.

[Juums]

The BABIP gods are cruel, indeed. That should've been an XBH for Chase.

[curt]

There's no way Revere plays LF for the Phillies, other than as a stopgap.

[Account Deleted]

Typepad logins don't stop the handle-hackers apparently.

[Phillibuster]

Would be nice to see a GiDP right around here.