- Embarrassing loss to the Nationals last night at Citizens Bank Park, a 17-7 drubbing. The brutal loss moved the Phillies back to 3 games behind Atlanta for 1st place, as Washington moved to only a game behind Philadelphia. The Nats raced out to an 11-0 lead early as they pounded starter Nick Pivetta for 4 runs in the 1st inning. The Fightins' tried to catch up with a late rally, coming as close as 12-7 before Hector Neris surrendered 5 runs in the top of the 9th to officially put the game out of reach. The teams play Game 3 of their weekend series tonight. Vince Valasquez toes the rubber Saturday night.
- Pivetta is so inconsistent. Strikes out 13 one game, has a brutal effort last night. He hasn't pitched well in a while. With rumors of Cole Hamels returning, and young kids like de Los Santos and Irvin doing well at Lehigh Valley, plus hopefully the healthy return of Eichoff, Pivetta needs to turn it around quickly or else face another demotion to the Iron Pigs.Bad location with his fastball, and the nationals teed off on Pivetta's fastballs lat night.
- Rhys Hoskins remains red-hot, clubbing his 14th home run to deep center field. He is making a great case to be on his first All-Star team- as Odulbel Herrera slumps. Herrera is too streaky for my taste, and when his timing is off he is really off. Right now, the batting order is messed-up. When Herrera is slumping as he is now, why is he hitting third/ Why is Carlos Santana batting clean-up when he mostly walks? Why isn't Hoskins batting 4th?
- Neris needs to be released. Why should the fans have to endure his lousy pitching? He had another terrible outing Friday night, giving up 5 runs ( including 3 homers) to Washington in one inning. If not released, send him back to Lehigh Valley and keep him there.
There is a supplement of starters at AAA but the best we can do regarding relievers is Neris? GM Klentak needs to get some bullpen help. Pat Neshek should be back soon, but he's not a closer, he's a set-up guy, and only goes an inning at a time. Having at least one more bullpen guy to stretch the back-end of the 'pen would allow Manager Gabe Kapler to use Siranthony Dominguez as he should- strictly as a 9th inning closer.
- We are at the halfway mark of the season, and it's a delightful surprise to see the Phils overall play well. They are 3 games behind Atlanta and right there for the wild card. It's fun to see the ballpark fill-up again. Sure, it's Fireworks Night tonight ( a sit was last night), but it brings back a lot of special memories to see the crowds, to scoreboard-watch, to have meaningful baseball again as the All-Star break draws near.
Around baseball, the Yankees and Red Sox play this weekend in New York as they continue to jostle for 1st place. Cleveland is pulling away, as expected, in AL Central. Out west, Houston is starting to take control while Seattle hangs around. Mike Trout and the Angels are fading, as it looks like Trout will go yet another year without making the playoffs, let alone the World Series. Milwaukee is hanging in there in NL Central, with the Cubs always lurking. And after briefly giving up 1st place, Arizona is back in the lead, with the always dangerous Dodgers and Giants looming. Surprisingly, Colorado, which made the wild card last season, is falling well back.
- Sunday starts free agency in the NBA. Teams can start talking to players but can't officially announce signings until Friday, July 6. The fate of Lebron James- and the Sixers- will be decided this week.
The trade rumors involving Kawhi Leonard should also come to a head. Chances are, wherever Leonard goes, James will go too.
No comments:
Post a Comment