Finally free of the last of the anti-stat GMs, the Phillies set about to be the next big teardown and rebuild team. They had a promising season in 2016, as some of their young talent hit the bigs, and maybe things were starting to look 2014 Cubs-ish about them. In 2017, pretty much everyone not named Aaron Nola took a giant step backwards, and suddenly they find themselves back in 2012 Cubs land. Sucks to be a Phillies fan. But hey, the tickets are cheap, and based on my experience of Phillies games you'll get some side betting action on the 3-4 fights that break out in the stands every game.
Team Leaders
Cubs
- OBP: Kris Bryant (.400)
- ISO: Ian Happ (.262)
- HR: Anthony Rizzo (28)
- R+RBI: Rizzo (161)
- wRC+: Bryant (141)
- BSR: Javier Baez (3.0)
- SP K/9: Jose Quntana (9.60)
- SP BB/9: Jon Lester (2.79)
- SP FIP: Lester (3.79)
- RP K/9: Carl Edwards Jr (12.97)
- RP BB/9: Brian Duensing (2.29)
- RP FIP: Duensing (3.13)
- WAR: Bryant (4.6)
Phightins
- OBP: Aaron Altherr (.357)
- ISO: Altherr (.252)
- HR: Tommy Joseph (18)
- R+RBI: Maikel Franco (109)
- wRC+: Altherr (130)
- BSR: Michael Saunders (3.1)
- SP K/9: Nick Pivetta (9.57)
- SP BB/9: Jeremy Hellickson (2.40)
- SP FIP: Nola (3.30)
- RP K/9: Edubray Ramos (11.32)
- RP BB/9: Pat Neshek (1.12)
- RP FIP: Neshek (1.92)
- WAR: Nola (3.3)
As always with bad teams late in the year, I offer no guarantees that half of those guys are still with the squad.
Injury News, transactions, blood pacts, etc.
Addison Russell is starting to work his way back from his foot injury, and could be back sometime next week. Lester is down with shoulder fatigue, and Willson is still out with his hamstring injury. No word on when either of those guys are returning, from last I've seen.
Aaron Altherr, who leads the Phils in most statistical categories, has been out since early August with a hamstring injury of his own. The hamstring bug also hit CF Odubel Cabrera, who leads the Phils position players in WAR.
Pitching Matchups
K%, BB%, ERA, FIP listed for each pitcher
Friday: Jose Quintana, LHP (25.3%, 8.7%, 4.27, 3.99) vs Jerad Eickhoff, RHP (20.2%, 9.1%, 4.46, 4.17 ), 6:05 PM CT
Saturday: Kyle Hendricks, RHP (20.5%, 8.1%, 3.52, 4.15) vs Ben Lively, RHP (10.3%, 7.4%, 3.70, 4.39), 6:05 PM CT
Sunday: John Lackey, RHP (19.9%, 7.4%, 4.90, 5.57) vs ????♂️, 12:35 PM CT
Comments
#pioneer
RynoQuote Reply
I’m not even sure what it’s SUPPOSED to be.
MylesQuote Reply
Ryno,
Big, if true.
BerseliusQuote Reply
The Bears could use 4-5 of those.
EdwinQuote Reply
I haven’t seen all the nonsense that happened between the Yankees and Tigers, but Betances should be banned from baseball for no less than a calendar year. Girardi should be suspended for at least half a season for that too. I’d be ok if they banned Betances for life.
dmick89Quote Reply
Myles,
NFL telling it like it is.
RynoQuote Reply
Edwin,
There’s only one first.
RynoQuote Reply
yeah minimum one year for betances but i really would have no problem with a lifetime ban. if girardi in any way advocated this, lifetime ban for him too. make a fucking example of someone.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
RynoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
I also think any player who runs (or walks) toward the initial fight should be suspended and that any suspensions resulting from altercations or players being intentionally hit with pitches cannot be replaced on the MLB roster. All we’d be left with from now on is the umpires dealing with the two people initially fighting. Play wouldn’t have to be stopped forever and fans wouldn’t have to watch adults behave like 3 year olds.
dmick89Quote Reply
If you intentionally hit someone in the head with a baseball, no shit should you be banned from baseball for life. You should be tried for fucking battery!
It’s one of the main reasons I hated Chapman. Someone WILL die from it. Girardi’s post-game presser proved he’s a giant sack of shit, too. “Boys will be boys.” Go fuck yourself.
MylesQuote Reply
If you’re worried about having to discern intent, just make any pitcher who hits a batter above the shoulder get an automatic 81-game suspension. Accidental headshots aren’t all that common, but a half-season suspension makes it impossible for anyone to do it intentionally, pretty much. How many accidental headshots are there a season? 5? less?
MylesQuote Reply
I think I hate Joe Girardi.
MylesQuote Reply
I am worried about whether or not it was intentional because regardless of how many accidental head shots there are (probably a lot more than you realize), you are going to change the way pitchers pitch. We can say with about a 99% certainty that Betances intentionally hit McCann. That’s the behavior that you want out of the game. I don’t want a player who accidentally hit someone in the head to even be suspended for a game, but I’d be OK with a mandatory 5 or 10 game suspension depending on whether you are a reliever or a starter. That would still change the way pitchers pitch, but not nearly as much as just banning someone for life.
dmick89Quote Reply
Proving intent would be difficult, but I don’t know why it hasn’t been investigated before. I can remember seeing LaRussa go over to his pitcher in the dugout and the next inning someone get hit. Some of these should be investigated by the police, but they probably won’t be.
dmick89Quote Reply
If we change the way pitchers pitch, because are they avoiding hitting people in the head by accident, than that’s a change I can get behind. You may be right about how many beanballs get neck and head, I’m genuinely curious.
MylesQuote Reply
And 81 games might not be the right number, but there has to be a huge penalty to it. Missing a start isn’t all that big a deal.
MylesQuote Reply
The NHL used to have bench-clearing brawls all the time, and then they made a 10-game suspension automatic for anyone leaving the bench during a fight. The NHL no longer has bench-clearing brawls.
uncle daveQuote Reply
You may as well do away with the inside corner. You’re going to give a huge advantage to the hitter in the attempt to try to punish those who hit players in the head. All that is really done by a mandatory suspension (a long one like you suggested) is that pitchers don’t pitch inside, hitters gain a huge advantage and move closer to the plate resulting in the same number of batters getting accidentally hit in the head.
A lot of the time we know with a high certainty whether or not a player intentionally hit someone. Those should be the ones we focus on in my opinion, as well as the clowns who get involved after a fight has taken place. I don’t want to see people unfairly punished just so we can get rid of the ones willing to hit guys in the head. Players learn this behavior. We need to fix that and we can do that without unfairly punishing players.
dmick89Quote Reply
uncle dave,
I think it may have been you who suggested a similar penalty for MLB players either here or on ACB. I don’t watch hockey so had no idea how they handled their fights. It’s a great system and allows the officials to contain it. That’s not possible with 50 guys on a baseball field involved in the fight. We have to limit that number and severely punish players who intentionally hurt others.
dmick89Quote Reply
I agree with this. Even some of the things he was yelling at the umpire on the field were ridiculous. You could see him say that if the umpires had issued warnings this wouldn’t have happened. This was not their fault, Joe. Yes, they probably should have issued warnings, but they didn’t. The player is still responsible for his dumbass behavior.
dmick89Quote Reply
But what about the proud heritage of throwing at player’s heads? What’s next, getting rid of stolen bases? Where does it end?
EdwinQuote Reply
I’m also curious how many players are accidentally hit in the head.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
I think Mike Fiers accidently hit Stanton in the head a couple years ago. My guess would be maybe 2-5 times a year a guy gets hit in the head.
EdwinQuote Reply
I don’t think it would be as drastic as you think, unless of course there are way more headshots than I’m thinking of. I can only remember 2 or 3 from the Cubs in the past 10-15 years.
MylesQuote Reply
i agree that players learn this behavior but the more i think about it, the more this is 100% on girardi. i mean it’s on betances too but it’s 100% on coaches: the first day of spring training, you say “if you ever throw at a guy’s head, you’re benched for 3 weeks” or some shit. go fuck yourself with that “boys will be boys” comment. betances acted like a piece of shit because it’s at the very least implicitly condoned by girardi and for that he should be fucking banned.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
there are very fine people on both sides of this argument.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Both sides were very violent. Why was he holding a bat?
MylesQuote Reply
dmick89,
At this point, I don’t think the NHL goes nearly far enough. There’s no reason for fighting to result in anything but an ejection, and a common one-on-one doesn’t carry that penalty. It usually takes the two least talented players off of the ice for five minutes, which is decidedly a non-punishment. And they use the ‘self-policing’ argument to justify their ridiculously weak response to player safety issues, which is really cynical.
Sidney Crosby is arguably the most talented and popular player in the league, and he’s been knocked out by blindside hits so many times that they basically have to keep him in a dark room 21 hours a day and just wheel him out for games. The baseball equivalent would be having Mike Trout sidelined by beanballs for half the year for four straight years.
It amazes me that either of these leagues would allow players that they’ve invested millions of dollars in to be endangered like this (and never mind the bigger point that these guys are being endangered for no reason). It’s just dumb.
uncle daveQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
+1. It’s also a bit of a dick move to tell your players to get in a beanball war when you’re not the one who has to stand at home plate.
uncle daveQuote Reply
Myles,
That could be, but if I’m a batter, I’m definitely moving a few inches closer to the plate. I’d still be just as likely to get hit in the head and it forces the pitcher to make adjustments.
dmick89Quote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
I agree with this. Good points.
dmick89Quote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
Zobrist
War Bear
Bryant
Rizzo
Happ
Avila
Heyward
Baez
Quintana
berseliusQuote Reply
Of course Jon Lester’s nickname for Players’ Weekend is “Lester.”
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
It was probably just that “Lester the Molester Cockenschtuff” didn’t fit on the jersey.
berseliusQuote Reply
Betances wasn’t even suspended? What the fuck? That’s some fucked up shit.
dmick89Quote Reply
I bet they’ll double it the next time he gives someone CTE.
MylesQuote Reply
Gotta watch a whole 9-innings with Alvin in the bleachers. Share a bologna sandwich.
Wenningtons Gorilla CockQuote Reply
Additional pitchers learned this behavior just now. It’s perfectly ok to throw at someone’s head.
dmick89Quote Reply
Len Kasper said awhile back that Lester did it as a joke, but I think that gives Lester too much credit. I don’t particularly see him as a meta humorist.
Wenningtons Gorilla CockQuote Reply
Avila’s taking a nickname from a poorly-received movie sequel is an odd choice.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Schwarbs!!!
dmick89Quote Reply
Schwarber!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Jesus
dmick89Quote Reply
Jesus Christ. It’s the fucking Phillies.
dmick89Quote Reply
For the record, in a one-out situation, I’d play the infield back more to encourage the pitcher to bunt.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Quintana is leading off the fifth for some damned reason.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
That could have been a big inning. Too bad they essentially stayed it with one out.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
*started
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Brewers and Cardinals both lose. Also it’d be great if Bosio could figure out what Quintana is doing wrong.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Q’s numbers are quite similar to what they were with the Sox. It’s been a weird year for him.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
I usually stop watching his starts pretty early since he seems to give up a hundred runs in the first two innings, but from what I’ve seen, he just gives up a lot of hard contact.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
He actually came into this game with a 3.79 ERA in a Cubs uniform. He hasn’t been consistently good, but he hasn’t really been terrible, either.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
According to Fangraphs, Quintana’s hard contact rate has actually gone down since joining the Cubs, and is in line with his career rate. And I don’t think the quality of opponents’ contact is a good way to gauge pitcher effectiveness in any case. It tends to be very noisy. I prefer to look at strikeouts and walks. His strikeout rate has been good, but his walk rate has been too high.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Strikeouts are up, walks are way up and home runs are up. From what little I’ve seen of him as a Cub, he gets hit pretty hard early and has suffered from some sequencing issues and then settles down, but I’ve checked out by then. His ERA in the innings I’ve seen is well over 9, which means little other than it makes me not want to watch him pitch and leaves me totally unsurprised when he gets lit up.
dmick89Quote Reply
Lively strikes out fewer than 4 per 9. The Cubs will strikeout 9 times in 5 innings against him.
dmick89Quote Reply
Joe should fine every batter who strikes out against Lively.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Jesus fucking Christ. Reds and Phillies for 10 in 13 games is going to be a lot more shitty than it should have been.
dmick89Quote Reply
Tommy!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Four
dmick89Quote Reply
They’ve already struck out more in less than three than he strikes out in nine innings entering the game.
dmick89Quote Reply
Tony!!!
dmick89Quote Reply
Cubs beating up on Blake Lively now.
berseliusQuote Reply
At this point it just surprises me to see runners still getting picked off by Hendricks.
dmick89Quote Reply
Ha! They only struck out eight times!
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
(dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
Hendricks has two hits in an inning.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
He brought his wRC+ all the way up to -27.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
La Stella just matched last year’s home run total in this game.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
That game was fun!
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Could have used that seven-spot in the seventh inning yesterday and won this game 10–2. smh
ceruleanQuote Reply
So TLS for MVP. Prove me wrong.
ceruleanQuote Reply
cerulean,
He’s no Shawn Camp.
berseliusQuote Reply
To-day’s base ball squadron
Zobrist
War Bear
Bryant
Rizzo
La Stella
Baez
Heyward
Rivera
Lackey
berseliusQuote Reply
I’m glad they aren’t facing Nola.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
That throw was funny.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Baez has a three-game walk streak.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Let’s Lackey-proof this lead here, fellas.
berseliusQuote Reply
Walking Javy Baez on four pitches should be an immediate demotion to AAA.
PerkinsQuote Reply
The cubs are good, you guys
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
But are they back?
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
Rizzo hasn’t said.
dmick89Quote Reply
So, Anybody in Houston? Apparently Harvey—I can only assume they mean Batman or a giant, invisible bunny rabbit—has dumped the equivalent of nine days of the Mississippi River on the area with another nine days worth to come over the next two days.
If you are in Houston, godspeed.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Jesus Christ.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Triple play. Ugh.
ceruleanQuote Reply
(dying laughing)
Berselius is too lazy to loginQuote Reply
That was less than ideal.
dmick89Quote Reply
WTF was that?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Actually, if you throw anything in the strikezone against Javy, you didn’t read the scouting report.
ceruleanQuote Reply
TripleDouble play, please.ceruleanQuote Reply
You can’t bury a pitch with a runner on third, Lack.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Can we rewind this game you when this was a three-run lead with the bases loaded in the first?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
This inning sucks.
dmick89Quote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Since then it’s kind of sucked.
dmick89Quote Reply
Ugh! This is excruciating.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I quit.
dmick89Quote Reply
;
berseliusQuote Reply
This inning is
unbelievable.ceruleanQuote Reply
It’s a good thing Rivera is such a great hitter, because he sure can’t catch worth a damn.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
berselius,
It was a team effort in fucking this game up.
dmick89Quote Reply
And Heyward misplayed that double there.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
The good news is that the Cubs won’t have to play the Phillies in the playoffs if they get there. The bad news is that whoever they do play will be way better than the Phillies.
dmick89Quote Reply
What’s the point of pinch-hitting Almora for La Stella when they’re just going to bring in a righty?
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Almora is probably a worse hitter and there is no platoon advantage. Plus, there is the pinch-hit penalty.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
At least the Cubs got one good offensive month from Heyward out of this huge contract.
dmick89Quote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Yeah, that was just Joe chipping into the stupidity that we’ve seen today. I’ll take La Stella over Almora against anyone. La Stella vs a lefty is way better than Almora vs a righty. Even if that righty was me it would still be true.
dmick89Quote Reply
Oh. My. God.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Uehara is not very good at this point and he might be the team’s third best reliever.
dmick89Quote Reply
I was hoping they could get a couple runners on and then try a double steal.
dmick89Quote Reply
The Brewers are leading the Dodgers again because of course they are.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Cardinals tied the Rays late. Brewers up 3-0. Cubs lost 2 of 3 to the Phillies.
dmick89Quote Reply
Cardinals lose.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
The Dodgers forgot they’re good at baseball.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
That all time single season wins record might be safe for another year.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
Whew! That and the single-season individual RBI record are the only things the Cubs have left.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
Well, those and the no-no-hit streak, which may be over, but is still a record.
Though in all honesty I’m kind of hoping the Dodgers win 117 and get bounced in the NLDS.
PerkinsQuote Reply
That was some Grade A getaway day bullshit yesterday.
SKQuote Reply
That’s what I’ve been hoping for, but that’s if the Cubs reach the postseason. If the Cubs don’t, then I’d probably be rooting for the Dodgers.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
If the Cubs miss the postseason, I’m all in on the Indians this year.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
They’re not as bad as the Redskins, but I still can’t stand them.
dmick89Quote Reply
I haven’t rooted for the Cardinals in the playoffs since my grandfather died, but I’d root for the Cardinals over the Indians.
dmick89Quote Reply
I also wouldn’t mind watching Kershaw dominate his way through the postseason so the media can shut up about how he doesn’t pitch well in the postseason.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
I’m thinking more about the fans and their long drought. The Wahoo thing is obviously an issue, but the winds seem to be changing on that.
PerkinsQuote Reply
New Shit
http://obstructedview.net/series-preview-pittsburgh-pilates-63-68-at-chicago-cubs-69-60/
mylesQuote Reply