OT: 2018 Phillies

[FLYguy3911]

I'm really excited for the season. We'll have 8 position players + Kingery and Altherr who are either in their prime or just starting to establish themselves in the big leagues. Bullpen should be solid. Starters 3-5 are weak on paper and that may be their downfall, but if one of two guys take a step forward, they could be in Wild Card contention.

Any hints at what the batting order is going to look like? They have so many options its going to be pretty exciting.

Not sure. Kapler said he might hit the pitcher 8th though.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

Even if they don't make a solid push at a WC spot, they should be fun. I'll take that this year.

 

[Fire Tortorella]

Even if they don't make a solid push at a WC spot, they should be fun. I'll take that this year.

This so much. Don't know if I watched more than 10 complete games the past 2 or 3 years, the team was just so dreadful to watch. At least this year you can see the foundation of the team being put into place.

 

[montreal]

Even if they don't make a solid push at a WC spot, they should be fun. I'll take that this year.

for sure as Kingery alone is going to make it interesting to watch. Just hope they bring Quinn up soon, he brings so much speed on the bases and if you have Kingery as well they will make things happen on the bases.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

I think they played around .500 ball but still the last few months of last season was the only watch worthy product in years (when they added Hoskins & Altherr came back from injury giving them a functional batting order). Just do that again throughout the course of the whole season & I’ll be satisfied.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Just a heads up, if you have T-mobile, you can sign up for MLB.tv for free this week.

 

[deadhead]

The pitching is a work in progress, but they have a lot of young arms, and the minor league system is loaded with pitchers.
Nola - Arrieta - Velasquez - Pivetta - Lively, Thompson and Hutchinson, with Eickhoff and Leiter on DL
Then at Lehigh, Eflin, Eshelman, Anderson, Tavares
At Reading: Kilome, De Los Santos (Galvis trade), Irvin, Waguespack, El Garcia
At Clearwater: Romero, Sanchez, Medina Suarez, Howard, Mills, Fanti, Falter, Requena

They added a lot of arms in trades to go with draft picks and LA signing.
In the past, Phillies were lucky to have 2 legitimate SP prospects at each level, safety in numbers, now they have safety in numbers, some will flame out, some will surprise.

 

[Phillyfan28]

i haven't watched any spring training, can anyone tell me what the lineup is expected to look like?

 

[FLYguy3911]

i haven't watched any spring training, can anyone tell me what the lineup is expected to look like?

Probably this to start with Williams and Altherr platooning in RF.

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

Probably this to start with Williams and Altherr platooning in RF.

View attachment 108009

I would hope at some point during the season Crawford can ease into the second spot, Santana go to third, I would put Herrera at 5th (unless Franco is back in business, then he's 5th). Otherwise I like this lineup, though I think I would prefer to swap Herrera and Santana.

 

[FLYguy3911]

I think there’s going to be a lot of moving parts day to day. I have a feeling he’s going to hit Crawford 9th to start and try to have sort of a 2nd leadoff guy.

Kingery will be the first guy off the bench and stay in the game via the double switch.

 

[montreal]

Tommy Hunter to the DL. Going to be interesting to see if they pull off a trade soon to open a spot for Kingery as he needs to play.

 

[deadhead]

I think they'll ease in Kingery as a super-utility guy, and wait both to see how well he handles ML pitching (especially patience at the plate) and for offers for Hernandez.
Klentak has no need to force a trade, so he'll wait for "an offer he can't refuse."

 

[Phillyfan28]

Why have him start season with big club if he isn’t starting? I guess it has something to do with the deal he signed and him willing to do it as they don’t push back his years of service, but still seems counter productive.

Looks like we have some depth, albeit mostly young and relatively unproven, but still a nice sign. Hernandez has seemingly played his way into being a viable player over last few years and does nothing but get on base, but it doesn’t seem like there is a spot for him once Kingery is ready. Does he then become top off bench? Seems it would be a waste of value as I would expect he would garner pretty decent trade value. Hoping we get a full season of Franco, Altherr, Williams, and Alfaro so we can figure out what we have going forward.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Kingery is going to play regularly. He's just not going to have a set position until someone gets hurt or traded, but more likely the former.

Phillies will have two guys in Kingery and Florimon who can play any position but catcher. Think you'll see a lot of double switches.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Why have him start season with big club if he isn’t starting? I guess it has something to do with the deal he signed and him willing to do it as they don’t push back his years of service, but still seems counter productive.

Looks like we have some depth, albeit mostly young and relatively unproven, but still a nice sign. Hernandez has seemingly played his way into being a viable player over last few years and does nothing but get on base, but it doesn’t seem like there is a spot for him once Kingery is ready. Does he then become top off bench? Seems it would be a waste of value as I would expect he would garner pretty decent trade value. Hoping we get a full season of Franco, Altherr, Williams, and Alfaro so we can figure out what we have going forward.

Service years are irrelevant at this point. They have control up until he’s 32 years old. So getting anything out of him even if it isn’t in a solidified spot to start out is worth it.

 

[PHILOUDELPHIA]

Probably this to start with Williams and Altherr platooning in RF.

View attachment 108009

I'd like to see kingery start

 

[Jack Straw]

Facebook has exclusive rights to 25 games this year, this game being the first

Phillies to play in first MLB game exclusively streamed on Facebook

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

I'd like to see kingery start

I think we all would, but there isn't a spot for him. I am not a big Hernandez fan but the guy produces. Hard to bench just because there is a young guy coming up.

 

[PHILOUDELPHIA]

I think we all would, but there isn't a spot for him. I am not a big Hernandez fan but the guy produces. Hard to bench just because there is a young guy coming up.

I wonder if we could trade him

 

[Jtown]

kingery the next utley, hernandez the next david bell.

 

[DrinkFightFlyers]

I wonder if we could trade him

I am guessing that if Kingery is playing well to start the year they will try to deal Hernandez (and I am pretty sure that is already what they are trying to do).

kingery the next utley, hernandez the next david bell.

Idk if that is supposed to be a knock but David Bell was solid while he was here for being on a rebuilding "almost there" kind of team.

 

[Jtown]

Never defend david bell

 

[Flyers1928]

tune in for the Halladay tribute in TO tommorow.

 

[PHILOUDELPHIA]

Here is weird news,

Salvador Perez of Royals, while carrying luggage slips and tears his MCL an is out 4-6 weeks.