OT: Philadelphia Phillies (MLB): 2017 Season Part II

[Hiesenberg]

Alfaro isn't ready to start in the majors, he's raw as both a catcher and as a hitter (check the bad pitches he chases, ML pitchers aren't going to give him anything to hit once they see his film).

Rupp is a legitimate starting ML catcher, middle of the pack, but good arm, good power, struggles at times with contact.

Knapp and Alfaro have the athleticism to play other positions, Alfaro could do fine in RF with his speed and arm. So I expect them to carry 3 catchers next year as Alfaro is out of options.

Rupp is 100% garbage. Can't call a game, can barely catch the ball, arm is mediocre. He also can't hit worth of ****.

Rupp is absolutely gone next year.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Hoskins hit another.

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

Another one.


Does anyone have those stats about the amount of pitches Rhys see per at bat.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Another one.


Does anyone have those stats about the amount of pitches Rhys see per at bat.

4.52 before tonight. Most in the league for guys with a minimum of 100 plate appearances.

 

[Hiesenberg]

Hoskins has become a pretty strong guy, he doesn't really have to get all the ball

 

[Lotusflower]

Hoskins has me excited but I felt that way about Franco last year so I'll keep my expectations under wraps

 

[Hiesenberg]

Hoskins has me excited but I felt that way about Franco last year so I'll keep my expectations under wraps

Hoskins walks A LOT. There is a ton of difference between the two. I think you can feel confident that Rhys will be a very good player.

I read an article on The Athletic that says he gets to work at 1pm to study that days pitcher and other potential pitchers. This guy knows what that guy is gonna throw, he's not hitting lucky pitches, he is hitting mistake pitches, but he has an idea of what's coming which is why he can punish it.

 

[Rebels57]

Most HR in history for a player debuting August 1st or later.

Unbelieveable.

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

There's about an entire solar system between Franco and Hoskins and far as hitting goes. Rhys has a much better approach, better eye, clearly a much more natural hitter.

 

[Hurricane28]

Have been busy lately how has Crawford looked?

 

[FatTugboatFlahr]

Have been busy lately how has Crawford looked?

Fielding is as advertised. The hitting is going to take a bit, but he doesn't look lost at the plate either.

 

[Lotusflower]

There's about an entire solar system between Franco and Hoskins and far as hitting goes. Rhys has a much better approach, better eye, clearly a much more natural hitter.

yeah no ****, but as has been discussed ad nauseum in this thread baseball projections arent linear. You wouldnt have said any of those superlatives a year ago.
I hope both can be solid pieces going forward.

 

[deadhead]

Rupp is 100% garbage. Can't call a game, can barely catch the ball, arm is mediocre. He also can't hit worth of ****.

Rupp is absolutely gone next year.

That's absolute nonsense.
He's your generic starting catcher.
He's about 20th defensively, 17th in RC+ among catchers, 21st in WAR.
Last season 13th defensively, 11th in RC+ among catchers, 13th in WAR.
In other words, middle of the pack among starting catchers.

Alfaro is not ready to start in the major leagues, he'll be on the big club next year only because he's out of options.

 

[Rebels57]

If he is 20th defensively and 21st in WAR this season than he is not middle of the pack. He is below average.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

I believe FlyGuy pointed it out earlier, but Fangraphs' WAR numbers don't account for pitch framing. According to Statcorner's pitch framing numbers, he's 5th from the bottom out of 120 or so MLB Catchers in RAA this year. If you take it to a per game rate, he would be ~100th, right next to Alfaro.

 

[deadhead]

Outside of the top 8 or so catchers, you could throw the next 20 in a hat.
And then there are 30 backups.

Alfaro simply isn't ready to start, and Knapp's future may be more as a superutility man.

Grullon may well be the real catcher of the future, he'll start at Reading at 21 years old, he's the best defensive catcher in the organization, but is probably 2-3 years away. Fitch is also a candidate down the road, he'll probably start at Lakewood, but if he hits, as a college player is a good bet to be promoted to Clearwater and move lockstep with Grullon.

 

[zarley zelepukin]

Outside of the top 8 or so catchers, you could throw the next 20 in a hat.
And then there are 30 backups.

Alfaro simply isn't ready to start, and Knapp's future may be more as a superutility man.

Grullon may well be the real catcher of the future, he'll start at Reading at 21 years old, he's the best defensive catcher in the organization, but is probably 2-3 years away. Fitch is also a candidate down the road, he'll probably start at Lakewood, but if he hits, as a college player is a good bet to be promoted to Clearwater and move lockstep with Grullon.

Rupp is tied for 30th in fWAR for catchers. And there are guys close behind him with way less PAs, including Knapp. Maybe you were using bWAR? I would look that up but their site makes everything unnecessarily hard to find. Over the last two seasons he's 21st in fWAR but again, he's got a lot more PAs than some guys.

How could Knapp be a superutility guy when he only plays catcher and 1B?

Fitch is a bat-first type of C, iirc from reading about him after the draft. They probably have a better chance to find a starting C from the Marchan/Rodriguez/Duran group in SS ball.

 

[Hurricane28]

Outside of the top 8 or so catchers, you could throw the next 20 in a hat.
And then there are 30 backups.

Alfaro simply isn't ready to start, and Knapp's future may be more as a superutility man.

Grullon may well be the real catcher of the future, he'll start at Reading at 21 years old, he's the best defensive catcher in the organization, but is probably 2-3 years away. Fitch is also a candidate down the road, he'll probably start at Lakewood, but if he hits, as a college player is a good bet to be promoted to Clearwater and move lockstep with Grullon.

Rupp is a backup at best.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I think Lively is the 2nd best starter we have. All I know is, I wish we had a good left handed starter.

 

[deadhead]

Rupp is tied for 30th in fWAR for catchers. And there are guys close behind him with way less PAs, including Knapp. Maybe you were using bWAR? I would look that up but their site makes everything unnecessarily hard to find. Over the last two seasons he's 21st in fWAR but again, he's got a lot more PAs than some guys.

How could Knapp be a superutility guy when he only plays catcher and 1B?

Fitch is a bat-first type of C, iirc from reading about him after the draft. They probably have a better chance to find a starting C from the Marchan/Rodriguez/Duran group in SS ball.

Knapp played some OF in college, he's athletic enough to handle LF.
Alfaro is athletic enough to be a plus RF with that arm.

Neither hits well enough to project them as starters in the OF, but if you're building a bench (and you have to carry Alfaro) that kind of versitility would allow you to carry 3 catchers.

If they move Rupp, it won't be to start one of these guys, it'll be to bring in a veteran catcher to manage the young pitchers.

You always have tradeoffs with young catchers, Fitch has a potential bat, so he just has to be average defensively, Grullon as the potential to have a plus glove, so he just has to be average offensively. The SS catchers are probably 4-5 years away.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Those guys aren't playing OF in the Big Leagues, especially when that's a area of strength on the team. 1B in a pinch, but that's about it. Guys don't get better on the bench. You have to play them and take the lumps that come along. And lets be clear, Rupp doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation handling a staff.

 

[zarley zelepukin]

Yeah, I don't see Knapp and Alfaro getting OF reps with the guys we already have. Barring a major trade for a catcher, one of them will be starting next year with (imo) a veteran backup. That backup might be Rupp, or it might be someone else. In that case, whichever one isn't starting should be available in a trade.