Phillies Hire a New GM

Team President Andy MacPhail (right) led the search for a new GM

After firing Ruben Amaro Jr. over a month ago, the Phillies have found his replacement by hiring Matt Klentak, according to Nick Cafardo.

Klentak, 35, has spent the last four years in the Angels front office, most recently as the assistant GM.  He graduated from Dartmouth with a bachelor’s degree in economics, and his background is mainly in analytics, which is a fresh approach in Philadelphia’s front office.

Amaro is being replaced after seven years as the Phillies GM, and he leaves the team with a bright future, especially in the hands of Matt Klentak.

The Man is now a Dodger

The late great Harry Kalas once said, “Chase Utley, you are the man!” and that quote still rings true nine years later.

Utlley has traded in his red pinstripes to wear Dodger blue, the color of his hometown team.  Growing up in the Los Angeles area and eventually attending UCLA, Utley grew up a fan of the Dodgers, and witnessed history when he attended a 1988 World Series game when the Dodgers faced the Athletics.

We all knew Utley would be a special player once he made contact with his first career hit, a grand slam in 2003.  But it wasn’t until 2005 when Placido Polanco was traded that Utley became the every day second baseman, and once he got that opportunity, he ran away with it.  Utley finishes his Phillies career batting .282 with 233 home runs (6th in team history), and 916 RBIs (7th in team history).  He finishes as arguably the most loved athlete to ever wear the Phillies uniform.

The Phillies will send the Dodgers $4 mil along with Utley and in return get INF/OF Darnell Sweeney and RHP John Richy.  Sweeney, who has played 2B, 3B, RF and CF will join the Phillies after playing for the Dodgers AAA team this season.  Richy has been in A ball the past two years and will most likely stay at that level in the Phillies organization.

Utley’s style of play will be dearly missed by all Phillies fans.  His heart, hustle and intensity that he showed on every play is like none other.

“And then there were two,” Ryan Howard said after the trade became official.  With the departure of Utley; Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz are now the only two players left in Philadelphia from the 2008 World Series team that captivated the city that summer.

Chase Utley, you are The Man, and you forever will be The Man.

Aaron Nola Impresses in Major League Debut

PHILADELPHIA, PA – JULY 21: Starting pitcher Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch in the second inning during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park on July 21, 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)

Aaron Nola is the fourth player from the 2014 draft to make it to the big leagues, and he did not disappoint in his debut.

About 28,000 fans showed up to Citizens Bank Park, 8,000 more than the season average, to watch Aaron Nola make his first career start.

Nola lasted six innings giving up one run on five hits while striking out six and walking one.  Nola showed his excellent command by being able to locate his pitches where he wanted, especially on the corners of the strike zone. He also had great control, being able to get ahead in the count several times; only getting to a three ball count twice in the 24 plate appearances he faced.

Nola will make his next start on Sunday at Wrigley Field in Chicago, facing fellow 2014 first rounder Kyle Schwarber.

Top Prospect Aaron Nola Will Make Debut Tuesday for Phillies

The aging Phillies roster will get a much needed injection of youth when Aaron Nola makes his major league debut on Tuesday night against Tampa Bay at Citizens Bank Park.

Nola is the twelfth ranked prospect in Baseball America’s top 50, their overview on him reads “Nola is like in investing in Treasury bills. He’s a very safe starting pitching prospect who is big league ready.”
After being drafted seventh overall by the Phillies in last year’s draft, the righty made 6 starts in single A Clearwater where he was decent. He was then called up to AA Reading and impressed in his 5 starts to finish the season. This season he came in and turned many heads in his 12 starts in Reading, he had a 7-3 record with a 1.88 ERA, earning him a promotion to AAA. While still pitching well; he didn’t have quite the same success in Lehigh Valley as he did with Reading, but still, he pitched well enough to earn a call up to the major league club today.

Nola has three main pitches: a fastball (90-94 mph), a changeup and a curveball. He has very good command and control of his pitches allowing him to locate them where he wants, especially the fastball. His curveball has good depth and he adds good movement on his fastball.

Aaron Nola should be the face of the franchise for years to come as he is only 22 years old. He will bring the little bit of excitement to this season that we have been missing out on.

The Phillies at the All Star Break

We are now at the all-star break of this turbulent Phillies season, we are left with no hopes for the play offs (as expected) and little to watch for.

91 games in to the season and the Phillies have lost a league worst 62 games.  The starting rotation might just be the worst part of this team.  With a record of 18-49, the starting rotation has an ERA of 5.62.  The rotation is bound to get worse as the season goes on with the probable trade of ace Cole Hamels, although it is possible that they will wait until after the season to pull the trigger on a deal.

The offense isn’t much better, the Phillies are second to last in both home runs and runs scored in MLB.  The one bright spot is Maikel Franco.  Franco, called up in May from AAA, is already second on the team in both home runs and runs scored.  He has been the one player currently on the field that fans can look at to be excited for the future.

While it is a tough season up in the big league, the Phillies farm system is starting to improve.  JP Crawford and Aaron Nola are both top prospects across the minors, and the addition of Cornelius Randolph through the draft is a big bonus.

While it is not fun to watch on the field, there is one plus that the team gets out of being this bad.  The Phillies are almost a sure lock to receive the number one pick next year, which is sure to excite the fans for the future.

Phillies Hit Rock Bottom

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Chase Utley, top, checks on starting pitcher Jerome Williams after Williams collided with Baltimore Orioles’ Ryan Flaherty at home plate as Flaherty scored on a wild pitch in the first inning of an interleague baseball game, Tuesday, June 16, 2015, in Baltimore. PATRICK SEMANSKY — AP Photo

It has been a nightmarish road trip for the Phillies: eight games, eight losses.  But it’s not just the record, it’s the style of which they are losing these games, bad pitching, bad hitting, bad base running and bad managing have all lead to their MLB worst 22-44 record.

The Phillies pitching staff imploded yesterday, giving up 19 runs in a loss to the Orioles.  Jerome Williams was the starting pitcher but he lasted only two thirds of an inning, giving up six runs before leaving the game with a strained hamstring, Williams’ ERA was raised to 6.43, the second worst in MLB.  Dustin McGowan then entered the game, he went on to allow five home runs and seven runs in his 3.1 innings of work.  The only scoreless frame for Baltimore came in the seventh inning against Phillies outfielder Jeff Francoeur (yes, Frenchy pitched in the SEVENTH inning of the game), but Frenchy ended up having to pitch a second inning and showed why he is no longer a pitcher.  The Phillies pitching staff has given up the fourth most runs, and most BBs in the MLB, they also have the highest ERA.  Just four years ago the Phillies staff was the best in the majors with Halladay, Lee, Oswalt and Hamels, it is now the worst in the league.

There has been a shortage of batting skills in Philadelphia this season, last in homeruns, RBIs, average and OPS.  The Phillies played two extra inning shutouts on this road trip, once for 13 innings and another in 11 innings.  They scored a total of 14 runs on this road trip, that’s an average of 1.75 per game.

While the Phillies roster is barren, blame still has to be put on the coaching staff, and if the franchise’s worst road trip since 1883 does not get Ryne Sandberg, Bob McClure and co. fired, then I’m not sure what will.

Phillies Call Up Maikel Franco

Friday was an important date for the Phillies, as that was the day when they could call up top prospect Maikel Franco and get an extra year of control over him.

Franco has been one of the best players in the Phillies farm system, a weak one at that, over the past few years.  Franco has started the season off hot in Triple-A, batting .355 with 24 RBIs and four home runs.  He is ranked at the 56th best prospect in the minors by Baseball America, and the third best prospect in the Phillies orginization.

To make room for Franco’s promotion, the Phillies optioned third baseman Cody Asche to Triple-A.  Asche will attempt to convert to left field, while with the Iron Pigs.  He will be called back up to the Phillies once he proves he can be a starting left fielder.

Philadelphia Sports Week Review

Each team has done something interesting in the past week, here is a round up of all of it.

Flyers: The Flyers season ended on Saturday with the Flyers finishing as the seventh worst team in the league.  On Friday GM Ron Hextall announced the firing of head coach Craig Berube.  Berube was the head coach for the most part of the last two seasons, taking over after Peter Laviolette was fired early last season.  There are a couple of intriguing options for the Flyers to hire but they will have to wait to see what other firings are made.  The draft lottery was on Saturday night, and as expected, the Flyers stayed put at number seven in a very deep draft.

76ers: The Sixers season came to an end on Wednesday with a close loss to Miami, they finish as the third worst team in the NBA, the draft lottery will be on May 20.  Later in the week Brett Brown talked about next season, he said that winning will be a priority for the team next year, which makes sense as they’ll have Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid healthy (hopefully) and a top pick this year.  So the Sixers will definitely have a chance at a low playoff spot.

Phillies: They are who we thought they were.  They won one game this past week.  The offensive production is not there and the pitching isn’t helping much either. The Phillies had two games where they scored more than two runs, and just one game where they gave up less than three runs.  Ryan  Howard is batting .175 and has yet to hit a home run, and Chase Utley is hitting .116.  Ryan Howard is a sad story now, he was once one of the best batters in the league and he has gotten worse every year.  He is now a shell of himself, he has no power, and has lost the little speed he has, even a fastball is hard for him to hit now.  On the bright side the double A pitching rotation has been great, this weekend Jesse Biddle, Aaron Nola and Zach Eflin threw 20 innings and gave up two runs on 12 hits and struck out 18 batters in each of their starts combined. Another positive note is Maikel Franco who is batting .438 with eight RBIs through ten games.

Union: The Union looked like they had things figured out a bit with a win last Saturday against NYCFC, they then went on the road and stole a late point against NYCFC, but they looked horrible in that game.  Today was more of the same. A beautiful goal off a free kick by Chaco Maidana right before half time gave the U a 1-0 lead over New England at the break. Coming out of the half the Union seemed content to just sit back and defend for the remaining 45 minutes, they then went on to take off two the better attacking options, Maidana and Sapong.  Jim Curtin said they were both only fit to go 60 minutes.  The subs hurt the Union while the Revs subs gave them the spark they were looking for.  Good crosses and poor man marking led to both of the Revs goals and to their 2-1 victory at PPL Park.

Eagles: There is never a dull moment when it comes to Chip Kelly, his most recent move was to sign Tim Tebow.  But there is no need to overreact to this signing, it is a one year deal that will probably have very little, maybe no, money guaranteed. Tebow will not be the starting quarterback, and he won’t be the back up quarterback, but he is an upgrade over Matt Barkley (there are reports about the Eagles trying to trade Barkley) as the third quarterback on the depth chart. Tebow can be a good special teams player, he played as a special teamer with the Jets, and we all know how Chip likes strong special teams, he can also be used on goal line plays or on two point conversions.  There is no reason to act irrationally about this signing, we don’t even know if he is going to be on the roster for week one.

A Look at the Phillies First Week of Baseball and Their Minor League Affiliates

We are now a week into the 2015 season and although the Phillies record is at 3-4, they are doing better than most expected. They lost two of the three games in the opening series against Boston, took two of three against Washington and then lost earlier today at the Mets.

Many experts and fans have the Phillies as the worst team in baseball this year, but they are on a mission to show everyone otherwise.

The Phillies have had their dim moments, such as Cole Hamels giving up four home runs in an 8-0 loss on Opening Day. They are also getting poor performances from the star players, Chase Utley is batting .091, Ryan Howard is batting .167 and Ben Revere is batting .143, combined they have zero home runs, four RBIs and 19 strikeouts.

And then there has been quite a few bright spots, Freddy Galvis and Cody Asche are hitting a combined .419 average, and Aaron Harang has been a very unexpected surprise; Harang has pitched a total of 12.1 innings and has a 0.73 ERA.  A few other starters have done well too, Jerome Williams gave up one run in six innings of work, and minor league pitcher Sean O’Sullivan gave up only two runs and struck out five in six innings.

The triple A Iron Pigs have been struggling through the gates with just a 1-3 record.  They are being outscored by an average of two runs per game and giving up an average of 6.25 run per game.  They have gotten good hitting production from Chris Nelson (.429) and Tyler Henson (.375), but neither are relatively young prospects.

The Reading Fightin Phils in double A are three games into their season, with a 2-1 record, and have gotten two good starts from Zach Eflin and Jesse Biddle, each of them shut out their opponent in six and five innings pitched.  A couple of young hitting prospects that are doing well are Art Charles (24) and Brock Stassi (25).  Charles is batting .364 with two doubles and Stassi has two home runs and eight RBIs with a .308 average.

The Phillies upcoming schedule features away series against the Mets and Nationals and then home series versus the Marlins and Braves.

Phillies Spring Training Has Started

It is the end of February so that means spring training has begun across the Majors.  The Phillies are down in Clearwater, Florida to prepare for the 2015 season.  Here are some of the early headlines from the Phillies camp:

Over the off season in the Rule 5 draft the Phillies selected an outfielder named Odubel Herrera.  According to reports coming from spring training he has been impressing the coaches and making a strong play for him to make the Phillies roster on opening day.

About two years ago the Phillies had very high hopes for young pitcher Jesse Biddle, but he struggled last season with injuries.  Biddle is now 23 years old and is trying to prove to the coaching staff that he is as good as he was two years ago. Pitching coach Bob McClure spoke about Biddle, “When you have that type of arm and you see a guy be able to control everything, it’s fun to watch. It’s impressive to watch. The accuracy, the flow, how easy it was just to throw that hard. It looks really good.”  Sounds promising for the young pitcher, he probably won’t be playing in the Majors this season, but if he continues to look the way he does right now, he should be wearing Phillies pinstripes in the next few years.

The Phillies have brought in a couple new arms to maybe pitch in the starting rotation.  One of these new arms is Chad Billingsley, the former Dodgers pitcher has been out of the game for some time while recovering from Tommy John surgery.  The 30 year old pitched two simulated innings yesterday and said that his arm feels great.  He is getting closer and closer to returning to live action, he told reporters, “I think I’m ahead of schedule, honestly.”

Ryan Howard was once a beloved figure in Philadelphia, but now he is the center of trade talks.  The main problem is that his trade value is very low and the Phillies have had trouble finding a suitor for him.  Phillies’ GM Ruben Amaro Jr said last month that the Phillies would be better off without their first baseman of the last ten years.  Now a few days in to spring training Amaro is saying that Howard looks like he’s in the best shape since they’ve known each other.  Former Phillie Dan Plesac was invited as a guest instructor and told Howard that he hasn’t looked this good in four or five years.  Hopefully Howard will continue to look good and his value goes up so the Phillies can have a chance to trade him.

Closer Jonathon Papelbon has told the Phillies that he would like to play for a contender, which the Phillies are not.  There were rumors that a trade was imminent with the Brewers but a few days ago they re-signed their closer Francisco Rodriguez, so Papelbon won’t be going to Milwaukee this year.  But he has now said that he wouldn’t mind being traded to Toronto.  Trading him is a good idea, although he is a good pitcher he has caused issues in the locker room and is keeping young reliever Ken Giles from getting experience as a closer.

The Phillies start their spring training schedule on Tuesday, Opening Day is on April 6.