Last 5 innings the Cards have had go ahead run on and they pitched out of it. The difference between the 08 Phillies and the other teams in that run was the elite pen. You’re right. We’re a long way from that place right now.
Yeah, that's definitely one of the differences. But the pitching on this team was not helped at all by the weak defense they had most of the year. I know it's a cliche but all the best Phillies teams had great defense up the middle. Ruiz, Utley ,Rollins and Victorino were so solid. But I agree they will need to find a way to put together a much better bullpen.
Great point on the defense played. I commented to friends all summer that Bohm, Didi, Segura, Rhys may be the worst defensive infield I’ve seen in my time as a Phil’s fan. Man, I really miss sound fundamental baseball.
Hmmm... that is an interesting idea. I agree that with him coming off a mediocre year he could probably be gotten for not a whole ton of money. I might pull the trigger on a two-year deal, but probably wouldn't go three years unless it was a really cheap deal (like $35-$40 million guaranteed).
Yeah I was thinking maybe they buyout Cutch's contract then bring him back for a lesser amount and kind of platoon him with Conforto. McCutchen killed lefties all year. But it's also possible that Vierling could actually be the outfielder from the Phillies farm system that actually breaks through to become a good major leaguer. I"m trying to remember the last one we had. Harper and McCutchen are free agents, Odubel I think was a rule 5. Dom Brown had that one good month. Have we drafted and kept an outfielder since Pat Burrell?
I agree. I really like the first four starters in Wheeler, Nola, Gibson and Suarez but in this day and age you need a lot more than that due to injuries and pitch counts and whatever. And obviously the bullpen needs major help.
I must be a lot higher on Zach Eflin than you are. I think he's arguably equal to Nola at this point, ignoring his injury this year.
Did we draft Michael Bourn? He didn't stick around here forever but he did prove to be a very good outfielder for a number of years. Other than that, I'm drawing a blank.
Yeah I do like Eflin, but the thing that always worries me about him is his splits against lefties. It seems like certain teams good just load up on lefties like they did against Arietta the last couple years.
He had a few good games with us, just never had the consistency. Here's a fun fact now that he finished a game for the Red Sox. The Phillies got him from the Nationals for Jonathan Papelbon. It's the circle of life, or something.Pivetta stars in ALDS for Red Sox striking out seven Rays in four late innings of relief to gain the win and give Boston a 2-1 lead in the 5-game series. The bastard never did that for us.
I looked this up, we did draft Bourn, so I guess he was the last good outfielder we've drafted. And we drafted him in 2003. Lol
