Phillies and Dodgers clash this weekend as the NL's top two ball clubs

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Dodger Stadium hosts top two teams in the NL this weekend

The Los Angeles Dodgers (38-19) are the two-time defending National League champions and have captured six consecutive NL West Division crowns. They are once again riding high atop the division as we enter the month of June.

This weekend at Dodger Stadium, these two teams will meet for the first of two times this season. They will meet again in a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park just after the MLB All-Star Game in mid-July. The Phillies and Dodgers are the top two teams in the National League to this point in the season, but they have reached that status in very different manners.

The Phillies have been inconsistent in nearly every facet of the game statistically. They are out-performing those stats, fashioning their winning record and frustrating their fans by looking awful in one game and then like world-beaters in the other two games pf most every series.

Meanwhile out in LA-LA Land, the Dodgers have been truly dominating. Offensively, they lead the league in runs scored, OPS and walks, are third in home runs, and are second in stolen-base percentage.

On the mound, Dodgers pitchers have the lowest cumulative ERA in the NL. They lead the league in batting average against, Quality Starts, and OPS against while allowing the fewest walks in the league. The club is also among the more solid defensive units in the league.

The Phillies have gone 20-11 over the last month, and have won nine of their last 13 despite dropping the series finale to Saint Louis on Thursday. During what is arguably the toughest 23-game portion of their 2019 regular season schedule, the Phillies are now 10-7. That stretch comes to an end with this west coast trip to Los Angeles and San Diego over the next six days.

This will be a major test for the Phillies, a chance to measure themselves against the very best in the National League on the road. Even winning one of three games this weekend could be considered a victory. But the Phillies want more than that. They have taken and held first place by winning series, and that will be the goal once again.

There is a tremendous history between these two clubs. The Dodgers defeated the Phillies in the 1977 and 1978 National League Championship Series, the first of those including what has become known as “Black Friday” in Phillies lore, one of the toughest defeats in team history. The Phillies responded by dumping the Dodgers in the 2008 and 2009 NLCS.

The inevitable Bryce Harper breakout is unfolding before our eyes

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Bryce Harper has finally gotten on an extended hot roll

In late February, at the end of an off-season that was psychologically grueling for the Philadelphia Phillies fan base, club management led by principal owner John Middleton finally nailed down the big free agent prize they had been chasing all winter.

When 26-year-old outfielder Bryce Harper agreed to his 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies, those fans saw it as a signal that their team was back and ready to contend. Harper would be the linchpin of a revamped Phillies lineup, bashing balls with record-setting frequency over the Citizens Bank Park fences.

But as the Phillies worked their way to the top of the National League East Division standings over the first seven weeks of the season, Harper largely struggled.

Through May 14, a period covering his first 41 games in red pinstripes, Harper was hitting just .219 with a .432 slugging percentage. While he was on pace to drive in and score close to 100 runs and blast 25 home runs, that was a far cry from what many in the vocal Philly sports fan base expected in return for the big dollars.

Also, Harper was striking out at an alarming rate. He was on pace for more than 200 strikeouts, which would eclipse his previous career-high of 169 whiffs set just last season.

It wasn’t that Harper was showing a bad eye at the plate. He was also on a pace to walk more than 140 times, which would also surpass the career-high 130 free passes which he drew a year ago, a figure which led all of Major League Baseball.

But those fans who were starting to once again fill up the South Philly ballpark, who were following the team more closely on TV, didn’t want to see Harper working walks like some leadoff man. They wanted bombs, jacks, home runs – preferably of the majestic variety.

Callers to local sports talk radio outlets and posters on social media wanted to see Harper become a more consistently dynamic offensive presence in the middle of the Phillies lineup.

Their wish has been granted.

Phillies will try for a rare 2019 series sweep in Cardinals finale

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Gabe Kapler has the Phillies in first despite inability to sweep series

This will be the finale of a three-game series between the two clubs, as well as the final meeting between them scheduled for the 2019 regular season.

The two teams have battled the weather in the first two games, as a major wave of powerful thunderstorms has been pushing through the area. Each of those first two contests was delayed at the outset by an hour or more.

This afternoon’s game should get underway as scheduled. The chance of precipitation is low at first pitch time and throughout the game. However, between 4-6 pm another round of storms is expected to roll through the area. Hopefully the game will be concluded before those arrive. Once begun, neither of the series first two games was actually delayed at any point.

This is also the lone series at home for manager Gabe Kapler and the Phillies in the middle of a stretch in which they play 13 of 16 on the road. They are now 10-6 during what we described weeks ago as a 23-game “crucible” of a test against tough teams from outside their division.

With the team immediately leaving for a west coast road trip to Los Angeles and San Diego, this will be the home fans last chance to see the Phillies until next Friday. That means that it’s also the last time to enjoy the antics of the Phillie Phanatic at Citizens Bank Park until next weekend.

Phillies and Cardinals try to dodge tornadoes to get in series opener

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A wave of strong storms is due to hit Philly this week

Weather permitting, the Philadelphia Phillies (31-22) will host the Saint Louis Cardinals (26-26) on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia.

That weather should indeed prove a major factor per The Weather Channel. There is a 75% chance of storms at the scheduled 7:05pm first pitch time, increasing to 95% between 8-9pm and continuing at 60% by 9pm as the storm system which spawned damaging tornadoes in Ohio last night moves through our area.

If they play, the Phillies will continue to try extending their solid work during this current rough stretch of the schedule. Beginning on May 13 the club began a stretch that we have referred to here at Phillies Nation as a 23-game “crucible” of games. All are against competition outside the division, all against winning or traditionally tough opposition.

To this point the club has gone 8-6 over the first two weeks of this stretch. After this current three-game series with the Cardinals concludes, the Phillies will head out to the west coast to visit the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

The Phillies took two of three from the Cardinals out in Saint Louis earlier this month, getting shutout in the opener but then roaring back to dominate the final two games. That is what the Phillies are trying to accomplish, win series, as they attempt to return to the postseason for the first time in eight years.

With today’s breaking news that Odubel Herrera was arrested following an incident at an Atlantic City casino in which he has been charged with domestic assault of his 20-year-old girlfriend, the Phillies have re-called Nick Williams. The club has also re-called pitcher Nick Pivetta, and both players will be in tonight’s starting lineup.

Phillies welcome in the Saint Louis Cardinals for three late-May games

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The Saint Louis Cardinals visit Philly for three late-May games

Saint Louis Cardinals (26-26) of the NL Central Division in a three-game series scheduled to begin on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies remain on top of the NL East Division standings by 1.5 games, two in the loss column, over the Atlanta Braves. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have been slumping, falling to four games off the pace set by their arch-rival Chicago Cubs.

Earlier this month, the Phillies took two of three games from the Cards in a series at Busch Stadium. Saint Louis won the opener in a 6-0 shutout, then the Phils stormed back for 11-1 and 5-0 wins to take the series.

After a victory on May 1 over the Washington Nationals, the Cardinals sat 10 games over the .500 mark and three games up in their division. But since that time they have collapsed, dropping 16 of their last 22 games.

The main culprit has been their anemic offensive attack, which has put more than four runs on the scoreboard just nine times in that stretch. However, their pitching staff has also allowed the opposition to score in double-digits four times during what has turned into a nightmarish month of May.

The Cardinals scoring offense has produced similar results to the Phillies over the full course of the season. They are averaging exactly five runs scored per game, while the Phillies average is at 4.96 per game.

Saint Louis is 7th and the Phillies 8th ranked in the National League in OPS, and the Cards have slugged three more home runs. They are also much more prone to run, ranking in a tie for 2nd in the NL in stolen bases with 30, while the Phillies 17 steals puts them near the bottom of the league.

The Cardinals pitching staff is 5th in the NL in batting average against (.241), far better than the Phillies staff (.259) rank of 14th in the league. Neither staff is particularly overpowering, with the Phillies hurlers ranking 12th and the Cardinals pitchers 13th in the NL in strikeouts.

I’ve been talking for a couple of weeks now about this crucible of a schedule stretch which the Phillies are currently navigating their way through. To this point they have held their own, going 8-6 against tough opposition over the last two weeks.

Zach Eflin 2019 first trimester report card

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Zach Eflin has been solid at the back end of the Phillies rotation

Each season in Major League Baseball is currently scheduled to last for 162 games. This means that the Philadelphia Phillies (31-22) reach the 1/3 pole with their home game on Tuesday night against the Saint Louis Cardinals.

Over the last few days, I began handing out report cards for the first “trimester” of the season for each player on the Phillies 2019 roster. That process continues on Monday and Tuesday with a letter grade, along with a brief description of each player’s contributions, including their relevant statistics.

I’ll be back with each player’s grades for the second trimester and the season to that point when the Phillies reach the 108-game mark. That is scheduled to come on July 31, the same date as the MLB trade deadline.

---

ZACH EFLIN

FIRST TRIMESTER GRADE: B

STATS: 11 starts, 5-5 record, 3.02 ERA, 1.188 WHIP, 64 hits allowed including 10 home runs over 65.2 innings with a 51/14 K:BB ratio.

REPORT: Eflin opened the season as a major question mark after collapsing over his final eight starts a year ago as the ball club also collapsed out of the playoff race. He turned just 25-years-old the day after his second start this season, and has generally been a positive in the rotation.

He was beaten up in Milwaukee on Sunday. But prior to that he was riding a stretch where five of his previous six outings resulted in a Quality Start. On April 28 at home against the Miami Marlins, Eflin tossed the Phillies first complete game victory in three years. Two starts later on May 11 in Kansas City, he did it again.

Because he started so strong this season there has been some concern over natural regression with Eflin. Some of those voicing such concerns will point to yesterday’s blowup at Miller Park as evidence that this process has begun.

Vince Velasquez 2019 first trimester report card

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Velasquez has gone from rotation to IL to bullpen in 2019

Each season in Major League Baseball is currently scheduled to last for 162 games. This means that the Philadelphia Phillies (31-22) reach the 1/3 pole with their home game on Tuesday night against the Saint Louis Cardinals.

Over the last few days, I began handing out report cards for the first “trimester” of the season for each player on the Phillies 2019 roster. That process continues on Monday and Tuesday with a letter grade, along with a brief description of each player’s contributions, including their relevant statistics.

I’ll be back with each player’s grades for the second trimester and the season to that point when the Phillies reach the 108-game mark. That is scheduled to come on July 31, the same date as the MLB trade deadline.

---

VINCE VELASQUEZ

FIRST TRIMESTER GRADE: C

STATS: 9 game including 6 starts, 2-2 record, 4.64 ERA, 1.485 WHIP, 32 hits allowed including nine home runs over 33 innings with a 36/17 K:BB ratio.

REPORT: Velasquez started the season with a quick single inning out of the bullpen in early April, striking out two in a shutout frame. Moving back into his spot in the starting rotation, the righty reeled off four straight solid outings over which he allowed just 16 hits over 21.2 innings with a 2.08 ERA and a .203 batting average against.

But he then got beaten up in this next two starts against the Tigers and Cardinals. That was followed by a stint on the Injured List due to a right forearm strain. When Velasquez returned he found his place in the rotation was gone. The Phillies have finally decided that he may be able to help more out of the bullpen on a permanent basis, as many had called for over recent months and years.

Velasquez’ career as a steady reliever got off to a rousing start when he struck out four Brewers batters over a two-inning stint in this past weekend’s series opener on Friday night. But in yesterday’s finale, the Brew Crew knocked him around for four earned runs on five hits and a walk over just 2/3 of an inning.

Phillies reach Memorial Day in first place in the National League East standings

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The top spot in the NL East standings remains occupied by the Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies (31-22) have been able to hold on to first place in the National League East Division standings while fighting their way through what is arguably the most challenging portion of their entire 2019 regular season schedule.

As we reach Memorial Day, the only off-day in this stretch of 23 games in 24 days against tough competition outside of the division, that daunting gauntlet has been more than halfway run.

The team has won seven of 10 games since dropping three of the first four during this stretch. The Phillies are now 8-6 over the first two weeks of the nearly month-long test.

The club returns home briefly on Tuesday to begin a three-game series with the Saint Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. Then the Phillies will head back out on the road, flying west for six games against the top two teams in the NL West, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

The Phillies offensive attack has been inconsistent to this point, and is ranked mostly in the middle of the pack in the National League. They are currently 6th in the league in runs per game and on-base percentage, 8th in hits and OPS, 12th in home runs and steals.

So maybe it has been the pitching that has kept the Phillies in first place? Not hardly. The staff has been just as inconsistent. Phillies pitchers as a group are ranked 14th of the 15 NL teams in batting average against and OPS. They are 7th in ERA, 11th in strikeouts, 8th in walks.

Defense maybe? Nope. The Phillies rank just 10th in the league in fielding percentage. Their 31 errors are sixth-most in the National League.

Fact of the matter is that the Phillies have outperformed their team statistics to this point. That overall inconsistency is the primary reason that the club has won as many as four straight games just once all season – their first four games of the year. On the flip side, their talent is strong enough that they haven’t lost more than three in a row, which has happened just twice.

There is plenty of room for growth with this 2019 Phillies team. The most obvious is Bryce Harper. Despite ranking 15th in the NL in RBIs, Harper has underperformed his talent and career averages in nearly every other offensive category. Third base, where Maikel Franco has cooled considerably, and center field are other areas where improvement could come.

Jake Arrieta 2019 first trimester report card

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Jake Arrieta has become the leader of the Phillies rotation

Each season in Major League Baseball is currently scheduled to last for 162 games. This means that the Philadelphia Phillies (31-22) reach the 1/3 pole with their home game on Tuesday night against the Saint Louis Cardinals.

Over the last few days, I began handing out report cards for the first “trimester” of the season for each player on the Phillies 2019 roster. That process continues on Monday and Tuesday with a letter grade, along with a brief description of each player’s contributions, including their relevant statistics.

I’ll be back with each player’s grades for the second trimester and the season to that point when the Phillies reach the 108-game mark. That is scheduled to come on July 31, the same date as the MLB trade deadline.

---

JAKE ARRIETA

FIRST TRIMESTER GRADE: B+

STATS: 11 starts, 5-4 record, 3.60 ERA, 1.300 WHIP, 65 hits allowed including nine home runs over 70 innings with a 59/26 K:BB ratio.

REPORT: There is an understandable view among many in the Phillies fan base that Aaron Nola is the ace of their pitching rotation. That is based on his emergence a year ago during a season in which the young right-hander finished third in the NL Cy Young Award voting.  But that view would not be entirely correct.

Arrieta is at least a co-ace of this rotation. He is an actual Cy Young Award winner, and has finished in the top 10 of the voting in two other seasons. He has been the top pitcher on a World Series-winning ball club. And this year, at age 33 and completely healthy, Arrieta has seized the role at the top of that rotation and provided a consistent, veteran presence almost every time he takes the mound.

Eight of his 11 starts have been of the Quality Start variety. He has beaten three of the four NL East Division opponents this year, and in his last outing on Friday night he shut down a powerful Milwaukee lineup in their hitter’s ball park. Six times he has held the opposition lineup to five or fewer hits.

Phillies win another series as Jake Arrieta shuts downs the Brewers

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Jake Arrieta pitched the Phillies past Milwaukee at Miller Park

This was shaping up to be the type of  game that has bedeviled the Philadelphia Phillies all season. Build a lead, fail in chances to put it away. Watch the opposition come back late. Take a small lead into the last inning. Home opponent rallies to a walkoff win against the bullpen.

Three times already this season the opposition has done it. Walked off with a win in their final at-bats. It just happened four days ago in Chicago, for goodness sakes. And here we were again. Phillies build a 4-0 lead. Two on, one out in the top of the 7th inning. Nothing to show for it.

The Milwaukee Brewers (29-24) used a solo homer off the bat of Mike Moustakas in the home 7th to get on the scoreboard. Then a leadoff single by Eric Thames in the bottom of the 8th was followed one out later by an RBI double from Orlando Arcia. Suddenly it was a 4-2 game with the tying run at the plate.

But something different would happen this time. The bullpen didn’t blow the game, at least in part because they weren’t in the game. Starting pitcher Jake Arrieta was still in there, and manager Gabe Kapler was showing faith in the veteran right-hander. Arrieta rewarded that faith, retiring the final two batters in the frame and keeping the lead at 4-2.

And then the Phillies bats did something they have done very seldom this season. They struck a late blow against the opposition. Actually, a couple of late blows. Big blows. After Jean Segura led off the top of the 9th with a base hit, Rhys Hoskins followed two batters later by blasting his 13th home run of the season out high and deep to left-center field.

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Aaron Nola 2019 first trimester report card

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Numbers are down, but Nola keeps on winning in 2019

Each season in Major League Baseball is currently scheduled to last for 162 games. This means that the Philadelphia Phillies (30-21) will reach the 1/3 pole with their home game on Tuesday night against the Saint Louis Cardinals.

Over the next few days, I’ll be handing out the report cards for the first “trimester” of the season for each player on the Phillies 2019 roster. There will be a letter grade, along with a brief description of their contributions, including their relevant statistics.

I’ll be back with each player’s grades for the second trimester and the season to that point when the Phillies reach the 108-game mark. That is scheduled to come on July 31, the same date as the MLB trade deadline.

---

AARON NOLA

FIRST TRIMESTER GRADE: B

STATS: 11 starts, 5-0 record, 4.53 ERA, 1.543 WHIP, 64 hits allowed including nine home runs over 57.2 innings with a 66/25 K:BB ratio.

REPORT: It’s been a mixed bag for Nola, a pitcher who finished third in the 2018 NL Cy Young Award voting and who many expected to challenge for that honor this time around as well. The ERA and WHIP are unsightly, mostly because of a three-start stretch in early April.

Since that early rough patch, Nola has gone 4-0 and the team is 6-1 over his last seven starts. Winning is what it’s all about, and Nola has found a way to win most times out, even without being as effective as last season. That gets him the shaky ‘B’ grade this time around. Believe me, I was tempted to go a level lower.

Just four of his 11 starts have been of the Quality Start variety thus far in 2019. In eight of the 11 he has given up more hits than innings pitched. He needs to solve these early-season issues and return closer to that 2018 form, or the Phillies are going to find holding on to first place much more difficult as we move into and through the summer months.

The right-hander turnes just 26-years-old next week. He has all the tools still, and has flashed them this season despite some struggles, to pitch at the front of the Phillies rotation for a long time. Still the best the team has to offer, I expect him to be better over the second part of the trimester.

Give us your feedback. Respond either as a comment to this piece or at our social media feeds. What is your take on him to this point? What, if anything, would you do differently regarding this player or their role if you were the Phillies manager or GM?

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Phillies 2019 first trimester report card: Aaron Nola"

Jerad Eickhoff 2019 first trimester report card

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Eickhoff started hot and has cooled of late for the 2019 Phillies

Each season in Major League Baseball is currently scheduled to last for 162 games. This means that the Philadelphia Phillies (30-21) will reach the 1/3 pole with their home game on Tuesday night against the Saint Louis Cardinals.

Over the next few days, I’ll be handing out the report cards for the first “trimester” of the season for each player on the Phillies 2019 roster. There will be a letter grade, along with a brief description of their contributions, including their relevant statistics.

I’ll be back with each player’s grades for the second trimester and the season to that point when the Phillies reach the 108-game mark. That is scheduled to come on July 31, the same date as the MLB trade deadline.

---

JERAD EICKHOFF

FIRST TRIMESTER GRADE: B

STATS: Eight games (seven starts), 2-2 record, 3.86 ERA, 1.190 WHIP, 35 hits allowed including seven home runs over 42 innings with a 39/15 K:BB ratio.

REPORT: Eickhoff began the season in the Triple-A Lehigh Valley rotation. Showing that he was healthy over his first two starts after missing nearly all of last season with various injuries, he was promoted and quickly moved into the Phillies starting rotation when Nick Pivetta struggled mightily over his own first few starts in April.

Gabe Kapler used him in relief in his first appearance, and Eickhoff actually earned a Save when he delivered four shutout innings in a 14-3 win over the Mets. Moving into the starting rotation, the right-hander allowed just 15 hits over his first four starts and 26 innings.

However, just when it seemed that he might have returned to the levels that had made him an 11-game winner for the club back in the 2016 season, Eickhoff has hit a major speed bump. Over his last three outings including Friday in Milwaukee, Eickhoff has allowed 17 hits over a dozen innings with a 9.75 ERA and a .333 batting average against. Opposing hitters have slugged seven home runs over those three starts.

Kapler and GM Matt Klentak are going to have some tough decisions to make moving forward with the starting rotation. Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta are clearly the top two starters. But after that it’s pretty much an open competition among a half-dozen arms. Eickhoff is part of that conversation, but he is no longer the lock that he appeared to be becoming just two weeks ago.

Pat Neshek 2019 first trimester report card

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Neshek started fast, leveled off, then came up injured 

Each season in Major League Baseball is currently scheduled to last for 162 games. This means that the Philadelphia Phillies (30-21) will reach the 1/3 pole with their home game on Tuesday night against the Saint Louis Cardinals.

Over the next few days, I’ll be handing out the report cards for the first “trimester” of the season for each player on the Phillies 2019 roster. There will be a letter grade, along with a brief description of their contributions, including their relevant statistics.

I’ll be back with each player’s grades for the second trimester and the season to that point when the Phillies reach the 108-game mark. That is scheduled to come on July 31, the same date as the MLB trade deadline.

---

PAT NESHEK

FIRST TRIMESTER GRADE: C

STATS: 19 games, 0-1 record, 3 Saves, 4.67 ERA, 1.327 WHIP, 22 hits allowed including four home runs over 17.1 innings with a 9/1 K:BB ratio.

REPORT: Neshek started off strong, going unscored upon in seven of his first eight outings. Ironically, in the one game that he did surrender a run, he earned his first Save of the season on April 8 at home against the Nationals. He then gave up a pair at Coors Field, for which there is no shame considering that environment.

After that appearance against the Rockies, Neshek shut down the opposition in six of his next eight outings. It was his final appearance of the season to this point that really blew up his stats. He surrendered three earned runs by getting drilled for a pair of homers by the Cubs during the Phillies 9-7 series finale win at Wrigley Field.

And then, injury struck. It was described in this manner by Matt Breen of Philly.com:

“He appeared troubled Friday when he walked off the field as the rest of the pitchers were throwing on the field before batting practice. Neshek talked to bullpen coach Jim Gott, grabbed his shoulder, and returned to the clubhouse. He was examined by a Brewers physician before flying to Philadelphia for further testing.”

It’s very reasonable to suspect that the shoulder was not 100% during Thursday’s appearance. Neshek has been placed on the Injured List, will be examined further, and there is no current timetable for his return. However, he did miss the first half of last season with shoulder trouble, so this could be a significant period of time spent out of the bullpen mix.

Nick Pivetta 2019 first trimester report card

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Poor 2019 start got Nick Pivetta demoted to Triple-A in April

Each season in Major League Baseball is currently scheduled to last for 162 games. This means that the Philadelphia Phillies (30-21) will reach the 1/3 pole with their home game on Tuesday night against the Saint Louis Cardinals.

Over the next few days, I’ll be handing out the report cards for the first “trimester” of the season for each player on the Phillies 2019 roster. There will be a letter grade, along with a brief description of their contributions, including their relevant statistics.

I’ll be back with each player’s grades for the second trimester and the season to that point when the Phillies reach the 108-game mark. That is scheduled to come on July 31, the same date as the MLB trade deadline.

---

NICK PIVETTA

FIRST TRIMESTER GRADE: D

STATS: Four games, 2-1 record, 31 hits allowed including five home runs over 18 innings with a 16/8 K:BB ratio.

REPORT: Pivetta has to be considered one of the biggest, if not the single biggest, disappointments of the season’s opening weeks. Coming into 2019, many in the baseball industry considered the 26-year-old to be a major breakout candidate. After making 32 starts and striking out 188 batters over 164 innings a year ago, Pivetta certainly appeared to have the stuff to warrant such positive commentary.

But then the season began, and Pivetta got knocked around right from the outset. Working the second game of the year at Citizens Bank Park, the righty yielded four earned runs on eight hits in just four innings against the Atlanta Braves.

He would make three more starts, never going more than five innings, and was showing no improvement. That poor start got him demoted. With Triple-A Lehigh Valley he began to excel again. Thus far, Pivetta has a 4-1 record with a 3.41 ERA and 1.135 WHIP. More importantly, he is dominating minor league hitters for the most part with a 50/20 K:BB and having allowed just 22 hits over 37 innings.

Pivetta is a candidate to be promoted and return to the Phillies starting rotation when the club returns home on Tuesday night to face the Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. He appears to be ready for another shot.

Give us your feedback. Respond either as a comment to this piece or at our social media feeds. What is your take on him to this point? What, if anything, would you do differently regarding this player or their role if you were the Phillies manager or GM?

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Phillies 2019 first trimester report cards: Nick Pivetta"