Jake Thompson dealt by Phillies to Milwaukee Brewers

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Jake Thompson dealt from Phillies to Milwaukee Brewers

The Philadelphia Phillies “traded” pitcher Jake Thompson to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. 

In exchange the Phillies received…cash. Not an intriguing prospect named “Cash”, just plain cash, as in money.

In effect, the Phillies sold Thompson to a National League Wildcard playoff rival. There is no other way to color this transaction than the Phillies giving up on Thompson.

Though details on the exact “why” were not announced, the likelihood is that the Brewers claimed Thompson after the Phillies designated him for assignment on Friday. That move was done in order to make room on the roster for the newly acquired Justin Bour.

With the claim, the Phillies would have three choices. Pull him back and DFA someone else. Let him go to the Brewers for nothing. Or cut some type of deal with Milwaukee.

GM Matt Klentak was obviously offered some amount of cash that he felt comfortable receiving back from Brew Crew GM David Stearns in order to surrender Thompson.

All of this begs the question, why Thompson? Why did the Phillies choose to DFA a 24-year-old pitcher who in seven minor league seasons has surrendered fewer hits than innings pitched, has produced a 3.55 ERA over 669 innings, and who just two years ago was the 2016 International League Most Valuable Pitcher?

There were other options. The club could have chosen to DFA someone like Mitch Walding, a soon-to-be 26-year-old. Walding is enjoying a nice season with the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs. However, he is nowhere to be found on any list or discussion of top Phillies prospects. He is an “organizational” guy available for positional depth at best.

The club could have chosen from a number of other similar pitchers rather than Thompson. Right-handers Ben Lively, Mark Leiter Jr, Yacksel Rios, and Drew Anderson. Lefties Adam Morgan or Jose Taveras.

These would have been the other candidates. You can make a legitimate argument that none has higher upside than Thompson. It’s hard to see any reason that Taveras was kept over Thompson other than the age-old baseball love for left-handed pitchers of nearly any skill level.

If you’re wondering whether the Phillies could have chosen to DFA catcher Andrew Knapp, the answer is both yes and no. The backup backstop turns 27-years-old in early November and has slashed .217/.310/.354 while demonstrating questionable defensive ability at best behind the plate.

However, with Wilson Ramos still on the DL at the time that the Bour move needed to be made, Knapp and Jorge Alfaro were the lone catchers on the 40-man roster. There is no way that you can play with just one legitimate catcher. So, while results and upside might mean Knapp could go, short-term practicality meant that he could not.

None of this is to say that Thompson didn’t have his own issues, command and control chief among them. With the Phillies, Thompson had allowed 4.7 walks for every nine innings pitched. Over 16.1 innings with the big club this season that BB/9 average was at the unsightly 6.1 mark.

His minor league record reveals just a 3.2 BB/9 figure over 144 games, 118 of those starts. However, this year his 5.0 mark revealed regression. Perhaps the Phillies simply didn’t think that he was fixable.

There is also always the possibility that some situation was going on behind the scenes to which we aren’t privy. Some personal or disciplinary problem. But that would be nothing more than pure speculation.

What we do know is that the Phillies now have given up on half the return which they received from the Texas Rangers in the Cole Hamels trade three years ago.

Thompson was considered a big part of that deal at the time. He had been the Detroit Tigers second round pick in the 2012 MLB Amateur Draft out of a Texas high school. Detroit dealt him along with Corey Knebel at the approach of the 2014 trade deadline to the Rangers in exchange for reliever Joakim Soria.

Almost exactly two years ago at this time, Thompson was making just his second MLB start. In earning his first big league win with a five-inning effort against the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park he also made a little Phillies history.

Thompson struck out four Rockies batters in the second inning of that contest. In doing so he became the first Phillies pitcher ever and the 80th in MLB history to accomplish the feat.

Also gone from the Hamels deal is lefty pitcher Matt Harrison, who was never going to pitch for the Phillies. He had career-ending injury issues that the club new about at the time of the trade, and his inclusion was simply the Phillies taking on a contract in order to obtain a better prospect package.

Right-handed pitcher Alec Asher was basically given away to the Baltimore Orioles. He was dealt at the end of spring training in 2017 for cash considerations or a player to be named later who was never named. Odds are that some small amount of cash was passed between the two organizations.

Remaining with the Phillies are the current starting right fielder Nick Williams, starting catcher (for the time being) Jorge Alfaro, and injured pitcher Jerad Eickhoff.

The Phillies are not likely to miss Thompson very much in the long run. That they felt capable of giving up on a talented pitcher who still projects to have some upside says something positive about the state of the organizational pitching options.

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Phillies give up on pitcher Jake Thompson"

Finally emerging as an everyday starter, Nick Williams catches fire with Phillies

Williams finally breaking out as an everyday player

Former Phillies 2008 World Series hero Cole Hamels was traded last night for the second time in three years. 

The now 34-year-old lefty went from the Texas Rangers to the Chicago Cubs for a couple of lightly regarded prospects in what was more of a salary dump by Texas than anything else.

It was a far different deal than the one that went down at this time three years ago. On July 31, 2015 the Phillies sent their popular star pitcher to Texas in exchange for a huge six-prospect package. The package that Hamels was able to fetch at that time was filled with highly-rated youngsters to help bolster the rebuilding Phillies minor league system.

The return to the Phillies included prospect arms Jake Thompson, Jerad Eickhoff, and Alec Asher. The Phillies also picked up their current starting catcher, Jorge Alfaro, in that deal.

Acquiring such a large and attractive group of young talent was made possible in part because the Phillies also provided salary relief to Texas. They did so by taking on the contract of injured veteran pitcher Matt Harrison, who would never throw an inning in a Phillies uniform. Harrison’s contract hung a $30 million price tag on that package.

The final player acquired in that big haul was a then 21-year-old outfielder named Nick Williams. Full of promise, Williams had been the Rangers second round choice in the 2012 MLB Draft out of Ball High School in Galveston, Texas.

Williams spent the next couple of years following the trade by rising through the Phillies farm system. He spent the last few weeks of 2015 with AA Reading, then the entirety of the 2016 and start of the 2017 seasons at AAA Lehigh Valley.

A solid 2016 campaign in which Williams banged 33 doubles and 13 home runs seemed to be positioning him for a big league promotion with a floundering Phillies team. However, questions began to arise regarding his hustle and attitude.

During that season, each of the other prospects obtained in the Hamels deal spent time at the MLB level. Williams was the only one left behind, and he didn’t take it well. But to his credit, he would eventually learn and grow from the experience.

Prior to the opening of spring training in 2017, Williams was quoted by Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia:

“All of the guys that I was traded with ended up in the big leagues except me. But I realize that they were ready and I wasn’t. Last year was a huge learning experience for me — new organization, going to Triple A — and I did some dumb things, some immature things. I got benched for not running out a ball. I look back and I might have thought it was harsh, but it was my fault. I should have run the ball out. That’s what I call not respecting the game. It sucked, but I had to take the punishment. I did it. It was my fault.”

Williams began the 2017 season back with the IronPigs, but also with renewed energy and a sense of purpose. On June 30 it paid off with his own first promotion and taste of the big-league lifestyle. He has been with the Phillies from that point onward.

Entering his first full season in Major League Baseball this spring, it was expected that the lefty-swinging Williams would spend much of the year platooning in right field with the right-handed bat of Aaron Altherr. That was how it went for the better part of three months. There was even a stretch early on where Williams struggled and was briefly benched.

Altherr would end up struggling much more, and was ultimately sent back to the minors last week. This has left Williams as an everyday starter for the first time in his big league career. He seems to be making the most of this opportunity.

Last night, Williams was one of three hitters (Rhys Hoskins and Maikel Franco were the others) to bang a pair of home runs as the Phillies tied a club record with seven dingers. Those blasts powered the team to a 9-4 victory over the host Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

Phillies back in the lead in Manny Machado sweepstakes

Ken Rosenthal reports Phillies have upped Machado offer

The roller-coaster saga that is the Manny Machado sweepstakes appears to have taken another wild turn, this time back in the Philadelphia Phillies favor.

On Friday afternoon, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted out that the Phillies “have increased their offer” for Machado. The information came to him from “sources”, and few in the business have more, or more reliable, than Rosenthal.

#Phillies have increased their offer for #Orioles’ Machado, sources tell The Athletic. #Dodgers and #Yankees remain strongest. #Brewers fading, #DBacks on periphery.
Standard caveat applies: Trade talks are fluid, and one text or call can change dynamic of discussions.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 13, 2018

Immediately following Rosenthal’s message, Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors speculated as to the pieces that could be in play from a Phillies perspective.

“Suffice it to say, there are plenty of moving parts on the Machado front. Baltimore has been said to be keen on acquiring controllable starting pitching, and the Phillies have plenty of options in that regard, as do the Brewers, Yankees and Dodgers.

It’s not yet clear what, precisely, the Phillies (or any team) is willing to offer up, though the Phils have intriguing young rotation pieces in the form of Zach Eflin and Enyel De Los Santos, each of whom has already pitched in the Majors this season (extensively so, in Eflin’s case). Right-handers Sixto Sanchez and Adonis Medina are each considered to be among the game’s top 75 or so prospects, and the Phils have a number of MLB-ready back-of-the-rotation options on the 40-man roster who could be secondary pieces (e.g. Ben Lively, Jake Thompson, Drew Anderson, Mark Leiter Jr.)”

In a piece just yesterday, another major baseball insider, Jon Heyman of Fancfred Sports, said that the Phillies were suffering from “too much timidity” in handling Machado negotiations with the Baltimore Orioles.

After lauding the club for bursting into contender status this year, he also expounded on their need to bring in a player with Machado’s impact. In doing so, he compared the Phillies situation to that of the recent Sixers pursuit of LeBron James:

“They may just be playing the game, but based on the snippets heard so far, they sound a little too much like another Philly team, a particular NBA franchise that resides across the street. Perhaps they are too married to a process, a little too mechanical.”

UPDATE: Rosenthal and Heyman each followed up with tweets in the late afternoon on Friday:

#Orioles have ramped up background work on #Phillies prospects, responding to Phils’ increased interest in Machado, sources tell The Athletic. Phils won’t move RHP Sixto Sanchez but are willing to trade from SP depth from Low A to AAA. RHP Adonis Medina of interest to O’s.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 13, 2018

Phillies are said to be making some progress in Manny talks with O’s. Machado is a great fit, and Phils people know MM best (after the Orioles). Plus, word is Phils owner Middleton is thought to want to “make a splash.”
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 13, 2018

If the latest report from Rosenthal is on target, then it appears Matt Klentak and his management team with the Phillies may be loosening up. The fact remains that based on their own needs and desires, and both their financial and prospect situations, the Phillies will remain major contenders for Machado unless or until he is dealt elsewhere.

Bullpen becoming a strength for the Phillies

Seranthony Dominguez (R) has strengthened the 'pen

The Philadelphia Phillies dropped a 3-0 heartbreaker on Wednesday night at Citi Field. The host New York Mets won it on a two-out, pinch-hit, three-run home run from Brandon Nimmo off Phillies reliever Mark Leiter Jr to gain a split of the four-game series between the division rivals.

For some Phillies fans, this might seem like just another in a string of games blown by the bullpen. The relief corps has been much maligned this season. Some of the individual pitchers have certainly deserved the criticism at times.

What those same fans may not have noticed is that the Phillies bullpen has been extremely effective since the calendar turned to July. 

Frankly, games like last night’s are going to happen to almost every team over the course of a long 162-game season. However, a look at the statistics shows that the Phillies bullpen may be turning into a strength.

Here are the numbers put up by the various Phillies relief pitchers, beginning with games of July 1:

As you can tell from Leiter’s figures, this was the bullpen performance up until the time he stepped on to the mound last night. Prior to that appearance, Phillies relief pitchers had a cumulative 1.06 ERA during the month of July.

In fact, it looked as if Leiter was going to continue that excellence when the inning began. He retired the first two Mets batters to start the frame.

After a two-out double by Amed Rosario, the Phillies right-hander got to 3-2 on Jose Reyes. But the veteran Mets hitter layed off a low-and-away changeup, drawing a free pass to set-up Nimmo’s walkoff heroics.

Yes, if you want to get technical, as well as to generalize, “the bullpen blew it” last night. But the Phillies relief pitchers have actually been helping this team as the dog days of summer have begun.

Even though the offense has managed just four or fewer runs in eight of the 10 games this month, the club has gone 7-3. That improved work from the bullpen has been an important factor.

Nick Williams promoted to big leagues by Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are promoting outfield prospect Nick Williams for his first big league opportunity this weekend.

The promotion for Williams comes as a direct response to left fielder Howie Kendrick being placed on the Disabled List. The hamstring injury disables the nearly 34-year old for a second time already this season. Kendrick previously was out of the lineup from mid-April through the end of May.

The Phillies also recently released outfielder Michael Saunders. A legitimate argument can be made that the additions of Saunders and Kendrick this past off-season were wastes of time and money.

However, others will say that the two signings did the job. The veterans bought a couple of months while prospects such as Williams “percolated” in the minor leagues. That may turn out to be the case in the long run. Time will tell.

For now, extremely frustrated Phillies fans will get to watch one of the hyped prospects perform each night.

Williams came to the Phils from the Texas Rangers as part of the big Cole Hamels trade back in the summer of 2015. He becomes the fifth piece of that trade to reach the big leagues. Alec Asher, Jerad Eickhoff, Jorge Alfaro, and Jake Thompson have previously made their debut from that deal.

At the time of his promotion, Williams was hitting for a .277/.326/.511 slash line for the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The 23-year old ripped 15 homers and had 33 extra-base hits. He produced 44 rbi, and scored 43 runs in 302 plate appearances this season. Williams also has five stolen bases.

Phillies may need to step back with Vince Velasquez

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Vince Velasquez described himself as “clueless” following yet another disappointing outing. 

The young righty took the loss as the Phils dropped a 6-3 decision to the cross-state rival Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday afternoon.

Velasquez allowed five earned runs on seven hits over 5.1 innings against the Bucs. As is frequently the case, he started out fast, retiring eight of the first nine Pittsburgh batters that he faced.

With the Phillies leading 1-0, the Pirates finally got to Velasquez with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. A single and a walk put two men on, and then Andrew McCutchen delivered an RBI single to tie things up.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Pirates took the lead thanks to a leadoff home run off the bat of David Freese. That was still the score entering the bottom of the sixth inning, when Velasquez atypically unraveled.

With one out, a walk, a single, and a throwing error on catcher Cameron Rupp on a pick-off play left Pittsburgh runners at second and third. Francisco Cervelli then delivered a two-run single to push the Pirates lead out to a 4-1 margin.

That was the end of the Velasquez’ day, as he was relieved by Mark Leiter Jr, who didn’t help matters any. Leiter walked the first batter he faced, and then surrendered a two-out, two-run single to Adam Frazier to give the Pirates a 6-1 lead.

Jerad Eickhoff should be a long term workhorse in Phillies rotation

The surprising Eickhoff looks like a long term mid-rotation starter

At the 2015 MLB trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies shipped their ace starting pitcher Cole Hamels to the Texas Rangers.

It was a crucial deal for the Phillies rebuilding program, coming as the team was dismantling the 2008 world champions and moving on from a core that had captured five straight NL East crowns.

In return for Hamels and hard-throwing reliever Jake Diekman, the Phillies received a package of five prospects. The Phils also agreed to take on the contract of injured pitcher Matt Harrison.

Those five prospects were the key to the deal for the Phillies. Those players were catcher Jorge Alfaro, outfielder Nick Williams, and pitchers Jake Thompson, Alec Asher, and Jerad Eickhoff.

No disrespect at all to Eickhoff, but he was easily the least well-known of the prospects. But having turned 25 years old just weeks prior to the deal, he was also the closest to being ready to help the Phillies in the short term.

Day of Reckoning Draws Near for Placeholder Phillies

Time is running out for Rupp, Galvis and the current placeholder Phillies

As management and ownership of the Philadelphia Phillies moved through their own transition period over the last couple of seasons, the roster has also been turned over.

Gone now are the last vestiges of the first decade of play at Citizens Bank Park. Heck, a few of those individuals – Charlie Manuel, Pat Burrell, Jim Thome – have already been enshrined on the Phillies Wall of Fame.

As the front office and playing roster changes have taken place, a group of ballplayers has taken over on the field over the last few seasons. This core group was always meant to be placeholders, while the real, serious talent was developing in the minor leagues.

That core has consisted of infielders Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis and catcher Cameron Rupp. I would also put 3B/OF Cody Asche, 1B/OF Darin Ruf, and outfielder Domonic Brown into the group.

Each of those players has been given an opportunity at one time or another to seize a starting role with the Phillies, to show that they can be a big league regular.

Only Hernandez has shown any consistent ability to successfully compete on both sides of the ball. Galvis has been strong defensively, but aside from some unexpected power has been an extremely inconsistent offensive performer. Rupp is inconsistent in every facet of the game.

This group began to really take over in the 2015 season. The Phillies bottomed out that year, finishing with the worst overall record in Major League Baseball.

A year ago, their 71 wins was an eight-game improvement. But that record was still two games worse than the disheartening 2013 and 2014 teams had finished.

Just one week ago today, the Phillies took an 11-9 record and a six-game winning streak out on the road to visit a pair of anticipated contending teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs.

After dropping six of the seven games at Dodger Stadium and Wrigley Field, the limitation of this group are becoming more and more apparent.

Phillies AAA Farm Club at Lehigh Valley May Be MiLB's Best in 2017

The Philadelphia Phillies have been undergoing a public rebuilding program for the last two to three years.

Management has made some astute trades. They have also done a solid job making selections in the annual Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

It all adds up to the Phillies accumulating an enviable array of minor league prospects. Some of those players have already begun their big league careers.

This is most especially noticeable on the mound, where starting pitchers Jerad Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez and Aaron Nola are each now in their second full big league season.

And even more are just a phone call away. The Phillies top farm club, the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs, are roughly a 60 miles north drive up the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Allentown, PA.

Based on MLB.com rankings, a full seven of the Phillies top dozen prospects, including three of the top four, are starting this season with the Pigs.

Phillies 2017: Rotation Depth a Strength, But There's No Ace

The Philadelphia Phillies have officially begun the six-week spring training process down in Clearwater, Florida. 

One of the likely areas of strength for this year’s version of the Fightin’ Phils would appear to be the starting pitching rotation.

A pair of veteran arms on short-term deals, a bulldog surprise, and a handful of talented youngsters give the club enviable depth on the mound. 

The numbers and talent potential are the most impressive to don red pinstripes in a number of years. However, the fact remains that the club still does not have a true ‘ace’ caliber starting pitcher.

There are some fans who say that a pitcher who takes the top spot in a given rotation is the ace of a staff. I believe that they are defining  the term improperly.

When Phillies fans want to think of a true ace, they don’t have to search very far back in their memory banks. Some of us can slip easily back to memories of Steve Carlton winning four Cy Young Awards. But the Phillies have had a number of true ace-caliber starting pitchers of very recent vintage.

As all but the very youngest fans will remember, the 2011 Phillies team set a franchise record by registering 102 regular season victories. Those wins were largely made possible by the club running four aces out of their rotation. We all remember “The Four Aces”: Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels.

None of the current Phillies rotation contenders has that kind of consistently excellent talent. Which is not to say that they aren’t good arms. Again, the rotation is likely to be a strength of this team.

Phillies Rebuild Now Largely Completed

The Philadelphia Phillies have suffered through five consecutive non-winning seasons. 

The last time that the club fielded a winner was with the franchise record 102 victories of the 2011 campaign.

Phillies leadership spent much of the last three years turning the final pages from the previous championship era. With the trade of Carlos Ruiz and the buyout of Ryan Howard‘s contract, those final pages have now been turned.

The club has traded veterans for prospect packages. There have been high draft picks resulting from the losing campaigns. These have combined to provide a vastly improved farm system.

Some of those highly ranked young acquisitions and prospects have begun to emerge in the big leagues already.

Can Phillies Improve by Eight Games Again in 2017?

The Philadelphia Phillies finished with a 71-91 record in 2016, good for fourth place in the NL East standings. 

That victory total was an eight-game improvement over their last place, worst in baseball finish of 63-99 during the 2015 season.

As the Phillies’ rebuilding program continues, no one in the game expects them to be contenders in the 2017 season. It’s simply too early in the process yet for that to happen.

The 2017 season will be about bringing up more of the highly rated young prospects from a greatly improved minor league system. It will be about giving those players, and youngsters already on board, a chance to show they belong in the big leagues.

The day-to-day cast of characters is not likely to be changed very much from what we saw this past season, but there is an important question to ask. Can the Phillies hope to again show at least an eight-game improvement?

Another eight games up in the win column would mean that the Fightin’ Phils finish with at least a 79-83 record in the 2017 season. Such a record would likely mean that the club was never very far off the .500 break-even mark for much of the year.

Unless a big bat is brought in via trade or free agency, something that does not appear likely at this point, the lineup is not going to change very much.

Thanksgiving 2016: Five Phillies Things to be Thankful For

I have been a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies ever since I became aware of their existence at around age nine in the 1971 season.

That year, Veteran’s Stadium opened virtually in my South Philly backyard. 

Over the decades since, I have attended hundreds of games as a paying customer between ‘The Vet’ and Citizens Bank Park, not to mention a few road trip excursions.

I watched the 1970’s team come to power and win the 1980 World Series championship. Even attended Game Two of that Fall Classic as an 18-year old.

I fell in love with the 1993 ‘Macho Row’ squad, still the most fun Phillies season from start to finish that I have ever enjoyed.

And I especially reveled in the greatness of the team from the last decade. The one that rose to power in the late-00’s, won the 2008 World Series, and captured five straight NL East crowns.

Philadelphia Phillies 2016 Grades: Rotation

When the 2016 regular season opened, the Phillies anticipated a starting rotation of veterans Jeremy Hellickson and Charlie Morton pitching in front of youngsters Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff.

The role of fifth starter in that rotation was a wide open spring training battle, with the favorites being a pair of left-handers with big league experience in newcomerBrett Oberholtzer and organizational arm Adam Morgan.

But another newcomer, Vince Velasquez, emerged during the Grapefruit League season as the best pitcher at Bright House Field back in March, and forced the Phillies hand in naming him to that final starting rotation berth.

As often happens to big league teams over the course of a long 162-game season, injuries struck. Morton went down in the season’s first month, presenting an opportunity for another prospect, Zach Eflin, to make his Major League Baseball debut.

In the end, Morton and soon to be 25-year old Alec Asher made just four starts for the Phillies, Morton back at that beginning and Asher here at the end of the season.