Nationals still hanging around in the NL East race as June arrives

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Too early to count the Nationals out of the 2019 NL East race

The Philadelphia Phillies (37-28) are coming off a successful week in which they took two of three games from both the Padres in San Diego and the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park.

That allowed the Phillies to remain alone on top of the standings in the National League East Division for another week. They have led the division for all but seven days thus far over the first 11 weeks of the 2019 regular season.

Each of the top four clubs in the division have now played 65 games, and we are now just a little more than two weeks away from the season’s halfway mark. The Atlanta Braves sit just one game out, with the New York Mets at five back, and the Washington Nationals seven behind.

It was yet another tough week for the Phillies on the injury front. It was announced at the start of last week that left fielder Andrew McCutchen would miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. He will have surgery as soon as the swelling goes down, and should be ready for spring training next year.

Also, right-hander Seranthony Dominguez came down with elbow trouble that could require Tommy John surgery, knocking him out for the year as well. He becomes the eighth key Phillies reliever on the Injured List.

As always, my NL East Beat report reveals how each of those Phillies divisional rivals fared over the course of the past week: games scores, pivotal performers, key injuries, and other important updates on each team are included.

Nationals may finally be starting to heat up as June arrives in NL East

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It was a good week for Max Scherzer and the Nationals

This past week of action in Major League Baseball saw us pass Memorial Day and moved into the month of June. While the Philadelphia Phillies (33-26) remain in first place in the National League East Division standings, their lead has grown more tenuous.

Over this past weekend, I released my first MLB Power Rankings of the 2019 season. Fans of the team might be surprised to find that the Phillies ranked just 15th, exactly in the middle among the 30 teams.

This wasn’t an effort to be overly critical, provocative, or sensationalist. My Power Rankings are not at all based on my feelings. They are a statistics-based evaluation of where each team stands when factoring in offense, defense, and pitching factors, as well as their win-loss records.

The Phillies have remained atop their division largely because the other four teams haven’t done much to distinguish themselves this season. My rankings found the Braves as the top statistical team in the division, finishing four places above the Phillies at 12th overall in MLB. Meanwhile, the Mets, Marlins, and Nationals all ranked 22-23-24 in that order.

That the Phillies only turn out to rank as a middle-of-the-pack ball club should be cause for concern at this point. The team has major holes to fill in the starting rotation and on the bench, and has to find some way to overcome the plethora of injuries which have steadily eroded their bullpen depth.

And now, thanks to the arrest of their starting center fielder of the last five years on domestic assault charges, an incident that almost certainly has spelled the end of Odubel Herrera‘s time in Philly, the club powers-that-be have a hole in their starting lineup as well.

Currently in the midst of a four-game losing streak that is their longest of the season, the Phillies are now in San Diego for three games to end a 23-game stretch of the schedule that may be their toughest of the entire year. They are now 10-10 in that hard-fought month, which on balance is nothing of which to be ashamed.

The Phillies are a first-place baseball team. They have been perched atop the divisional standings for all but seven days in this 2019 regular season. But there remains a long summer ahead. Four months of grueling play. If they don’t address the holes, they will not remain on top for very long.

As always, my NL East Beat report reveals how each of those Phillies divisional rivals fared over the course of the past week: games scores, pivotal performers, key injuries, and other important updates on each team are included.

Zach Eflin delivers another complete game as Phillies shut down Royals

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Complete game shutout by Zach Eflin paces Phillies to victory

The Philadelphia Phillies (22-16) received a masterpiece from starting pitcher Zach Eflin, who completely shut down the host Kansas City Royals (14-26) by 7-0 at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday night.

Eflin tossed a complete game, his second in three starts, and his fourth Quality Start of the season. The right-hander allowed just four hits, striking out seven and walking no one in raising his record to 5-3. He tossed 110 pitches, 76 for strikes.

The complete game shutout was the first by a Phillies pitcher since Jeremy Hellickson tossed one against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park back on September 17, 2016.

That same year, Eflin tossed a pair of complete games as a rookie. It had been the most recent time that a Phillies hurler threw more than one complete game in a season.

The Phillies offense scored in four different frames. It began with a two-run single off the bat of Rhys Hoskins scored Andrew Knapp and Andrew McCutchen in the top of the 3rd inning. A passed ball charged to Royals catcher Martin Maldonado allowed Jean Segura to score a third run in that inning.

In the top of the 4th inning, Odubel Herrera led off with a double and Cesar Hernandez was hit by a pitch from Royals starter Brad Keller. With one out, Knapp drew a walk to load the bases. McCutchen then grounded to third baseman Hunter Dozier who threw the ball away as Herrera raced home with the Phillies fourth run.

Phillies young ace Aaron Nola named as a Cy Young Award finalist

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Phillies young ace Aaron Nola named a Cy Young Award finalist for first time

Major League Baseball announced the finalists for its 2018 major awards today, and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola was named as one of the three finalists for the National League Cy Young Award.

The 25-year-old Nola enjoyed a breakout campaign for the Phillies this past season. Becoming the team’s ace, the young right-hander went 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA, 0.975 WHIP, 175 ERA+, and 3.01 FIP.

Nola allowed only 149 hits this year in 212.1 innings across 33 starts with a 224/58 K:BB ratio. His 10.5 WAR mark was the best by any pitcher in the game and the second-highest in all of baseball, just ahead of Mike Trout and just behind Mookie Betts.

The other finalists announced for the award were Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals and Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets.

Scherzer went 18-7 with a 2.53 ERA, 0.911 WHIP, 168 ERA+, and 2.65 FIP. Over 33 starts the 34-year-old allowed 150 hits in 220.2 innings pitched with a 300/51 K:BB ratio and 8.8 WAR mark.

The right-hander already has three Cy Young Awards on his mantle at home. Scherzer won the American League Cy Young Award with Detroit in 2014 before taking home the honors for the National League in each of the last two seasons with Washington.

The 30-year-old deGrom went 10-9 with a 1.70 ERA, 0.912 WHIP, 216 ERA+, and a 1.98 FIP. He yielded 152 hits across 217 innings over 32 starts with a 269/46 K:BB ratio and 9.6 WAR mark.

A two-time NL All-Star, deGrom was the 2014 National League Rookie of the Year. The righty finished seventh in 2015 and eighth a year ago in previous NL Cy Young Award voting results.

Philadelphia Phillies

✔@Phillies

.@AaronNola027 finished this season 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA and 224 strikeouts over his 33 starts.

Thank you, Ace, for one heck of a 2018!

9:20 PM - Sep 29, 2018

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Phillies Andy MacPhail right not to spend money on roster

Phillies President of Baseball Operations Andy MacPhail

Andy MacPhail has just begun his third off-season as President of Baseball Operations with the Philadelphia Phillies organization.

First hired by the Phillies as an assistant to Pat Gillick in June 2015, MacPhail has been an inside observer to the workings of the team as it finished with 63, 71, and 66 wins over the last three seasons.

Going back even further, the Phillies and their fans have now suffered through five consecutive losing campaigns. Not just barely losing, where your team is competitive. The Phillies best finish in that stretch was 16 games below the .500 mark.

It has been a long, dark period made even less palatable by the fact that it followed the greatest decade in franchise history. From 2001-11, the Phillies fielded just one loser, and that 2002 team finished just a game below the .500 mark.

Most fans, though frustrated, understood the circumstances that led to this current losing stretch. Our heroes of the previous decade pretty much all aged out together. Injuries cut short a few careers. A few poor decisions exacerbated matters.

The reality was that the Phillies needed to rebuild their farm system, developing a group of players who could form the next core of a winning ball club. That was going to take a few years.

Well, a few years have passed. The Phillies have indeed rebuilt that farm system. In the opinions of most respected evaluators, they have indeed developed a core group capable of special things in the coming years.

Tampa Bay Rays successfully transition Alex Colome to the closer role

Colome (L) leads the American League in Saves

Way back on July 28, 2000 the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays completed a trade with the Oakland Athletics. The D-Rays sent away a pair of arms in Jim Mecir and Todd Belitz, and in return received a Double A right-hander named Jesus Colome.

Colome had a big arm, with pitches clocked at over 100 miles per hour. He made his big league debut with Tampa in June of 2011 as a reliever, beginning what would be a 10-year career in Major League Baseball.

Colome left via free agency, signing with the New York Yankees. He would end up pitching again in the big leagues with the Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Seattle Mariners. Jesus retired following the 2010 season at age 32, but would show up for a 2012 stint in the Mexican League.

A year later, the Rays would debut another Colome at the big league level. This one was Alex Colome, the nephew of Jesus. The younger Colome had signed out of the Dominican Republic as an 18-year old in March of 2007.

Phillies winning spurts tempered by lessons of history

The Phillies have won eight of their last 12 games

The Philadelphia Phillies walked off the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night. The 4-3 victory in eleven innings gave the Fightin’ Phils their eighth win in the last dozen games.

Despite the hot stretch of winning baseball over these last two weeks, the Phillies remain in last place in the NL East Division standings.

The Phillies are 24 games behind the first place Washington Nationals. They sit 20.5 games out in the National League Wildcard race. The Phils are even 10.5 games behind the two teams tied for fourth in the division, the Braves and the New York Mets.

I’ve noticed a pattern with these little winning spurts by the Phillies in recent years. When they start winning, all is right in the world. Not only for the players and manager Pete Mackanin, but also fans and the media who follow the team on a regular basis.

When the Phillies are winning, social media explodes with platitudes for the current players, extolling their skills and feats. Talk begins of players in their mid-upper 20’s who will be part of the “winning future” core.

As someone who has always considered themselves a “glass half-full” personality, it pains me to add the “but” to this piece. It’s something that I learned a long time ago, an old saying: “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”

Jeremy Hellickson can help a number of contenders

For second straight year Hellickson is on the market

A year ago at this time, the Philadelphia Phillies were approaching the MLB trade deadline with starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson available on the market. For whatever reason, general manager Matt Klentak was unable to find a match that he felt was acceptable.

So Hellickson stayed with the Phillies into the off-season, where the club made him a contract offer. This was intended to gain them draft pick compensation once the right-hander signed as a free agent with another team.

That contract offer was for $17.2 million, which Hellickson and his agent found to be the best offer on the market. In somewhat of a surprise move, he signed the one-year deal to return with the Phillies in the 2017 season.

So here we are once again, with the MLB trade deadline approaching, and with the Phillies having Hellickson on the market.

His numbers are down this time around, and he is a year older. The Phillies GM will not get as much of a return as they would have last year. That said, he is more likely to actually be dealt this time around.

Hellickson is 6-5 with a 4.44 ERA and 1.230 WHIP after 19 starts. The now 30-year old has allowed 104 hits over 107.1 innings with a 59/28 K:BB ratio.

He would be a reliable mid-rotation or back-end option for any contending team’s pitching staff. Hellickson has pitched into the 6th inning in 11 of his 19 starts, including seven of his last nine outings. He has gone at least five innings in a dozen straight.

Phillies need to be bold at the trade deadline

NL All-Star reliever Neshek will be dealt by end of July

The Philadelphia Phillies are barreling down streak towards the July 31 MLB trade deadline with numerous rumors beginning to swirl around the team.

Most of the speculation revolves around the obvious players. Anyone 30+ years of age who is a pending free agent is likely to move.

The list includes starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson, relievers Pat Neshek and Joaquin Benoit, and outfielders Howie Kendrick and Daniel Nava.

Another possibility to move is catcher Cameron Rupp,  already losing playing time to Andrew Knapp behind the dish. If Rupp is dealt, the Phils could call up Logan Moorefrom AAA Lehigh Valley to serve as the backup while Jorge Alfaro continues to start with the IronPigs.

Can Phillies fans expect their team to receive anything of any substance in exchange for any of these players in any trade? The answer, unfortunately, is a resounding “no” to that question.

2017 Phillies Spotlight Pitcher: Vince Velasquez

The Philadelphia Phillies spent roughly six weeks down in Florida for spring training this year. And for a second straight spring, Vince Velasquez demonstrated power pitching in the Grapefruit League.

Last year, Velasquez was competing to become the team’s 5th starter. He pitched so well that awarding him that role right out of 2016 spring training was an easy decision for manager Pete Mackanin.

This year, Velasquez dazzled once again. Over five spring starts, the right-hander allowed just 12 hits over 19.7 innings with a 25/9 K:BB ratio. He registered a 2.75 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP, with opposing batters hitting just .171 off him.

Those nine walks, however, are still a bit too high. But the other numbers continue to reveal his dominating stuff.

Velasquez has a chance to pitch at the very top of the Phillies rotation in the next few years. Of course, his continuing command and discipline issues, and the development of other options, could force him to a high-leverage bullpen role just as easily.

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 Hellickson Qualify Offer is a Win-Win

The Philadelphia Phillies have made a 2017 contract qualifying offer to one of their key starting pitchers, and fans wonder how they should feel about it.

Major League Baseball teams had until Monday afternoon to extend a "qualifying offer" to any of their pending free agents. By choosing to not extend the offer, the player would immediately have become a free agent, free to sign with any other team.

But by extending the offer, the team would place the proverbial ball back in the player's court. A player would have one week to decide whether to accept or decline the offer.

Accept, and the player returns to the team under a one-year contract at the predetermined value. Decline the offer, and the player has decided that he will take his chances in free agency.

If the player then signs a contract with another team, that signing team forfeits their first round selection in the next MLB Amateur Draft to the previous team.

That is, unless such a draft pick is "protected", meaning that it is among the top ten picks in the draft. If the signing team possesses such a top ten pick, then the previous owners would receive the next highest pick from the signing team.

It is by no means a slam-dunk decision for the player. This year, the value of MLB qualifying offers was set at $17.2 million dollars, the average of the top 125 salaries from this past season.

Accept the offer and a player has decided to remain with his team for another year, playing for that $17.2 million salary. It's not a bad deal. You make good money, and then can become a free agent once again next year.

Pirates Pitching Will Determine Return to Contention

The Pittsburgh Pirates missed the MLB postseason this season for the first time in four years and will need to address their pitching depth in order to return.

After a drought of more than two decades, the Pittsburgh Pirates returned to the Major League Baseball postseason as an NL Wild Card team in 2013. 

The Bucs then returned to the playoffs in each of the next two seasons as well, again as one of the NL’s Wild Card clubs.

The Pirates won that Wild Card Game in 2013 over the Cincinnati Reds, but were eliminated in a tough five-game Division Series by the eventual world champion St. Louis Cardinals.

The Pirates were then beaten in the Wild Card Game in both 2014 and 2015. This season, Pittsburgh slipped to their first losing record in four years. 

They finished in third place, 25 games behind the eventual World Series champion Chicago Cubs.

A look at the Pirates lineup reveals that with a couple of tweaks, the club could return to at least that NL Wild Card level of playoff contention. 

Add a legitimate power threat at first base, maybe a better catcher, and you can hit with most teams.

But the real key to any chance of the Pirates returning to the playoffs will be their pitching staff. 

Texas Rangers Just a Few Moves From World Series Favorites

The Texas Rangers should remain prime contenders in the 2017 season, and adding a couple of free agents to the current roster could make all the difference.

The Texas Rangers are one of baseball’s best and wealthiest teams, and will enter the 2017 season as a favorite to three-peat as AL West champions.

However, what the Rangers and their fans really want is the big prize that has eluded this franchise since its founding all the way back in 1961 as the Washington Senators.

The Rangers remain one of only eight clubs in Major League Baseball to never win a World Series championship. 

They came maddeningly close back in 2011, twice within a single strike of wearing the crown only to see it pulled away by the St. Louis Cardinals.

A playoff team in five of the last seven years, the Rangers won the AL West with a 95-67 record that had them nine games in front of the Seattle Mariners and 11 games ahead of a young Houston Astros team that many had predicted would give them a run for their money this season.

The Rangers lost once again in the postseason, however, going down in flames in a three-game ALDS sweep at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays. The team and their home fans were forced to look on as the Jays celebrated that victory on the Globe Life Park field.

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. 

Phillies Trade Chips: Jeremy Hellickson

In the continuation of my series on some of the more likely possibilities to be traded away by the Phillies over these next two weeks prior to the August 1st MLB non-waiver trade deadline, the next look will be at perhaps the single most likely and highest-valued such asset.

Jeremy Hellickson was acquired by Phillies GM Matt Klentak back on December 14th, 2015 from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league pitcher Sam McWilliams.

At the time, the new Phils GM was looking to fill the holes created by the exit of veterans Aaron Harang and Jerome Williams.

Much as with those two veterans, Hellickson was brought in to eat up innings and bide a few more months for the many talented youngsters in the minor leagues system to more fully develop.

However, there was a difference with this acquisition. Hellickson was not an aged, mediocre talent. He was 28 years old at the time of the deal, and the 2011 AL Rookie of the Year and 2012 AL Gold Glove Award winner was in the prime of his career.

In other words, entering the final year of his contract, the right-hander fit perfectly with the plan to allow pitchers like Jake Thompson, Zach Eflin, and Mark Appel to gain another three to four months of development