A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
While the big league players take the main field, the minor leaguers have arrived in camp. Thanks to Baseball Betsy and Jim Peyton we have the first set of workout groups. This early in the process, the list serves two functions for me; it is a check to see if all players are back from last … Read more
Ken Giles is really really good, he might even be underrated nationally. He is also the crux of some arguments about the strategy of the Phillies and their aims and goals for the 2016 season. For some, the trade was part of a larger set of moves that were tanking, or intentionally making the team less competitive … Read more
As I mentioned earlier this week, projections for the Phillies in 2016 have been bleak. It is not just a couple of spots on the roster that look poor, the whole roster is projected to be horrible. By Fangraph’s projections, the only two players expected to be above average are Maikel Franco (2.7 WAR) and … Read more
Most projection systems have been not kind to the Phillies this offseason. It is not too surprising, the Phillies were bad in 2015 and most of their players were young and inexperienced. Projection systems in general tend to be conservative in their prognostications, they also are not always the greatest at recognizing breakouts and changes … Read more
Understanding sample sizes is a basic part of baseball statistics. It is easy to be influenced by a singular events and use them to create narrative. I find early in a player’s career that small sample sizes give us an interesting look at adjustments occurring during development. The danger of looking at these slight shifts … Read more
Spring training is upon us. There are pitchers throwing baseballs, hitters taking batting practice, and hope in the air. So what better time than to speculate wildly answering your questions. Thank you all for giving me things to write about. I did combine some similar questions. I hope you enjoy it. Chris Gold: Thoughts on the … Read more
It is really easy to get caught up in shiny new prospects, and why not. There is nothing but pure excitement around the Phillies this spring. There are plenty of prospects in camp, especially on the pitching side. Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff will return to the big league rotation, Vincent Velasquez will try and claim … Read more
Ranking season is almost over, with only a few more lists to go. Today we got our strangest list so far from ESPN’s Keith Law. First the ranking and then a lot of thoughts about it. You can find the full piece here. J.P. Crawford Jake Thompson Mark Appel Nick Williams Jorge Alfaro Scott Kingery … Read more
Last week I talked about what was written in the 2016 Baseball America Prospect Handbook. At the end of the week, BA put out their revised organizational rankings as well as their Top 100 prospects. The org rankings did not change much with the Phillies staying constant at #8, but the Top 100 offered plenty … Read more
There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the 2016 Phillies. Their defense is going to be better, their starting pitching is going to be better, they are are going to get a full year of Maikel Franco, and then there are the prospects on the way. The bullpen is going to be … Read more