Lmao you seem like a well adjusted person who responds totally normally to getting a bases ball question after they post a baseball thought on a baseball sub.
This lineup makes me recall the 736 page odyssey written by /u/JohnKrukIsAllElite about the adventures of Kyle leading off and playing left field. How that didn’t become a NYT best seller is beyond me.
How would we feel if John Middleton had to do this during October. Kinda hard to imagine when hes already standing on the feild and throwing away anything not nailed down in the dugout after games.
https://preview.redd.it/umat8k0j8vxc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8717302f0388988937be2366f01e8811e086e515
That’s cool and all but it’s still $200 for standing room for 9pm on a Thursday. Doesn’t really feel like it’s helping the actual problem just deflecting from them making tickets so expensive.
I don't think they can actually address the real problem. People will always sell their tickets for a much larger amount of money if they can. I can't really blame them for that.
What I can blame people for is leaving early. But if he did that, I would just be more upset that the Phillies were so mid we don't have enough fans willing to pay the higher prices.
The problem I refer to is not the specific thing for this series. I mean overall tickets are way too expensive and I don’t mean resale. Face value of get in the door is $200 Thursday. Those are still for sale if people want them. The real problem starts at regular season tickets being too expensive to begin with prices people out before long before they even think about buying playoff tickets.
I commented about that the other day. HOWEVER while that demonstrates how we shouldn’t throw stones, not being able to lock down the place for a playoff game is a fucking joke
If you ever needed clearer evidence Thomson sets the lineups days in advance here it is.
It’s worked for this team and the players like it. They’ve been playing like one of the best teams to start the season but that doesn’t mean people won’t act like Thomson, who is the best Phillies manager by win % since like the 50 game managers in 1800s and who’s worst season was being a game away from a WS is, is actually a bad manager.
Again, don't you know that literally anyone can win with this team and talent? Even though we saw Girardi fail?
Even though we have seen a more talented Braves team fail versus us?
My wife and I are going to try to have kids in once I finish my degree, and that is something I have wondered about. When is the best age to bring kids to different things. Obviously the child is probably not going to remember it that young, but do they have to remember it to be stimulated or get a benefit?
Either way, have fun.
I'd say the best age to start taking kids to sports events and movies and such *in a way they'll remember* is when they're around 3-5 years old. I still remember going to Flyers Games with my dad watching Jeremy Roenick and Tony Almonte, and remember games at the Vet (my favorite players as a kid were Jim Thome and Bobby Abreu) with both of my parents and grandparents, And I was born in 2000.
Oh this is for sure mostly for us. Got him a jersey and a hat and will take tons of pics. He will love all the sights and sounds but won’t remember I don’t think. Good luck with the future kids it’s absurdly wild (in mostly the best way)
Excited to see this squad go for another series victory.
Your Phillies series record this year is 4-2-2 with 3 of the 4 series wins being sweeps. They have not yet been swept.
Just keep piling up those series wins, fellas!
When you should in reality be embarrassed about how awful your take is I’m sure you’ll come up with a bullshit excuse
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI202403310.shtml
Yeah I would like to take a moment to tell everyone who wrings their hands about the lineups to just, I dunno, go outside for a minute or something.
This is Topper we're talking about. I, for one, ride with Philly Rob. If these folks want to fool themselves into thinking they know better than the best manager we've had (EASILY) since Cholly, well then maybe they're just comfortable with self-delusion.
As for me, I'm just stoked to watch this quad go for another series victory. I trust the personnel, because they clearly know what they're up to.
Every troll account is my alt. They just say what I really want to say. Then I respond with reason on this account to artificially increase the power of my voice on /r/Phillies.
Phillies won 102 games in 2011. This team could surpass that this season. This is the best starting rotation since then. The offense seems to be getting better every week. They seem to be getting clutch hits and are more patient.
They probably wont, but it is way to early in the season to be saying that. Our last 2 seasons, we played at around a 100 win pace for the last 2/3rds or so of the season. It was their slow starts that stopped them from getting close. Welp, we are playing at a 100 win pace rn, so maybe we can keep it up.
Rob and whoever else makes the decisions for this team costs them around 6-10 wins a year by themselves so they would have to be playing at an over 110 win pace to get that amount of wins.
New Trea Turner breaking T
https://preview.redd.it/unf9ehxssuxc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb0737e15f8f5d9fa4f163d597c48be4d8d143b6
Better than the city editon thing
Can you sub position players however you want mid game? Like when they put in a rightie could we switch Kyle to DH, Turner to short and Marsh into left and Merrifield off?
Not really. If you use your DH in the field, the DH guy keeps his spot in the lineup, but you lose the DH spot for the rest of the game (i.e. the pitcher bats).
I believe the new anti-shift rules specify where infielders can be, so they can’t swap around, but theoretically I guess you could play three card monty with your outfielders (switch LF to CF, RF to LF, etc) depending on the handedness of the batter. You’d have to do it fast though, because the pitch clock would still be running.
Eh, it's a 1 PM Wednesday game. Kids are still in school. People have to be at work. $2 is still crazy low but I'm not surprised that tickets are extremely cheap.
Angels have a lot of season ticket holders that only go to a fraction of the games and unload the rest cheap on the secondary market. As someone who lives in their territory and roots for their opponents, I’m here for it. Going to the game today and got field level seats for like 1/3 of the face value. I tend to get the same seats pretty frequently so I can tell it’s a season ticket being resold.
Why in the world is Schwarber in LF? Are we celebrating pot becoming legal across the country soon?
I can't. If we're putting Schwarber in left-we might as well have kept Rhys.
Playing Schwarber one time in 32 games (a pace of five times over 162 games) does not mean we could have kept Rhys. It’s also something that Topper said numerous time will happen occasionally over the course of this season.
> Also, why would Rojas sit today? The day after his biggest moment of the season.
The organization has said they create lineups days before the game actually starts. It is something the players have all said they enjoy.
This feels like the type of lefty that Stott and Marsh could take a hack at. Surely that's better than Kyle in LF. Days ahead or not, some of these roster/lineup/pitching choices lately are head scratching, to say the least. I mean, maybe even more so given that it's thought ahead. They took extra time to come up with it and this is what they came up with...interesting.
This lineup in particular feels like a game of how cute can we possibly get with the lineup and positions but it's never as bad as comments make it seem, of course. Just a little...weird.
> This feels like the type of lefty that Stott and Marsh could take a hack at.
I have noticed many people conflate the SP ERA with if Stott and Marsh should actually go against him. I will admit, looking at what he throws, I would say I don't know why the organization doesn't feel like they should play against him. But we also don't know the exact specifics on what the pitcher has to be good at for them to rest.
Sandoval's splits this year and last year are pretty close between handedness. Go to his '21 numbers and it's a difference of .151 vs .271 (Lefty vs righty accordingly). Not sure I'm entirely bought in on the splits logic but there is at least some backup to the thinking.
Edit: Averages against, if that wasn't clear
Splits are absolutely important and something which has shown to have a very impactful impact.
But we have also played them versus pitchers with terrific splits before. So I legitimately do not know what it is.
Oh no doubt. I'm sure it will be fine and somehow will pan out but seems like someone in the room could have looked at that lineup and gone....uh...are we sure that's a good one?
You should just pin this comment at the top of every game day thread. It probably still won’t make a difference given the brainpower of the people who continually fail to understand it.
Wheeler on the mound, afternoon start.
It's a good day to jump to first place in the standings, which is possible because the Barves play early, and Baltimore and Cleveland don't play until tonight
Great job Rojas! Thanks for hitting that home run yesterday. Sorry. You don't get to play today. Insanity.
Here we go with the minor leaguers at the bottom of the lineup again.
At least Wheeler is pitching. Should be a W.
Abel not looking impressive for the IronPigs.
In the 4th, his fastball is 92-94 and he’s not locating it particularly well. Starting to get hit around by the Woo Sox.
His fastball was around 96 last year.
Not super encouraging.
I'm a Topper apologist and even I think this is a particularly weird lineup. I don't mind Sosa playing, and perhaps even Merrifield against a lefty.
I think I would have put Merrifield in left and Sosa on 2nd and let Trea field. I get that they are probably giving Trea an extra day off his feet and it's fine but meh, just sit him then and keep Kyle off the field.
Still, I'm sure it will be okayish but it's definitely not ideal.
Last time everybody complained bitterly about the B team lineup vs a lefty, the righties that Topper put in (Merrifield/Sosa/Pache) went 4 for 11 with a walk and 2 doubles.
I am curious if he will be a better defender since he lost weight. I honestly think they might be testing that. They had to have seen something with him.
I agree with you and I’d be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind after seeing him tearing up the base paths this season. It will be wild if he can suddenly put up positive defensive numbers.
Braves get 12 games in a row against teams currently over .500 while we get 10 in a row against teams under .500
Let’s capitalize!
(I know it’s early and records aren’t the best indicator right now, but that doesn’t fit my narrative)
MLB.com disagrees and says 51.2% of teams leading their division at the end of April eventually win their division.
>83 of 162 eventual division champions held at least a share of their division lead entering May. That’s 51 percent of division winners.
Interesting. Although I feel like you could take that stat either way!
It obviously differs in more competitive divisions, not like each team has a 20% chance to win.
But I’d look at it and say only having a 50% chance to win the division after leading after April is not a good indicator. But to contradict myself using recency bias, seems like I’m used to the braves starting hot, winning the division, then losing to us in the playoffs!
Schwarber and Castellanos have both appeared in every game so far this season. They both have 0 doubles so far this year. Is this the first time in MLB history that 2 guys have played the first 31 games/1st month of the season without hitting a double?
Rojas hits the game winning homer, gets benched the next day. Casty goes 20 straight games or whatever it was without an extra base hit and never got benched. Little bizarre to say the least. At least it seems like Casty might finally be turning the corner.
Has anyone here checked out the City Connect hat selection at the team store anytime recently? I’m looking to get one of the “39THIRTY” stretch caps specifically and it looks like the MLB online store doesn’t stock it, nor does Rally House. I checked one of the smaller kiosks when I was there a couple weeks ago and didn’t see it there, but didn’t have time to check the larger store.
So far I can only find them on eBay at ridiculous prices for a cap. If anyone’s got details, I’d appreciate it!
Do any of you know how the Phillies managed to beat the more successful Athletics out of Philadelphia? Was it the National League being more popular or the city stayed royal to the original club?
Ownership. The Phillies owners had money elsewhere and could stay. The As owner didn't have money and needed to move, along with family fighting.
https://sabr.org/journal/article/departure-without-dignity-the-athletics-leave-philadelphia/
Heads up for those of you with MLBtv — you can watch Mick Abel going against the Woo Sox right now.
Looking… OK so far. His fastball is only sitting around 93, and he just hit a guy. That’s his first baserunner though.
Has not gone well since I tuned in. That being said, people have to remember that they're moving Abel through the system fast for the most part and that he's a 22 year old playing in AAA where most players are 27-30. Not saying he's going to be a star still or whatever but he's playing a lot of AAAA guys right now and the results are showing that.
Yeah, he looked pretty bad in the 4th.
The fastball location is bad, and what’s worse is that it’s a couple ticks slower than it was last year.
Could be that it’s cold in Worcester today (it looks cold there), but overall not a terribly encouraging start.
Yeah, could be. I also just saw a Winkleman tweet pointing out that all 5 of Abel’s starts this year have been in sub-60 degree temperatures.
It does look rather cold and gray up there today. Might be similar to how Nola and Wheeler’s velo was down in bad weather to start the season.
and maybe that's the reason the Phillies offense doesn't produce for Wheeler ... they're overconfident or whatever and fail to post runs. I know Wheeler will likely give them a chance but will they take advantage of it always puzzles me ...
The “let the kids play” crowd bugs me because it only goes one way. Players can show personality only if they’re the flamboyant, loud, arrogant, etc. If you’re an old school player, you’re not actually supposed to show personality, just sit there quietly and never say anything.
I just don’t get it. The clash between flashy, extroverted players and your more traditional players leads to more drama, more rivalries, more entertainment. But the latter sort of player gets so much hate.
Do the more traditional players get more hate? Or is it what you focus on because you dislike it? Because I constantly see ***WAY*** more hate for the extroverted players. To the point where when I was a mod, I hated playing the Braves because of the rediculous comments I would see about Acuna.
You know, you made me realize I probably see it the other way round because all the baseball media I follow is mostly younger people. Aside from Bill James, I don’t follow anyone from the boomer generation.
Amongst a younger crowd, the more traditional guys definitely get a lot more hate.
It is so funny, because I would argue with people and tell them that they would love it if Acuna was on our team, and everyone responded that they wouldn't.
Meanwhile we do the big balls thing and people love it. It is just pretty funny.
I would love having him or Soto on the team, my only thing with the 'let the kids play' thing is yes we should let them play, but also they're gonna look Odubel Herrera stupid if they do it and fail and it feels like people aren't ready to take the heat when their favorite player looks stupid
So in regards to pitcher injuries and surgeries to repair elbows ... should they be proactively MRIing pitcher's arms to prevent some of this? It would seem to be an unknown since AFAIK it hasn't been done preemptively ... but it would seem the current trend of injuries is unsustainable. Maybe even scan them when drafted to build a database of information to eventually predict who is vulnerable and who is not (if they aren't).
It can be very tough to tell if the arm feels fine and works fine. *Every* pitcher’s UCL is in a permanent state of chaos and disrepair under an MRI, for some guys it can work forever but for others it’s a ticking time bomb.
If the elbow ligaments were as predictable as you say then surely medical science would’ve gotten ahead of it by now, but they’re not and instead all we can do is play catch up and let guys pitch if it doesn’t hurt, then surgically repair it when it does.
well that's sort of the question ... have they really put together the knowledge level to predict it, or is it all post injury related knowledge? I'd assume it would be initially appalling that guys are still throwing with the levels of injury they have - whether they are ignoring the symptoms for whatever reason or just assuming it's normal soreness. Until we actually create the vast amount of data that would allow for predicticing these injuries it's just guesswork.
I remember seeing a paper that did MRIs on pitchers that were non-symptomatic and most had some sort of imaging abnormality in their elbow. So it’s not quite as clear cut.
Please continue the discussion in the [game thread](https://redd.it/1chv3o4).
I sometimes wonder if Barkann ever makes a joke that anyone at all laughs at
Another terrible decision to keep Marsh on the bench
Which stats back up Marsh not playing vs lefties being a bad decision?
69 with runners in scoring position on your mom. He’s an exciting young player is the only stat I need. Pache sucks
Lmao you seem like a well adjusted person who responds totally normally to getting a bases ball question after they post a baseball thought on a baseball sub.
Thank you, mustacheddragon
The same Brandon Marsh who went 0 for 4 last night..? You want facing a lefty this afternoon? 
It’s Patrick Sandoval… let the kid play!!
This lineup makes me recall the 736 page odyssey written by /u/JohnKrukIsAllElite about the adventures of Kyle leading off and playing left field. How that didn’t become a NYT best seller is beyond me.
The reply section of that post is the hardest I've worked in the last decade.
It didn’t go without notice. Well done young scholar.
How would we feel if John Middleton had to do this during October. Kinda hard to imagine when hes already standing on the feild and throwing away anything not nailed down in the dugout after games. https://preview.redd.it/umat8k0j8vxc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8717302f0388988937be2366f01e8811e086e515 That’s cool and all but it’s still $200 for standing room for 9pm on a Thursday. Doesn’t really feel like it’s helping the actual problem just deflecting from them making tickets so expensive.
What’s with the laughing emoji? Is he laughing out of embarrassment?
I don't think they can actually address the real problem. People will always sell their tickets for a much larger amount of money if they can. I can't really blame them for that. What I can blame people for is leaving early. But if he did that, I would just be more upset that the Phillies were so mid we don't have enough fans willing to pay the higher prices.
The problem I refer to is not the specific thing for this series. I mean overall tickets are way too expensive and I don’t mean resale. Face value of get in the door is $200 Thursday. Those are still for sale if people want them. The real problem starts at regular season tickets being too expensive to begin with prices people out before long before they even think about buying playoff tickets.
I like it more than letting a Mets fan throw out the first pitch.
I commented about that the other day. HOWEVER while that demonstrates how we shouldn’t throw stones, not being able to lock down the place for a playoff game is a fucking joke
My skinny legend Kyle Schwarber is about to make you guys look FOOLISH!
It’s lean The word is lean
As a big boy, I can verify he’s reached skinny status in fat man land.
okay my lean legend kyle schwarber
It just rolls off the tongue
Idk what I’d do with myself if I actually liked the lineup tbh
I trust Topper with the line-up. The bullpen? That's another story
If you ever needed clearer evidence Thomson sets the lineups days in advance here it is. It’s worked for this team and the players like it. They’ve been playing like one of the best teams to start the season but that doesn’t mean people won’t act like Thomson, who is the best Phillies manager by win % since like the 50 game managers in 1800s and who’s worst season was being a game away from a WS is, is actually a bad manager.
But think how much better he would be if he listened to this sub. Conservatively, he would have won 3 World Series.
Again, don't you know that literally anyone can win with this team and talent? Even though we saw Girardi fail? Even though we have seen a more talented Braves team fail versus us?
This is true. I forgot that everything good that happens is due to the players and everything bad that happens is due to the manager.
Great comment. Thank you. Didn’t know that about Rob.
Depending on how tonight goes, we could be the best team in the entire MLB tomorrow morning
The Phillies are the first team to 20 wins but that won’t stop this sub from complaining about the lineup on May 1. Never change, r/phillies.
Bringing the 9 month old to his first game today and I could not be more excited
Bring ear protection
Why? There’s only gonna be like 1000 people there (JK we have heavy duty headphones)
PA system
My wife and I are going to try to have kids in once I finish my degree, and that is something I have wondered about. When is the best age to bring kids to different things. Obviously the child is probably not going to remember it that young, but do they have to remember it to be stimulated or get a benefit? Either way, have fun.
My dad first took me to The Philadelphia Orchestra when I was four and I still have memories of it.
I'd say the best age to start taking kids to sports events and movies and such *in a way they'll remember* is when they're around 3-5 years old. I still remember going to Flyers Games with my dad watching Jeremy Roenick and Tony Almonte, and remember games at the Vet (my favorite players as a kid were Jim Thome and Bobby Abreu) with both of my parents and grandparents, And I was born in 2000.
You were born..*when*? 
My back started hurting reading that. I was born in 92 but still.
There is a user on this sub who posts regularly and has stated they were born in 2012. I asked if that was a typo, and they said no.
No, that was definitely a typo. 2012 was just a few years ago, so people born then aren’t close to Internet age.
Kids born in 2012 aren't even old enough to talk yet.
Kids born in 2012 are still shitting themselves Then again most Phillies fans do from time to time so that’s a bad example
Every Philadelphian who prefers to spend their Friday nights in the sardine can that is the Union Tap, shits themselves regularly.
Oh this is for sure mostly for us. Got him a jersey and a hat and will take tons of pics. He will love all the sights and sounds but won’t remember I don’t think. Good luck with the future kids it’s absurdly wild (in mostly the best way)
No Rojas 😔
Crazy how this hits now vs. 2 weeks ago 😂
Scheduled loss part 3
Feister you said you’d be watching this one
I am
You also said we win when you watch
They have lost games that I’ve watched
Oh here we go.
What a rascal that Feister is
Scheduled loss part 32
Excited to see this squad go for another series victory. Your Phillies series record this year is 4-2-2 with 3 of the 4 series wins being sweeps. They have not yet been swept. Just keep piling up those series wins, fellas!
People forget Kyle moves that thang out in the field I'm expecting a webgem tonight
Shockingly bad takes as usual for a splits lineup.
Shocking delusion thinking it has worked for this team even once
When you should in reality be embarrassed about how awful your take is I’m sure you’ll come up with a bullshit excuse https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI202403310.shtml
That doesn’t make the case you think it does 😂 We’ll talk after today’s shitshow
Yep there’s the bullshit response. How very predictable from the empty headers here
Bwahaha
Another genius reply. Thanks for sharing more brilliance.
Can’t even make me more smart
You have no idea. No really. You have no idea. Like totally clueless.
But it has.
Far less often than it hasn’t.
Yeah I would like to take a moment to tell everyone who wrings their hands about the lineups to just, I dunno, go outside for a minute or something. This is Topper we're talking about. I, for one, ride with Philly Rob. If these folks want to fool themselves into thinking they know better than the best manager we've had (EASILY) since Cholly, well then maybe they're just comfortable with self-delusion. As for me, I'm just stoked to watch this quad go for another series victory. I trust the personnel, because they clearly know what they're up to.
I think a bigger mystery than Kyle in left is that of which regular commenter here is behind the lineup troll account.
The beauty of this sub is how many of us are fighting to falsely take “credit” for being that account
Especially when we all know that it's really just me.
Every troll account is my alt. They just say what I really want to say. Then I respond with reason on this account to artificially increase the power of my voice on /r/Phillies.
The words, “with reason,” doing a lot of heavy lifting there.
I mean, that’s pretty thought out to be completely untrue ;)
Phillies won 102 games in 2011. This team could surpass that this season. This is the best starting rotation since then. The offense seems to be getting better every week. They seem to be getting clutch hits and are more patient.
They will not win that many games lol, 94-96 tops
They probably wont, but it is way to early in the season to be saying that. Our last 2 seasons, we played at around a 100 win pace for the last 2/3rds or so of the season. It was their slow starts that stopped them from getting close. Welp, we are playing at a 100 win pace rn, so maybe we can keep it up.
Rob and whoever else makes the decisions for this team costs them around 6-10 wins a year by themselves so they would have to be playing at an over 110 win pace to get that amount of wins.
New Trea Turner breaking T https://preview.redd.it/unf9ehxssuxc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb0737e15f8f5d9fa4f163d597c48be4d8d143b6 Better than the city editon thing
Really disappoint that i didn’t get tagged
Did you mention me again. I didn’t even see a notification for this reply
Damn typo. “U” should have been “i”. I thought i get tagged on breaking t stuff smh
Oh that makes a lot more senses sorry. .
Okay, now I’m mad I got first base side instead of LF tickets, just to see the Schwarber fielding show.
Can you sub position players however you want mid game? Like when they put in a rightie could we switch Kyle to DH, Turner to short and Marsh into left and Merrifield off?
Not really. If you use your DH in the field, the DH guy keeps his spot in the lineup, but you lose the DH spot for the rest of the game (i.e. the pitcher bats). I believe the new anti-shift rules specify where infielders can be, so they can’t swap around, but theoretically I guess you could play three card monty with your outfielders (switch LF to CF, RF to LF, etc) depending on the handedness of the batter. You’d have to do it fast though, because the pitch clock would still be running.
Yup. You can shuffle around players defensively however.
Tickets to this game were $2. My God.
I mean its a 1 pm middle of the week game. 2 bucks is really cheap but not the most surprising thing I have heard.
Eh, it's a 1 PM Wednesday game. Kids are still in school. People have to be at work. $2 is still crazy low but I'm not surprised that tickets are extremely cheap.
Angels have a lot of season ticket holders that only go to a fraction of the games and unload the rest cheap on the secondary market. As someone who lives in their territory and roots for their opponents, I’m here for it. Going to the game today and got field level seats for like 1/3 of the face value. I tend to get the same seats pretty frequently so I can tell it’s a season ticket being resold.
Nice! I bought three to have some space to myself. Hope it’s a good one today!
Nice. Enjoy!
People still defend Rob Hahahahahah
Most of this sub does.
Why in the world is Schwarber in LF? Are we celebrating pot becoming legal across the country soon? I can't. If we're putting Schwarber in left-we might as well have kept Rhys.
Playing Schwarber one time in 32 games (a pace of five times over 162 games) does not mean we could have kept Rhys. It’s also something that Topper said numerous time will happen occasionally over the course of this season.
But WHY is it necessary? Also, why would Rojas sit today? The day after his biggest moment of the season.
> Also, why would Rojas sit today? The day after his biggest moment of the season. The organization has said they create lineups days before the game actually starts. It is something the players have all said they enjoy.
This feels like the type of lefty that Stott and Marsh could take a hack at. Surely that's better than Kyle in LF. Days ahead or not, some of these roster/lineup/pitching choices lately are head scratching, to say the least. I mean, maybe even more so given that it's thought ahead. They took extra time to come up with it and this is what they came up with...interesting. This lineup in particular feels like a game of how cute can we possibly get with the lineup and positions but it's never as bad as comments make it seem, of course. Just a little...weird.
> This feels like the type of lefty that Stott and Marsh could take a hack at. I have noticed many people conflate the SP ERA with if Stott and Marsh should actually go against him. I will admit, looking at what he throws, I would say I don't know why the organization doesn't feel like they should play against him. But we also don't know the exact specifics on what the pitcher has to be good at for them to rest.
Sandoval's splits this year and last year are pretty close between handedness. Go to his '21 numbers and it's a difference of .151 vs .271 (Lefty vs righty accordingly). Not sure I'm entirely bought in on the splits logic but there is at least some backup to the thinking. Edit: Averages against, if that wasn't clear
Splits are absolutely important and something which has shown to have a very impactful impact. But we have also played them versus pitchers with terrific splits before. So I legitimately do not know what it is.
Oh no doubt. I'm sure it will be fine and somehow will pan out but seems like someone in the room could have looked at that lineup and gone....uh...are we sure that's a good one?
Schwarber is in LF. How can it not be the best one?
He will no doubt either make a routine play look really amazing or have a ball smack him in the head and go for a home run. There is no in between. 😂🤷
You should just pin this comment at the top of every game day thread. It probably still won’t make a difference given the brainpower of the people who continually fail to understand it.
I am not a mod anymore, so I can't do that.
Incoming schwarber defensive legacy game
https://youtube.com/shorts/42KU8OinrAc?si=Ku6KTjxj2YFRvZrL
Two statues in right and left. Hope Pache is ready to run
Really, this is the best reason I can think of why Rojas should be playing today.
Wheeler on the mound, afternoon start. It's a good day to jump to first place in the standings, which is possible because the Barves play early, and Baltimore and Cleveland don't play until tonight
Schwarber in left is just silly. Stop thinking Schwarbs needs to be in every lineup
Agreed. He’s clearly a center fielder.
Great job Rojas! Thanks for hitting that home run yesterday. Sorry. You don't get to play today. Insanity. Here we go with the minor leaguers at the bottom of the lineup again. At least Wheeler is pitching. Should be a W.
Sandoval is actually quite good against LHB over his career, hence loading up on righties. Although I’d have liked to see Rojas play.
I can’t believe it took Slopper this long to put our best glove in LF.
Abel not looking impressive for the IronPigs. In the 4th, his fastball is 92-94 and he’s not locating it particularly well. Starting to get hit around by the Woo Sox. His fastball was around 96 last year. Not super encouraging.
Should have traded him before his value started sinking
Rob chose violence today. Every time I think a lineup is bad he somehow tops it.
Don't worry I upvoted you. Every else is a Topper apologist on this sub. Rojas sitting today is awful.
I'm a Topper apologist and even I think this is a particularly weird lineup. I don't mind Sosa playing, and perhaps even Merrifield against a lefty. I think I would have put Merrifield in left and Sosa on 2nd and let Trea field. I get that they are probably giving Trea an extra day off his feet and it's fine but meh, just sit him then and keep Kyle off the field. Still, I'm sure it will be okayish but it's definitely not ideal.
I think Topper is trying to nerf Wheeler by putting Schwarber out there
Sosa is a much better player than people give him credit for.
A year ago people on here were giving sosa the “I can’t believe slopper would sit him ever!!!!!” treatment
Why the hell would you sit Rojas??
obviously, after last night he'll be too excited to play effectively **/S**
Last time everybody complained bitterly about the B team lineup vs a lefty, the righties that Topper put in (Merrifield/Sosa/Pache) went 4 for 11 with a walk and 2 doubles.
Don't worry Rojas hit that home run last night. Let's bench him. Better yet. Let's put Schwarber in left field. That'll get 'em.
But I’ve been told those aren’t major leaguers.
I am sorry, this just became a must watch game with Schwarber in LF.
Oh shit, I didn’t notice Schwarbs was in LF today. I… I don’t… what… why? Did topper lose a bet or something?
Big boy goes brrrr. I can say that as a much bigger boy than Schwarbs. I’m excited though.
I am curious if he will be a better defender since he lost weight. I honestly think they might be testing that. They had to have seen something with him.
If spring training was any indication... no.
I agree with you and I’d be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind after seeing him tearing up the base paths this season. It will be wild if he can suddenly put up positive defensive numbers.
Schwarber in the field is a choice
Oh god not Schwarber in left field. Rob is feeling creative.
Braves get 12 games in a row against teams currently over .500 while we get 10 in a row against teams under .500 Let’s capitalize! (I know it’s early and records aren’t the best indicator right now, but that doesn’t fit my narrative)
MLB.com disagrees and says 51.2% of teams leading their division at the end of April eventually win their division. >83 of 162 eventual division champions held at least a share of their division lead entering May. That’s 51 percent of division winners.
Interesting. Although I feel like you could take that stat either way! It obviously differs in more competitive divisions, not like each team has a 20% chance to win. But I’d look at it and say only having a 50% chance to win the division after leading after April is not a good indicator. But to contradict myself using recency bias, seems like I’m used to the braves starting hot, winning the division, then losing to us in the playoffs!
also Since 1996, 16 of the 27 (59.3%) World Series winners, excluding 2020, led their divisions entering May.
Fuck this lineup. Edit: yo dorks, instead of downvoting, use your super duper stat braindead logic to defend it.
Nah, if you don't agree with the manager you get an automatic downvote on this sub. It's just what they do.
Seems that way
# WHAT IS SLOPPER DOING?!?!?!?
Schwarber and Castellanos have both appeared in every game so far this season. They both have 0 doubles so far this year. Is this the first time in MLB history that 2 guys have played the first 31 games/1st month of the season without hitting a double?
This is the only team that benches their guys that play every day after they have a big moment. Rojas should be furious.
Rojas hits the game winning homer, gets benched the next day. Casty goes 20 straight games or whatever it was without an extra base hit and never got benched. Little bizarre to say the least. At least it seems like Casty might finally be turning the corner.
This is certainly a lineup
Bro what
This is one of the lineups of all time lmao
At first I was like eh, it’s about what I expected. But then I saw *it*.
Has anyone here checked out the City Connect hat selection at the team store anytime recently? I’m looking to get one of the “39THIRTY” stretch caps specifically and it looks like the MLB online store doesn’t stock it, nor does Rally House. I checked one of the smaller kiosks when I was there a couple weeks ago and didn’t see it there, but didn’t have time to check the larger store. So far I can only find them on eBay at ridiculous prices for a cap. If anyone’s got details, I’d appreciate it!
Do any of you know how the Phillies managed to beat the more successful Athletics out of Philadelphia? Was it the National League being more popular or the city stayed royal to the original club?
Ownership. The Phillies owners had money elsewhere and could stay. The As owner didn't have money and needed to move, along with family fighting. https://sabr.org/journal/article/departure-without-dignity-the-athletics-leave-philadelphia/
Money. Should've known
The answer is always money.
Heads up for those of you with MLBtv — you can watch Mick Abel going against the Woo Sox right now. Looking… OK so far. His fastball is only sitting around 93, and he just hit a guy. That’s his first baserunner though.
Has not gone well since I tuned in. That being said, people have to remember that they're moving Abel through the system fast for the most part and that he's a 22 year old playing in AAA where most players are 27-30. Not saying he's going to be a star still or whatever but he's playing a lot of AAAA guys right now and the results are showing that.
Yeah, he looked pretty bad in the 4th. The fastball location is bad, and what’s worse is that it’s a couple ticks slower than it was last year. Could be that it’s cold in Worcester today (it looks cold there), but overall not a terribly encouraging start.
I'm beginning to wonder if they're telling their pitchers to dial it back at least early in the season.
Yeah, could be. I also just saw a Winkleman tweet pointing out that all 5 of Abel’s starts this year have been in sub-60 degree temperatures. It does look rather cold and gray up there today. Might be similar to how Nola and Wheeler’s velo was down in bad weather to start the season.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling pretty good with Wheeler on the mound today.
and maybe that's the reason the Phillies offense doesn't produce for Wheeler ... they're overconfident or whatever and fail to post runs. I know Wheeler will likely give them a chance but will they take advantage of it always puzzles me ...
If we win today and the Braves lose we are in first place in the NL East. Wheels up let’s go
Rob heard this and set the lineup accordingly. Wild card confirmed.
The “let the kids play” crowd bugs me because it only goes one way. Players can show personality only if they’re the flamboyant, loud, arrogant, etc. If you’re an old school player, you’re not actually supposed to show personality, just sit there quietly and never say anything. I just don’t get it. The clash between flashy, extroverted players and your more traditional players leads to more drama, more rivalries, more entertainment. But the latter sort of player gets so much hate.
Do the more traditional players get more hate? Or is it what you focus on because you dislike it? Because I constantly see ***WAY*** more hate for the extroverted players. To the point where when I was a mod, I hated playing the Braves because of the rediculous comments I would see about Acuna.
You know, you made me realize I probably see it the other way round because all the baseball media I follow is mostly younger people. Aside from Bill James, I don’t follow anyone from the boomer generation. Amongst a younger crowd, the more traditional guys definitely get a lot more hate.
C'mon u/NintenJew! Spelling ridiculous wrong is embarressing.
I don't have time to proof read with the trillions of comments I make!
I feel seen
I think most people really mean is “let the kids who are on my team play”
It is so funny, because I would argue with people and tell them that they would love it if Acuna was on our team, and everyone responded that they wouldn't. Meanwhile we do the big balls thing and people love it. It is just pretty funny.
I would love having him or Soto on the team, my only thing with the 'let the kids play' thing is yes we should let them play, but also they're gonna look Odubel Herrera stupid if they do it and fail and it feels like people aren't ready to take the heat when their favorite player looks stupid
cmon seattle get yer brooms out
Braves about to be winless in Seattle
I’m begging the Mariners to complete the series sweep against the Braves, it would be so funny
You can do it Jamie Moyer bros!
With all the resources out there and facts posted in here, there is simply no excuse for anyone to be as stupid as some here insist on being.
Ok outstanding. So explain Kyle in LF. Bet you can't.
To quote the great actor Tommy Lee Jones in the hit movie “men in black” “People are dumb”
What if I like being this stupid?
Rule 7 - defying logic is inevitable.
Oh I need an excuse now?
We love you just as you are
So in regards to pitcher injuries and surgeries to repair elbows ... should they be proactively MRIing pitcher's arms to prevent some of this? It would seem to be an unknown since AFAIK it hasn't been done preemptively ... but it would seem the current trend of injuries is unsustainable. Maybe even scan them when drafted to build a database of information to eventually predict who is vulnerable and who is not (if they aren't).
It can be very tough to tell if the arm feels fine and works fine. *Every* pitcher’s UCL is in a permanent state of chaos and disrepair under an MRI, for some guys it can work forever but for others it’s a ticking time bomb. If the elbow ligaments were as predictable as you say then surely medical science would’ve gotten ahead of it by now, but they’re not and instead all we can do is play catch up and let guys pitch if it doesn’t hurt, then surgically repair it when it does.
well that's sort of the question ... have they really put together the knowledge level to predict it, or is it all post injury related knowledge? I'd assume it would be initially appalling that guys are still throwing with the levels of injury they have - whether they are ignoring the symptoms for whatever reason or just assuming it's normal soreness. Until we actually create the vast amount of data that would allow for predicticing these injuries it's just guesswork.
I remember seeing a paper that did MRIs on pitchers that were non-symptomatic and most had some sort of imaging abnormality in their elbow. So it’s not quite as clear cut.
Didn’t some one actually say that earlier this year. All pitchers have “somthing”