Phillips recalled from Triple A

[superfly]

Just will not understand why we would want to move an absolutely dominant WEAPON out of high leverage situations. We can't buy pitching as was blatantly shown this offseason, so we will need to lock down the 6/7/8/9 innings for the foreseeable future.

Not even trying Hader as a starter so we can lock down the 6/7/8 innings the next few years is awful use of him and resources in general. It’s much harder and more expensive to fill the rotation than build a bullpen. Even just 160-175 innings of ~4 ERA out of Hader in the rotation is more valuable than whatever he does in his ~60 or so innings out of the bullpen. Plus we already know what he can do out of the pen and we aren’t winning a WS this year, might as well try him as a starter. He can always go back to the pen if he’s a disaster.

 

Let's not get out of hand here. He has 38 appearances and about 50 innings in the majors. As good a he is and has been we don't really know what he will fully be in the pen yet even IMO. Maybe he's the next Eric Gagne for all we know.

[Pugger]

ahead of keon---that's kind of unexpected

 

I like him more than I do Keon.

[Roderick]

Just will not understand why we would want to move an absolutely dominant WEAPON out of high leverage situations. We can't buy pitching as was blatantly shown this offseason, so we will need to lock down the 6/7/8/9 innings for the foreseeable future.

Not even trying Hader as a starter so we can lock down the 6/7/8 innings the next few years is awful use of him and resources in general. It’s much harder and more expensive to fill the rotation than build a bullpen. Even just 160-175 innings of ~4 ERA out of Hader in the rotation is more valuable than whatever he does in his ~60 or so innings out of the bullpen. Plus we already know what he can do out of the pen and we aren’t winning a WS this year, might as well try him as a starter. He can always go back to the pen if he’s a disaster.

 

Yeah but those 75 innings of bullpen work he'll get this year will probably be 65 innings of high leverage situations.

 

His 165 innings of starter will be 100 innings of high leverage situations?....

 

Plus we aren't going to assume 2.0 ERA type performance as a starter, which we will get from him out of the bullpen.

 

That difference in the sense of games won and lost, doesn't seem material. So I would stick with what I know works, until Guerra, Woodruff, Suter and crew have beaten all hope to a pulp.

[stoutdude04]

I know Phillips has a strong arm....but now he is being compared to Chris Sale? Is he this year's Nick Ramirez?

 

I may have missed it, but did someone actually do this? I saw most compare Hader to Sale...in a round about way, not sure of Phillips to Sale. Sorry if I missed it.

[tmwiese55]

ahead of keon---that's kind of unexpected

 

I like him more than I do Keon.

 

It's primarily because of the L/R. The other starting OFs are all righty (with Yelich out) already so that kind of makes the decision. I'd guess they also view him as better on D and more easily able to play all spots in the OF.

[pogokat]

Phillips gets the early season award for oddest batting line:

 

143/571/429/1.000

 

He is seeing the ball (571 OBP), but barely hitting it (143 AVE). But when he hits it, he really hits it hard (286 ISO)

 

ahhh the old Colin Walsh line

[TJseven7]

So question...

 

Bases loaded, no outs, pop to center. Cardinals don't test Phillips. Would they have tested Broxton? If so freezing the bases won us that game. If thats a sac, runner moves to 3rd and Fowler sacs the win.

 

Phillips Dwar unofficial = 1? (Sorta blue)

[tmwiese55]

Not sure, that was a pretty shallow fly and I think it was a P running so probably held anyway.

 

I haven't seen any news on Cain, has anyone else? Hopefully one day off and he's fine.

[MrTPlush]

So question...

 

Bases loaded, no outs, pop to center. Cardinals don't test Phillips. Would they have tested Broxton? If so freezing the bases won us that game. If thats a sac, runner moves to 3rd and Fowler sacs the win.

 

Phillips Dwar unofficial = 1? (Sorta blue)

 

Nope, Broxton has a decent arm too. The CF was able to easily camp under it and get a running start towards home. You probably aren't testing any OF who gets a running start that shallow.

[TJseven7]

So question...

 

Bases loaded, no outs, pop to center. Cardinals don't test Phillips. Would they have tested Broxton? If so freezing the bases won us that game. If thats a sac, runner moves to 3rd and Fowler sacs the win.

 

Phillips Dwar unofficial = 1? (Sorta blue)

 

Nope, Broxton has a decent arm too. The CF was able to easily camp under it and get a running start towards home. You probably aren't testing any OF who gets a running start that shallow.

 

Fair enough. Wanted to hype his defense and didn't see the play on TV.

[bork]

I haven't seen any news on Cain, has anyone else? Hopefully one day off and he's fine.

 

Sore quad. Day to day. Cain wants to play today, Counsell hasn't committed yet.

[TJseven7]

I haven't seen any news on Cain, has anyone else? Hopefully one day off and he's fine.

 

Sore quad. Day to day. Cain wants to play today, Counsell hasn't committed yet.

 

He should sit him. Its Suter and Cains a bit cold.

[pacopete4]

So question...

 

Bases loaded, no outs, pop to center. Cardinals don't test Phillips. Would they have tested Broxton? If so freezing the bases won us that game. If thats a sac, runner moves to 3rd and Fowler sacs the win.

 

Phillips Dwar unofficial = 1? (Sorta blue)

Khris Davis makes it close at home.

[TJseven7]

So question...

 

Bases loaded, no outs, pop to center. Cardinals don't test Phillips. Would they have tested Broxton? If so freezing the bases won us that game. If thats a sac, runner moves to 3rd and Fowler sacs the win.

 

Phillips Dwar unofficial = 1? (Sorta blue)

Khris Davis makes it close at home.

 

He's a fine defender, or so I'm told, because he hits 40 hrs. Blue

[Roderick]

I know Phillips has a strong arm....but now he is being compared to Chris Sale? Is he this year's Nick Ramirez?

 

I may have missed it, but did someone actually do this? I saw most compare Hader to Sale...in a round about way, not sure of Phillips to Sale. Sorry if I missed it.

 

I assume he was joking that the Phillips thread was twisted into a Hader/Sale thread.

[TJseven7]

I know Phillips has a strong arm....but now he is being compared to Chris Sale? Is he this year's Nick Ramirez?

 

I may have missed it, but did someone actually do this? I saw most compare Hader to Sale...in a round about way, not sure of Phillips to Sale. Sorry if I missed it.

 

I assume he was joking that the Phillips thread was twisted into a Hader/Sale thread.

 

Yup that's what happened. I do wonder if Phillips could locate though. He has a Rivero level arm.

[xisxisxis]

ahead of keon---that's kind of unexpected

Maybe they do value defense and realize that we need some improvement at this point...

 

maybe we could convert him to SS as Arcia may never be able to hit ML pitching (outside of a weak grounder here and there)...

[tmwiese55]

What's funny on Arcia is that he's hit terribly but two of his hits and then the walk last night were for game winning runs. Baseball is a weird game

[TJseven7]

What's funny on Arcia is that he's hit terribly but two of his hits and then the walk last night were for game winning runs. Baseball is a weird game

 

Hold my beer

~Braun

 

The most frustrating part with Arcia is we've all seen him succeed and what it looks like. He's nowhere close and seems to be trying to be something he's not. Just get hits. Even the game winner the other night was 4 balls 6 inches outside.

[stoutdude04]

I know Phillips has a strong arm....but now he is being compared to Chris Sale? Is he this year's Nick Ramirez?

 

I may have missed it, but did someone actually do this? I saw most compare Hader to Sale...in a round about way, not sure of Phillips to Sale. Sorry if I missed it.

 

I assume he was joking that the Phillips thread was twisted into a Hader/Sale thread.

 

Doh. Yeah. Cant believe I couldn't piece that together.

[tmwiese55]

What's funny on Arcia is that he's hit terribly but two of his hits and then the walk last night were for game winning runs. Baseball is a weird game

 

Hold my beer

~Braun

 

The most frustrating part with Arcia is we've all seen him succeed and what it looks like. He's nowhere close and seems to be trying to be something he's not. Just get hits. Even the game winner the other night was 4 balls 6 inches outside.

 

Yup, Braun has been bad, especially for him and kind of the same funny coincidence with him. But at least he still has hit the occasional ball hard, got a few other hits, etc. Arcia has basically looked like a pitcher at the plate

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

So no roster move has been announced yet. Do they send Phillips down and go with a really short bench today with Cain and Pina probably off limits and Perez in CF, or do they keep Phillips up and send out a reliever?

 

Personally I hope its Option B, with Drake or Hoover being the most vulnerable. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Williams sent down, though, because he has options, and Stearns seems to think that guys like Drake and Hoover are important "depth" pieces to have. It isn't really depth, though, if it sucks.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Well, just as I typed that, they announced that Guerra and Jorge Lopez are coming up, with Phillips optioned and Hoover DFA'd. Ducky lives to see another day.

[FVBrewerFan]

So no roster move has been announced yet. Do they send Phillips down and go with a really short bench today with Cain and Pina probably off limits and Perez in CF, or do they keep Phillips up and send out a reliever?

 

Personally I hope its Option B, with Drake or Hoover being the most vulnerable. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Williams sent down, though, because he has options, and Stearns seems to think that guys like Drake and Hoover are important "depth" pieces to have. It isn't really depth, though, if it sucks.

 

I think they realize Drake and Hoover aren't world beaters. But as you said, Williams has options. Could be Barnes, but I doubt it. That's just the way it is, guys like Williams, Houser, etc. who have options will be shuttled back and forth. Like it or not, that flexibility really helps when you have minor injuries like this, need for a fresh arm in the BP, etc. It's basically a way to have an 11 man BP.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

So no roster move has been announced yet. Do they send Phillips down and go with a really short bench today with Cain and Pina probably off limits and Perez in CF, or do they keep Phillips up and send out a reliever?

 

Personally I hope its Option B, with Drake or Hoover being the most vulnerable. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Williams sent down, though, because he has options, and Stearns seems to think that guys like Drake and Hoover are important "depth" pieces to have. It isn't really depth, though, if it sucks.

 

I think they realize Drake and Hoover aren't world beaters. But as you said, Williams has options. Could be Barnes, but I doubt it. That's just the way it is, guys like Williams, Houser, etc. who have options will be shuttled back and forth. Like it or not, that flexibility really helps when you have minor injuries like this, need for a fresh arm in the BP, etc. It's basically a way to have an 11 man BP.

 

Cutting bait on Hoover so quickly surprises me, in a good way. It shows their faith in Williams, and that they are committed to putting the best talent on the field, even if it means sacrificing depth. Williams is still going to have to survive Yelich coming off the DL on Sunday, though. I suppose they could send out Guerra or Suter, though, and bring up a different guy next time they need a fifth starter.