Philadelphia Baseball History

Major League Baseball has been reported to be considering a unique plan to start the baseball season as early as May.  Multiple media outlets report that MLB is considering starting the major league season with all thirty teams playing in Arizona, essentially contained in an isolated bubble.  Should the plan be implemented, the league would restrict travel of all personnel from the hotel to the stadiums and back.  There would be no fans in the stands.  The players would not crowd together in the dug-out, but sit in the stands at least six feet apart when not on the field playing. Executing this plan would also require several changes to the way baseball is currently played.  There would be an electronic strike zone, for example, to eliminate the need for an umpire to peer over the shoulder of the catcher at home plate.  The automatic strike zone was tested in 2019 in the Arizona Fall League to mix reviews.  Commissioner Rob Manfred had planned on t...

10.  Pat Neshek’s 18 Inning Scoreless Streak Let’s face it. There wasn’t much to cheer about in the beginning of the season. The Phillies were just plain awful. But one thing that did stand out was the pitching of reliever Pat Neshek. While the rest of the bullpen faltered, Neshek was solid. When the Phils needed a hold, they could count on Neshek to keep the score from getting worse. At one point, Neshek had an 18 Inning scoreless streak, that was broken on July 2nd. By the All-Star break, Neshek had an amazing 1.27 ERA. Alas, by the end of July, Neshek was no longer a Phillie, netting three prospects in a trade with the Rockies.  9. Odubel Herrera Robs . . . Odubel Herrera is an odd bird. His fans argue that his statistics prove he is a Gold Glove center fielder. His critics say that the statistics fail to account for some fundamental mistakes he makes while covering the outfield. Take, for example, Herrera’s misplay of a line drive on September 8th in Washi...

Speculation about the 2018 Phillies starting rotation has so far focused on familiar names. Aaron Nola, Jared Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta, Mark Leiter, Jr., Zach Eflin, Ben Lively and Jake Thompson have all made starts for the Phils this year, and all figure to be in the fight for major league roster spots in the Spring. One name that hadn't been mention so far is right hander Henderson Alvarez.  Alvarez made his first start for the Phillies last night, after being absent from the major leagues for over a year. Originally signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as an international free agent, Alvarez pitched a no-hitter for the Marlins on the last game of the season in 2013 and was an All-Star in 2014.  However, his career had been plagued by shoulder injuries.  After being named the Marlins' Opening Day pitcher in 2015, Alvarez's season ended early when he underwent shoulder surgery in July of that year. The Marlins did not tender him a contract at the end of...

For Phillies fans, it's easy to get cynical. The team is off to a 1-4 start. The offense is anemic. The bullpen can't keep a lead. After less than a week, it's looking like everyone who picked the Phils to finish 30th out of 30 teams was right on target.  Of course, it's a long season. There are 157 games left to be played. Teams have ups and downs throughout the season. And if there is any encouraging news in this first week, it's the staring pitching.  Hellickson, Nola and Eickhoff all had solid outings. Velasquez announced his presence with authority blanking the reigning NL Champions with 9 strike outs.  Even with Morton's rocky start, Phillies starting pitching is sixth in in ERA (2.93), fourth in opponents' batting average (.194) and third in WHIP (.98).  Two of the staring pitchers, Hellickson and Velasquez, have a zero ERA.  Offensively, Franco is hitting .286 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Howard has 2 home runs. With 359 career home runs, Howard just ...