It’s not just that they had a guy without an overpowering throwing high fastballs but that they had him/them throwing 4-seam FB’s, i.e., FB’s without movement. If you miss high with that pitch it’s a ball. If you miss low it’s a mediocre FB down the middle without movement, otherwise known as a batting practice fastball.

Maybe it’s being reported incorrectly or it’s just not true. But if it’s correct and you add it to the previously-reported news about having our hitters guessing for curveballs instead of looking for fastballs you’ve got an organizational philosophy which is so ridiculously wrong-minded it’s unbelievable — especially when you’re applying it to guys most of whom have beaten the odds and made it to the top rung of the baseball world by using other methods. And, btw, having better organizational approaches to hitting and pitching doesn’t preclude getting better players, too. That’s a false dilemma.

It wouldn’t shock me if the sources on some of these articles didn’t really understand the nuances of what is trying to be taught. Like the Phillies are obviously still transitioning to being a modern team and everyone is probably not on board yet.

That being said, whenever reports of the Phillies using analytics come out, it tends to sound like an 01-05 version of analytics, like when there was so much low hanging fruit that you could just blindly follow the numbers and do fine. My impression is that with (almost) everyone caught up to speed it takes a lot more nuance to get value at the margins these days.

Really though I think the biggest issue is a lack of talent as others have said.

Stripes wrote:

MoBettle wrote:

Werthless wrote:

Slowhand wrote:Hope we never see Pivetta again. Good riddance.

He's got potential. Maybe next year. Need to reexamine his pitch mix this off-season.

I say this as someone who never says this sort of stuff, but he needs to get a lot tougher if he wants to be a pro. Guy falls apart at the first sign of adversity. He's gonna be 27 in February, running out of potential.

At the risk of sounding like Ricky Bo, I agree 100%

Age 27 and he has potential is an oxymoron in baseball terms.

Nowhere in that article does it say they changed Eflin's approach midseason or after he was having success. The article says "at times the approach worked." Reading between the lines, this is what he was doing all year. It worked for 2 months then he has a bunch of bad games and suddenly that approach is the problem.

And the idea that he's magically fixed now is based on one good start against the worst offense in baseball. The reality is he has always been a mediocre pitcher, and they were trying to get more from him. And he'll probably continue to be mediocre. Also FYI going by ERA+ this is his best season.

Bryce and Kayla just posted on Twitter/IG the baby was born Thursday. Krew Aron Harper, 7.9 lbs, 19"

Krew eh?

Krew?

More like eww

Krew! Wtf.

bewwwww!

Fan group: The Wrecking Krew

Maik back to LV. Great birthday present

Krew?! Fuck you!

I hate when people make fun of names, but that's truly a weird fucking name

Hey, so who is coming over?

Oh, it’s Bryce and Krew

How many people are coming?

Just the two

Huh, well that’s a small Krew.

Bill McNeal wrote:Hey, so who is coming over?

Oh, it’s Bryce and Krew

How many people are coming?

Just the two

Huh, well that’s a small Krew.

Won't be so small in about 18 yrs!

The Krew sounds an undercard tag team from the Attitude Era. Big fan.

bleh wrote:Nowhere in that article does it say they changed Eflin's approach midseason or after he was having success. The article says "at times the approach worked." Reading between the lines, this is what he was doing all year. It worked for 2 months then he has a bunch of bad games and suddenly that approach is the problem.

And the idea that he's magically fixed now is based on one good start against the worst offense in baseball. The reality is he has always been a mediocre pitcher, and they were trying to get more from him. And he'll probably continue to be mediocre. Also FYI going by ERA+ this is his best season.

Dont think it said the approach worked for Eflin, it said the approach "had merit", meaning generally as an analytical principle. Thats how I read it.

Eflin is league avg. Nothing wrong w that, esp on the first contract. The problem is that he might be the team's #2 starter.

They really need two SPs

Nola can be the Ace
Then a 2
and a 3
And then Arrieta ($) and one of the remainders can round it out. Ideally two because Arrieta will get hurt again.

MoBettle wrote:They really need two SPs

Nola can be the Ace
Then a 2
and a 3
And then Arrieta ($) and one of the remainders can round it out. Ideally two because Arrieta will get hurt again.

All we need for a playoff rotation is 3 other guys