Aaron Nola made his All-Star Game debut during the fifth inning of tonight’s game in Washington and did not disappoint. The 25-year-old, whose 2.30 ERA is good for second-best mark in the National League, began the inning by wiping away Salvador Perez and Mookie Betts on strikes. His lone blemish came on a two-out single by Jose Altuve before he retired future Phillies All-Star Mike Trout on an infield pop out to end the inning.
You can check out video of his impressive inning after the jump. Continue Reading
The first-place (I’ll use this for as long as I can) Phillies are off until Friday night when they open up the second half of the season at Citizens Bank Park against the San Diego Padres. It appears after a week-long tease of Manny Machado rumors that they will do so without the All-Star shorstop in the middle of their lineup:
#Dodgers increasingly likely to land Machado, sources tell The Athletic. Barring last-minute snag, several of interested teams expect that outcome.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 17, 2018
There are a lot of disappointed Phillies fans out there tonight, but it appears that Jake Arrieta is taking the news harder than anyone:
@JArrieta34 doesn’t believe in off days 💪🏼even on our only “weekend” during the season… he has no idea I filmed this 😬🙃 #allstarbreak2018 pic.twitter.com/Osa9aItspb
— Brittany Arrieta (@MrsArrieta49) July 17, 2018
Can’t blame him. That’s what pitching in front of the Phillies’ lineup will do to a guy. Just kidding. I’m sure the sprints were just part of his standard workout regimen. Maybe.
Meanwhile, I, too, considered going for a run to blow off some steam after today’s disappointing developments, but I decided to take a pass on that. I have instead elected to eat four slices of pizza as I sit on the couch aimlessly refreshing Twitter and watch all of the All-Star hitters that the Phillies don’t have.
Monday’s report that the Sixers wanted Daryl Morey to fill their vacant general manager position probably raised the obvious question.
If true, why not just get Sam Hinkie on the phone?
This was the crux of the Twitter reaction:
“Well, if the Sixers are looking for an analytics-focused and forward-thinking executive, I can think of someone who might fit the bill!”
Of course, a Hinkie redux would be contingent on both parties putting aside any lingering ill-will, if it exists. It was about 25 months ago that Morey’s former second-in-command resigned as the Sixers’ GM and wrote a 13-page manifesto explaining his thoughts and decision making and touching on the bright future he saw for the franchise. I have no idea what kind of relationship Hinkie now has with Josh Harris and ownership, but Bryan Colangelo is gone, Jerry Colangelo is basically a lame duck peripheral character at this point, and Brett Brown, I assume, would not have any qualms with Sam assuming his former position.
I believe this was first reported at RealGM, then confirmed by Keith Pompey and Woj:
Nemanja Bjelica Could Back Out Of Agreement With 76ers For Deal In Europe https://t.co/xH1ZUcxfG4
— RealGM (@RealGM) July 17, 2018
Nemanja Bjelica has decided to stay in Europe this season instead of playing for the #Sixers, according to a source.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) July 17, 2018
Free agent forward Nemanja Bjelica — who had agreed to a one-year deal with the 76ers — informed the team on Monday that he will stay in Europe this season, league sources tell ESPN. He never signed his contract with Philadelphia.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 17, 2018
Interesting. He could have been looking for a better deal and simply changed his mind.
There’s a short write-up by Nikos Varlas at EuroHoops.net that gets into this a little bit:
It’s obvious that Bjelica’s priority is the NBA, however, he expected a better and especially a longer deal than the mid-level exception of the Sixers for one year.
That’s why the 2015 EuroLeague MVP remains puzzled and Europe can be an option for him. Of course, very few teams can afford him, but on the other hand, the chance of signing Bjelica could be intriguing for every EuroLeague powerhouse.
And this is a blurb from the RealGM story:
Earlier this season, Rhys Hoskins introduced us to his lovable dog named Rookie:
🐶 #Phillies star Rhys Hoskins has his Dog 'Rookie' at the game tonight!!!
Phillies & the Pennsylvania SPCA are teaming up to help animals at the @Phillies Wives Save a Pet Night
🐕 Hear from @rhyshoskins on @6abc at 6 #RhysHoskins #SPCA #bebold pic.twitter.com/yZWpfoI6G9
— Jeff Skversky 6abc (@JeffSkversky) May 25, 2018
Unfortunately for Rookie, Hoskins was busy last night impressively mashing 37 bombs over two rounds at the Home Run Derby, so someone had to look after the little guy. Enter teammate/shortstop/third baseman/outfielder/dog-sitter Scott Kingery, who hung with Rookie while Hoskins went to work.
Apparently, Rookie wasn’t impressed with the competition:
Rookie is more interested in scratches than the home run derby unless his dad @rhyshoskins is hitting. Not amused by the other hitters pic.twitter.com/UkMedUS2MX
— Scott Kingery (@ScottyJetp4x) July 17, 2018
But he was quite impressed with his guy’s 20 second round homers:
@Beaux_Escobar39 underdog Hoskins with 20⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️⚾️#HRDERBY pic.twitter.com/wPGZ2snGJj
— Rodney Escobar (@rodneydescobar) July 17, 2018
Super excited about @rhyshoskins 20 homers in the semis pic.twitter.com/FqNJv85Le9
— Scott Kingery (@ScottyJetp4x) July 17, 2018
That’s…pretty damn adorable.
If Hoskins participates again next year, perhaps Major League Baseball will consider switching over to tennis balls for the Derby, so Rookie can chase them down in the outfield.
The buzz late last night was that the Phillies, in light of reports that they were willing to include Adonis Medina in a deal for Manny Machado, were emerging as the favorite to land the Orioles superstar third baseman.
Not so fast, says Jon Heyman of FanCred sports:
Breaking; The Dodgers appear to be the leading contender for superstar Manny Machado as talks head toward the finish line. The situation is fluid and brewers and phillies may still have an outside chance. Barring turnabout, deal should be done this week. Story comin on @Fancred
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 17, 2018
But nine minutes later, Heyman seemed to back off a bit:
The Machado situation is still fluid, and d-backs are also said to have outside chance, along with brewers and phillies. But LA leads.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 17, 2018
Gut. Punch.
Two things here:
The Home Run Derby is back.
It was fun watching Rhys Hoskins upset top seed Jesus Aguilar to kick off the quarterfinals, but the semifinals and the final round were so damn fun to watch, wven if Hoskins was eliminated by Kyle Schwarber.
Once the semis got underway, Schwarber and Bryce Harper turned it on. Both of those guys wanted to win badly. But Harper, looking like baseball’s version of Captain America in front of his hometown D.C. fans, stole the show.
Down six to Schwarber in the final round, Harper hit six dingers in 30 seconds:
Bryce Harper switched into BEAST MODE for the last 30 seconds of his final round! #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/0va6KsWadb
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 17, 2018
He earned himself an extra 30 seconds since he hit two homers over 440 feet, and used that time to beat Schwarber. And they all knew when he hit it:
The moment all of D.C. knew 📸 pic.twitter.com/7sPwSRJEoZ
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 17, 2018
Poor balls:
DEAL ALERT! DEAL ALERT!
The already discounted Eagles Super Bowl DVD is an additional 20% off for Prime Day. That means the Blu-ray is down to $16.95 (usually $25) and the regular DVD is a price so low I can’t even comprehend it. You can of course buy or rent the Eagles video on Prime Video as well.
The additional 20% comes off in the cart. Get it right here.
