This is part of the Phillies’ future. And that future is happening now.

The Phillies once again took care of the Dodgers last night, 6-2. They’re 31-33 since the All-Star break. And the young guns were out in full force yet again.

Aaron Nola gave up only two runs on five hits in seven innings of work and struck out eight batters. Odubel Herrera went 2 for 3 and got an RBI on a bases loaded walk. Aaron Altherr hit his 18th home run to tie him with Rhys Hoskins for third on the team. J.P. Crawford recorded his first career triple with the Phils.

But once again, it was Hoskins who stole the show, batting in four runs on the night, including a bases-clearing double to break the game open in the bottom of the seventh after a 10-pitch at-bat! The man can do it all, even if he doesn’t hit home runs.

I’ve watched more Phillies baseball from the start of August to now than I have for the first four months of the season. Guys like Hoskins, Nick Williams, and now Crawford have brought life back to CBP.

The two teams play again tonight at 7:05. Jake Thompson faces off against Alex Wood.

The Roundup:

Sticking with the Phillies, Matt Breen discusses when fans may see Scott Kingery or Tom Eshelman next season:

The Phillies can preserve a year of Kingery’s club control by stashing him at triple A until roughly the middle of May. They can sacrifice six weeks of the season — in a year when the Phillies do not expect to contend — in exchange for delaying Kingery’s eligibility for free agency from 2023 to 2024. The Phillies would not be the first team to do such a thing.

Keeping Kingery at triple A would be a bit more challenging if he has a stellar spring training for the second straight year. The Phillies will likely try to move either Cesar Hernandez or Freddy Galvis in the offseason to make room for a future double-play pairing of Kingery and J.P. Crawford.

Eshelman could crack next season’s starting rotation, but a lot of that depends on how the team attacks the free-agent pitching market this winter. The Phillies already have eight candidates on their roster to fill a rotation alongside Aaron Nola. Eshelman, a 23-year-old righthander, is probably ticketed for triple A but could be the first pitcher promoted when a need arises.

The outfield is one of the team’s strengths, but could Aaron Altherr be the odd man out?

Finally, former Phillies beat writer Meghan Montemurro announced she was laid off from The News Journal after spending three and-a-half years covering the Phils.

The Eagles may need to find temporary replacements for Rodney McLeod and Jaylen Watkins for a few weeks, according to Zach Berman:

Both players have hamstring injuries. No official prognosis has been offered, but a league source told the Inquirer and Daily News they could be sidelined for a few weeks.

That means veteran Corey Graham would start at safety in McLeod’s spot, and rookie Rasul Douglas would likely make his first career start in the place of Darby and Watkins. Both players played the bulk of Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs.

The team tried to sign safety DeAndre Houston-Carson from the Bears’ practice squad before Chicago promoted him to their 53-man roster.

After Doug Pederson gave his vote of confidence for Isaac Seumalo, offensive coordinator Frank Reich did the same. He also answered questions about the pass-run ratio:

“I’ll assume you’re right. I remember getting the number at halftime and I think we were 18 to 9, or something like that. We go out and hit a couple of plays in the passing game. All I can tell you is, as a play caller, you’re calling what you think is going to get the team down the field in that situation. So that’s what we were doing.”

Speaking of the run, Kevin Kinkead says there’s actually three problems to the team’s run game.

Chris Long is donating his first six game checks to fund two scholarships in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia.

https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/910303118461718528

Giroux-Coots-Voracek? Claude Giroux played left wing in practice yesterday, but could we see him there during the season? Anthony Sanfilippo has more:

“We’re in camp and we want to look at all the good options we might have, and this is one we wanted to look at,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “This was a good day to take a look at it in practice and overall it was a pretty effective day for that group.

“G is still our number one center, but he’s such a skilled player that he can play anywhere on the ice. The level of camp G has had is outstanding. We talked about this a lot and thought this was a good time to look at it. We still have to evaluate it and take a look at it further and see where we go from there. We’re not going to draw any conclusions, but we’ll look at it and see if there’s a next step.”

That wasn’t the only new position he played. He threw out the first pitch at the Phillies game last night.

New starting goalie Brian Elliott is getting used to Philly’s system:

“It’s really intense. I think it’s a lot concentrated on [the defense] joining the rush and scoring,” Elliott said at camp on Saturday. “It’s just the first two days, and I’m sure they have their reasons to [do] certain drills, but we just have to kind of trust the process and go out there and do what they’re asking us to do.

“The first couple of days haven’t been really goalie friendly, let’s just say that.”

Defenseman Robert Hagg is ready to make the jump to the NHL this season.

Flyers take on the Islanders tonight at 7 in split-squad action. One group will play at the PPL Center in Allentown, while another will play at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Allentown game will be on TCN.

With Sixers training camp around the corner, Rich Hofmann ponders five questions regarding the team’s rotation.

Temple’s freshman quarterback Todd Centeio could be used more in tomorrow night’s game against South Florida.

Kevin Kinkead spoke to former Union executive and current National Lacrosse League commissioner Nick Sakiewicz about his soccer past and what he’s doing now to grow lacrosse.

In other sports news, the New York Giants are also sticking with a struggling offensive lineman for the Eagles game.

After Santana Moss said that Robert Griffin III loved the Redskins firing Mike Shanahan in 2013, RG3 fired back:

Former Bears cornerback Charles Tillman is training to join the FBI.

Former Sixers player and head coach Doug Collins is back with the Chicago Bulls as a Senior Advisor of Basketball Operations.

This NBA offseason might be the best offseason in history:

Devils forward Brian Boyle was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia:

“For us, we’re in a good spot,” Boyle said, speaking about his wife, Lauren, and their two children, both under the age of 3. “We have a good plan of attack here, and I’m looking forward to getting on the ice and playing, to be honest. When that happens, I don’t know. But my mindset is Oct. 7 [opening night], to be honest with you. I don’t like missing games.

“But it’s just a thing you have to deal with, we have to deal with it, and that’s for us to deal with. Hopefully the season can go on as normal and regular as possible, and we don’t have to be asking about it all the time. If I suck one night, it’s because I suck, not because of any other reason. Hopefully, if that’s the biggest issue, than that’s a good thing.”

In the news, Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney appeared on Bloomberg to make his pitch for Amazon to have their new headquarters in the city. Some key points:

  • Cheaper real estate than New York or Washington
  • Dense concentration of colleges and universities
  • Close to eastern seaboard economic hub
  • 10-year property tax abatement

Methacton School District has cancelled classes today as a teacher strike continues.

More details on the death of a Lafayette College freshman have been released.

Hurricane Maria has made landfall as a Category 4 storm in Puerto Rico.

Toys R Us has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

A pop-up restaurant in Baltimore is serving up an insect-heavy menu to promote eating bugs as a viable protein source. This is one of the most disgusting things I’ve heard:

“With food, having fun is important, so I think this is a great way to bring awareness and have some fun while doing it,” he said.

How the hell are you having fun eating bugs? What’s wrong with crabs and seafood, or pretty much any other normal food?