It was a different setup for the Phillies’ latest intrasquad scrimmage that took place on Sunday evening. A later start time produced a game played ’til dusk, while umpires made their first on-field appearance of camp.

Aside from the two fans who were standing outside the gates located beyond Ashburn Alley, and, what was by my count, the five reporters in attendance, not too many people got a look at the action. Join me then, won’t you, for some observations from a beautiful Sunday evening at Citizens Bank Park.

 

De Los Santos Impresses

Maybe it’s just me, but Enyel De Los Santos sort of feels a bit like a forgotten man in the Phillies’ pitching mix.

He got my attention tonight.

De Los Santos retired all seven batters he faced, recording five groundouts, a strikeout, and a weak infield pop up, while aggressively attacking the zone. At this point, De Los Santos doesn’t figure to project as a starter as the season opens, but with unpredictably of COVID-19 serving as a constant backdrop, such a development remains a possibility.

After the scrimmage, I asked Girardi about the versatility of De Los Santos.

“I think we’ll also look at also stretching him out, multiple innings–three, four innings–because I’ve said all along, I don’t think you can have too many starters built up. I just don’t,” he said. “It could become an instance where a guy comes in, and he’s tested positive, and he played catch with two other guys in the last two days, and all the sudden, you’re down three starters, right? And the other two may not even be positive, but you’ve got to quarantine them until the test results come in.”

The 24-year-old was largely unimpressive in only five games with the Phillies and was up and down with the Iron Pigs in 19 games (all as a starter) a season ago. However, De Los Santos did post a respectable 1.24 WHIP over 94 IP at Lehigh Valley.

Given the unsettled state of the Phillies’ bullpen–one with multiple openings that are likely to be filled with lottery ticket fliers–De Los Santos, who remains part of the team’s 40-man roster, could occupy one of those jobs.

Girardi, too, was impressed with what he saw tonight.

“He threw the ball really well. His fastball was up to 95 (mph) today. It got on people. It was sneaky,” he said. “His changeup was okay, so he got a lot of ground ball outs today, which in today’s game is really important to keep the ball out of the air with the way the ball goes out of the ballpark.”

The bet here is that De Los Santos is on the roster to start the season.

McCutchen Ready To Roll

The considerable chaos and uncertainty of COVID-19 aside, the Phillies are getting some positive news on the injury front in the early days of this summer camp/spring training 2.0/camp 2.0, or whatever you want to call it.

Following an ACL tear that prematurely ended his 2019 campaign, McCutchen is ready to go for Opening Day. That would not have been the case had the season opened as originally scheduled on March 26.

Instead, the delay bought McCutchen some much needed extra time to get himself ready, without having to rush the process.

“The time off for me was definitely a good thing considering the fact I was going to be opening up the season, had it started on time, I was going to be opening up on the IL,” he said. “So for me, I was able to really get the work in that I needed to get in, not necessarily rush through my work, trying to just get back. Because, ultimately, that is more than likely would have had happened had we not had this pandemic and the season be shut down for a little bit.”

In his first season with the Phillies, McCutchen posted a solid .834 OPS in 59 games from the leadoff spot. In his absence, the Phillies struggled (and failed) to replace his production atop the order. They were a stellar 33-26 prior to his injury and just 48-55 following it.

Later on in tonight’s scrimmage, he ripped a Bud Norris offering into the left-center gap and sped to second.

Looks good to me.

A JoJo Romero Take

I know there was some talk back in March that JoJo Romero could work one day his way into the Phillies’ starting rotation.

The idea makes sense.

Starting five right-handers doesn’t make for ideal construction of a rotation, but I would be surprised if Joe Girardi ultimately leans in Romero’s direction.

Romero, the Phillies’ 2016 fourth round selection, struggled early on in 2019 after making the jump to Lehigh Valley. He was particularly bad against right-handed hitters, allowing them to hit a robust .327.

However, Romero has more going for him than simply the side from which he throws. Namely, his offspeed stuff–a slider/changeup tandem–can miss bats. Those pitches help offset a rather ordinary fastball that, at times, dipped in velocity a year ago. On the strength of those offspeed pitches, I believe there’s enough in his mix that he can eventually top out as a back of the rotation starter.

Back to the present.

Tonight, we saw some glimpses of what Romero brings to the table. Here he is getting Andrew McCutchen swinging:

Romero’s lone blemish was a shot off the bat of Neil Walker that cleared the 387-mark above the Giant sign out in right-center.

From this perspective, given his status on the Phillies’ 40-man roster, Romero currently projects as another emergency rotation depth piece and as a multi-inning bullpen arm.

Best Catcher in Baseball Update

Sorry, no BCIB contract update for you, but here’s a look at J.T. Realmuto going deep to right-center for a double.

Later on, some kids on bikes outside the stadium were yelling “Sign J.T.!”  They were no less than 600 feet away from where I was sitting, but it sounded as loud as that “goooooooo birdzzzzz!” kid from outside the NFC Championship Game against the Vikings.

Quick Notes

  • Blake Parker recorded back-to-back swinging strikeouts of Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto.
  • Jay Bruce launched one into the right field seats against Bud Norris, who didn’t have a great evening.
  • For the second straight game, Didi Gregorius made an excellent diving stop to take away a hit.
  • Alec Bohm continues to impress. He split the right-center gap for a double and later made a nice play to his glove side on a sharp liner.
  • I’m pretty bullish on a Rhys Hoskins bounce back season, but he’s still searching for his timing right now in these scrimmages. He had a few pitches to hit tonight but failed to square anything up.
  • A lot of people have been asking if the scrimmages will be streamed or televised. It’s my current understanding that will not be the case. Could change, I guess, but it doesn’t sound like it’s in the plans at the moment.