It was Game of Thrones night at Citizens Bank Park last night. The intros didn’t disappoint. Continue Reading
Anthony and Bob discuss a wild walk-off win, the disastrous bullpen, how to best use Seranthony Dominguez, the resurgence of Rhys Hoskins and Odubel Herrera, playoff expectations, and more.
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Audio after the jump: Continue Reading
Nick Pivetta struck out a career-high 13 (13!) St. Louis batters. The Phillies bullpen once again filled me with rage and woe. They still won anyway.
But the big story of a dramatic walk-off win was that for the second time this season a baseball wrecked the face of a Phillies player. This time the victim was right fielder Nick Williams:
Nick Williams takes ⚾️ right off his nose 😳 pic.twitter.com/Pueg1ZEML1
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) June 19, 2018
Williams had to exit the game because he is merely a baseball player:
Not to minimize Nick Williams’ injury (we wish him the best) after a ball bounced off the fence and hit his nose, but Ian Laperriere once took a slap shot to the mouth, lost several teeth and had about 100 stitches administered — and returned to the same game. #Phillies #Flyers
— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) June 19, 2018
An absolutely great point right here. Williams gets a 2 out of 10 on the grit scale for leaving the game. Points for bleeding, but this wasn’t a very Philly thing of him to do–he most certainly does NOT bring his lunch pail to work. He should have gone to the clubhouse, gotten stitched up, and later returned to a game that doesn’t permit re-entry. A valid comparison of two completely similar situations, for sure.
Anyway, Williams indicated after the game that he didn’t believe the injury was serious:
Nick Williams told Gabe Kapler after the game
“Im totally fine” https://t.co/viTO9bvrPI
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) June 19, 2018
Former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager and possible future Sixers president of basketball operations David Griffin made an appearance on SiriusXM NBA’s Draft special and dropped a bit of a Philly-related firecracker:
Interesting nugget in our @SiriusXMNBA NBA Draft special per David Griffin.
“Philly is very much looking to move up to get somebody they think will go in the top 5.”
— Tom Byrne (@1TomByrne) June 15, 2018
With recent rumblings that Sacramento may be looking to draft Michael Porter Jr. at #2, NBA Mock Drafts are being turned upside down:
The Kings are definitely still weighing it… https://t.co/6zzdPheQQL
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) June 18, 2018
This brings me to the target I believe the Sixers should have their sights set on with a top-five pick. It once seemed inconceivable that Luka Doncic – the 2017-18 EuroLeague MVP – could’ve fallen out of the first two picks of the 2018 NBA Draft, but recent murmurs have begun to get louder with some believing he could fall to Dallas at No. 5. That brings us back to the Sixers. Could they be interested in bringing the 19-year-old Slovenian to the City of Brotherly Love? With moves like these, it would be hard to imagine passing up such an opportunity.
With that in mind, what would it cost?
Fultz/10/26 is enough to move up 3-5 spots in the first round. I'm ok with it. There seems to be mounting frustration in and outside the organization, so now would be the time to move on. Let him kill us from Dallas or Orlando.
— eytan (@shandershow) June 18, 2018
From this initially-rage-inducing tweet came a possible answer. I would not under any circumstances include Markelle Fultz in a trade to move up in this draft. It’s important to keep in mind that some variation of a package including Fultz/10/26/Covington/Dario has been the tentative framework of a deal for disgruntled San Antonio Spurs superstar Kawhi Leonard.
Without Fultz, the Sixers would have to come up with another young player with high upside and good character. Could Dario Saric be an attractive piece in a potential deal? I would be hard-pressed to hold up a trade of 10/26/Saric for a top-five pick, which I realize still might not be enough. Perhaps a 2019 first round pick could sweeten the pot.
If these reports are to be believed, Dallas might have eyes for Doncic. If so, Brett Brown & Co. would need to trade up to No. 3 (Atlanta) or No. 4 (Memphis) in order to jump the Mavericks. Both teams have solid guards in Dennis Schröder and Mike Conley, respectively. Some mock drafts have big men Jaren Jackson Jr. and Mo Bamba going with the third and fourth picks. Perhaps a deal for Saric, No. 10 (Mikal Bridges?), and No. 26 could help Atlanta with their massive rebuild or Memphis with their hunt to return to the postseason.
What do you think? Would you trade 10/26/Dario for a top-five pick? Would you pursue Doncic, Marvin Bagley III, or Wendall Carter Jr.? Would you roll the dice on Trae Young becoming Steph Curry 2.0? We’re only three days from the draft!
Some news regarding Phillies relief pitcher Hector Neris before the team opens up a three-game set against the Cardinals tonight at Citizens Bank Park:
#Phillies have selected the contract of LHP Austin Davis from Lehigh Valley (AAA).
To make room for him on the 25-man roster, RHP Héctor Neris has been optioned to Lehigh Valley. pic.twitter.com/c1RoYUaO1W
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 18, 2018
There’s little mystery why Neris has posted 6.00 ERA in 30 appearances this season. Opponents are hitting .284 off of him while posting a robust .935 OPS. According to Statcast, his hard hit rate has risen from 33.2% a year ago to 40.5% this season. In other words, he’s been awful.
He worked a clean final frame on Saturday afternoon to earn his first save since May 21, but was absolutely blitzed by the Brewers’ offense yesterday afternoon. He was twice taken deep during a ninth inning that saw him allow four hits and four earned runs on his way to nearly blowing a 10-5 lead. He was mercifully yanked by Gabe Kapler before Jake Thompson entered to record the game’s final out.
The 29-year-old struggled from the jump this season. He allowed a walk-off three-run homer in the ninth to Atlanta’s Nick Markakis on Opening Day and has yet to recover. While his 11.67 K/9 this season is a career best, Neris has struggled to keep the ball in the yard. He’s allowed eight home runs in 27 innings of work. By comparison, he allowed only nine home runs in 72 innings a season ago.
Davis, a 25-year-old left-handed pitcher, posted a 2.43 ERA with 38 strikeouts and 0.91 WHIP in 29.2 IP with the Iron Pigs this season.
Lane Johnson on Sunday night tweet what could be best described as a multi-faceted, passive-aggressive swipe at Pro Football Focus. Johnson is one of a few NFL players to have criticized the statistics site. While he ranked as PFF’s #6 overall tackle for the 2017 season, he seemed skeptical of the service and, oddly enough, their lead analyst Sam Monson’s process for making ribs:
Sent this to Steve. He seemed genuinely shocked that I was capable of creating BBQ goodness pic.twitter.com/uiuEsxTTcO
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) June 17, 2018
Seems innocuous, right? Enter Lane, who didn’t reply, retweet, or quote tweet Monson.
Eventually Johnson deleted the tweet. Monson’s response?
When you've got NFL offensive linemen sub tweeting your dinner pictures shit's got too weird.
— Sam Monson (@PFF_Sam) June 18, 2018
For what it’s worth, I’ve found PFF to be a useful tool, though it’s not the be-all-end-all for football stats. Also, while there’s nothing wrong with baking your ribs, you had better sear them for a nice caramelization prior to serving.
You know, they say whenever you head out to the old ball yard that you might just see something you have never seen before. Like, for example, the Phillies’ offense scoring 10 runs.
I kid.
But you probably haven’t seen anything like what happened to Brewers’ reliever Adrian Houser during the seventh inning of the Phillies’ 10-9 win on Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee:
Adrian Houser just vomited behind the mound in front of 40,000+ people after throwing his warm-up pitches. @cantpredictball
— Brew Crew Ball (@BrewCrewBall) June 17, 2018
While Houser, who was recalled from Triple-A earlier in the day, did in fact puke, he did not rally. Video of his eventful 7th inning after the jump. Continue Reading
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