Pivetta salvages an otherwise ‘meh’ series in Atlanta
It’s time for a daily news report.
Bye, Atlanta. Sheesh.
Would’ve been nice for the Phillies to win the series against the Braves in Atlanta, but that didn’t happen. Three relatively ho-hum games, one win and two losses, and let’s go home for the final six.
Rhys Hoskins is human, his average down to .278. That said, his on-base mark is still a superb .409, thanks to 32 walks to 39 strikeouts. He’s still really, really good.
Maikel Franco has improved himself in the last few weeks. Sure he’s still at .231/.283/.400, but that’s better than the .223/.278/.389 he was at on Sept. 1. Look, not good at all, but it’s hard for the Phils to let him go for nothing. He’s still young, has power (21 home runs, even in this era of juiced balldom, is still good) and right now has very, very little value. It behooves the Phils to stick with him, at least to see if there’s value yet to earn back. If so, then you move him for *something*.
Also the Phils won’t be great next year. Start the year with Franco, let Crawford bounce around the infield, and the truth will finally surface.
Plus it’s Cesar Hernandez (.296/.370/.422) who has the value to move in the offseason. That’s who you move.
Oh, Nick Pivetta pitched well Sunday, striking out four and walking one in six frames. There’s potential there, yet.
Finally, Hector Neris should be dealt in the offseason. His value is as good as it’s ever been. Do it, Phils.
The race for the basement
With the win Sunday the Phillies are 62-94. First, one more win and the team avoids 100 losses. That’s good. This team was destined for more than 100 losses just 40 days ago; it’s great to see tremendous improvement late this season.
Second, the Phils are now one game ahead of the Giants (61-95) in the standings. If you care about the first pick in the 2018 First Year Player Draft, this is what you’re following for the next six games.
Big offseason?
Ken Rosenthal, in a video for FOX Sports, says the Phillies will be a team to watch this offseason. He mentions pitcher Alex Cobb as a potential target, along with usual suspects Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich. Finally, he says J.P. Crawford’s emergence (.232/.362/.339 with great defense at three positions) may make Freddy Galvis available.
We’ll see what happens, but again, Hernandez is the right chip to move. Walk into next year with Crawford-Galvis-Franco-(Veteran) and keep an eye on how Franco responds. Scott Kingery is in the wings. That’s me, though.
More on that when the season closes.
