PhilaPhans

Rockies(6-16) @ Phillies(10-12) Preview Starting Lineups:
Phillies
Stott 2B
Turner SS
Schwarber DH
Castellanos RF
Marsh CF
Realmuto C
Bohm DH
Clemens 1B
Sosa 3B

Rockies
Blackmon RF
Profar LF
McMahon 3B
Cron 1B
Moustakas DH
Daza CF
Castro 2B
Tovar SS
Serven C

Starting Pitchers:
Rockies - Urena
Phillies - Wheeler

Umpires:
Home Plate - Todd Tichenor
First Base - Brian Knight
Second Base - Alex Tosi
Third Base - Tony Randazzo

There is no legitimate argument that José Ureña is a good pitcher.
Phillies need to thump him early and get him out by the third inning.

Need a 12-2 win today and some actual momentum heading into Mariners/Astros this week.

MARINERS
Falter vs. Gilbert
Walker vs. Gonzalez
Strahm vs. Kirby
(no Castillo, but Gilbert & Kirby are good)

ASTROS
Nola vs. Valdez (YIKES)
Wheeler vs. Javier (YIKES)
Falter vs. Urquidy

Need a win today, because we might have to settle for a 3-3 week as being the best realistic outcome.

Bohm gets a day off from playing in the field, but they just keep running Realmuto out there behind the plate.

Kody Clemens playing ... yippee.

Christopher wrote: ↑Sun Apr 23, 2023 3:16 pm Bohm gets a day off from playing in the field, but they just keep running Realmuto out there behind the plate.

Kody Clemens playing ... yippee.

I was about to rip Clemens for swinging at ball 4 on 3-1

Nevermind

Man oh man. Once an outing, both Nola and Wheeler will melt down in one of the middle innings.

This team is so weird

Why not pinch hit Harrison there? (not that he is any good either)

2 runs - but 0-3 with RISP - so good, but could have been a big inning

Christopher wrote: ↑Sun Apr 23, 2023 5:10 pm This team is so weird

This. Schizo team

The thing is, all the individual struggles make sense, separate from each other:

-- Nola & Wheeler haven't rebounded from all the innings last year, plus Nola may be pressing, given free agency
-- No depth whatsoever after Hoskins injury; too many bottom-thirds of the lineup are trash
-- Schwarber is exactly who he's always been; a streaky low-average hitter who is misplaced batting in the top three, especially when he's not drawing walks
-- Realmuto repeating last year's slow start

The only thing I'd argue is a negative surprise was the extent to which everyone in bullpen but Alvarado struggled during first two weeks. That appears to be turning around, thank goodness.

Ultimately, the team will hit. So much promise now with Stott, Bohm, Marsh and even Sosa, combined with Harper, Castellanos, Turner, Schwarber, Realmuto is going to put runs on the board more times than not.

So it really does hinge on Nola/Wheeler. They don't need to be All-Stars. But if they can simply "improve" to even being 3.70-ERA guys, I think we will win enough to get a wild card.

Good job by Wheeler going 6.
But again, it's the Rockies. So that should have been the minimum bar anyway.

Next start Wheeler gets Yordan Alvarez/Kyle Tucker/Alex Bregman.

(PS, have you noticed that Jose Abreu has been a TOTAL bust for the Astros? I remember when I even made a wild pitch to sign him this past winter -- yikes)