Phillies Mailbag: Hall, Bellatti, the Inconsistent Schwarber

We are back with the 97.3 ESPN Phillies Mailbag.  We take your question and talk about them on The Sports Bash with Mike Gill Tuesday afternoons.  Tune in to hear your question answered on the air.  Send them anytime to @FrankKlose on Twitter, or

When is Darick Hall coming up?
~C.J.

This is a really good question.  The Phillies opted to option Darick Hall to Triple-A Lehigh Valley rather than reinstate him to the major league roster upon his return from his rehab assignment.  I would think that the Phillies would give him a shot sooner than later.

The reason for the demotion was two-fold.  First, Kody Clemens was playing well at first base and seemed to earn a longer look before the Phillies decided to send him to Triple-A.  Second, Hall's power stroke did not seem to return just yet.  Hall has two home runs in 68 at bats at Triple-A.

Hall is, however, batting .309 at Triple-A.  That could be helpful to the sometimes lifeless Phillies offense.

Hall does remain, however, a limited defensive player.  With a left-handed hitter at DH right now (Bryce Harper) and a left-handed DH in left field (Kyle Schwarber) he will only be able to play first base.  It seems like there should be some at bats there before the Phillies make any trade deadline moves.

Clemens can be optioned to Triple-A.  Clemens has cooled; he is batting just .045 in his last seven games.  At Triple-A he could work at other positions and be ready to help the Phillies around the diamond in a pinch.

One issue is that Hall was optioned to Triple-A.  Without an injury, he cannot be recalled for another week.  So perhaps when that period is up he can return.

Why is Dylan Covey still up when Andrew Bellatti is tearing it up at Lehigh Valley? 
~Pete

This is a really good question.  The numbers for Andrew Bellatti certainly look good.  In 11 games at Triple-A, he is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA.  In eight games in June he has not been scored upon and has not allowed a walk.  That certainly makes him a good candidate to be recalled.

It's hard to figure out what exactly Dylan Covey contributes to the major league roster.  He did not work out as a starting pitcher.  His relief appearances have not been stellar either.  All in all he's 1-2 with a 7.50 ERA as a Phillie.

I would think Bellatti would reappear soon.  Down Seranthony Dominguez, as well as the demotion of Connor Brogdon, the Phillies are suddenly really thin from the right side in the bullpen.  Jeff Hoffman has pitched admirably for the Phillies, but he might not be as good a back-end option.

The only thing I can think of is that Bellatti probably has a lot of swing and miss stuff for undisciplined minor leaguers.  Could the Phillies want to see more of his command coming together before a recall?  That would be possible; I have not gotten the opportunity to watch him pitch.

But I am in agreement that given the circumstances, we should see him soon.

Kyle Schwarber signed a 4 year / $79,000,000 deal.  Was he worth it?  Would The Phillies do it again if they could do it again? Is he overpaid?
~Kevin

Kevin, I think that the Phillies actually would do it again.  Kyle Schwarber does hit home runs.  But I think that overall, the contract is reasonable and matches his output.  The circumstances have changed since he signed of course.

First, the Phillies expected that Bryce Harper would be in right field for these four years.  That meant that either Schwarber or Nick Castellanos would have been at the designated hitter position.  Of the two, I prefer Castellanos in the field.   So the deficient defense should not have been a worry.

Second, Schwarber was expected to be one offensive option, not THE option.  Without Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper returning from Tommy John surgery, along with the struggles of J.T. Realmuto, Schwarber can't be what he's supposed to be.  That is a low-average, high-power bat.

Finally, $19.8 million a year is not terrible for the bat I just described.  He is not one of the 10-year, $30 million+ players that seem to be abundant in the major leagues today.  He is in year two and only has two more seasons left.  The financial commitment is not overwhelming in this day and age.

So while Schwarber is what he is, I think people almost expect him to be more, given the circumstances.  But at the end of the day, those players need to play better.