Jake Arrieta

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves by a score of 13-8. Aaron Nola threw a gem, striking out 10 hitters in eight innings. Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, Jean Segura, and Roman Quinn hit home runs while Didi Gregorius hit a grand slam...

The Philadelphia Phillies lose 5-2 and 8-0 in their double header against the Atlanta Braves. Vince Velasquez had no command in game one and Spencer Howard made his MLB debut in game two. He got hit hard, there is no denying that. Especially when it came to his first pitch of an at bat. He allowed four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings. The bullpen was abysmal in both outings, but without any offense... who cares?

The Philadelphia Phillies shutout the Atlanta Braves by a score of 5-0. Jake Arrieta pitched a fantastic game, throwing six innings and looking like the 2015 version of himself. JT Realmuto stays hot at the plate, hitting a solo home run to start the scoring in the fourth inning. Jay Bruce followed with a three-run shot of his own. In the eighth inning, Bryce Harper was knocked in by Didi Gregorius to add insurance. The bullpen was able to secure the victory. José Álvarez, Tommy Hunter, and Deolis Guerra finished the job.

The Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Yankees by a score of 5-4 to split the four-game series. Zach Eflin went four innings and was very solid. He was on a pitch-count because it was his first official start of the season. It's scary to have to rely on this Phillies bullpen for so long, but they did their job. Hector Neris recorded a four-out save while fighting through danger. Specifically the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs, Aaron Judge was at the plate with Giancarlo Stanton on third. Neris' splitter worked it's magic! JT Realmuto was the star of the game hitting a three-run homer, beating out an infield single, and throwing out a base stealer at second.

The Philadelphia Phillies split their double header with the New York Yankees. Zack Wheeler pitched game 1 as the Phillies won 11-7. It was 11-3 until the bullpen came in.... Austin Davis is a dumpster fire. It got to the point where Hector Neris had to warm up and pitch which snowballed into game two. Bryce Harper hit a two-run bomb, Rhys Hoskins got a big hit with bases loaded, and JT Realmuto homered. In game two, Aaron Nola was SENSATIONAL! He recorded 12 strikeouts in 6 innings of work. Joe Girardi pulled him out of the game with 88 pitches to put in Tommy Hunter. The score was tied at the time and before recording an out, the Yankees took a 3-1 lead. Needless to say, this bullpen is a SERIOUS issue.

The Philadelphia Phillies FINALLY played a baseball game! Sadly, they faced Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees. This 6-3 loss seemed inevitable. Jake Arrieta pitched five innings, allowed seven hits, and recorded four strikeouts. He was at 78 pitches and Joe Girardi made the decision to go to the bullpen. There is no doubt that I would have let him pitch the sixth inning. It feels like Girardi and this coaching staff would rather get certain players to throw in the bullpen than win the game. Arrieta wasn't perfect by any means. He did allow a home-run to DJ LeMahieu to start the game and to Brett Gardner in the bottom of the third, but I would rather see Arrieta go back out over Deolis Guerra going on the mound. After Guerro walking Aaron Hicks, he hit Giacarlo Stanton with a pitch, and Gio Urshela hit a three-run bomb to blow the game wide open. There was a rain delay where the game was essentially over from there even though Adam Haseley and Jean Segura hit in a couple runs.

What a disgrace. Bryce Harper hit a 3-run home run and Jay Bruce had an RBI triple to give Vince Velasquez a 4-0 lead. He lost the lead in the second inning.... which is NOT what we needed out of Velasquez! Cole Irvin was awful, Reggie McLain got destroyed, and Nick Pivetta allowed a home run. To summarize, the bullpen is a major issue. Offensively, the bases were loaded three times and not one run came across the board. On a positive note, Adam Haseley had four hits and made the most of his opportunity in the leadoff spot. The New York Yankees are next. Should we be concerned?

The Philadelphia Phillies bounce back and beat the Miami Marlins 7-1. Zack Wheeler had an impressive performance throwing seven innings. His fastball was outstanding and he was throwing 96,97 late into the game. His secondary pitches were phenomenal as well. Phil Gosselin... what can I say? His new nickname is "Barrels" for a reason! After Didi Gregorius hit his second home run in two nights, Gosselin was able to rock two home runs in this game! It truly is a remarkable story for the way he earned his way onto the roster. JT Realmuto hit a three-run shot after Rhys Hoskins walked and after Bryce Harper recorded his first hit of the season by bunting down the third-base line when a shift was implemented. It took a little while for the bats to wake up, but once they did, the depth was on display. Vince Velasquez is on the bump Sunday afternoon with a chance to win the series!

The Philadelphia Phillies lose game one of the season to the Miami Marlins by a score of 5-2. Should we be surprised? This is EXACTLY what happened last year so I guess it makes sense for it to roll over into 2020. Aaron Nola pitched five strong innings, but in the sixth inning there was a wall hit. Jesús Augilar was down 0-2 in the count and Nola threw an off-speed pitching hanging over the lower half the plate which resulted in a two-run bomb. This gave the Marlins a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth. The top of the lineup was awful. Andrew McCutchen, Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, and JT Realmuto were a combined 1 for 14 on the night and the only hit was a dinky blooper infield hit by Hoskins. Didi Gregorius deserves some praise for his offensive production. He hit an absolute moonshot to tie the game 1-1 in the fifth inning. Scott Kingery can get an honorable mention for crushing a ball over the left-field foul pole which was so close to being fair, the umpires had to review it. Sadly, it was ruled foul. Zack Wheeler on the mound for game two Saturday afternoon. In this shortened season, is it a must win?

Mookie Betts just signed a 12-year contract extension worth $365 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers. This absolutely impacts the free-agent to be, JT Realmuto. It's easy to sit here and scream at Matt Klentak to give Realmuto whatever he is asking for, but that wouldn't be smart. Because of COVID19, the market has shifted. Or has it? The Dodgers signing Betts could easily be the outlier. They are a different type of beast when it comes to spending money every single year. From Realmuto's standpoint, I'm sure he sees this as an opportunity to still cash in on one the biggest deal for a catcher. Will that be here in Philadelphia though? Even if the Phillies allow him to test the market, that doesn't mean they won't be in the bidding war. At this point, it's a risk they are willing to take. By no means is this an easy decision. Betts is 27-years-old and plays in the outfield which does not relate to a catcher who is about to be 30-years-old with a ton of miles on the tires. In the game of baseball, the production of the catcher drops fast and it wouldn't be fun to pay Realmuto $23M per season if he wasn't playing at a high level. At the end of the day, I believe they will find a way to get it done even if it takes bumpy road.