PhoulBallz.com

The day after the Phillies signed their interim manager to a two-year contract extension, the team will open the best-of-five playoff series in National League East Division winning Atlanta. On Monday the Phils made a clear vote of confidence when they gave skipper Rob Thomson the job for years to come.  On Tuesday, the team sends 27-year-old Ranger Suarez to the mound to battle Braves ace Max Fried to open the National League Division Series.  The Phils earned their way to the series by notching a pair of victories over the Cardinals in the Wild Card round this past weekend. Details on pitching match ups and other key notes from this series are ahead... Tuesday, 1:07pm Eastern...LHP Ranger Suarez (10-7 record, 3.65 ERA) vs. LHP Max Fried (14-7 record, 2.48 ERA).   Suarez has a 2.81 ERA in six daytime outings this season.  In five starts against the Braves this year, the Venezuela native, Suarez, tallied a 1-2 record with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.  Atlanta sho...

On Sunday, Major League Baseball announced reserves for the All-Star rosters.  The game's best players are set to descend on Denver for the annual Mid-Summer Classic slated for Tuesday, July 13th. The Phillies will be represented by their best hurler and the man widely considered the best catcher in the game.   Zack Wheeler is an All-Star for the first time, as he's in the midst of a career year.  The 31-year-old right-hander sports a 6-4 record with a 2.05 ERA and11 K/9 through 17 starts.  Wheeler leads the National League in innings pitched (114) and strike outs (139).   J.T. Realmuto is an All-Star for the third time in his career, his second as a Phillie.  In 64 games this year the 30-year-old righty batter has posted a .263 batting average with eight home runs and 31 RBI.    Wheeler remains a possibility to start for the NL club, managed by World Series champion Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts.  Realmuto is a backup to Giants ca...

Attendance returns to full capacity in Philadelphia this weekend as the Phillies host the Nationals in a three-game set beginning on Friday, June 4th.   Announced last week, the city is easing nearly all of its COVID-19 related restrictions and the Phils will be able to host a full house for the first time since 2019.   The Phillies are 2-1 against the Nats this season, having won their previous series in Washington during the month of May.   With a home record of 15-10, the Phils have had success this year at Citizens Bank Park.  The Phillies are averaging 4.2 runs per games at home, compared to 3.7 runs per game on the road, heading into Monday.  The team also sports a 3.66 home ERA compared to their 4.71 mark on the road, prior to this week. And we know that the Phillies are in the top three clubs to win the National League East. Their odds are definitely better now (+600) than they were a few months ago in February (+900). Maybe that's why th...

Rafael Marchan, image- Jay Floyd With an injury to J.T. Realmuto , the Phillies were forced to call up a promising young prospect to fill a void on the big league roster.   In his big league debut on Monday at Miami, Rafael Marchan went 1-for-3, as he singled in his first at bat to notch his first hit in the majors. Marchan, 21, was ranked at the Phils' number 16 prospect heading into the 2020 season.    Signed in the same off-season that the Phils dished out a $4 million signing bonus to outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz, Marchan inked a deal for a reported bargain price of $200,000, as a 16-year-old in 2015. Last year, Marchan, a native of Venezuela, played much of the season with Class A Lakewood.  In 63 games, he tallied a .271 batting average with 16 doubles and 20 RBI.  He would miss a few weeks with an injury in May, but bounced back to complete the season, earning a promotion to Class A Advanced Clearwater at the end of July. Wrapping up his 201...

The Phillies (10-14) will visit the Nationals (11-15) for a three-game series beginning on Tuesday evening. Read ahead for a quick rundown of the pitching match ups and some key statistics from this series. Tuesday, 6:05pm.  Jake Arrieta (1-3, 4.95  ERA ) vs. Erick Fedde  (1-1, 2.55  ERA ).  Arrieta has gone more than five innings in just one of his four starts this season.  In 16 career starts against the Nats, Arrieta has notched a 1-3 record, a 4.61 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP.  Asdrubal Cabrera is 6-for-16 (.375 avg) with two homers and four RBI in his career against Arrieta.  Fedde, a right-hander, was Washington's first round draft pick in 2014.  In five appearances (four starts) against the Phillies, Fedde sports a 2-1 record with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP.  Scott Kingery is 3-for-7 with a double and a home run in his career when facing Fedde.  Wednesday, 6:05pm.  Aaron Nola (2-2, 3.10  ERA ) vs. Patrick...

Another series, another preview.  The Phillies head south to take on their divisional rival Braves in a three-game series beginning Friday night.   Atlanta at 14-11 sit atop the National League East Division.  Fresh off getting swept in a double header at the Blue Jays on Thursday, the Phillies and their 9-12 record reside at the bottom of the division.   A brief rundown of the pitching match ups and other key notes from this series are ahead. Friday, 7:10pm.  Aaron Nola (2-1, 2.05 ERA) vs. Max Fried (3-0, 1.24 ERA).  In 19 career starts against Atlanta, Nola has an 11-5 record with a 2.82 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP.  Ronald Acuna Jr. is 7-for-22 (.318 avg) with two home runs and four RBI in his career when facing Nola.  In 2019 Nola had a 4.75 ERA in six starts against the Braves.  Fried allowed two earned runs in his first start this season and in four starts since then he has allowed just two total runs, both earned.  The lef...

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic the Blue Jays are playing their home games at Buffalo's Sahlen Field, the home of Toronto's Triple-A affiliate, the Bisons.  They'll host the Phillies for a double header on Thursday afternoon. Here's a quick rundown of the pitching match ups and some other key notes from this pairing. Game 1, 1:05PM.  Spencer Howard (0-1, 7.88 ERA) vs. Chase Anderson (0-0, 3.00 ERA).  Howard, a righty, was the Phils' 2nd round draft selection out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo back in 2017.  In two MLB starts to date, the rookie Howard, who entered the past two seasons as the Phillies' top prospect , has notched six strike outs and three walks over eight innings.  The right-handed Anderson joined the Blue Jays this year after spending the last four seasons with the Brewers.  In six career starts against the Phils, Anderson has a 1-3 record, a 6.75 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.  Jay Bruce is 1-for-18 (.067 avg) in his career against Anderson....

Deivy Grullon, image- Jay Floyd Please visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work and get access to material like this before anyone.  Plus you'll get interviews as well as other exclusive content you won't be able to enjoy anywhere else.  I could use, and I would value, your backing.   At the time of his signing with the Phillies at the age of 16, backstop Deivy Grullon was one of the top baseball prospects in the Caribbean. Following a lengthy tenure in the minors, Grullon made his big league debut last season and it could be very difficult to deny him a roster spot at the top level any longer. Grullon, who signed for a reported $575,000 in July 2012, looked very good upon making his professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2013, posting a .273 batting average with eight doubles, a home run and 14 RBI in 41 games at the Rookie level. He followed up that campaign with a season in which he saw action at three ...

For just the third time ever a Phillies catcher has been honored with the Rawlings Gold Glove Award as J.T. Realmuto was named as the National League's top defensive backstop on Sunday. The award was the first of Realmuto's career.  He joins two-time winner Bob Boone (1978, 1979) and Mike Lieberthal (1999) as Phillies catchers to earn the Gold Glove nod. The 28-year-old Realmuto caught 43% of base runners trying to steal and sported a .992 fielding percentage during the 2019 campaign. Originally a 3rd round pick by Miami in 2010, Realmuto was acquired from the Marlins last off-season in a trade that sent pitching prospects Sixto Sanchez and Will Stewart as well as catcher Jorge Alfaro last offseason. His first season as a Phillie was remarkable, as Realmuto was named an All-Star and posted an .820 OPS in 145 games.  Many members of the media and those around the game expect the Phillies to sign the righty hitter to a contract extension this off-season. This marks t...

Aaron Brown, image- Jay Floyd Aaron Brown was a two-way player at Pepperdine, standing out both as an outfielder as well as a pitcher.  The Phillies' 3rd round draft selection in 2014 was slated to play exclusively on the offensive side after signing that year.  But, after reaching the Double-A level as an offensive player and seeing his batting average come in under .225, he was switched back to the pitching role in 2017. Combined at Class A Advanced Clearwater and Double-A Reading last year, Brown posted a 3-6 record with a 4.90 ERA, a .271 batting average against along with an 8.8 K/9 mark in 46 total appearances. Entering his second full season as a professional pitcher, the 26-year-old will open the 2019 campaign back with Reading, where he ended last season.  Brown appeared in four games this spring with the major league Phillies, surrendering one earned run on two hits while striking out three and walking none in 2 2/3 innings of work. This wee...

Sanchez with Lakewood in 2017, image- Jay Floyd We interrupt this Phillies prospect countdown to offer up some breaking news.  Reports have surfaced on Thursday that the Phils have agreed to a trade that would send highly touted pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez , big league catcher Jorge Alfaro along with hurler Will Stewart and international bonus slot to Miami for backstop J.T. Realmuto . Sanchez, a much-raved-about 20-year-old right-hander that reaches triples digits with his fastball, was the key to the deal and had long been mentioned in trade talks. A native of the Dominican Republic, Sanchez has missed time in each of the past two seasons with injuries and sat out of the prestigious Arizona Fall League this off-season due to an ailment. Last season in eight starts with Class A Advanced Clearwater, Sanchez posted a 4-3 record with a 2.51 ERA and an 8.7 K.9 mark. Alfaro, a 25-year-old righty batter, posted a .262 average with 10 home runs and 37 RBI in 108 g...