#brett hoskins i guess

[spider-man-sass]

The Amazing Spider-Man (2019) #25

"He won't take no for an answer. 😊"

[thegloober]

The Yankees and the 2018-19 Offseason Calendar

Fan Confidence Poll: October 29th, 2018

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Last night the Red Sox clinched the 2018 World Series championship with a Game Five win over the Dodgers. That is now four titles in the last 15 years for the BoSox after zero titles in their previous 86 years. The Dodgers are still looking for their first championship since 1988.

Anyway, now that the World Series and the 2018 baseball season are over, the 2018-19 offseason is officially underway. There are a ton of important dates and deadlines coming up these next few weeks, plus some not so important ones as well. Here is the offseason calendar and what each of these dates means for the Yankees.

Today, October 29th: The start of free agency, kinda As of 9am ET today, all eligible players became free agents. Players used to have to file for free agency, which was a waste of everyone’s time, but now it happens automatically. Eight Yankees became free agents this morning: Zach Britton, J.A. Happ, Adeiny Hechavarria, Lance Lynn, Andrew McCutchen, David Robertson, CC Sabathia, and Neil Walker. They aren’t able to sign with new teams just yet, but they are free agents. There are now 32 players on the 40-man roster.

Wednesday, October 31st: Option decisions due Generally speaking, all option decisions are due three days after the end of the World Series. Some contract stipulate other dates — my go-to example is the Phillies having to making a decision about their 2011 club option for Jimmy Rollins following the end of the 2009 World Series — but three days after the World Series is most common. I should note Masahiro Tanaka announced he wouldn’t opt-out a day before the deadline last year. Announcements could come earlier.

The Yankees have one option decision this offseason: Brett Gardner. They hold a $12.5M club option for Gardner next season with a $2M buyout. It is a net $10.5M decision. If they decline the option, Gardner gets his $2M and becomes a free agent. If they pick it up, he’s back next season with a $12.5 salary. My guess is the Yankees will decline the option and look to re-sign Gardner at a lower salary to play a more part-time/platoon role. We’ll see.

Friday, November 2nd: Qualifying offer and disabled list activation deadline The qualifying offer has been set at $17.9M this offseason and the Yankees only have two free agents eligible for it: Sabathia and, if his option is declined, Gardner. None of the other free agents are eligible for various reasons. The Yankees won’t make either Sabathia or Gardner the qualifying offer. They’d both accept it in a heartbeat. Sabathia could come back at something similar to his $10M salary this year. The Yankees wouldn’t decline Gardner’s $12.5M option only to turn around and give him the $17.9M qualifying offer, you know?

Also by this date, all players must be activated off the 60-day disabled list. The Yankees have four players on the 60-day DL: Ben Heller (Tommy John surgery), Jordan Montgomery (Tommy John surgery), Jacoby Ellsbury (hip surgery), and Clint Frazier (post-concussion migraines). Once these guys are activated, the Yankees will go from 32 players on the 40-man roster to 36 players on the 40-man roster. It’ll be 35 if Gardner’s option is declined.

Saturday, November 3rd: The start of free agency, for real The five-day exclusive negotiating period ends this coming Saturday and free agency will officially begin. Saturday is when free agents are truly free to negotiate and sign with any team. Keep in mind MLB free agency is a marathon, not a sprint. There typically is not a rash of signings on Day One. I do think we’ll see some second and third (and fourth and fifth) tier free agents sign earlier than usual after what happened with free agency last winter — Eduardo Escobar already re-signed with the D’Backs — but probably not this early.

Sunday, November 4th: Gold Glove winners announced The Yankees have three Gold Glove finalists this year: Gardner in left field, Tanaka at pitcher, and Aaron Judge in right field. I can’t see Judge beating out Mookie Betts. Gardner and Tanaka could win though. The last Yankee to win a Gold Glove was Gardner in 2016. The last time the Yankees had multiple Gold Glove winners in one season was 2012 with Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano. The Gold Glove winners will be announced during a live ESPN broadcast at 9pm ET. I guess MLB doesn’t want anyone watching.

Sunday, November 5th: Awards finalists announced MLB has been announcing three finalists for each of the four major awards (Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, MVP) for a few years now. They’re trying to generate some buzz during a slow time of the year. Judge’s injury takes him out of the AL MVP race and Luis Severino’s second half fade takes him out of the AL Cy Young race. I can’t see Aaron Boone finishing in the top three of the Manager of the Year voting either. Count on both Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres being among the three Rookie of the Year finalists though. It’ll be surprised if it’s not those two and Shohei Ohtani. The awards finalists will be announced during a live MLB Network broadcast at 6pm ET.

Tuesday, November 6th to Thursday, November 8th: GM meetings in San Diego Carlsbad, actually, but close enough. The GM meetings typically cover off-the-field stuff. I suspect improper use of electronics (sign stealing, etc.) will be a hot topic this year after the Astros were caught red-handed during the postseason. (Their excuse was they were monitoring their opponents electronically to make sure they weren’t using electronics improperly. Come on.)

Off-the-field matters are usually the focus here, but, whenever you put all 30 GMs together in one spot, deals can and do happen. The John Ryan Murphy-for-Aaron Hicks trade went down at the GM meetings. The groundwork for the three-team trade that brought Curtis Granderson to the Yankees was laid at the GM meetings way back in the day. Even if some deals aren’t completed at the GM meetings, they will surely be discussed, and possibly revisited and completed at a later date.

Thursday, November 8th: Silver Sluggers announced If Silver Sluggers are your thing, this is the date for you. Judge’s injury and Gary Sanchez’s poor year mean the Yankees don’t have a serious Silver Slugger candidate this year.

Thursday, November 8th to Thursday, November 15th: MLB Japan All-Star Series As they do every few offseasons, MLB is sending a team of All-Stars (“All-Stars”) to Japan to play a series of exhibition games against Nippon Pro Baseball All-Stars. So far seven players have committed to the event: Ronald Acuna Jr., Rhys Hoskins, Yadier Molina, Carlos Santana, Eugenio Suarez, Chris Taylor, and Christian Yelich. Don Mattingly will manage. Here are the game dates and locations:

November 8th to 11th: Tokyo

November 13th: Hiroshima

November 14th and 15th: Nagoya

I have to think MLB would love to get a Yankee on the roster. The Yankees are the sport’s most recognizable team and they’d help create buzz. Didi Gregorius would���ve been perfect for this event. He’s got a great personality and he spends every offseason traveling and making fun videos. Didi would’ve been great. Too bad he got hurt.

From MLB’s perspective, Judge would be ideal here, though he had the wrist injury in the second half may not want to push it. Perhaps MLB could convince Giancarlo Stanton? Eh. The rest of the roster will be announced sometime soon. I mean, this thing starts next week, so it has to be soon. The last Yankee to participate in the MLB Japan All-Star Series was Mike Myers in 2006. For real. Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams were part of the 2002 team. These games will all be televised live on MLB Network.

Update: The MLB roster was announced this morning. It includes no Yankees. So much for that.

Monday, November 12th: Qualifying offer decision deadline Players used to get seven days to decide whether to accept or reject the qualifying offer. Now they get ten. How very kind of the owners to give players that after receiving massive luxury tax concessions from the MLBPA. Anyway, the extra three days give these free agents a little extra time to shop around for a deal before taking or declining the qualifying offer. Again, the Yankees don’t have any qualifying offer candidates this year. This deadline means nothing to them. They’ll just monitor who rejects the qualifying offer and is attached to draft pick compensation. (The Yankees will have to give up their second highest draft pick and $500,000 in international bonus money each time they sign a qualified free agent this winter.)

Monday, November 12th to Thursday, November 15th: Major award winners announced It Manager of the Year on Monday, Rookie of the Year on Tuesday, Cy Young on Wednesday, and MVP on Thursday. Andujar and Torres both have a chance to be named Rookie of the Year. Maybe they’ll tie in the voting and be named co-Rookies of the Year! That’d be neat. But yeah, Ohtani’s gonna win. Sorry folks. All the awards are announced live during an MLB Network broadcast.

Andujar and Torres. (Presswire)

Wednesday, November 14th to Thursday, November 15th: Owners meetings in Atlanta A bunch of rich guys get together to talk about how rich they are and figure out ways to get even richer. They squeeze in some baseball talk if time allows. Nothing exciting happens here from a hot stove perspective, usually.

Tuesday, November 20th: Rule 5 Draft protection deadline The Yankees got a head start on their Rule 5 Draft protection this year when they called up Chance Adams, Justus Sheffield, and Stephen Tarpley during the season. Also, Rule 5 Draft eligible prospects Cody Carroll, Juan De Paula, Josh Rogers, and Dillon Tate were traded away at the deadline.

Generally speaking, college players drafted no later than 2015 and high school players drafted no later than 2014 are Rule 5 Draft eligible this winter, as are international free agents signed no later than 2014. Here are the Yankees’ notable Rule 5 Draft eligible prospects:

Catchers: Jason Lopez

Infielders: Diego Castillo, Dermis Garcia, Kyle Holder, Hoy Jun Park, Brandon Wagner

Outfielders: Trey Amburgey, Pablo Olivares

Pitchers: Nick Green, James Reeves, Erik Swanson

The Yankees will have four open 40-man roster spots once free agents are removed from the roster and 60-day DL guys are activated. It’ll be five spots if Gardner’s option is declined. I think Holder and Swanson are locks to be added to the 40-man with Amburgey, Green, and Wagner on the bubble. There’s always a chance for a surprise 40-man roster addition too, like Jonathan Loaisiga last year. He was much more highly regarded than I know I realized.

Keep in mind the Yankees can’t just load up their 40-man roster with Rule 5 Draft prospects. They have eight players becoming free agents, right? Well, those eight players have to be replaced, so those roster spots will be needed.

Monday, November 26th to Thursday, November 29th: MLBPA executive board meeting in Dallas The MLBPA is preparing for a labor war. The union made two high profile additions in recent weeks, which suggests they’re ready to dig in and make some demands in the next round of Collective Bargaining Agreement talks. Fortunately the current CBA does not expire until December 2021, so a work stoppage is not imminent. But this is the MLBPA’s first executive board meeting since the free agent hell of last offseason. Their CBA planning starts in earnest here.

Friday, November 30th: Non-tender deadline The non-tender deadline is usually December 2nd, but December 2nd is a Sunday this year, so MLB moved it up to the prior business day. On this date teams have to tender their pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players a contract for the 2019 season. They don’t have to sign them, they just have to make a contract offer. Players who don’t receive a contract offer become free agents. They are considered … wait for it … non-tendered.

The Yankees could be in for an interesting non-tender deadline. Would they non-tender Didi Gregorius rather than pay him a projected $12.4M to rehab from Tommy John surgery next year, only to have him become a free agent after the season? Would they non-tender Sonny Gray and his projected $9.1M salary if they can’t find a trade partner? What about Tommy Kahnle? Is he so far gone that the Yankees dump him and his $1.5M projected salary?

Aside from those guys, I think the Yankees might try the non-tender/re-sign trick with Heller. They’ve non-tendered young players coming off injury and re-signed them to a minor league contract several times in the past, most notably with Domingo German and Vicente Campos. Heller’s rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and the non-tender is a way to get him off the 40-man roster and keep him in the organization without exposing him to waivers.

Monday, December 9th to Thursday, December 13th: Winter Meetings in Las Vegas The busiest week of the offseason, historically. This is when most major free agent signings and trades will take place. That was the case for years and years and years. How will things play out this offseason? After last winter, I could see teams waiting out free agents because it proved to be so effective last year. There were some great bargains to be had in January and February. In all likelihood the Winter Meetings will be packed with hot stove action (if not trades and signings, then at least rumors) because the Winter Meetings are always packed with hot stove action. Should be fun.

Monday, December 9th: Hall of Fame Today’s Game committee announcement The Hall of Fame replaced the old Veterans Committee with four “eras” committees a few years back: Early Baseball (pre-1950), Golden Days (1950-69), Modern Baseball (1970-87), and Today’s Game (1988 to present). The committees meet every few years in irregular intervals to vote on players who fell off the BBWAA ballot, and this winter the Today’s Game committee is up. It’s hard to know who will and who won’t be on the ballot, but the folks at Hall of Stats came up with some names. Former Yankees David Cone and Jimmy Key are among them.

Thursday, December 13th: Rule 5 Draft As a reminder, players selected in the Rule 5 Draft must remain on their new team’s 25-man big league roster all next season, or be placed on waivers and offered back to their original team. The Yankees had multiple players selected in each of the last three Rule 5 Drafts and one only (Luis Torrens with the Padres last year) stuck. Even with an underwhelming crop of Rule 5 Draft eligible prospects this winter, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Yankees have multiple players selected again. Upper level bullpen arms like Joe Harvey and Raynel Espinal could interest a team enough to get a Spring Training look.

The Yankees have not made a Rule 5 Draft pick since taking Cesar Cabral and Brad Meyers in 2011. Depending on their 40-man roster situation offseason, I think the chances of the Yankees making a Rule 5 Draft pick this year are better than they have been in years. Maybe they’ll look for a live-armed last guy in the bullpen type or a corner infielder to compete with Luke Voit and Greg Bird at first base in Spring Training. Probably not, but maybe!

Friday, January 11th: Deadline for teams and players to submit salary arbitration figures The player files what he believes he should be paid in 2019 and the team files what they believe the player should be paid in 2019. It’s important to note the two sides could still agree to a contract of any size after filing salary arbitration figures. Generally speaking, most arbitration-eligible players sign before the filing deadline. The Yankees signed all their arbitration-eligibles before the filing deadline last offseason. The same will probably happen this year too. That’s usually how it goes.

Mid-January: BBWAA Hall of Fame class announced Voting results for the 2019 Hall of Fame class will be announced sometime in January. This is a big Hall of Fame year. Know why? Because Mariano Rivera is eligible. He’ll be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year. Rivera’s going to get voted in, of course, I just wouldn’t expect it to be unanimous. There are 400-something ballots cast each year and inevitably one of them will exclude Rivera. That’s just the way these things go.

Mo. (Al Bello/Getty)

Andy Pettitte joins the Hall of Fame ballot this year as well, though I think he’s a borderline candidate at best. He’ll clear the 5% threshold to remain on the ballot next year but I don’t see him coming close to the 75% needed for induction. Former Yankees Roger Clemens (7th year), Mike Mussina (6th), and Gary Sheffield (5th) return on the ballot. I hope Mussina gets in. His voting percentage has increased from 20.3% to 24.6% to 43.0% to 51.8% to 63.5% in his five years on the ballot. Hopefully he gets over the 75% threshold this year. Here’s the full Hall of Fame ballot.

Friday, February 1st to Wednesday, February 20th: Arbitration hearings The Yankees went to what is now a rather infamous arbitration hearing with Dellin Betances two years ago. Prior to that they hadn’t gone to an arbitration hearing since beating Chien-Ming Wang in 2008. Lots of teams these days are “file-and-trial” clubs, meaning they cut off contract talks after filing salary figures and go to a hearing. That’s designed to put pressure on the player. I don’t think the Yankees are a file-and-trial team though. They signed Aroldis Chapman and Nathan Eovaldi after the filing deadline but before a hearing in 2016. Seems Betances was a special case because the two sides were far apart. As always, I’d bet against a hearing. They’re uncommon and both sides try to avoid them.

Saturday, February 23rd: Grapefruit League play begins The Yankees open their 32-game exhibition schedule with a road game against the (groan) defending World Series champion Red Sox. They play their spring home opener two days later against the Blue Jays in Tampa. The Yankees have not yet announced their reporting dates (those are usually announced in mid-November), but, based on the last few years, pitchers and catchers will report ten days before the Grapefruit League opener (Wednesday, February 13th) and position players will report six days before the Grapefruit League opener (Sunday, February 17th).

Thursday, March 28th: Opening Day! The 2019 regular season beings on March 28th — actually, it begins March 20th in Tokyo, where the Athletics and Mariners are scheduled to play their first two games of the season — and the Yankees will be at home to take on the Orioles. The home opener was snowed out last year and twice in the last three years. I really hope that doesn’t happen again.

Fan Confidence Poll: October 29th, 2018

Source: https://bloghyped.com/the-yankees-and-the-2018-19-offseason-calendar/

[flauntpage]

Your Monday Morning Roundup

The weekend began with blowouts for the Phillies before things got better on Sunday.

The Brewers scored 12 runs on 13 hits in each of their two wins over the Phils on Friday and Saturday. Ryan Braun homered twice Friday night, while Ji-Man Choi recorded his first ever grand slam off Luis Garcia on Saturday.

So with Zach Eflin on the mound yesterday afternoon, the Phils avoided an embarrassing sweep with a 4-3 win. Eflin led the way with a nine strikeout performance. The Phillies scored all of their runs Sunday on either walks or plays that resulted in an out. So the offense, which recorded four hits, is still struggling.

The miserable road trip out west continued at home this weekend. After a hot start to the season, are the Phillies falling back to Earth? Rhys Hoskins came back Saturday and hit a three-run homer, which was the second best thing to happen this weekend for the team. Other than that, it wasn’t fun.

Well except for the reunion of the 1993 team sans Dutch, Lenny Dykstra, and Jim Fregosi. Curt Schilling, a former teammate of Gabe Kapler when they were with the Red Sox, still keeps in touch with the current Phillies manager:

Schilling says the two have texted each other frequently this season.

“I have been texting him all year, back and forth, been in his ear a little bit and trying to find from my side what it is like and what he is going through,” Schilling said.

Kapler was second-guessed in his first game as manager when he pulled Aaron Nola with a 5-0 lead, a runner on second and one out in the sixth inning after the righthander had thrown just 68 pitches in an eventual 8-5 loss to the Braves.

“I was laughing because I am a pitcher and I was offended when he went out there and took his pitcher out after five or six innings,” said Schilling, a noted workhorse who had 83 career complete games. “But he is never going to make the same mistake twice, and I think that is a huge thing. He is accountable.”

The Phils have a day off today to regroup. They’ll start a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park Tuesday night. After that, they’ll see the Brewers again, but this time in Milwaukee.

In two weeks, the team will play in Washington against the Nationals. For some reason, the game was picked for Sunday Night Baseball:

The Phillies-Nats game on June 24 has been picked for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. It’ll be the Phillies’ first time on since April 21, 2013.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) June 10, 2018

Before we continue, a word from our sponsors:

Legal. Check out Krasno, Krasno and Onwudinjo when you need a workers’ compensation or social security attorney.

True friend of the crown. It’s Phillies season. Shop now.

Fresh. The best meal delivery service, without question. Sign up for Hello Fresh now and get $40 off your first two boxes.

Amazon. If you shop Amazon, support your favorite website and use our link.

The Roundup:

The Sixers can finally move on from “Collargate.” They’ll have a number of draft prospects coming in today, including Miles Bridges and Lonnie Walker IV. Mikal Bridges will workout for the team tomorrow.

Kevin dives into prospects the team might take with the 26th pick.

Some final “Collargate” stuff. Woj mentioned Bryan Colangelo wanted to get rid of Brett Brown and replace him with either Mike D’Antoni or Jay Wright. What if.

The big question is who will replace the man with the big collars? Brett Brown will assume Colangelo’s role until a permanent GM is found.

Speaking of Bryan Long Collars, Game of Zones and the Malamut brothers did a great job of mocking him and the entire burner account saga.

There’s video of Markelle Fultz shooting on his back, which matches what “Still Balling” tweeted out.

Finally, Joel Embiid is officially on LeBron recruiting mode:

Trust The Process!!!! Find a new slant @KingJames

— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) June 9, 2018

The Eagles are off today, but start mandatory minicamp tomorrow, which runs through Thursday. They had some fun this weekend at the Kenny Chesney concert:

.@Eagles Doug Pederson hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in front of a sold out Kenny Chesney concert is EVERYTHING #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/BrFcq4LBey

— Cindy Webster (@CindyWeb94) June 10, 2018

Super Bowl Champion Doug Pederson leading an EAGLES chant because he’s the GOAT pic.twitter.com/rPdakVzHVJ

— Drew Corrigan (@Dcorrigan50) June 10, 2018

So much for the team “abandoning their fans” last week. Stupid politics.

Everyone on the team wants to win another Super Bowl, including Brandon Graham, who enters this season on the final year of his current contract.

One of the new guys on the team is wide receiver Mike Wallace. He’s in love with the playbook:

“There’s enough to go around for everybody,” Wallace said. “So that’s what makes it great. It’s not just one guy do this. … Just studying my playbook, I got excited. I can see why they score so many points. The type of plays they have, it’s hard for us to learn, so I know it’s going to be hard for defenses to stop.”

Wallace added that the Eagles can put “anybody in any spot,” and coach Doug Pederson is fond of mixing personnel. Look for that to continue this season with the depth the Eagles have assembled on offense. There will be times when they play heavier packages with two tight ends after the addition of Dallas Goedert. They can spread teams out with four wide receivers. They can use multiple running backs, with Darren Sproles as a chess piece. It’s not just one player.

Rasul Douglas had an up-and-down rookie season. He thinks he’s gotten better, but so has the entire cornerback group:

“It’s just hard,” Douglas said this week about the crowded corner situation. “We all come here with the same goals to compete, and be the guys who play a lot of snaps, but we all don’t use that as a model of [hoping the other guy fails]. We all talk to each other. We’re all tight friends — we do everything together, play video games together, watch film. We’re a family.

“I feel like every spot is open right now. … You’ve got to show the coaches you can play, and that you understand everything mentally. Physically, we’re all in the league for a reason. Mentally, can you sustain the playbook, can you be a guy we can depend on to make plays and be the same person every day?”

Schwartz indicated recently that he sees Douglas as an outside corner. There has been talk that Darby could be traded, but if he is, Jones might have the inside track on replacing him, and Mills seems to have a firm grip on the other outside spot.

“I like myself outside, but I can play anything – I can play safety; I can play corner, nickel — it doesn’t really matter,” Douglas said. “I think [Schwartz] has given everybody a chance at practice one day to play the nickel spot.” Douglas acknowledged that smaller, shiftier players are more likely choices there.

Could the Eagles be interested in two players that might enter the NFL Supplemental Draft?

A big guest is coming on the next episode of Snow the Goalie!

I'm happy to announce that our guest on this week's edition of the #SnowTheGoalie podcast, part of the @CrossingBroad radio network, will be @NHLFlyers general manager Ron Hextall.

Have any questions for Hexy?

Shoot them to me and my co-host @JoyOnBroad

— AntSanPhilly (@AntSanPhilly) June 10, 2018

Could the Flyers target center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, one of the top centers in the NHL Draft, as a option by trading up?

In other sports news, the Golden State Warriors won their second straight NBA championship and third title in four years after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in what could be LeBron’s last game with the Cavs. Kevin Durant was named Finals MVP for the second year in a row.

Justify won the Belmont Stakes and became the 13th Triple Crown winner in history and the second in four years. Bob Baffert won his second Triple Crown. But did one of his other horses block competitors to help Justify win?

Sports betting has begun in Delaware and might begin in New Jersey soon. Here are guides for how to spend your money on sports.

In the news, flooding across the city forced I-76 eastbound to shut down earlier today.

We’re a day away from the monumental summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.

At the Tony Awards, Robert De Niro said this:

Robert De Niro provided a memorable moment at the #Tonys when he walked on stage and said "F*** Trump!"…twice pic.twitter.com/tDit5pYHo0

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) June 11, 2018

The post Your Monday Morning Roundup appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Your Monday Morning Roundup published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[flauntpage]

Your Wednesday Morning Roundup

The Phillies played 15 innings with the Miami Marlins. They won 9-8 on a Nick Williams walkoff double.

Speaking of their young core, Rhys Hoskins did the thing again. Twice.

Nos. 15 and 16 for No. 17.

( … In *just* career game No. 32.) http://pic.twitter.com/OScNQufbBh

— Phillies (@Phillies) September 13, 2017

Here’s some interesting Rhys stats:

At Bats needed for 16 career homers Babe Ruth – 368 Hank Aaron – 536 Barry Bonds – 378 RHYS HOSKINS – 112

— Matt Breen (@matt_breen) September 13, 2017

Phillies with more HR than Hoskins: Tommy Joseph 21, Maikel Franco, 20. MLB games they've played in 2017: Joseph 131, Franco 137, Hoskins 32

— Ryan Lawrence (@ryanlawrence21) September 13, 2017

Rhys Hoskins in 32 games:

16 HRs, 34 RBIs

Projects over 162 games:

81 HRs, 172 RBIs

#Phillies⚾️ http://pic.twitter.com/7bwheNDp3C

— John Clark CSN/NBC (@JClarkCSN) September 13, 2017

Nick Williams, who also joined MLB Tonight after the win, believes Hoskins is an alien, and Hoskins is fine with that:

Nick Williams on Rhys Hoskins:"He's an alien" Hoskins on Williams comments:"Guy is pretty good too, so I guess we can be alien friends".

— Jon Johnson (@jonjohnsonwip) September 13, 2017

The lineup was one that we could see come 2018, with a move or two in the infield. JP Crawford started at second base before moving to third in place of Maikel Franco.

Meanwhile, Nick Pivetta continues to struggle. He pitched five innings and gave up seven runs on eight hits while striking out four. He needs more work.

Phils-Fish again tonight. Aaron Nola for the Phils against Miami’s Dan Straily.

The roundup:

The Phillies and the Atlanta Braves joined forces to make special accommodations for Marlin families:

The Braves provided tickets to the Six Flags and Stone Mountain amusement parks and the World of Coca-Cola museum, along with free tickets to the games at SunTrust Park. When the Marlins arrived in the visiting clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday, they found a stack of complimentary tickets to the Franklin Institute, the Adventure Aquarium and the Philadelphia Zoo. Reliever Brad Ziegler said the Phillies also told the Marlins players they would be providing catered postgame food for family members.

“The Braves and Phillies have been unbelievable,” Ziegler said. “The Braves gave us a letter when we got there, and it basically said, ‘We’re sorry for the circumstances you’re in and we’re going to make your stay as comfortable as possible.’ They were extremely generous. It was right in line with Southern, Georgia hospitality.”

They also unveiled their 2018 schedule:

Mark your calendars!

We open the 2018 season in Atlanta 198 days from now: https://t.co/ahE8gOjOfI http://pic.twitter.com/zPDZEUBJsd

— Phillies (@Phillies) September 12, 2017

They might play the Mets in Williamsport as part of the MLB’s Little League Classic on August 19.

—

Turning to the Eagles, who made a number of moves yesterday:

IN: T Victor Salako, CB De’Vante Bausby (a former Kansas City Chief), K Jake Elliott OUT: CB C.J. Smith, WR Greg Ward IR: K Caleb Sturgis

With Sturgis on injured reserve, that means he’ll have to miss at least the next eight games, and he may have lost his job if Elliott can perform well in his absence. If not, he can be activated from IR after eight games and will be the first of the team’s two players they can take off of IR.

How did the local and national media react to the season opening win?

Kevin detailed the Eagles and their use of the “bubble screen.”

http://pic.twitter.com/hlTtUpULlR

— Chris Jastrzembski (@CFJastrzembski) September 10, 2017

Jim Schwartz isn’t trying to overthrow Doug Pederson’s reign as head coach.

It’s never too early to preview Big Red’s Kansas City Chiefs.

Also, former Eagles Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb, Ricky Watters, Terrell Owens, Eric Allen, Brian Dawkins, and former head coach Dick Vermeil were named nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018.

—

Sixers head coach Brett Brown thinks the next step in Joel Embiid’s development is his consistency to play top-tier basketball in the NBA.

Small forward Robert Covington was 55th in ESPN’s top 100 player rankings.

Stats & Info: You can make a case that no truly impact player flies under the radar more than Covington. Though he was named on just nine of 99 media ballot for All-Defense consideration, Covington led all non-bigs in Defensive Real Plus-Minus last season and, according to RPM’s wins metric, ranked among the 35 most valuable players in the league. Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz and even JJ Redick will likely get more attention, but Covington is just as important to Philadelphia’s mission of making the playoffs in 2017-18.

Covington joins JJ Redick (87), Markelle Fultz (86) and Ben Simmons (84) on the list. The top 50 isn’t out yet, so hence no Embiid.

—

Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth is a new father.

Meanwhile, the Flyers have their rookie game tonight against the Islanders at the Wells Fargo Center.

One of those guys that’ll make an appearance is goaltender Alex Lyon, who is looking to take advantage of Anthony Stolarz’s injury and become the top netminder in Lehigh Valley.

Speaking of the Flyers, we have a new Flyers reporter:

Very excited to announce that Anthony SanFilippo @AntSanPhilly will be covering the Flyers for us this year.

— Kyle Scott (@CrossingBroad) September 12, 2017

—

Villanova announced their complete 2017-18 schedule, with all but one of their home games being held at the Wells Fargo Center. Josh Hart already has his season prediction:

Taking bets now‼️ #BigEastChamps #5inARow #NovaNation http://pic.twitter.com/UCZ2BCIin0

— Josh Hart (@joshhart) September 12, 2017

Philadelphia is getting an indoor lacrosse team once again.

—

In other sports news, Charles Oakley still hates James Dolan.

The Cleveland Indians won their 20th straight game, tying an American League record.

Kobe Bryant will have both of his Lakers numbers retired later in December against the Warriors.

ESPN is having a great week so far!

ESPN Statement on Jemele Hill: http://pic.twitter.com/3kfexjx9zQ

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 12, 2017

Hill tweeted that President Donald Trump was a white supremacist. Think before you tweet.

Kyle: ESPN has no idea what they’re doing. First they give people platforms ostensibly to share their views – which in this case might not be all that far from the truth – and then they disavow that view if it doesn’t poll well with their Middle America audience that they’ve already pissed off by putting that person on-air in the first place. Just own what you do and stop trying to toe the line.

Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 11, 2017

40-year-old Stephon Marbury hopes to make an NBA comeback later this season after wrapping up his Chinese Basketball Association season. He last played in the NBA back in 2009.

It's time to combine. My next move is the best move. Working on the come back to the #nba http://pic.twitter.com/TaWjqwwekF

— I AM PEACE STAR (@StarburyMarbury) September 12, 2017

Jon Jones’ B-sample has turned positive after failing his drug test while fighting Daniel Cormier at UFC 214.

Even though Sergio Dipp dominated Twitter Monday night and Tuesday morning, you probably missed out on Jim Mora:

Jim Mora Da Gawd http://pic.twitter.com/v0BAGgDl3i

— Andrew (@bamamerl) September 12, 2017

From reader Alex, Andy Reid went back to the pickle juice last Thursday:

@CrossingBroad how about Big Red going with the pickle juice again on Thursday night? From MMQB… http://pic.twitter.com/O2zhqSPanZ

— Alex Mercer (@amercer002) September 11, 2017

—

In the news, Apple has unveiled many of their new products in time for the holidays, especially the new iPhones.

Alligators are probably on the loose in Florida.

Interesting…

Coming soon. Follow us here and on instagram at @ScaramucciPost. http://pic.twitter.com/4eNXUPbk9N

— ScaramucciPost (@ScaramucciPost) September 13, 2017

  Your Wednesday Morning Roundup published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

[flauntpage]

Here’s What To Look For Now That The Phillies Are Watchable

2,162 days.

That’s how much time had passed between Ryan Howard crumpling on the first base line at Citizen’s Bank Park after making the final out of that soul-crushing 1-0 loss in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS, and last night. The way I figure it, that’s also how long it’s been since Phillies fans could tune in and watch a game with some type of rational hope. Last night just happened to mark the Major League debut of J.P. Crawford.

Speaking of which…

JP Crawford's first major league hit @jp_crawford http://pic.twitter.com/PDCpgHudU8

— chris jones¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@LONG_DRIVE) September 6, 2017

Look, I have no idea if Crawford, Jorge Alfaro and Rhys Hoskins will be stars. That’s not my focus here. What I do know, is that I don’t have to watch any more lineups filled with has-been placeholders or low-to-no ceiling prospects keeping seats warm until competence arrives. No more bulk of the playing time going to the Jeff Francoeurs, Grady Sizemores and Michael Saunders of the world. Finally.

In fact, the Phillies were a Hyun soo-Kim away from fielding a fun and intriguing lineup from top to bottom last night. Literally.

Ben Lively with two hits, 4 RBI, and an opposite field crank off Jake deGrom? Sure, what the hell, why not?

Anyway, the past six years have been brutal. From 2012 to 2014, the team’s front office was too inept, or too loyal, to recognize that the house was burning around them. By the time they finally figured out what everyone else already seemed to know, it would require another three years before any optimism would return. And now here we are. Last night, a 9-1 pantsing of the Mets in which the Phillies’ revamped offense beat the piss out of Jacob deGrom, is the line of demarcation to the next step–wherever it may lead. What we do know is that this roster now has enough intrigue, youth, and potential to make watching the Phillies a palatable endeavor over the final 24 games. Here’s a viewing guide:

1. JP Crawford- Will Crawford flash the plus defense, advanced plate discipline, and contact tools that made him one of the game’s most highly regarded prospects over the past few years, or will he be the player who spent almost an entire calendar year fledgling offensively at Lehigh Valley before coming to life over the past two months? Here’s the good news: While Crawford only hit .243 this season at AAA, he still led the International League with 79 walks. Even when he’s not at his best, the 22-year-old knows how to grind through at-bats and get on base at an above average rate. His ability to bounce back and work through adversity is another reason for optimism. He hit .287/.385/.513 with nine homers in the 51 games before his promotion. It’s not a make-or-break month for Crawford, but a nice finish would go a long way to easing doubts. It would also be a big middle finger from Crawford to Baseball America, which dropped him to 92 in their most recent prospect rankings. And that would be fun.

2. Rhys Hoskins- Much has been written about Hoskins’ impact. Expect the home run pace to slow. There’s no chance he’ll continue to go deep once every 7.58 ABs. Consider this: 36.4% of the fly balls that he’s hit over his first 26 games have resulted in home runs (his rate was only 18.2% at AAA). He’ll regress. Still, he makes contact on over 90% percent of his swings in the strike zone, hits to all fields, and has demonstrated good patience at the plate given that he’s drawn walks in 14.3% percent of his PAs. After going 2-for-3 with a double and two walks last night to raise his OPS 1.195, I’m not sure the guy is human at this point. He’s been a machine.

3. The Outfield- I like Odubel Herrera. I also like Nick Williams and Aaron Altherr. I think all three players are intriguing future options for the Phillies, but I’m not sure that all three will be around next season or beyond. Hoskins looks to have legit power at first base, but where else is the power coming from? Will the Phillies be content with a Williams/Herrera/Altherr outfield that has an upside of 60-65 homers? I’m not so sure about that. And if they’re not, who is the odd man out?

4. The Rotation- The Phillies’ rotation is a mess. Aaron Nola is locked in for 2018. Can the team say with confidence that any other guy to take the ball this season is a certified lock for the rotation in next season? There are the more established guys like Jerad Eickhoff and Vince Velasquez, both of whom have struggled with productivity and staying healthy this season. They’ll have the inside track, but there’s no guarantees there. Then there are the lesser-knowns, like Nick Pivetta, Ben Lively, Mark Leiter, and Jake Thompson. They’ve all been extremely inconsistent. They will get another 4-5 starts to make their cases for next year, though.

5. Pete Mackanin and staff-  Everyone is on board with keeping Brett Brown with the Sixers, so I guess it’s only fair that Mackanin gets a shot to stick around as the Phillies get better. The players and front office like Mackanin, but he hasn’t shown that he can be either a great leader or an outstanding tactician. If Mackanin does survive, there’s no way the entire staff comes back. The Phillies weren’t supposed to compete for the worst record in baseball this season. Maybe a strong September changes things, but it’s probable that someone will pay for that.

Here’s What To Look For Now That The Phillies Are Watchable published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv