Starting pitching prospect Zach Eflin will make his MLB debut in a start against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury writes. He takes the place of Vincent Velasquez, who’s headed to the DL with a biceps injury that is not expected to be serious. The 22-year-old Eflin was in the midst of a fine season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, with a 2.90 ERA, 7.2 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9. MLB.com lists Eflin as the Phillies’ 13th-best prospect, praising his low-90s sinker and ability to get ground balls. As MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki notes (on Twitter), the timing of Eflin’s promotion coincides with the White Sox’ decision to designate Jimmy Rollins for assignment. The Phillies acquired Eflin from the Dodgers (along with another minor leaguer, Tom Windle) for Rollins in 2014. Here’s more from Philadelphia.
- Tommy Joseph hit two homers in the Phillies’ loss last night to the Nationals, celebrating manager Pete Mackanin’s official decision to make him the team’s first baseman ahead of Ryan Howard, Salisbury writes. “I can’t say enough about Tommy Joseph,” Mackanin said. “I talked to Ryan today and told him, ‘I’ve got to go with Tommy Joseph right now.’ I can’t sit Tommy Joseph. I can’t justify not playing the guy.” Mackanin added that he would look for opportunities for Howard to pinch-hit and spot start. Joseph now has seven home runs in his first 69 plate appearances with the Phillies. Howard’s decline has been amply chronicled, but this season has been his worst ever, with a .150/.213/.346 line in 169 plate appearances. The Phillies still owe him the remainder of his $25MM 2016 salary, plus a $10MM buyout on his 2017 option.
- The Phillies had the best Friday of any team in the draft, MLB.com’s Jim Callis writes. With the first pick of Day Two, they grabbed Cole Stobbe, a Trevor Story-like shortstop who Callis thinks was the best position player who was signable and who made it through Day One. Callis also lists the Giants, Indians, Cardinals and Athletics as teams who did well on Day Two.
Apparently Stobbe has signed: neprepzone.com/baseball/millard-west-s-cole-stobbe…
That is crazy the Phillies for this season will be paying Ryan Howard what will amount to $35 million.
That’s the price they pay for thinking he would keep it up.
Obviously they could have never seen the injury he had in 2011 (I believe) coming.. But I mean usually guys typically like Howard, big power high strikeouts low OBP and AVG don’t trend in a good
direction moving into their 30’s.
They were buying him based on his
past prime which you can’t deny was awesome. He was a great player but he isn’t anymore. Pitchers know how to pitch to him and they have for a while. Every team has made mistakes with bad contracts. This is the Phillies mistake.
No, that’s the price you pay for stupidity. I’ve said it several times already but the Phillies paid Howard what they did, when they did, because they thought they were smarter than everyone else. Under Amaro’s GMship they were always first, setting the market—and usually incorrectly. They overpaid Howard because they thought he’d get $200M when he, Pujols and Fielder were all free agents at the same time. They thought they were smarter than everyone when they traded Lee, when they signed Ibanez, and the list goes on. The Phillies management can be blamed for almost all of Howard’s issues, including his Achilles injury. Why? Because two months before he tore it he had a mild sprain in his ankle, but instead of letting him sit and letting it heal—during a season in which they were running away with the division and wouldn’t have missed him that much—they gave him a couple cortisone shots, which notoriously weaken ligaments and tendons. Two months later he tears it. Hmm…coincidence? The Phillies got everything the asked for with Howard, bot the good and bad.
Clearly you misunderstand, I was putting it nicely. What the Phillies did was stupid.
They bought him for his prime and that wasn’t smart. They also could not have foreseen his injury but as I stated. Guys like Howard typically fall off and he did and shouldn’t have been paid because the Phillies should have known better but they didn’t and are paying for it. Literally
Gotta love the fans who can see the future… before it happens… in 100% clarity. Give me a break to the haters. Its 2010… Pulujos and Fielder are about to set the market… everyone everywhere was saying how the three of them were going to get between 27-32mil per year.. the kicker was for how many years it would be… that was what the bidding was at. 2010… is also when the steroid era was phasing out. Those 3 were the only ones to still hitting 45+ homers a year (maybe a few exceptions here and there)… they were true power hitters. As if the Phillies weren’t going to extend a player like him …. in the midst of their championship runs… they had Halladay, Lee, and Hamels…. 3 aces. keeping a guy like howard locked up, even if he declined was a no brainer… No one saw the injury coming, and no one saw the sharp decline coming.. If you did, youre full of it. The phillies gambled and got burnt….but in the end they FO did the right thing. Anyone who says otherwise is speaking from hindsight. Obviously the best move would have been to let him walk in 2012.. but no one was thinking he’d stink that bad, that fast. Everyone wanted to keep winning, and he was the “big piece” afterall. Its crazy the hate the howard and the phillies FO gets for this move.. The haters must be new aged fans, because I can remmeber everyone complaining that the phillies never spent like a top 5 market team..well they finally did. I’d of done the same under the same conditions.
Dudes been stealing money since he signed the contract extension
Is it his fault they gave him an extension two years early? Is it his fault he tore his achilles? The Phillies are just as culpable.
Ryan Howard, is that you?
That’s the price to pay for someone sitting on da bench lol awful contract
Cant wait to see Eflin!