6/30/23

Another post, another series win! Hell, a series sweep! The pitching definitely carried the Phils. They only gave up 7 runs, 6 of which were earned. Taijuan looks like the guy that we thought we were getting at the beginning of the season. Way to show up halfway through! His ERA in June is 1.50 which is insane but enter Ranger Suarez, who will throw a no hitter at some point. His ERA is 1.09. 1.09! And its not like he’s pitched against no one. The Nats, Dodgers, Braves, Dbacks and Cubs. Three of those teams have scary offenses and the Cubs can have a good offense but obviously not against Ranger. Aaron Nola had his typical “pseudo-ace” outing: 5 innings, 7 hits, 4 earned runs and two dingers. I know he pitched well in the playoffs (kind of) but this year is a contract year. He’s going to want $200 million plus and I’m not giving him that thus letting him walk. And if he’ll walk, Dombo might as well trade him at the deadline. To whom? Don’t know yet. I know he takes the ball every fifth day, gives you six-ish innings (almost) every start but he hasn’t pitched like a two/borderline one this season like we needed him to. Ideally, our rotation would be Wheeler, Suarez, Walker, Painter, bullpen. If/when we make the playoffs, we only need three to four starters and, do we trust Nola in the playoffs? I don’t. So why not trade him just to get something rather than nothing? Maybe he can go to the Cubs, and we get a guy like Kyle Hendricks? He’s got a 2.81 ERA and a WHIP of 0.96. The problem is, will the Cubs want Nola? Thankfully the pitching came through because Bryce is looking horrible. He hasn’t homered in over a month, and only 20 RBI. I’m going to give him a pass due to him having Tommy John and coming back in 6 months (the fastest ever) and having no real spring training or rehab. He just looks weaker than last year. He had a nice 2-run single last game but I need him to hit the ball over the fence. 7-3: That was pathetic. How do you score 19 runs in one game and score 5 runs the rest of the series? I’ll tell you: inconsistency. 7 runners left on Friday, 8 left on Sunday. Also, the defense did not help on Friday and Sunday. I know Ranger gave up that grand slam, but it doesn’t happen if Marsh can catch a fly ball. Adams grounded out, Hill reached on that error, then Thomas struck out. If Marsh catches that fly ball, it’s a totally different ballgame. On Friday, Sanchez gives up the two-run shot but Ruiz reached on the error by Turner (stop me if you’ve heard that “e” word before). There was only one out when the homer came but it would’ve been a 1-1 game. Sanchez, your 5^th starter, goes 6 innings, 7 hits, one earned run. If you get that from your 5^th starter, along with 3 shutout innings from your bullpen which has been good lately. But I digress. ONE RUN against the Nationals. The NATIONALS. Then you go and score 19 then crap the bed on Sunday with defense. The defense has, is and always will, be the Achilles heel. I’ll give Wheeler a pass on Saturday, I don’t care if he threw a complete game, the offense put up 19 runs. You don’t need your best stuff. But Ranger had one bad start, after a 1.08 ERA in June. He will be fine. So will Sanchez. I hope Thomson gives Marsh a day off for that. Its not the end of the world because the Mets actually won a series. Who would’ve thought?