Odubel Herrera is taking a couple hacks this afternoon. He struck out in his first st bat, but seems in good spirits.
Odubel Herrera back at it today
Philadelphia Phillies
Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez Make Rehab Appearances in Minor League Game
Guess I just got lucky, went to the first minor league game of the season and managed to catch both Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez making rehab appearances. I saw Odubel made 3 at bats and Hernandez 2 (they may have batted more, but as I was covering 2 games-They may have batted more.) Neither played the field.
Many times in minor league spring games, rehabbing major leaguers will bat at the top of every inning until they get their work done.
Bryce Harper Takes Batting Practice And Signs Autographs Before Phillies Debut
Hello Fans!
I managed to get my hands on a much-coveted ticket to today’s game where Bryce Harper will Make his Phillies debut. It’s a sell-out!
I got in as soon as the gates opened and managed to get to see Harper take 2 at bats before heading into the locker room.
Afterwards they lead him out through the Hooters Diamond Dugout to avoid the crowd.
He did come to sign for those of us standing there…I didn’t ask since I got one Thursday..but I did say to him, “Hey, Bryce thanks for the autograph on Thursday, I really appreciate it!” He stopped, looked to see who said that, met my eyes and said, “you’re welcome, glad to.”
He’s defiantly not “who they said he is”. He’s thoughtful and appreciative to his fans. So much better than I could have expected.
2019 Phillies Minor League Roster Released
I am happy to finally be able to post the 2019 Phillies Minor League Roster. Unlike previous years, there is no division by “workgroup”. Historically, each workgroup would signify what team each player could end up on. Since Kapler has become manager, there are no longer workgroups and just the one issue of the list. Any releases will be hard to track.
So here it is:
The Side Of Bryce Harper You Don’t Hear Much About
“He’s arrogant!” “He’s such a jerk, flipping his hair!” Don’t forget the famous quote, “That’s a clown question.”
That’s the sort of impression you get from the media about Bryce Harper. To be honest, I wasn’t that thrilled at the prospect of getting Harper, I mean who needs that kind of attitude? I was happy for what he could do for us, but that attitude? What I’ve witnessed over the last few days seems very much different from what I thought Bryce Harper was like.
Today, was something 180° from the “image” the image media foists on him. The Harper I saw was soft-spoken, thoughtful and giving of his time.
Harper took live BP off of several minor league pitchers on Roberts field. Video of Harper vs Trevor Bettincourt is HERE. Harper vs Addison Russ is HERE. After each pitcher finished his set, Harper went over, shook their hand and told them what they did well or if there was something that could be improved. He was generous with his knowledge and time.
This doesn’t sound like the guy the media told us he was…does it? He seems so invested in making everyone around him better. That’s not the “selfish jerk” image that was given to him. It’s ANYTHING BUT.  I always try to believe the best in everyone which is why I went into the whole Harper thing this week with an open mind. At the press conference to introduce him to the team he said everything you’d want your new franchise player to say. Then to see him today, spending time and sharing knowledge with these young, up and coming pitchers…that’s class. It’s pure class.
After practice, there were may be 15 people there waiting for autographs, myself included. He came and signed for everyone. I told him, “Thank you for coming to Philadelphia, we are glad to have you here.” He looked at the ball he signed for me and said, “Same.” A simple, one word answer that was soft and unassuming. He simply is glad to be here. What more do you need?
I think my favorite story of the day, however, is this one. Standing next to me was this man. he was there with his baby. A year ago his wife gave Harper the sonogram to show her husband and that’s how she told him they were expecting! He had the picture from last year on a poster…
It was the greatest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Before you ask, Harper did sign the little guy’s jersey for his bedroom wall. Just one more bit of proof that Harper is NOT what they want you to think he is, he actually is what we need him to be, a decent soft spoken leader that is kind and respectful to the fans that love him. Welcome to Philly, Bryce, welcome to Philly.
Bryce Harper takes Live BP
Harper is getting ready to take live BP…stay tuned to my twitter for live feed…
The Good and Bad Today-Bryce Harper Edition
Well, we got to the Carpenter Complex and hoped to see Bruce Harper taking BP with the minor leaguers or in the stadium again today. Sadly, the field conditions were poor due to a strong thunderstorm overnight so all practice was limited.
Story was that Harper walked over from the stadium, ate breakfast at Carpenter with the minor leaguers and worked out back at Spectrum Field.
He did not appear again until he left, though with my long lens I managed to snag a picture:
Baseball Ross and I then headed to the ticket office and snagged some of the last tickets for Harper’s debut as a Phillie on Saturday!
Then I got the last Harper shirtzey in my size!
So while I didn’t get the autograph I wanted to see BP, I did get a shirtzey and tickets to the debut…so all in all it was a good day!
Bryce Harper Signs with the Phillies and Why It’s More than Adding Talent
I’m glad it’s over. This “will he or won’t he” baloney. While I think, in the end, it’s going to be a good fit, theres more to this than just adding talent.
Let me take you back, just a bit. Baseball Ross and I started coming to Spring Training back in 2007, the year before the Phillies would go on to win the World Series. That year and the spring of 2008, there was very little in crowd control at the Carpenter Complex. No fences around the dugouts, no screen behind the catcher between the fields so you could really see everything the pitchers were doing. There were no “Phillies Personnel Only” signs on the fences. There wasn’t a need. There weren’t a ton of fans. I remember walking right up to the players and getting autographs and not needing to wait long to get them. I actually started to get to know some of the guys at least at a “Hi, how are you” level.
Then in 2009, it all changed. The fans turned out in droves. It was crowded. I still was able to get autographs, but a lot of that still depended on the fact that the guys still recognized me. Heck, we bought a condo that year and I missed a game and Cole Hamels called me out and asked me where I was since I wasn’t “there on Tuesday”.
The Phillies were on a run. The crowds came, more security measures were in place. You had to get to the Carpenter Complex early or you’d have a long walk to get there.
Then the dark years. The team struggled. They didn’t pick up a lot in free agency. They were picking up older, journeymen type players. They lost Jayson Werth, Roy Halladay gets injured and retires. Cliff Lee gets hurt and can’t finish his contract. They trade Cole Hamels. Charlie Manuel gets fired then Ruben Amarro, Jr, gets fired. It was the beginning of a downward spiral into mediocrity that left the stands with more and more free space. There was nothing spurring the crowds to come out.
I believe that a lot of it was fans losing faith in the fact that season after season, free agents would become available and we were never in the hunt. We would end up with a pitcher that showed up into camp overweight and out of shape and not pitching very well at all and we were supposed to get excited by that?
This season, with Manny Machado and Bryce Harper both becoming free agents, I looked at it with a jaundiced eye. Why get my hopes up? I mean, every year for the last 5 or 6 years, at least, I’d gotten my hopes up that we’d get that spark plug that one guy who would give us the kick in the butt we needed to really contend and we never did. Then there was a whisper, more of a shout when they said we are going to spend “stupid money” this year.
There was talk of both Harper and Machado, then adding may be Dallas Keuchel. I never believed in that. History told me that much. I was pretty sure we’d get a guy that had been in the league 10 years, played on 6 teams and would break down by May.
Then the whispers that something BIG was going to happen…and as I was expecting, Machado signed with the Padres. How the heck could a team like the Padres get Machado? Attention turned to Harper. When he didn’t sign by last Wednesday (the rumored date) I felt like it was over.
Then Friday, owner John Middleton flew on his private jet to meet Harper. I was skeptically hopeful. Then the weekend ended and there was no deal. My heart sank. Then word leaked out that the Giants and Dodgers were in the mix and one of the writers in the “know” said that the Phillies were out and there was no way that Harper would sign with an East Coast Team. I was on the way to accepting that this was going to be just another year that I was stupid enough to get my hopes up just to get let down again.
In fact, I’ll admit it, last night I even posted that I was over all the “BS” that I just didn’t want to deal with it. If he really was going to sign he would.
Then today, Baseball Ross and I elected to go to the Phillies game against the Jays here in Dunedin. The two biggest reasons being that with a split squad, they sent the majority of the minor league guys that we are friends with to Dunedin and secondly, we could walk to the game.
It was somewhere around the sixth inning, off to my left, a crowd of people started hooting and cheering…we couldn’t hear what they were saying we actually thought there might be a fight starting in the stands. Then one man stood up and shouted, “The Phillies signed Harper! We got him, boys!’ Given the fact he sounded like he’d been drinking and was college age, I thought he was trying to prank us. 2 minutes later my phone beeped, “Phillies reach deal with Harper”.
He wasn’t pranking us.
You could hear phones beeping, pinging and whistling all over the stands. Harpermania was beginning. It was funny, it may have been because it was like 78* and sitting in the sun could have been too much, or more likely the Harper signing, but soon the stadium (especially on the Phillies side) started emptying out.
As I’ve started to digesting the whole event, I’ve come to realize something…
It’s not about Bryce Harper. Not really. It’s about the Front Office saying “we are going to spend the money it takes” to get a player that will help the team. It could have been Machado…but the fact that they pulled out all the stops to get the biggest free agent in the game..that is what the real “big deal” is. It’s that they have finally come to the realization that you have to make that dramatic move, take the leap of faith and not “settle” but to push hard to get what you and the fans want.
Last season, the Phillies finished 2 games under .500. With the addition of Segura, Realmuto and Harper, the talking heads on the MLB Network are projecting a WAR that would give us 97 wins. It’s been a while since we’ve gone into a season with a realistic expectation of 97 wins.
Will it happen? Frankly, in my opinion, it doesn’t matter (well it does, but not as much as this:) the front office didn’t settle, they said they were going to fight to get the best available player and then did it. They have shown they are not going to settle for sub .500 ball.
In the end, Harper ended up impressing me, with his no trade, no opt-out addition to the contract saying that “he wants to end his career with this contract.” To me that means he’s “all in” and isn’t going to play anything less than all out. I mean he knows his career will end with the Phillies so he’s going to make the most of it.
And I hope he does…
Odubel Herrera Leaves Practice With “Slight Left Hamstring Strain”-Picture
I was making my rounds today and was watching the infielders practice running the bases. First time, I took video, second, stills.
It was during the second time around the bases when I noticed Odubel Herrera pull up short and tender as he came into third. I have that still picture below:
He walked around gingerly for a moment but as I focused in on the others who were running home, I realized he hadn’t continued on and “disappeared.”
During the afternoon presser, Kapler referred to it as a “slight left hamstring strain”. Herrera had reportedly been bothered by it earlier and and had an MRI that showed no damage.
With the injury, this could leave an opening for either Roman Quinn or Mickey Moniak as Moniak was added to the 40 man roster this season. Moniak has been hitting well as camp opened.
Scenes from Phillies Spring Training-February 15, 2019
It was a beautiful but windy day today here in Clearwater. Ross and I started the day a little late and dropped into batting practice at Spectrum Field.
We managed to catch the last group batting. In this group were Mickey Moniak, Austin Listi and Mitch Walding.
Mitch Walding looks on as Mickey Moniak bats
I have video of Mickey Moniak HERE.
Then we went over to the carpenter complex and saw Jojo Romero pitching to Scott Kingery.
Scott Kingery
Shortly after we arrived, the Major League camp broke for the day so we waited until 1:30 for the minor league players who have reported early to come out. For me, this is my favorite part of spring training, I know a lot of these guys and it’s great to see my friends again.
I have video of Carlos De La Cruz take batting practice HERE and Jose Pujols HERE.
Alec Bohm
I watched Alec Bohm field and bat as well.
Finally, we got to catch Jose Pujols bat. He hit one off the score board and hit a few more out of the park.
It was a good day, although a long one. Hope to be back at it tomorrow.
Baseball Betsy 