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We all know that guy who sits down outside the stadium, hat in hand, hating everything, hope destroyed. It's Monday. Don't be that guy. Here's some Phillies news that might actually lift your spirits.
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First win of the season!
They did it!
A subsequent win to the first one!
They did it again! Against the NL champs, no less!
The home opener!
Is it just another loss, but this time played in front of people who are hoping the Phillies don't lose?
Brett Oberholtzer's first bullpen appearance!
You can't come trotting into the game wearing the same number as Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee and not impress someone for a little bit! Once Charlie Morton was yanked out of his start vs. the Reds on April 7, and Daniel Stumpf came in to walk two guys and allow two runs, Oberholtzer entered the game and threw 3.1 innings of barely bad baseball, striking out five and only getting tagged for the one run from a dinger by Jay Bruce, who was dingering everybody that day anyway! Go Brett!
Well, I mean, no one has died or anything.
— Corinne (@crashlandrey) April 7, 2016
Maikel Franco's health!
Nobody liked the face Franco made when Ross Ohlendorf hit him with a pitch! But it turned out he was hit in the elbow and not his previously injured wrist! Hooray! We obviously will still invoke a revenge-demon to deal with Ohlendorf, but in the mean time, Franco appears to be okay!
Odubel Herrera coming through at the plate!
It didn't take a veteran scout to read Herrera's body language as the season began; his timing was off and he was doing everything but cartwheeling out of frustration in the batters box! But then, in the series opener against the Mets, he showed some real discipline with a man on third and a chance to tie the game! After forcing Jacob deGrom to throw him a real pitch, Herrera came through!
The first Phillies RBI with RISP!
Herrera's hard work at the plate got the Phillies past this weird threshold only four games into the season!
Jake Thompson and Adam Morgan are slaying!
Every single minor league affiliate of the Phillies opened their season with a loss, but two young hurlers refused to suck!
Adam Morgan aside from 8 K's through 4 innings, has laid down two perfect sacrifice bunts to advance the runner
— PorkCenter (@PorkCenter) April 8, 2016
Jake Thompson and Adam Morgan combined for 10 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 13 K. Rest of IronPigs (hitting and bullpen) off to slow start.
— Greg Joyce (@GJoyce9) April 8, 2016
David Hernandez saw an uptick in velocity!
I thought I heard someone say this!
Two Phillies minor league affiliates are considered awesome!
Not that we need the validation, but it helps, but MLB.com listed the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Reading Fightin' Phils as the 8th and 9th best minor league rosters in the sport. Obviously, the league had to give the Red Sox their obligatory tongue bath in the No. 1 spot, but no other franchise had more than team. Oops, sorry, I meant "no other franchise had more than team!"