Ben Lively has been named Eastern League pitcher of the week!
Reading's Ben Lively has been named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week after pitching 13 scoreless innings, with 11 strikeouts #phillies
— Mike Drago (@mldrago) April 25, 2016
When will one of these young pitchers not impress everyone?
Maikel Franco had a great weekend!
Franco got to Milwaukee looking to catch a hot streak. Three days later, he was the team leader in home runs with five.
Jerad Eickhoff didn't walk anyone!
Every time Eickhoff, Aaron Nola, or Vince Velasquez makes a start, two things happen: A lot of opposing batters strike out, and very few of them get free passes. In Eickhoff's last start, a game in which he gave up a bunch of runs, he still struck out seven and didn't allow any walks. On top of that, the Phillies bullpen didn't walk anyone either.
All of the young starters have been "tested!"
One of the only good things that comes from watching one of the young starters get rocked is that it teaches them that in baseball, nothing is ever okay. Whether this is a lesson they need to learn in each particular case, we;ll never know, but it's certainly a popular narrative.
In either case, with Eickhoff's bad inning on Sunday, Aaron Nola saw his fastball obliterated against the Nationals, and Vince Velasquez's follow-up to his 16-K game against the Padres did also not go well. So, to anyone who was waiting for the young players to get hit hard for the experience, hooray! They've all done it!
The Braves suck at hitting home runs!
My advice is that Atlanta should get a Maikel Franco of their own. He really hits a lot of home runs.
The Braves homerless streak is now at 13 games. Rick Porcello stands between them and the 2007 Angels' 14 game streak.
— Corinne (@crashlandrey) April 24, 2016
The offense is doing things!
The Phillies have actually gotten 25 runs to score in their past four games!
Nick Williams is about to go supernova!
We were warned of Williams' rising temperature at Lehigh Valley just days ago, with no immediate danger to humanity since he had yet to to hit a home run for the IronPigs. But after last night, everything changed.
The Phanatic turned 38!
The actual number of the Phanatic's age is meaningless, as he has been alive forever in the jungles of the Galapagos prior to being discovered by Harry Kalas and brought to Philadelphia in 1978. He will one day stand on the ashes of this city, thrusting suggestively. Until then, let his enthusiasm for .500 baseball infatuate you.
On this date in 1978, the world's greatest mascot made his debut. Enjoy some of the Phanatic's greatest moments!https://t.co/vu1hoRHJCe
— Phillies (@Phillies) April 25, 2016