Game Thread 7/28: Braves at Phillies

Please see the bottom for an important Jeremy Hellickson update, which makes almost everything I’ve written below irrelevant.

Tonight I’m going to forgo the normal intro and get directly to the lineup.

Why did I forgo the intro? Because this is a VERY IMPORTANT start for Jeremy Hellickson. Teams are interested in him and he could be traded before the deadline on Monday. He needs to do well if the Phillies have a hope of getting literally anything of even marginal worth back for him.

Okay, that might be an oversell. It’s not like a bad start here would make teams reconsider anything. They know who Hellickson is. We know who Hellickson is. We shouldn’t expect too much for him because he’s Jeremy Hellickson. He’s a great back-end starter. Well, let’s not get carried away. He’s a fine back-end starter. But a good start here could go a long way toward jumpstarting those trade talks.

What I’m not going to get into right now? The absolute folly of batting Aaron Altherr seventh in this lineup. Apparently Pete Mackanin is doing it because Altherr has historically done poorly against tonight’s Braves starter, Julio Teheran.

Of course, he’s batting Cesar Hernandez first, and he’s gone 2-for-20 against Teheran. So Mack’s reasoning here holds zero water. It’s just so silly, I’m not sure why this is happening.

UGH. IT’S SO STUPID.

ANYWAY. Discuss the game in the comments below.

EDIT 5:45 PM: So Hellickson has been scratched and Jake Thompson is starting.

He hasn’t been traded YET! Things are happening, guys. There’s a good chance we won’t see Hellickson in a Phillies uniform again. I’m glad the Phillies decided to stay on the safe side and scratch him tonight.

Okay, NOW you can discuss the game in the comments below.