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Understandably it’s all Bryce all the time in Phillies news lately, as reflected in the latest links.
Here at The Good Phight:
- Evan reviewed all the ways the Phillies have improved this offseason (The Phillies have a critically upgraded new team), Ethan explored ways of structuring the batting order (The starting lineup with Bryce Harper), and John recounted the torturous journey that we took to get here (A complete social media history of the Bryce Harper saga).
Other Phillies news:
- Matt Gelb at The Athletic ($) with a fascinating look behind the scenes of the Phillies’ offseason: The craziest Phillies offseason ever: Inside the winding path that led to Bryce Harper
- Fangraphs asks Did Manny Machado Get A Better Contract Than Bryce Harper? (possibly, depending on how much he can get if he opts out).
- Bryce Harper set a new record for most jerseys sold in the first 24 hours after launch, and now also int he first 48 hours... Hot hitter: Harper bests LeBron jersey mark.
- Meanwhile, Stupid Money is Smart Money: A Tale of Bryce Harper, where Dan Szymborski updates ZiPS projections for the NL East, including the Phillies in 2nd with 88 wins and a 61.0% chance of making the playoffs:
The first thing you may notice is that the win totals for all the teams are a few less than you would have thought from the rough WARtoons that went up with the team-by-team projections. And you’d be noticing correctly! Once the teams are in the simulation and the game-by-game schedule is played out, one that reflects the challenges of the NL East with four playoff-realistic contenders, everybody beats each other up and loses a few games that they wouldn’t if each played in a league-average division.
MLB esoterica:
- The Post-Bryce Harper Era Begins in Washington
- MLB rumors: Craig Kimbrel drawing interest from Nationals, Braves as season nears
- For a Royals team that was already facing a rebuilding season, news that Salvador Perez Faces Down Tommy John Surgery
- It’s very early still, but for anyone thinking ahead to the draft (the Phillies pick 14th), FG maintains a draft board.
- Finally, The Physics of Fungos.
After a day off on Monday the Phillies play in Clearwater today, where they host the Cardinals (who presumably make a road trip of it and don’t travel 4 hours each way from Jupiter for just one game).