2019 Phillies Report Cards: April

It’s that time of year again: Time to slap letter grades on some partial seasons and try to pass it off as objective analysis!

Instead of piecing the season up into four chunks of 40 or so games each, I’m drawing the dividing lines by month this year. It means more #content, sure, but it’ll also let this exercise view the players’ performance on a bit more of a macro level. The trade-off, naturally, is smaller sample sizes to judge. But that’s never stopped us before!

As with years past, this grading system is a soft mix of subjectivity and objectivity: Grades track with on-field performance, but there’s gray area to allow for wiggle room in hard-luck months or deceptive stat lines with underlying trends that might tell a more cautionary tale. You are, as always, entitled to give your own grades. But insulting the teacher might land you in detention, and I heard old Mr. Hockenfuss is supervising. You don’t want detention with old Mr. Hockenfuss.

Stats are through games on 4/30, and include the three games played in March

Pitchers

The Good

Zach Eflin and Vince Velasquez are off to great starts, and they could be keys to the Phillies staying in or near first place as the summer approaches ... Adam Morgan was ostensibly perfect, becoming just the fourth pitcher in the last four years to have a scoreless month of 15-plus outings ... Good Jake Arrieta can come and go, but if he can fully harness the wicked movement he’s got going these days, I imagine he’ll be getting more As than not ... The Hector Neris of 2018’s second half seems to be back, and Jerad Eickhoff seems hot on a comeback trail of his own ... Aaron Altherr was filthy.

The Bad

Aaron Nola was almost frighteningly dissociated from himself in his first three starts, although the fourth seemed to bring him back closer to reality ... Juan Nicasio’s been disappointing, and already relegated to mostly mop-up work, after looking like a bounceback candidate with good 2018 peripherals that have not returned yet in 2019 ... Once David Robertson gets healthy, he’ll need to be good enough to pitch the many more high-leverage innings coming up.

The Ugly

I really don’t like giving out Fs, but boy, did Nick Pivetta and Jose Alvarez come close ... Edubray Ramos has been erratic, and allowing way too many line drives and fly balls for someone with a curveball that dips like his can.

Complete April pitching stats

Hitters

The Good

Rhys Hoskins and Jean Segura carried the bulk of the load this month (as expected), and will need to stay on the field to keep this offense running (and hitting) ... Scott Kingery may not have smoked every ball he hit, but boy did a lot of them fall in even when he didn’t ... Bryce Harper started hot, then cooled off as the month wore on. He could probably use a day off sometime ... Maikel Franco’s torrid start from the 8-hole was the stuff of cult heroism, and his being so difficult to strike out should continue to pay dividends.

The Bad

The Phillies need more from their outfield depth, but Nick Williams hasn’t quite been the same reserve he was last year ... Cesar Hernandez’s bat is heating up, but he’s still making too many mistakes on the bases, and pressing too hard in the field ... Andrew Knapp is working long at bats, but they’re not translating into results.

The Ugly

Aaron Altherr had about as bad a month as you can have, and may be almost out of time to salvage his roster spot ... Similarly, Roman Quinn has to have better ABs when he’s healthy, as he’s also walking the roster tightrope.

Complete April hitting stats

The Phillies finished April at 16-13, 1 game up on the Mets for first in the NL East. It wasn’t always pretty, but it’s clear this team has the talent to really compete.

Your turn!