Rise and Phight: 4/21/2021

A truly dispiriting loss, a game that should have been comfortably in hand, fell apart for the Phillies. It exposed their lack of depth in the pitching staff, something that was a concern to start the season. It exposed their inability to get big hits still, as they let a golden opportunity go by in the early innings to jump out to a big lead. It was just a really bad loss by the team. They’ll have a quick turnaround today, which is good because it’ll mean they have to get over soon. But there are real problems with this team that need fixing.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• The time for bringing Odubel Herrera back to the major leagues might be drawing nearer and nearer.
• Jean Segura, one of the hotter hitters in the team’s lineup, had to exit the game early last night with a right quad strain. He’ll be re-evaluated today.
• Joe Girardi sat three of his regulars in an effort to spark some offense. It seemed to work when Brad Miller launched a three-run home run.
• There have been a lot of “disjointed roles” that have led to the start the Phillies have gotten off to ($).

MLB news:

• Some more power rankings, where we can start to take notice of the hot starts by the Royals and Mariners.
• The first round of CBA talks between baseball and the player’s union occurred, two days ago.
• There haven’t been any extension talks between the Braves and Freddie Freeman, but that is going to happen. No sense wishing it won’t.
• The reaction in MLB to the George Floyd case verdict was pretty unanimous.
• Lots of injuries around the game as Juan Soto and Mike Moustakas went on the IL, while Adrian Morejon will undergo Tommy John surgery.