Rise and Phight: 4/29/2021

How much more of Vince Velasquez can this organization take?

They had the perfect opportunity to rid themselves once and for all of him this offseason by nontendering him, but the concern about where the pitching depth would come from outweighed the desire to release him. The backend of the rotation is still a complete mess, but the money that the team has spent on Velasquez could have been spent on signing someone better for that backend, say, in the Taijuan Walker mode.

It’s a frustrating thing and while Velasquez along wasn’t the sole reason for the team’s struggles last night, he doesn’t help with his outings that consistently cannot get out of the fifth inning, forcing a depleted bullpen into action earlier than expected. It’s hard to fathom how much more time he has left in Philadelphia.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Alec Bohm has been struggling lately, so Girardi decided it was time to give him a little rest.
• For now (and out of necessity), Andrew McCutchen is not in the leadoff spot. After Brad Miller’s home run last night, it’s hard to see a way for Cutch to get back there anytime soon.

MLB news:

• Baseball Prospectus has been doing great work for a while and I found this article first base defense to be fascinating ($).
• When it comes to development, everyone is starting to copy these two franchises due to their effectiveness ($).
• You may or may not have seen this, but this is one of the worst calls on the bases made by an umpire in a long time.
• Another week, another mock draft for the upcoming baseball draft.