Rise and Phight: 2/16/2023

“Pitchers and catchers report.”

It’s a phrase that means winter is over. In some parts of the region, it doesn’t even feel like winter ever really began, but now that pitchers and catchers report today, spring is just around the corner. Thank goodness for the shorter offseason this year, otherwise this would have been unbearable.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Spring training kicks off with pitchers and catchers today, so why not look at nine questions following the Phillies into this season?
• A hard question to ask: will the Phillies be better in 2023 than they were in 2022?
• Mick Abel will look to pitch to his strengths more often as 2023 dawns on an important year for him.

MLB news:

• If cable companies can’t, or won’t, pay MLB teams, the bigwigs in New York City are ready to step in.
• Rob Manfred also touched on a few other topics as he spoke with reporters yesterday.
• Some pitcher injury news: Stephen Strasburg suffered another setback while Frankie Montas looks like he’ll miss most of the season.
• Bryan Reynolds just wants to be paid what he’s worth. Is that so hard to ask of the Pirates?