Rise and Phight: 2/27/2023

Well, here is some news you probably didn’t know about.

If you were wondering why Rhys Hoskins hasn’t played yet, it’s because he had offseason meniscus surgery and the team is taking it slow. Probably good news that the team didn’t announce anything as it would have called for a whole new round of “should they tender him a contract?” thinkpieces and we’d have all gone insane from them.

He’s fine and he’ll be fine this year and probably hit 40 home runs in his platform year before free agency.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• You’ll never guess which new free agent signing on the Phillies is a fan of the new pickoff rule?
• Nick Castellanos hit an opposite field home run over the weekend. That’s a good sign for his rebound potential this year.
• One of the guys who impressed this opening weekend of spring training play? Andrew Baker and his bid for a bullpen job.

MLB news:

• Manny Machado is staying in San Diego for the forseeable future, getting an extension on his deal to make it eleven years in total.
• Matt Vierling and Nick Maton may not be in Clearwater, but they’re clearly still in touch with the positive vibes from last season.
• Oli Marmol and C.B. Bucknor had a little tiff that MLB is looking into. How about they find better things to worry about.
• Guess what is going to be the topic du jour during the next CBA talks? I’ll give you a hint: it’ll be a nonstarter for the MLBPA.