Rise and Phight: 3/17/2023

As you know by now, Edwin Diaz is going to miss the 2023 season with a knee injury suffered the other night. It’s a weird feeling as it makes the Mets actively worse, which is good for people who desire the Phillies to win baseball games. But as a fan of the game at large, it’s a blow. It’s always better when teams are at their best, when stars are on the field and as annoying as the song might be, there hasn’t been that electric a closer entrance since Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman. That’s something we’ll miss. Baseball is entertainment and that entrance was entertaining.

Get well soon, Edwin.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Rhys Hoskins struggles on defense. We know that. That means spending each morning with Bobby Dickerson and doing the basics.
• Ticket sales, as one can imagine in the season following a deep playoff run, are way up for the Phillies.
• MLB Trade Rumors always runs an “Offseason in Review” series at this time. Yesterday, it was the Phillies turn to get a checkup.
• Matt Strahm could play a bigger role than he thought now that he’s being stretched out a bit as a starter.

MLB news:

• The Nationals have some good young candidates for their rotation, but one of them will spend 2023 on the shelf.
• What do the pitchers think of the newly toughened crackdown on sticky stuff on pitchers?
• The players love the World Baseball Classic. Team executives hate it.