Rise and Phight: 3/31/2023

Yikes.

I’ve always tried to take the calmer, more measure approach to Phillies games. Their recent history of causing one to pull his/her hair out thanks to a bullpen that teetered on unplayable was cast aside by last year’s version that made things a little easier to bear. Once the postseason hit, there was maybe one other bullpen I’d rather have than what the Phillies employed.

Then there was Aaron Nola. Thinking he’d finally overcome his mid game demons, Nola had much higher expectations placed on him coming into this year.

None of it worked yesterday.

It was ugly, no doubt, but I’ll still refuse to budge off of my assertion that it’s still just one game and no real cause for concern. Plenty of games left. It leaves a bad taste, sure, but this is one that I’d just as easily toss away and forget.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Rhys Hoskins underwent surgery on his torn ACL. The recovery time is estimated at seven to nine months.
• Did you notice that there were no jersey numbers on the jerseys yesterday? Rumor has it, the ads are coming.
• The team believes that Christian Pache’s defense alone was worth the trade, but they also think they can help boost his offense.

MLB news:

• MLB and the MLBPA agreed on a new agreement for minor leaguers that has some good and some not so good parts to it.
• For anyone making their debut in the majors yesterday, there was a new patch on their jersey. That’s going to be a big deal in the card collecting industry.
• Adley Rutschman was your hitting star of the day. Have a feeling he dethrones Realmuto as the best catcher in baseball this year.