Rise and Phight: 6/25/2023

It’s not quite time to hit the panic button just yet on the season, even if yesterday’s game was quite frustrating. The team is above .500 and will be on Monday as well. Still, yesterday’s game did show that the team might be ready for a little pruning. The bench right now is quite bad. No one coming off of it into the game inspires much confidence that anything good will happen. Andrew Bellatti continues to sit in Lehigh Valley while Dylan Covey occupies a roster spot. Even though that might seem like much, right now they’re pretty thin at the right handed reliever’s spot with Seranthony Dominguez down. There are some minor moves to be made, but the question becomes - when is the right time to do it?

Some of these spots could be upgraded when the trade deadline comes around. Peeking into the crystal ball, I don’t see any Earth-shattering moves to be made (sorry Goldschmidt truthers). Instead, I see the team opting to strengthen exactly those spots that I just mentioned. A right-handed hitting outfielder could help push Kyle Schwarber to the DH spot once Bryce Harper is ready to put a glove back on. Relievers are always en vogue at the end of July. Still, small upgrades could be made simply by doing some roster reshuffling now. Nothing huge is really needed (get healthy, Andrew); just some nips and tucks at the edge of the roster.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Whenever Bryce Harper is ready to play defense, he ain’t going to the outfield. He’s going to first base.
• The rotation has been much, much better of late. It’s taken some adjustment, notable from Taijuan Walker.

MLB news:

• The Cubs and Cardinals played in London yesterday and will again today. It’s been a long trip back to England for MLB.
• Now, MLB has set its sights away from England and onto mainland Europe, hoping to play in Paris in 2025.
• MLB is hoping for more Black U.S. players and is hoping that what it is building will yield results soon.