Rise and Phight: 8/15/2023

The Phillies had an off day yesterday and considering that none of the other major four leagues are in full season yet and the Union don’t play against Lionel Messi until tonight, it must have been a slow news day.

Well, that’s what you would think if you didn’t know any better about how this town works. The saga of the Sixers and James Harden took another turn with Harden’s-ahem-comments about Daryl Morey. Now that it seems that the Phillies have finally found their way out of a decade in the wilderness and righted the ship within the organization, by law one of the other four major sports teams must become a circus.

Well, more of a circus.

If you’re just a Phillies fan and don’t care about any of that, they’re back in action tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays.

On to the links!

Phillies news

• The six-man rotation will stay at least through Saturday’s game against Washington. After that remains to be seen.
• A swing adjustment made back in spring training put Johan Rojas on the course that led him to the big leagues before anyone expected.
• Another Phils prospect has earned a promotion, this time its Marcus Lee Sang.
• Shane Victorino and MLB are joining to get help for Hawaii wildfire relief.

MLB news

• Wander Franco was placed on the restricted list and is now under investigation from MLB regarding the serious accusations levied against him through social media posts over the weekend.
• What happened to baseball brawls?
• The Yankees have hit another new low after their collapse against the Marlins.
• Mike Trout hasn’t played since July 3rd, but he’s getting closer to returning despite no solid date.