Hittin' Season: A Philadelphia Phillies podcast

On Episode 892 of Hittin' Season, host John Stolnis of The Good Phight and BillyPenn.com assesses another Zack Wheeler second place finish in the NL Cy Young Award voting. What's this guy gotta do to win one of those things? Also, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer joins the show to talk about Juan Soto meetings and the latest on what the Phillies might do in free agency and the trade market, John runs down some big roster decisions made this week, and which free agents would cost the Phils draft picks by refusing the qualifying offer?

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Show notes:

ZACK WHEELER CY YOUNG VOTING

• Wheeler loses to Chris Sale 198-130
• Sale got 26 of the 30 first place votes, Wheeler only got 4, but had 25 runner up votes
• It’s Wheeler’s second runner-up finish… also in 2021, when he lost to Corbin Burnes despite pitching 46.1 more innings than him
• This time he only pitched 23.1 more innings than Sale, but that’s still about 4 starts’ worth if you average 6 innings a start.
• This vote should have been MUCH closer.
• Is Wheeler going to go down as this generation’s Chase Utley, only for pitchers? He’s obviously one of the very best over this seven-year trend, but he’s never won any hardware, other than a Gold Glove, and he won’t have the counting stats some pitchers in the past had, same as Utley
• Christopher Sanchez finished 10th in the voting, earning 2 5th place votes
• Aaron Nola received one 5th place vote
• Sanchez should have been higher, probably above

SCOTT LAUBER PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

• Everyone wants to know… what are you hearing about any meeting the Phillies are planning with Juan Soto?
• What odds would you give the Phillies being the one ending up with him?
• Do you get the sense they will make him a competitive offer? And if so, how high do you think they’d be willing to go? Or how high can they go?
• There’s been a ton of rumors about Alec Bohm out there… how available is he?
• What other members of the roster are most available?
• Do you think Dombrowski is going to make a big splash this winter?

ROSTER MOVES

• Phillies added three pitchers to the 40-man roster in order to avoid them being exposed to the Rule 5 draft.
• Mick Abel (23)
• Gotta hand it to the Phillies Player Development twitter account for trying to put a positive spin on Abel’s last three years
• He’s thrown 100+ innings with 115+ strikeouts every season the last three years
• He’s been durable, just not terribly good
• He was just awful last season, 6.46 ERA in 24 starts (108.2 IP), 5.47 FIP, 22.7% K-rate, 15.1% BB-rate, .275 AVG allowed, 1.81 WHIP
• Moises Chace (21)
• Acquired in the Gregory Soto trade that looks like it’s going to be a steal for Dombrowski and the Phillies
• Right now, Chase is a better prospect that Abel
• Baltimore was using him in a more limited role, as a piggy-back starter only going four innings at a time, but the Phillies decided to make him a more traditional starter
• He struck out 43% of batters in six starts for the Phils
• Jean Cabrera (23)
• Made 19 starts (106.2 IP) for Jersey Shore and Reading, 3.80 ERA with a 110/33 K/BB ratio
• In 6 games and 29.2 IP for Reading: 4.85 ERA, 19/8 K/BB ratio
• The Phillies did NOT protect
• Griff McGarry, who was flat out awful last year and showed no signs of improvement in the Arizona Fall League
• Eiberson Caetellano, named the org’s minor league pitcher of the year last year… it’s doubtful someone will draft him and put him the starting rotation all season long
• Phillies now have 39 players on the 40 man roster

MLB QUALIFYING OFFER DECISIONS

• Only one player accepted the qualifying offer: Reds right-hander Nick Martinez, so he signs a one-year, $21.05 million deal)
• 11 other players declined… meaning if the Phillies were to sign any of these players, they would give up some draft pick compensation
• Juan Soto
• Willy Adames
• Pete Alonso
• Alex Bregman
• Corbin Burnes
• Max Fried
• Teoscar Hernandez
• Anthony Santander
• Sean Manaea
• Nick Pivetta
• Luis Severino
• Christian Walker
• Free agents who do NOT have a QO attached to them
• Paul Goldschmidt
• Walker Buehler
• Shane Bieber
• Jurickson Profar
• Ha-Seong Kim
• Tyler O’Neill
• Gleyber Torres
• Blake Snell
• Justin Turner
• Justin Verlander
• Max Scherzer
• Carlos Estevez
• Jeff Hoffman
• Tanner Scott

On Episode 891 of Hittin' Season, hosts John Stolnis of The Good Phight, Justin Klugh from Baseball Prospectus and Yahoo! Sports' Liz Roscher tackle the latest Phillies rumors on the world wide web. Targeting closers in trades? St. Louis Cardinals a possible trade mate? Anthony Santander for the outfield? Also, Andrew Painter owned the Arizona Fall League, how does he factor into the Phils' plans for 2025?

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If you're fan of rumors, whispers, and opinions, then you've likely heard: Alec Bohm is on the trading block this winter. Will the Phillies move him or keep him? Who plays third if he's gone? What could they get back in a trade? Who knows what's going on! Let's talk about the Phillies' wavy-haired giant in the hot corner.

On Episode 889 of Hittin' Season, the Good Phight's John Stolnis, Justin Klugh of Baseball Prospectus and Yahoo! Sports' Liz Roscher discuss the not-so-strong possibilities of the Phillies signing Juan Soto and Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki. Are they destined to be stalking horses for both players? Also, thoughts on Zack Wheeler as an NL Cy Young finalist, Garrett Crochet rumors and Nick Pivetta declined a qualifying offer?

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Justin Klugh and Liz Roscher talk about the beginning and end of the MLB GM Meetings in San Antonio during which few moves were made--though the winter could heat up in a hurry. Also, what would YOU pay for a commemorative ticket from an NLDS the Phillies lost to the Mets? The Phillies assume you'll spend SOMETHING on it.

On Episode 887 of Hittin' Season, John Stolnis of The Good Phight and BillyPenn.com checks in on some of the rumors coming in from the GM Meetings in San Antonio regarding the Phillies. Why this could be a particularly active season in the trade market for the Phils. The Good Phight's Anthony Esbensen joins the show to discuss the off-season as well.

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On Episode 886 of Hittin' Season, hosts John Stolnis of The Good Phight, Justin Klugh of Baseball Prospectus and Yahoo Sports' Liz Roscher discuss Dick Allen getting another shot at the Hall of Fame this year. Also, one star reliever almost sure to get traded will be on the Phillies' radar, and we say goodbye to our short king, Scott Kingery.

On episode 885 of Hittin' Season, Justin Klugh and Liz Roscher enjoy the Yankees' World Series loss after one of their fans did some classic "Yankees fan" stuff in Game Four. Then, Joe Edinger of The Good Phight stops by to break down some potential Phillies targets in free agency or on the trading block.

On Episode 884 of Hittin' Season, host John Stolnis of The Good Phight and BillyPenn.com recaps the 2024 World Series and offers 5 key takeaways for Phillies fans following the Dodgers defeat of the Yankees. Also, the off-season is officially here which means all eyes turn to the Juan Soto sweepstakes, and some decisions on the 40-man roster are upcoming in terms of Rule 5 draft protections. Which minor leaguers are going to make the 40-man?

On Episode 883 of Hittin' Season, hosts John Stolnis, Liz Roscher and Justin Klugh talk about Freddie Freeman's World Series heroics, whether the Phillies will seriously pursue Juan Soto, and share their favorite Phils Fall Classic memories.