January 04, 2024

What they're saying: The Phillies aren't done

The winter's been quiet, but Phillies president Dave Dombrowski is still on the lookout for ways to improve his club.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

Jonathan Dyer/USA TODAY Sports

Phillies president Dave Dombrowski hasn't turned the hot stove off yet.

It's been a quiet winter for the Phillies.

They took a shot at Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but no one was beating the Dodgers' offer, so the rest of baseball is down to the remaining class of free-agent arms and sluggers.

Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery might be of interest, and so could lefty Shōta Imanaga – also out of Japan. However, it might still be a bit longer before any blips appear on the radar.

Here's what they're saying about the Phils in what's been a silent and probably a bit anxious winter...

The stove's still on

Scott Lauber | The Philadelphia Inquirer

It's just simmered down for a bit – granted, the market on the whole feels like it has, really.

Still, Phillies president Dave Dombrowski is out there looking for ways to improve the club while navigating the internal decisions at hand – Zack Wheeler's extension, Johan Rojas' progress and the center field job, the possible arrival of Mick Abel, etc.

They're working on it, per Scott Lauber. Progress has just been slow of late.

Wrote Lauber:

Whatever the case, pitching depth might supersede anything on the position-player side, where the Phillies remain hopeful that Johan Rojas can reclaim the center-field job and are cognizant of not signing an outfielder who would block his path.
One thing is clear: Additional moves are coming. Despite not making a move since re-signing Nola on Nov. 19, the Phillies haven’t put down their pencils.
“We’re not at that point at all,” Dombrowski said. “It’s just taking a little longer. No, we’re not just satisfied. We want to get better.” [The Inquirer]

MORE: Extending Zack Wheeler is Phillies' 'No. 1 priority'

Hittin' Season on the farm

Geoff Pontes, Dylan White | Baseball America

Pitching has been the crown jewel of the Phillies' farm system for a while now, ever since the organization took Mick Abel and then Andrew Painter in back-to-back drafts (2020 and 2021).

But focus was inevitably going to swing back into the field and at the plate, as evidenced by the Phils' first-round selections of outfielder Justin Crawford in 2022 and then Aidan Miller in 2023.

And across the board, as Baseball America discovered in its advanced metric rankings of all 30 MLB farm systems, the Phillies are outputting quite well when it comes to hitting, ranking fourth in all of baseball behind only the Tigers (3rd), Yankees (2nd), and Dodgers (1st).

It's Hittin' Season down on the farm.

#BestofBA2023

For the first time, Baseball America is measuring performance based on underlying metrics via the Hawkeye data gathered across the minor leagues.https://t.co/dfH0qo3SdR pic.twitter.com/KpcaTvIrTb
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) December 30, 2023

Baseball America's points on their findings regarding the Phillies:

• It likely comes as no surprise that the Dodgers and Yankees rank highly on an analytical analysis. However, the Tigers and Phillies are pleasant surprises.
...
• The Phillies and the Tigers are the only two organizations that rank highly in both contact and 90th percentile exit velocity, helping to explain why both organizations rank as highly as they do in overall hit score. [Baseball America]

Manuel on a mission

Matt Gelb | The Athletic

Speaking of Hittin' Season, Charlie Manuel has continued to progress in his rehab from a September stroke, often posting positive updates in good humor to his Twitter/X account.

Searching for words like base hits #strokesurvivor pic.twitter.com/uXrkGZY9VD
— Charlie Manuel (@CMBaseball41) November 29, 2023

But regaining his speech has been the former Phillies manager's biggest obstacle. He's working toward it though, and is on a mission to have it back up to speed by spring training in a few weeks, as Matt Gelb covered in an extensive and heartfelt feature for the Athletic.

Just a small excerpt from Gelb's story:

Manuel did something last month that reassured Missy. He had that tone again. He was fixated on someone’s swing. He knew how to cure it. (The player is not on the Phillies, so Manuel would rather keep it classified.) For days, it’s all he talked about. Missy loved it.
Then Manuel startled [Pam Smith], his [speech therapist]. “I have to be talking better by spring training,” he said.
That’s the goal.
“Yeah, I want to come,” Manuel said. “If the Phillies want me to come to spring training, I’ll come to spring training… (But) because I want to come doesn’t mean I can. I’ll do what I am supposed to do.” [The Athletic]

And surely the Phillies would love to have him back behind the cage.