2021 Fantasy Baseball Preview: Catchers

2021 Fantasy Baseball Preview: Catchers

With the 2021 Major League Baseball season fast approaching, so too does the Fantasy baseball season, and your fantasy draft. With any fantasy draft the most important aspect for a manager is preparation, preparation, and preparation.  Which includes the consulting of statistics of all natures, projections from websites of all kinds, and mock draft lists of every player. Yet the difficulty of figuring out the  best strategy for your specific fantasy league is always increasing. What this list attempts is to ignore all counting stats in regular fantasy (runs, RBIs, Home Runs, Batting average) and looks at the advanced stats that showcase the ability to create those stats without the luck that is involved in the more basic stats. Isolated power (ISO) as defined by Fangraphs is a measure of a hitter’s raw power and tells you how often a player hits for extra bases. It’s pretty simple to extrapolate the idea that more extra base hits will only increase the counting stats of fantasy baseball. With walk rate (BB%) and On- Base Percentage, you can better gage a players ability to score runs (the most basic tenet of Moneyball). Finally there is Weighted Runs Created+ (wRC+) an improvement on Bill James’ created metric Weighted Runs, as James’ posits in his writing, runs are the most quantifiable statistic in baseball as basic rhetoric deems that the team that scores the most wins, so to best evaluate players is to deem how many runs that player created for his team. From Fangraphs wRC+ is the most comprehensive rate statistic used to measure hitting performance because it takes into account the varying weights of each offensive action and then adjusts them for the park and league context in which they took place. This list takes into greater accountability the rankings* of these statistics between players of the same position, to help determine not only the best players at each position but also a distinguishable understanding of team comparisons based on their player’s comparative rankings.

To best evaluate each player, the 2020 and 2019 seasons are being taken into account as well as the amalgamation of the projection of each player (provided from various sites), all combined to give us a possible view to the outcome of the 2021 season (injuries permitting). These lists are  composed of every player that is eligible** at that position. These players are being compared to average replacement level players*** in order to show their value.  Our next group is the third basemen, arguably the deepest position group in baseball. 

*A note on rankings, as 2020 was an abbreviated season, all player ranks are counted with a minimum of only 40 plate appearances.

** The eligibility of each player is based on the yahoo website in which I looked it up, I am not responsible for their incorrectness. I believe their unilateral decision was to not take any eligibility away from players due to the covid season, but also allowed players to have gained eligibility during 2020. What results is a lot of players with multiple position eligibility.  Some eligibility is based on MLB reports that they will move to that position and eventually earn that eligibility.

*** Replacement Player: .330 OBP/ .150 ISO/ 100 wRC+

(Proj Rank Overall is a ranking of their projections compared to every offensive player in Baseball)

The Elite

1. Will Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers (Proj Rank Overall: 49)

The only reason not to draft Will Smith as the first catcher overall in fantasy is fear of small sample sizes. In reality, Smith’s 97 games and less than 350 plate appearances is not exactly rock solid proof of a sure fire fantasy player, but for this exercise it’s hard to ignore the potential. Drafting catchers is always a crap shoot in fantasy, but with Will Smith the upside of a 25 year old catcher on one of the most stacked rosters in the league, it’s more like a 3 sided die (that would make craps easier right?). With just under 200 plate appearances in 2019, Smith had the 3rd best ISO among catchers and the 3rd best wRC+. When he was the official starting catcher for the World Series Dodgers in 2020, Smith was the best catcher in OBP and wRC+, and finished 2nd in ISO. The guy can rake and will look to only improve in the upcoming season.

2. Yasmani Grandal, Chicago White Sox (Proj Rank Overall: 51) (1B Eligible) 

If you’re worried about the inexperience of Will Smith, then look no farther than the guy Smith replaced on the Dodgers, Yasmani Grandal. Grandal is pound for pound the best offensive catcher in baseball, a catcher that hits for power, but still has an elite ability to get on base. The only reason he ranks below Smith is that Grandal just turned 32, and the older a catcher gets the riskier his production falls off a cliff. Grandal, on a loaded Chicago White Sox squad, is not a risk for such a drop, even in his worst year of his career (2017) Grandal hit 22 home runs with an above average (for catchers) .308 on base percentage.

3. Sean Murphy, Oakland A’s (Proj Rank Overall: 143)

Another small sample wunderkind, Sean Murphy blasted onto the scene as the Oakland A’s starting catcher in 2020 to the tune of a .364 OBP (3rd amongst catchers), 132 wRC+ (6th among catchers) and a 17.1% walk rate (1st amongst catchers). Like Smith, Murphy is the rarest of prospects, a young hard hitting catcher, unlike Smith, Murphy has a less exciting team playing around him. Even with conservative projections, Murphy looks to be above average in every metric that helps accumulate counting stats in fantasy.  

4. Willson Contreras, Chicago Cubs (Proj Rank Overall: 80)

Drafting Willson Contreras high in order or in price depends how you feel Contreras bounces back from a middling 2020 season. The argument against the entire 2020 season is that a lot of players are able to balance out a mediocre start within the 102 remaining games in the season, but alas they’re the only stats we have to analyze from 2020. Contreras dropped 100 points in ISo and 28 in WRc+ from 19-20, while still being below average in walk rate (8.9), but those drops came from being in top 6 in both those categories in 2019. Contreras has the track record of being a great fantasy catcher, but it’s his fluctuating year to year stats that put him at 4. 

5. J. T. Realmuto, Philadelphia Phillies (Proj Rank Overall: 76)

J. T. Realmuto is arguably the most athletic catcher in the league, but that doesn’t really show up in my player profiles. Particularly Realmuto’s extreme advantage versus every other catcher in the stolen bases category that makes him more valuable in fantasy. What has always made Realmuto impressive though is the power he combines with his speed. Realmuto has an above average ISo and has finished top 9 among catchers in the category the last 2 years. A slight injury risk, Realmuto is expected to miss most of Spring training due to a broken hand, Realmuto is about to turn 30 (March 18th, my mom’s birthday), and just got paid, those are the only risks.

The Question Tier

6. Salvador Perez, Kansas City Royals (Proj Rank Overall: 139)

Salvador Perez goes against all logic, continually he finds himself in the basement of walk rates and on base percentage, yet also is one of the best offensive catchers in baseball, Perez is like the anti Moneyball player (ironically he’s actually a lot like Carlos Pena). Coming back from an injury-ended 2019 season, Perez did what he always does in 2020, finishing 33rd among catchers in walk rate (1.9!), but first in ISo  (.300!) and second in wRC+ (161) amongst catchers. Each year, I have ignored him, believing that the law of averages would eventually catch up to the guy who besides last year hasn’t had an OBP above .300 since 2013, but he continues to be a top 10 fantasy catcher to spite me. 

7. Alex Avila, Washington Nationals (Proj Rank Overall: 180)

Outlier meet world, world meet outlier, Avila is not even expected to start for the Washington Nationals this year (though some reports say that the Nats envision a 90-70 games split between Yan Gomes and him), so why would you draft him in fantasy? When Alex Avila does play, he gets on base. With catchers, that’s not always a guarantee, but Alex Avila has an elite batter’s eye, finishing 1st in walk rate amongst catchers the last two years and top 8 in OBP those seasons. In what I call the “Chris Ianneta Theorem”, I believe that it’s better for your fantasy team in the long run to sacrifice at bats to go with a steady back- up catcher. Are the 3 extra home runs and 7 rbis worth pulling down your team BA/OBP?

8. Austin Nola, San Diego Padres (Proj Rank Overall: 184) (1B, 2B Eligible)

“Can he repeat it?” is a key question in a lot of the players in this tier, none more so than Austin Nola. Nola was brought up to Seattle two years ago as a 29 year old back up first basemen, best known as Aaron Nola’s brother, but became surprisingly the biggest trade piece at last year’s deadline. What makes Nola really important in fantasy is his multiple position eligibility after he started catching again. Last year Nola was a huge surprise finishing with a .353 OBP and 126 wRC+  good for 9th and 8th respectively amongst catchers. His abbreviated 2019 season (267 PAs) shows that Nola has some pedigree to continue at that pace, and playing for Padres makes Nola extremely attractive as a fantasy catcher.

9. Travis D’Arnaud, Atlanta Braves (Proj Rank Overall: 132)

Which Travis D’Arnaud would you be drafting, is it the guy who had a .386 OBP and 133 wRC+ from last year? Or the guy whose last two full seasons in the majors (17 and 19) combined for a .301 OBP and a 96 wRC+? It helps that the Braves look to have a pretty good line-up around him and very little competition for the job, but D’arnaud has the track record of a guy who had a great first half to last season without the chance of evening out.

10. Mitch Garver, Minnesota Twins ( Proj Rank Overall: 120)

Can he bounce back? Garver has the distinction of having a full season of amazing stats as compared to the co-vid shortened ones of Will Smith and Sean Murphy. Garver lost almost all of 2020 to an intercostal injury, but in 2019 Garver established himself as an offensive force finishing first in ISO and wRC+ and 2nd in OBP amongst catchers. He’s 31 now coming off injury and looking at a time share with Ryan Jeffers, but could he be worth the risk?  

11. Curt Casali, San Francisco Giants (Proj Rank Overall: 230)

When will the Giants figure out that Buster Posey is no longer viable as a catcher in professional baseball? It’s hard to put a catcher out to pasture, particularly a catcher that won your franchise 3 world series championships, but the time has come. Curt Casali had a great season in 2020 while Posey chose to opt out,  with a .366 OBP and 130 wRC+. If allowed a bulk share of the catching at bats, Casali is nothing special, but he draws walks and has some offensive upside. 

12. Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees ( Proj Rank Overall: 112)

Gary Sanchez is the biggest mystery of all at the catcher position, his floor is quite low, but his ceiling is so high. It’s as likely that Sanchez loses the starting job for the Yankees as it is that he wins the Silver Slugger for best offensive catcher. Sanchez, despite an OBP under 320 in the last 3 seasons, with an atrocious .253 in 2020 (even with a respectable 10% walk rate), has elite power when he actually puts wood on the ball. With the line-up around him, if Sanchez is able to put together a season like he has in the past could end up much higher in these rankings.    

Edge of Draftable

13. Ryan Jeffers, Minnesota Twins (Proj Rank Overall: 120)

Jeffers is blessed with youth and an inside track to the starting catcher’s job with the Minnesota Twins. Starting a majority of 2020, Jeffers put up respectable numbers, finishing 8th in OBP and 10th in wRC+ amongst catchers, with Garver, the pair look to be a respectable back-stop duo.  

14. Carson Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks ( Proj Rank Overall: 190)

Going into 2020, Carson Kelly looked like a sleeper candidate for a top 5 catcher after posting above average numbers in 2019, finishing 7th in ISO and OBp among catchers. It did not go as planned. Kelly ended up dropping in every conceivable metric, in rank alone he dropped 26 spots in walk rate (from 3rd to 29th among catchers) and 15 spots in wRC+ (12th to 27th among catchers). Now his starting job is questionable, as the Diamondbacks await prospect Daulton Varsho to take it.  

15. James McCann, New York Mets (Proj Rank Overall: 239)

The Mets are looking for stability and veteran leadership from their backstop to help anchor their elite rotation, which is great for them, but not great for fantasy purposes. McCann had a great season last year in the shortened time frame, but that is the outlier to his entire stat profile. He has middling power and below average on base skills, which can help keep your team afloat in times of crisis but does little in sexiness.

2 Catcher Leagues or Platoons

16. Jason Castro, Houston Astros (Proj Rank Overall: 227)

Castro has a top ten walk rate but little else to add to an offense. He gets bonus points for playing for a probably dynamic Houston offense, but loses points for platooning with Martin Maldonado.

17. Wilson Ramos, Detroit Tigers ( Proj Rank Overall: 201)

The Water Buffalo, as Tony Kornheiser refers to him, continues to be a consistently good baseball player (6th and 2nd in OBP among catchers in 19 and 20). His ever increasing age (turns 34 in August), injury issues (missing most of 2017 and 2018), and his employment (the dreadful looking Tigers), show there’s not much to see with Wilson other than as an injury replacement. 

18. Omar Narvaez, Milwaukee Brewers (Proj Rank Overall: 196)

Omar Narvaez got sent to Milwaukee after a great season with the Seattle Mariners where he ended up 4th in OBP and 7th in wRC+ among catchers. His 2020 season did not go nearly as well, although Narvaez kept his above average batting eye (9th in walk rate), he regressed in every other aspect. On a pretty fun Brewers team, Narvaez has a better chance of being a sleeper than anyone else in this tier, but it’s not a great chance.

19. Tom Murphy, Seattle Mariners (Proj Rank Overall: 218)

As part of a pair with Narvaez, Tom Murphy had an extremely impressive 2019 season, but lost most of 2020 to injury. Murphy is not expected to get all of the playing time at catcher for the Mariners this year nor is he expected to finish 6th among catchers in ISo and 5th in wRC+. Yet if he does, he could be a nice insurance policy to platoon with someone else. 

Scraping the Bottom

20. Christian Vasquez, Boston Red Sox (Proj Rank Overall: 212)

Definition of middling catcher. 

21. Danny Jansen, Toronto Blue Jays (Proj Rank Overall: 113)

Jansen is interesting in that the projections have him much higher than any of his previous actual stats have ever achieved. Jansen is young, but was handed the starting job in 2019 and hasn’t particularly lived up to any of the prospect chatter that was thrust upon him. Complicating the matter is top prospect Alejandro Kirk waiting in the wings. 

22. Pedro Severino, Baltimore Orioles (Proj Rank Overall: 234)

Along with Chance Sisco, they combine for a relatively passable platoon unit for the Orioles, making catcher pretty low on their priority list, but leaving Oriole catchers even lower on your fantasy list.

23. Max Stassi, Los Angeles Angels (Proj Rank Overall: 217)

Actually a little better than expected last year, but nothing noteworthy except for a deeeeeeeeep sleeper possibility.

24. Tucker Barnhart, Cincinnati Reds (Proj Rank Overall: 243)

Two Time Gold Glove Winner. 

25. Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants (Proj Rank Overall: 194) (1B eligible)

 Not the guy you remember. 

 

If you have fantasy questions or just want to yell at me about my rankings, hit me up @kevin_seamus on twitter or @loudphilliesguy on IG or e-mail me at seamusfennell@gmail.com. If you wanna be cool and throw a few bucks my way for doing a shit ton of research for you, that's @kevin-fennell-6 on venmo.

April 28, 1993: Ricky Tikki Tavi

 April 28th, 1993: Philadelphia Phillies (14-5) vs  San Diego Padres (9-10)

Ricky Tikki Tavi

An Introduction…

I’m the guy that cries every time he watches the intro to the 2008 World Series DVD.  It’s crazy, but the Major League Baseball season was actually played in 2020, and the Phillies have again done everything they could do to try to ruin my fanhood. So I’ve decided once more to go back in time and revisit the greatest season of baseball of my childhood, the 1993 Phillies.  Thanks to the internet and more specifically the saint who runs the ClassicPhilliesTV youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWb6dGkCnKBlrQLJAjZ-4-w), I’m going back and watching every 1993 Phillies I can find just like if it was 27 years ago (but with the internet)... Previously I attempted to go day for day with every Phillies game in the month of June, which was a bold idea but proved to be futile. Now the plan is to start from the beginning of the season and attempt 1-2 game recaps per week until we get to game 5 of the 1993 World series and then decide if I really want to torture myself with game 6. Come along for the ride to reminisce about the legends of John Kruk, Mitch Williams, and Darren Daulton, to mix the knowledge we have now, with jokes of how dumb things were then.  

Where We Last Left Our Intrepid Heroes (and Villains)

After falling behind 8-0 in the first game of the series against the San Francisco Giants, the Phillies fell behind 6-0 to the Giants in the second game of the series, but unlike in game 1, the Phillies were unable to come back against the boys from the Bay and lost 6-3. The split against the Giants leaves the Phillies record at 14-5.  

The San Diego Padres, (almost the San Diego Gorillas) as a franchise have always dealt with an uphill battle. Their problem is that San Diego is arguably the greatest place to live in America, and no one cares to go to Baseball games, when everywhere around you is beautiful. As Kruk puts it in his book, “In San Diego, there’s so much else to do. It’s like, ‘it’s six-thirty. What do you want to do? How about we go watch the Padres?’ It’s almost like an accident that they come to games.” Or as Jack Clark, perennial baseball asshole, meanly put it, “Everything that they should cheer for they’d boo for, and everything they should boo for they’d cheer for … and the town is so stupid that they can’t see.” Thus it became more and more difficult to field competitive teams when you could not profit off of them, so the Padres always had the demeanor of a penny pinching franchise. But in 1992, they’re scrap heaping, high draft picking ways, seemingly paid off for them. Going into spring of that year, the Padres looked to field a team that was stacked with talent, a season in which San Diego would host the All Star Game had them field 5 All Stars. Perennial Superstar Tony Gwynn led the way for a wrecking crew that included Benito Santiago, Fred McGriff, Derek Bell, and former Brewer cast-off Gary Sheffield, along with a decent starter group that included Andy Benes and almost World Series MVP Bruce Hurst, the Padres seemed to be the team to beat in the West. Yet as you plan, God laughs, and the Padres stumbled throughout the 1992 season, with no particular help from their manager Greg Riddoch. Riddoch, a former utility infielder, became manager for the Padres in 1990 when Jack McKeon fired himself from the job to return to only being the General Manager for the team, after gaining the job the Padres lost 11 of their next 12 and Riddoch lost a reported 22 pounds from stress. By midway through 1992, Riddoch had lost more than weight as  the veterans were reported to have voted to not play for him (I can’t find a primary source for this story, but multiple offhand remarks about it happening, sadly the database for 1992 newspaper articles is not as accessible as one might hope), and the owner decided to fire him with 12 games left, while the Padres were 4 games back in the NL West, which is WILD. Brought in to replace him is Jim Riggleman, who would eventually make a career of being a replacement coach, Rigs was unable to turn the team around in the last 12 games, with the Padres finishing a disappointing 82-80 and 4th in the NL West. Subsequently the Padres went on a fire sale the like of which the MLB has never seen before, one might argue that it directly effected the next 5 World Series. The first piece moved was Catcher Benito Santiago (Santiago in 92 had won an arbitration case against the team and was the highest paid catcher in baseball that season) when he was released to go to the Marlins, next was the release of Larry Andersen who would play a pivotal role for the 93 Phillies. The Padres then traded Tony Fernandez to the New York Mets, who a month into the 93 season would be traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, where in the 93 World Series Fernandez would knock in 9 runs in the 6 game series. Also traded during the 93 season were First baseman Fred McGriff to the Atlanta Braves, where he would help them win 108 games in 93, as well as the 1995 World Series, and aid them to the 1996 World Series. And finally is Gary Sheffield, a then third baseman, was traded to the Florida Marlins, he would go on to lead those Marlins to the 1997 World Series, in return the Padres got a relief pitcher named Trevor Hoffman who would help lead the Padres to the 1998 World Series. Though some of those players remain at this point in the 1993 season, the signs are on the wall that this Padres team, currently at 9-10, is going to get much worse.     

Today’s Game:

It is Wednesday April 28th, 1993 and the Phillies have just flew across the country to play a two game set at Jack Murphy Stadium. Remember when stadiums were named after people and things (hi the Vet) instead of sold to the highest bidder (hey Enron!). The stadium is named after the sportswriter who built up local support to get the stadium to be built. That’s kind of nice.  The television broadcast is brought to you on Sportschannel, PRISM’s weird little brother, and all nine innings are with Andy Musser and Kent “Tek” Tekulve. 

  

Watch for yourself at: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wL_fiyWd7E&t=686s

The Line-up

CF Lenny Dykstra .

2B Mickey Morandini

1B Ricky Jordan 20 game hitting streak as a starter

3B Dave Hollins

C Darren Daulton Has hit a home run in every NL park but SD

RF Pete Incaviglia

LF Milt Thompson

SS Mariano Duncan

SP Curt Schilling

On the Mound:

Coming off a game where he pitched a complete game 5-hit shutout versus the Dodgers, Curt Schilling is in the midst of a sizzling first half that bursts him into an elite starting pitcher. We know now that Schilling will never be in the Hall of Fame, not because he wasn’t good enough, but because he’s a terrible human being, like no debate about it, no excuses, Curt Schilling is a no good, evil intended, soulless, rotting piece of human flesh. Yet in 1993, I waited with my sister and Dad in a line outside a sporting good store for four hours to get his autograph and my picture taken. In 1993, he’s one of the best, most surprisingly great pitchers in all of baseball with a 3-1 record, a 2.59 ERA, and 21 strikeouts vs 7 walks on the season. Schilling tells the broadcast teams that he attributes his turnaround to a talk from Roger Clemens in which Clemens told him, “You should work harder.” Inspiring words from the Rocket. 

Taking the ball for the San Diego Padres is Greg Harris, that’s Greg W. Harris, not Greg A. Harris who currently (1993) pitches for the Boston Red Sox. I bring this up, because the broadcast mentions it, as well as his wikipedia page, and every article I could find about the man on the internet. Harris became a starting pitcher midway through the 1991 season (unhappily, apparently) and quickly became one of the hottest young pitchers in the league, going 8-4 with a 2.11 ERA over 16 starts. Harris used this half season as leverage for a 2 year 3 million dollar deal. He enters today’s contest with a 1 win and 4 loss record and a 5.4 ERA, he also leads the league in most home runs allowed with 5, for his career up to this point he is 1 and 4 against the Phillies. If you didn’t understand the whole firesale aspect of the Padres, you’d be surprised to learn that Harris too would not be long with the Padres, eventually traded to the Rockies. The Rockies were looking for any pitching and ignored the danger of small sample sizes to trade for Harris just days after Harris threw a complete game 1 run effort against the Rockies. Harris would have a disastrous tour in Colorado and eventually need surgery on his shoulder which is where it gets really interesting for Harris. To quote another blogger and his post, Remembering Greg Harris, the Colorado Rockies' first pitching casualty  what happened was, “Harris had been set up by his agent, an accountant, and a doctor in San Diego. His career ended prematurely not because of on-field events, but rather a questionable financial arrangement. The agent, accountant, and doctor were in on a scam behind Harris' back that involved a $40,000 payment when the agent, David Morway, funneled the pitcher to the doctor, Gary Losse, for shoulder surgery.” Harris would eventually win 10 million dollars in the legal case, so he’s got that going for him. Which is nice.   

Highs (Hopes) and Lows

High- Top 4th- Ricky Jordan

Ricky Jordan is starting at first base for the second game in a row following John Kruk’s quad pull during the San Fran comeback. Jordan is often acknowledged by the broadcast team for being such a quality back-up first baseman, and coming into today’s game he is batting .500 (5 for 10) with 3 walks over the first month of the young season. Jordan is a former first round pick of the Phillies from the 1983 amateur draft, and at one point had seemed like a cornerstone for the franchise. In his first at-bat in the 1998 season, Jordan homered, and the next night he hit another one. During his rookie season of 88 over 69 games, Jordan hit 12 home runs, and batted .308, more than enough to gain the starting job at first base for the 1989 season. The 89 season saw a regression for Jordan in all areas, particularly for a right handed first baseman, and with the acquisition of John Kruk, Jordan went from future first basemen of the 90’s to decent back-up. Yesterday in his first start of the season, Jordan went 3-4 with a home run and began today’s game off with a single and in the fourth inning singled and later scored on a Dave Hollins double. Hollins would also scored thanks to Pete Incaviglia’s 9th RBI in 5 games 2-0 PHI

High- Bottom 5th- What are we doing, San Diego?

Schilling cruises through his first four innings in classic Schilling fashion, quick work and short pitch counts. His first hiccup comes in the bottom of the fifth when he gives up a double to Jeff Gardner with no outs. It’s notable only because it highlights the stupidity in which multi sport stadiums are designed. The coolest thing in the world for a city to have in the 1970’s was a multi-sport stadium, which would provide ample opportunity for locals to hold events as well as to be home to both a baseball and football team. These concrete circles started popping up all across the lower 48 states, like the Vet or Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, or Jack Murphy in San Diego. These “flexible” spaces gave little thought on where bullpens should be put permanently which tended to leave them in very awkward places. The Padres solved this problem by making a cove behind the 3rd base bleachers, thinking that obviously there’s no way a ball could be hit in fair territory and reach that cover. That’s exactly where Gardner’s double goes, as Milt Thompson must run past the scurrying San Diego Padre relief pitchers, find the ball amongst their equipment and then throw the ball into play by making sure he clears the fans in the stands on the third base line. It’s wild.

One pitch later, Ricky Jordan appears out of nowhere to snag a line drive to get the first out of the inning, allowing Schilling to calm down and strike out the next two Padres to get out of the inning unscathed 2-0 PHI.  

Mids- Bottom 6th- Ouch

As Lenny Dykstra says in Whatever It Takes Dude “And now you can see why I had nightmares about Inky running full speed right at me for a ball in the gap”

High- Top 7th- Hit Me Jordan One More Time

With Dykstra on base after his second single of day (raising his average back over the Mendoza line), Ricky Jordan smashed a double to centerfield to score Dykstra. Jordan scores 2 pitches later on a 2nd RBI double by Dave Hollins, Hollins’ 14th RBI of the season 4-0 Phillies.

Low- Bottom 8- Over Trusting Pitchers

Jim Fregosi sends out Curt Schilling with 4-0 lead into the 8th inning. He’s sitting at 105 pitches, but just breezed through the 7th inning. The 6th inning was a different story as Schilling gace multiple hard hits up the middle as it seemingly felt that the Padres hitters were starting to get to him. This matters not to Fregosi, who puts all faith and trust behind his starting pitchers, and Schilling loads the bases after giving up 2 singles and a walk. Fregosi finally gets Larry Andersen and David West to start warming up as Curt Schilling faces off against Fred McGriff. Maybe it’s good that Schilling got an intense at bat against McGriff in April, and gets the Crime Dog to hit a sacrifice fly to Right Field to score a run. Fregosi still doesn’t bring in a relief pitcher as Schilling is now up to 120 pitches to face pinch hitter Guillermo Velasquez (who I googled just to make sure he’s not related to Vince), and surrenders a single that scored another run to narrow the score 4-2. Finally, Fregosi brings in Larry Andersen, who induces a ground out to short to end the inning. 4-2 PHI

 

Wild Rides

The Phillies scored an insurance run thanks to a single by Mariano Duncan, but forced Fregosi to use a pinch hitter for Andersen, so out came Mitch Williams for the save. After allowing a single,  Tekulve casually mentions how Mitch Williams hasn’t been living up to his “Wild Thing” moniker this year by only allowing one walk so far, and Mitch proceeds to walk the bases loaded with no outs.

Now I don’t expect Mitch Williams to be perfect during this adventure through the 93 season, so it was really quite wonderful to feel these feelings again. The anger I had at Mitch’s inability to throw a strike, the depressingly familiar sense of disappointment in a Phillies player, it all was exhilarating to achieve in February during a pandemic. Musser mentions, “Phils 2nd and short are playing for a double play.” Tek adds, “Mitch doesn’t get many double plays.”

And to my utter surprise and excitement, Mitch got Phil Clark to ground into a 5-3 double play, allowing 1 run but causing two outs. Williams then earned the save with a grounder to Mariano Duncan to finish the off the Padres. 

Final: Philadelphia Phillies 5 (15-5) San Diego Padres 3 (9-11)

Words of Wisdom from Andy and Tek

“The hits are just around the corner”- Milt Thompson told Andy Musser before the game. It’s tough to think about how Milt Thompson is on the back 9 of his career and is currently not hitting very well. Just trying to hang on for one or two more seasons. He has to say stuff like this to growing concerns if he has anything left. He does.

“Fregosi won’t be criticized for this” Tek argues that Fregosi is making the right move to go to the bullpen after Schilling gives up two runs. I don’t know Tek, maybe Fregosi should have pulled Schilling after getting 7 strong innings instead of praying for an 8th? I’ve got a couple complaints. 

Final Conclusions

The Phillies win their first of a pair against the San Diego Padres, thanks to Ricky Jordan’s convenient hitting and another strong effort by Curt Schilling. If you enjoyed this wonderful blast from the past please feel free to share, like, or comment on it. The hope is to have more people watching 93 Phillies games on youtube and talking about it. So hit me up @Kevin_Seamus on twitter or @loudphilliesguy on Instagram. Tomorrow’s game in 1993 against the Padres is supposed to be one of the better games of the season (according to the books) but it doesn’t seem to be on the youtube page, so we’ll be moving on to Los Angeles to face off against Tommy Lasorda on his home turf for the last game of April.     

April 26, 1993: Don't Call it a Comeback

 April 26th, 1993: Philadelphia Phillies (13-4) vs  San Francisco Giants (11-8)

Don’t Call it a Comeback

An Introduction…

I’m the guy that is psyched about the fact that the Phillies actually made moves with their bullpen this offseason.  It’s crazy, but the Major League Baseball season was actually played in 2020, and the Phillies have done everything they could do to try to ruin my fanhood. So I’ve decided once more to go back in time and revisit the greatest season of baseball of my childhood, the 1993 Phillies.  Thanks to the internet and more specifically the saint who runs the ClassicPhilliesTV youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWb6dGkCnKBlrQLJAjZ-4-w), I’m going back and watching every 1993 Phillies I can find just like if it was 27 years ago (but with the internet)... Previously I attempted to go day for day with every Phillies game in the month of June, which was a bold idea but proved to be futile. Now the plan is to start from the beginning of the season and attempt 1-2 game recaps per week until we get to game 5 of the 1993 World series and then decide if I really want to torture myself with game 6. Come along for the ride to reminisce about the legends of John Kruk, Mitch Williams, and Darren Daulton, to mix the knowledge we have now, with jokes of how dumb things were then.  

Where We Last Left Our Intrepid Heroes (and Villains)

The Philadelphia Phillies are coming off a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers and currently* have the best record in baseball (*April 1993) at 13-4. The great start is attributed mostly to a much improved rotation and a perfectly orchestrated platoon system by third year manager Jim Fregosi. In Robert Gordon’s “Then Bowa Said to Schmidt”… The Greatest Phillies Stories Ever Told Mitch Williams is quoted as saying “ Jim Fregosi went out and got a prison squad. I never saw a manager get so much out of a group of players. No other manager could have managed that team. We didn’t have any of the premier guys in the league- at least no one that the rest of baseball recognized as marquee players. But we had guys who would do anything to win. Some of us were just, let’s just say, a bit of a challenge to manage. Fregosi knew how to handle us.” 

The San Francisco Giants are still on the runway in the 1993 season, sitting at a record of 11-8, the Giants are in some sense a disappointment, but in reality are just lucky to playing in San Fran at all. After finishing 72-90 in 1992, good for 5th in the NL West, principal owner Bob Lurie,  who was losing 2-7 million dollars annually, decided to sell the team to an ownership group with the intention of moving the franchise to Tampa Bay, Florida. Beyond mostly losing in the 35 years the Giants were in San Fran, the real reason for the move was that Candlestick park was a terrible place to play and no fans ever wanted to go watch the team.  At the last second a San Francisco investor group led by Safeway magnate Peter Magowan bought the team from Lurie with plans to keep the Giants in San Francisco and build a vastly better ballpark. The Giants, despite losing former MVP Kevin Mitchell in 1992, still had a strong offensive club with veteran sluggers Will Clark and Matt Williams at First and Third base respectively, and decided to go out in the 92 offseason to sign (checks notes… checks notes) the greatest baseball player in the history of the sport (shut up, you know I’m right) Barry Bonds. Bonds had originally been drafted by the Giants in the second round of the 1982 amateur draft, his father Bobby Bonds had been a perennial all star for the Giants, and his godfather Willie Mays was the greatest baseball player in the history of the sport, up til Bonds, for the Giants so it seemed like a perfect match. But as rich Baseball owners are wont to do, the Giants tried to lowball Bonds with a 70,000 dollar offer to forego college, Bonds wanted 75k so he went to Arizona State and was subsequently drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bonds at this point (in 1993) has already won 2 MVP awards in his six full seasons, but has also won very few friends in the game of baseball. The Pirates beat writers voted him “Most Despised Pirate”, and after a disappointing loss in the 1992 NLCS vs the Braves, Bonds opted for free agency and signed for a then ludicrous 6 year 43.75 million dollar deal, the biggest contract in baseball.  

Today’s Game:

It is Monday April 26th, 1993 and here at Veteran’s stadium it is 54 degrees and raining. For every kid who grew up in the Delaware Valley, this is the weather we associate with the worst memories of April. Where it should be warm and finally nice, it is instead windy, rainy and cold, and we’re all still forced to go outside because it’s technically Spring.  Tonigh’s game started at 7:41 which is only important since the second and last game of the series tomorrow starts at 1.  The television broadcast is brought to you on PRISM (stay tuned for the Shane Black classic The Last Boy Scout after the game) with Chris Wheeler all game, but Jay Johnstone and Garry Maddox help alleviate the tedium. I tend to give Wheels a lot of unfair grief in this space due to his continued presence as sage broadcaster following the deaths of Richie Ashburn and Harry Kalas, but I’ve finally put my finger on why Wheels bothers me. Wheels is the kid whose dad goes up to people and says, “My kid knows everything about baseball. Ask him anything… go ahead ask” and then they sit there until you ask and the kid does know the answer. 

  

Watch for yourself at: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblAgf_cOfk

The Line-up

CF Lenny Dykstra .

2B Mickey Morandini 6 game hitting streak

1B John Kruk

3B Dave Hollins

C Darren Daulton

RF Pete Incaviglia

LF Milt Thompson

SS Mariano Duncan

SP Ben Rivera

On the Mound:

Making his first start since April 14th is Bienvinido Rivera, who is currently for the year has a 1-1 record with a 6.48 ERA. This is only his third start of the year, but his previous effort was a nice 6 inning affair where he gave up 0 runs against the Reds while striking out 7 and walking 4. Rivera owns a pretty basic repertoire of fastball curveball, but if he is able to keep the ball down, he can be very effective.

Pitching for the San Francisco Giants is a future Phillie, a man by the name of Jeff Brantley. Brantley is a product of Mississippi State and has spent most of his career as a relief pitcher, making an All Star team in 1990. After holding Left handers to a .180 batting average in 1992, the Giants in desperate need for starting pitching decided to try Brantley out as a starter (he briefly auditioned at the end of the 92 seasons with 4 starts going 3-0 with a .44 ERA over 20.2 innings). The experiment has given the Giants some mixed results as he sits with a 1-1 record and a 3.45 ERA but 5.29 FIP over 15 innings. Brantley goes back to the bullpen after 8 more starts (not including tonight) in the 93 season never to return to the role again. In 1996, Brantley would lead the league in saves for the Cincinnati Reds, and in 1999 he would join the Philadelphia Phillies. His time in Philadelphia was terrible, to the tune of a 3-9 record 28 saves a 5.77 ERA and 5.27 FIP over two seasons (though the first season was only a month long after and injury shortened his year). Brantley is currently a broadcaster for the Cincinnati Reds after a stint on Baseball Tonight for ESPN.  

Highs (Hopes) and Lows

Low, low, low, all the lows- The First Five and a Half Innings  

As New York Times bestselling author Shea Serano likes to remind people, “You can’t win a game seven without first losing three times.” And in that same vein, you can’t comeback from 8 runs without first giving up 8 runs. And that’s exactly what the Phillie pitchers did through the first six innings of tonight’s game in Philadelphia. As Lenny Dykstra puts it in the 1993 season video yearbook, Whatever it Takes Dude, “this was a nightmare, it was raining, and we were getting a big league butt kicking from the Giants.” Ben Rivera lasted only 2 ⅔ innings, giving up 4 runs (2 Earned) while walking 6 Giants and striking out 4 (he struck out the side in the first), relieving Rivera. Jose De Leon, didn’t do much to quell the fire by giving up 2 more runs (1 earned) with 3 more walks. On the day the Phillies pitchers would hand out 14 free passes to the Giants (1 intentional). “Everything they hit just seemed to find a hole” added Dykstra. The starting pitcher for the Giants, Jeff Brantley entered the game with two career RBIs and doubled his lifetime total with 2 more in tonight’s game with two hits of his own. The game gets so bad at one point, the person who taped the game on their vcr in 1993 starts tv surfing and misses an entire inning. 

High- Bottom 6th- Let it Begin

After spotting the Giants 8 runs, the Phillies offense finally decides to get to work in the bottom of the 6th inning as career reliever Jeff Brantley faces the line-up for the third time. Morandini walks to start the inning and moves to third on a John Kruk single. Kruk is then pulled from the game with an apparent hamstring injury, but Fregosi has already used back-up 1st Baseman Ricky Jord as a pinch hitter so Jim Eisenreich (who started 14 games at first base in 1991 for the Kansas City Royals and will go on to start 19 games at first base for eventual World Series winning 1997 Florida Marlins) is pressed into service. Morandini scores on a sac fly from Dave Hollins to finally put the Phillies on the board 8-1. After a walk to Daulton, Brantley hits the showers, and the Phillies score two more runs on an Incaviglia infield single and a Mariano Duncan double narrowing the game 8-3 when Wes Chamberlain pinch hit for the relief pitcher Bob Ayrault. The resulting play would really spark the fire for the Phillies, as Wes Chamberlain hits a shot right back to the pitcher Brian Hickerson, who snags it right out of the air for the third out of the inning. In an outburst of emotion, Hickerson spiked the ball onto the ground, and that really pissed off the Phillies.

“That was the wake-up call we needed” says Dykstra in Whatever it Takes Dude. Milt Thompson is quoted in William Kashatus’ Macho Row “I’ve never seen anything like that before. It ticked us off. And fired us up. We were destined to win after that.” The remaining Phillie fans, of the announced 17,000 who showed up for a cold rainy baseball game, decide to chant “Ass-Hole Ass-Hole Ass-hole” at Hickerson to end the 6th. 

High- Top 7th- Fregosi Playing Chess.

With the Phillies now trailing 5 runs in the 7th inning, Jim Fregosi makes a move that very few managers would make. With a Giant on third and two outs, Phillies’ reliever Mark Davis is facing off with GOAT Barry Bonds at the plate. For the season Bonds is batting .414 and is leading so many categories its humorous hearing Jay Johnstone list them all off. He hit a home run in his first game for the Giants and (spoilers) would win his third MVP in seven seasons when the year is all said and done. Fregosi intentionally walks Bonds (his fourth walk on the day btw), while down 5 runs with two outs. Larry Andersen said about the move in More Than Beards Bellies and Biceps "To me as a player, that move was a message. That's what we mean about being 'old-school,' a throwback team. We were trying to beat you right till the last out." This is the kind of stuff that Joe Maddon gets called a genius for day in and day out. I laughed so hard watching and Fregosi laughed (inside probably) when Davis retired Jeff Reed to end the inning. Fregosi would tell the media, "We still had a chance to win the game. It wasn't over."

High- Bottom 7th- Inch by Inch

New First Basemen Jim Eisenreich knocks home Lenny Dyskstra to make it 8-4, before the Giants decide to give out back to back walks to Dave Hollins and Darren Daulton to load the bases for Pete Incaviglia. It’s at this point (about 3 and a half hours of drinking into the game) that the Philly fans start to get really loud, and Incaviglia hits a tapper to 2nd baseman which promptly get thrown away for an error by Mike Benjamin to make it 8-5.

I should note that Wheel’s tv broadcast call of “Tapper to second and Benjamin BOOTS it and Incaviglia is safe!” is probably his best call of his career, and in fact this entire game he’s pretty great (which takes a lot for me to say). Thompson follows up with a two RBI single up the middle (just past the pitcher’s glove) to tighten the score 8-7. 

Low, but saved- Dave Hollins

Dave Hollins develops the yips in front of our very eyes in this game. After only committing 1 error in his last 51 games dating back to the 1992 season, Hollins commits 3 errors in this game, all throwing. His first comes after a nice stop, but he attempts to throw off balance to 2nd base and throws it into left field, his next comes when he’s thinking about a throw and the ball pops out of his glove. Further, Hollins gets so far into his own head (which is suiting given his nickname as “Headley” or “Head” for being a headcase), that he hesitates on an easy throw to second on a play which makes it impossible for Morandini to turn a double play. Now with Eisenreich at first base, Hollins is throwing the ball all over the place, Johnstone comments on Hollins’ throws, “Well at least (Hollins)’s is consistent he hasn’t had a good throw yet.” Eisenriech though is proving up to the task with some great snags, but after Hollins gains his third error of the game, the Giants have two guys on with Darren Lewis at the plate. What follows is that David West hits Darren Lewis. 100 percent, no doubt about it, David West hits Darren Lewis with a pitch.

Except… home plate umpire Randy Marsh (who may or may not have been the reasoning behind the name of the father of South Park character Stan Marsh) called it foul ball. David West then struck our Darren Lewis to end the inning. 8-7 GIANTS  

HIGH- Bottom 8- Tying Time.

With one out in the bottom of the 8th inning, Mickey Morandini “scoots” a ball into the right field gap for a triple to bring up Jim Eisenriech. Eisie had entered the game as a pinch runner in the 6th and delivered already with a rbi single in the 7th, and now comes to the plate as the go ahead run in the 8th. In the Phillies Clubhouse, the injured John Kruk is drinking beer and watching the game from the video room, and thankfully being filmed by Video Dan Stephenson who had the foreknowledge to grab a camera while Kruk was drinking. “I’m telling ya, Eisie is going to get another knock (RBI) and I’ll never fucking play again.” He is recorded as saying for Whatever it Takes Dude.

Eisie knocks in Morandini to tie the game at 8-8. 

Wild Rides

Tied at 8-8, Fregosi decides to stick with David West for a second inning as Mitch Williams warms up in the bullpen. West starts the inning with a walk but retired Matt Williams on a grounder before striking out Barry Bonds on three pitches for out number 2. Bonds ends his night going 0-2 with 2 strike outs and 4 walks. West then gives up another walk, the 13th and final walk of game given up by Phillies pitchers, before getting Royce Clayton to strike out to end the top of the 9th.

The Giants counter with the pitching version of John Kruk also known as Rod Beck. Beck along with Mitch Williams are the inspiration for Kenny Powers in Eastbound and Down played by Danny McBride, a mullet wearing, slightly overweight fireballer, Beck would make 3 all star teams in his career and finish top 10 in saves in 9 seasons, ending his career in 2004 a year after winning Comeback Player of the Year for the Padres in 2003. Beck would die of a cocaine and heroine overdose in 2007. Tonight though, Beck’s signature forkball completely flummoxes the Phillies hitters as he strikes out 4 of the 5 guys he faces and gets out of the 9th inning unscathed.

Extra Wild Rides

In the 10th inning with the game still tied, Fregosi opts to go with 39 year old Larry Andersen instead of Mitch Williams, who after warming up, joins John Kruk in the video room. Larry gets a pop up before allowing a single, and then strikes out the next two Giants to end the 10th leaving the game still tied.

Defensive replacement Juan Bell leads off the 10th and works a walk to get on base. Following back to back to pop ups by Dykstra and Morandini, once again Jim Eisenreich comes up to bat in a pressure situation. Eisie grounds a ball into the gap between short stop and 3rd base, but its fielded by Royce Clayton who tries to make a play at second, but like Dave Hollins earlier, throws the ball away allowing Bell to advance to 3rd and Eisenreich to 2nd.

In the video room, Mitch Williams tells the camera, “If it’s a wild pitch… we win”,

and Giants pitcher Gino Minutelli obliges the Wild Thing and throws a wild pitch allowing Juan Bell to score and the Phillies to win on a walk-off.  

Final: Philadelphia Phillies 9 (14-4) San Francisco Giants 8 (11-9)

Words of Wisdom from Wheels, Jay, and Garry

“Fans haven’t had much chance to boo this year, so some are taking advantage” -Wheels as Ben Rivera is being removed from the game. 

“Daulton can’t hit a 7 run home run hear so he’ll probably take one here”- Garry Maddox weighing the odds of Daulton taking a 3-0 pitch while the Phillies are down 8-1.

“You know what he would do. The next day he’d throw. A day after going 9, he would long toss right in front of you” Garry Maddox telling stories about how Steve Carlton was a machine of a human being. 

“He plays so shallow and he’s so good” Wheels is talking about Barry Bonds here, and reading the quote does not do justice to how good Bonds is. 

Final Conclusions

The Phillies complete a huge comeback against the San Francisco Giants, thanks mostly to Jim Eisenreich. In Kruk's book he writes about this game, If you enjoyed this wonderful blast from the past please feel free to share, like, or comment on it. The hope is to have more people watching 93 Phillies games on youtube and talking about it. So hit me up @Kevin_Seamus on twitter or @loudphilliesguy on Instagram. Join me next time as the Phillies head to the west coast to play a quick two game series against the San Diego Padres.