👋 Good morning! Max Kepler, first game with multiple extra-base hits since the home opener.

On a serious note, Kepler opened up a bit on his struggles and showed some vulnerability. I appreciate that. Rob Thomson promised him three starts during this homestand, and they are all up with lefty Trevor Rogers on the mound tomorrow. Who knows what happens, but a nice game from Kepler last night.

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As always, you can reach me at [email protected]

Brief “Big Story” today, because tomorrow is gonna be an emotional one.

But yesterday was the last Eagles practice before the preseason opener against Cincy tomorrow. And according to Bo, here is who is slated to start on Thursday based who lined up at practice…

That is not definitive. As Zach pointed out, Uncle Vic had a decent amount of his starters play in the first preseason game last year against Baltimore. They need the reps! The only way you get better is by playing! Back in my day, we walked 10 miles in the snow to school… uphill both ways!

Regardless of whether the starters play or not, the defense will be the more interesting unit to watch (outside of The Tanimal, that is), with more potential contributors seeing the field. I have not written much about Mondon, another Georgia DAWG who is a fifth-round rookie, but he apparently looks pretty good at training camp. In looking at his college production and Mock Draftable profile, I thought it was weird that a Georgia ‘backer fell quite that far in the draft. And these guys are in for a real challenge, since the Bengals started slow the past few years and have decided to play their starters for at least a few series. Joe Burrow will be at The Linc.

Ja’Marr Chase has gotta be praying that Cooper DeJean sits this one out.

Howie Roseman, Football Guy: I am so happy that we got video of this from yesterday’s Eagles practice. Howie got called Calculator Boy (unfairly, I may add) for years locally before becoming one of the two best GMs in North American professional sports, but the man has always LOVED squeezing the pill.

I have written and read so much content over the years that I forget who did this, but there was once a post with a bunch of photos of Howie slingin’ the rock. Sometimes before games, sometimes before practices, sometimes at charity events, but whenever Howie Roseman and a football were in the same place, the man likes to let it rip. There should be a photo collage in the practice facility of Howie tossing the pigskin around.

Alas, this photo from 2013 is the only one I have in our current database and Howie looks unsure in it. That’s not him.

But I promise you, there are plenty of photos of Howie channeling his inner Jalen Hurts from the Super Bowl. It is easily my favorite thing about him, besides the whole part about him being the best GM in football by a mile. But this is a strong second! Who does not love throwing the ball around?

Jahan Dotson, stepping up? From reading the various practice notes (and ZB’s tweet below), Dotson is having a pretty strong week of camp. Maybe some of that has to do with A.J. Brown being sidelined, but good to know regardless.

Yards per route run (which you can see on Sumer Sports) is a good metric to look at for receivers. Basically, what is a receiver doing with the routes he is given? The stat obviously has to do with the quarterback’s preferences as well, but the cream rises to the top: Of the 141 receivers who ran at least 100 routes last year, Puka Nacua (3.61) ranked first and A.J. Brown (3.45) ranked second. A.J.’s 2024 season is probably a tad underrated. Finishing with 1,079 receiving yards in just 13 games while playing in the league’s most run-heavy offense is very impressive.

Dotson (0.61) ranked 131st out of 141. Johnny Wilson finished last, which feels about right. Basically, Dotson never saw the ball when Jalen Hurts was playing. He only finished 131st because the Mormon Missile got him a 7-94 game in the meaningless Week 17 win over the Giants.

As we saw in the playoffs, Dotson is still plenty capable. It would be interesting to see how much a more involved Dotson could open up this offense for Hurts. There is a fine line you want to walk, and of course you want Brown and DeVonta Smith to get the lion’s share of the targets (not to mention Dallas Goedert and Saquon Barkley). But I think the offense would run smoother if Hurts did keep defenses honest with a steadier diet of Dotson. Case in point: Hurts played a lights-out Super Bowl, and I do not think it was a coincidence after he broke tendency and looked Dotson’s way in the first quarter. Our guy Spags could not have thought that was coming.

Who knows, maybe it just takes a year post-Quez to trust WR3 again.

World Juniors Summer Showcase: It feels like every sport has a shorter and shorter offseason nowadays. And in hockey, it is not enough to have the World Juniors during the post-Christmas period when Canada completely shuts down like a small Texas town on a Friday in the fall (and some people in the USA might watch if our guys make the finals).

No, they also have a fake World Juniors in the summer. But when the Flyers have a bunch of interesting prospects in the pool, that means the #content gods are smiling upon us with this additional tourney.

Maddie Campbell writes about the Phantoms and Flyers prospects for our site, and she does a fantastic job. And one guy who does not rank all that highly in the current Flyers prospect pool, but is still kind of interesting, is Jack Berglund. He is a huge center that the Orange and Black took late in the second round last year. Berglund played well at dev camp, killed it at this summer showcase and figures to one of Sweden’s best players at the actual World Juniors.

When that guy is wayyyyy down the Flyers’ prospect rankings, they have a pretty fun farm system! I am excited to keep reading Maddie, Charlie and Alex on these young players.

Phillies 5, Orioles 0: (Whistling Farmer in the Dell as Orioles hitters scatter in every which direction)

Taijuan comin’!

Six scoreless for Primetime Tai! My man is telling Aaron Nola to take his time in Allentown. Nice to see the bottom of the order have a night, too.

When a righty is on the mound, Brandon Marsh feels like he is pretty clearly the Phillies’ third-best hitter. After a dreadful start to the season, Marsh’s OPS is now all the way up to .741 on the year… which is right behind Trea Turner and Nick Castellanos. Marsh hits the ball harder on average than both of those guys, walks more and generally has better at-bats. He batted sixth last night, and I would strongly consider moving him up a spot.

Marsh is a tricky player because he still does not hit lefties. There are calls for him to play every day, which I understand but am skeptical of. But Marsh (over the last two months) and J.T. Realmuto (over the last month) turning it on were crucial developments for a Phillies lineup that has been lacking length for most of this season.

The Phils go for the sweep, with Ranger on the mound (12:35 p.m., NBC Sports Philly, NBC 10).

That is the second-biggest sporting event of the day in Philadelphia, because it is Osprey’s night at the Hard Rock Cafe! And we have a sold-out crowd that is ready to take back what is ours from Tailgate Ted! It will be an emotional night for many, as we laugh, recap the last year of Eagles football and the PHLY Eagles show, and most importantly, celebrate our good friend Zach Berman.

Your tentative Wednesday schedule at ​PHLY​:

Let's make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
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