👋 Good morning! Just like we drew it up.

A walk-off catcher’s interference. You truly never know what is gonna happen when you show up at the ballpark. I have long wondered how catcher’s interference does not happen more, they always seem to be squatting so close to the hitter.

Per Sarah Langs, a walk-off catcher’s interference has only happened one other time since 1969. The Dodgers pulled the trick against the Reds on August 1st, 1971. I looked up that game on Baseball Reference, and the Dodgers’ Willie Crawford was interfered with by the great Johnny Bench. Dick Allen and Bill Buckner were on base for the Dodgers.

But here is the craziest part: That one involved the runner from third (Manny Mota) trying to steal home, which forced Bench to illegally attempt to intercept the pitch. Must have been some type of jump. Totally different circumstance from Mundito’s bat simply hitting Carlos Narváez’s glove on a check swing.

The Phillies probably win the game anyway — Sosa had worked a 2-2 count with nobody out and the bases loaded, with the Phils only needing one run, with Sawx reliever Jordan Hicks all over the place — but that is an absurd way to win. With that in mind, I thought the Phils’ half-hearted celebration was appropriate. You have to celebrate, but yeah, that was a weird one.

While the Dodgers were the only MLB team in 56 years to pull off the trick, a walk-off catcher’s interference happened in Reading less than a year ago. The batter? Otto Kemp, who was standing on second base when Sosa hit the glove. Sports!

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

There he is, The Most Interesting Man in Philly Sports. Dave Dombrowski is smiling in that pic, but after some swings-and-misses this past offseason*, it sure feels like the Phillies fan base has soured on Dombrowski to a degree.

(*And before some smarty pants points out that the Max Kepler and Jordan RoMANo whiffs are also due to John Middleton cutting spending, we get it. But Dombrowski is working with the fourth-highest payroll in MLB. Fourth by a mile, too, part of that top tier. With that context, it is perfectly reasonable to point out some of the glaring holes on this expensive roster. The Phillies are good, but they also are pretty flawed.)

I recommend two pieces of content, Jim’s latest from the ballpark and Tyler’s latest podcast. Credit to Tyler for reminding me of a few things about David Robertson in the first segment:

So, that was the opening salvo. One thing I do like is that D-Rob has not thrown yet this year, as he strikes me as a guy who only has so many bullets to fire. In fact, his splits in recent seasons have been much better in the first half than second half. Well, this will essentially be his first half.

As Tyler pointed out here, if the Phils can make one more big move on the back end, the bullpen looks OK because you can slot everybody back a role. Not great, but OK.

I do not love that group. Even Orion, who I dig, can be pretty volatile day-to-day. But it is OK, and that is before you even consider adding…

So, I completely agree that the Phils could use a high-leverage arm. But with all of those dart throws in mind, I will posit the following: Are we sure they do not need a right-handed bat more than a high-leverage arm? Like, 100 percent sure?

Now, as Tyler pointed out, the picture is muddled between buyers and sellers. That is what happens when 12 teams make The Dance in a sport with an oft-random postseason. Right now, you are stuck rooting for teams to falter and default into seller mode. For example, Taylor Ward and Jo Adell (the latter is probably not available) wearing out Phillies pitching all weekend en route to a couple of wins was not helpful on multiple levels.

Another example of a team that could go either way? Arizona, 50-50 on the season as of this writing. What are they gonna do with impending free agent Eugenio Suárez, who has 35 homers on the season?

I look at the bottom of this Phillies lineup, and it is kind of a disaster. J.T. Realmuto rediscovering his stroke this month has been a huge development, because you realistically cannot replace him. But it is exceedingly easy to pitch to the Phillies’ center fielder, left fielder and second baseman. That is a problem. I do not even know what to do with Bryson Stott, who has been straight-up bad at the plate for over a calendar year now. I want Kepler on the next flight out of town, and Stott has unquestionably been a worse hitter than him. Should Edmundo Sosa seriously just start taking all of Stott’s ABs? His numbers are pathetic.

The Phillies’ 5-9 hitters have just 42 homers on the season, which is tied for 24th. There is basically no pop.

It is all well and good to say, “Get us a right-handed bat!” and much harder to pull that off in practice... especially if you are looking for an outfielder. Suárez would be an incredible fit in the lineup, but that would probably require you to bump Alec Bohm over to first base and Bryce Harper into… left field? It would be tricky.

I also think it is worthwhile to look back at where we were at this time last year. Things change. Luis Robert Jr., who we talked about a bunch, has been absolutely dreadful this season. Mason Miller has an ERA slightly over four, although he pitches in a weird ballpark and “the periphs” are better for him. But, the point remains: Things change.

Dombrowski tried to swing a big trade last deadline for White Sox ace Garret Crochet, reportedly dangling Aidan Miller and Justin Crawford. Chicago rebuffed Dombrowski, and then traded Crochet to Boston (where he has been phenomenal) in the offseason.

This year, Dombrowski again has to juggle the eternal philosophical debate while mulling trade offers: How all-in is too all-in? How much does the team five years from now matter to us? Flags fly forever, but you are not guaranteed anything, especially not in this sport. Should be an interesting ten days.

Two bits of news: I will let ZB explain on both…

#AsExpected, even down to the “signing at the desk” shot from the team account. How do all of these guys sign their names without looking down? Very impressive.

All ten of the Eagles’ draft picks are signed. There will be no holdin’ out this summer. Mukuba went last, because pretty much all of the second-round picks around the NFL took their time after Houston and Cleveland gave their second-rounders more guaranteed money than usual. Good nerdy write-up on that here, if you are interested.

Jerry Jones, keep doing what you’re doing: I invite everyone reading the newsletter to join me in a chant, like we are about to watch an hour of daytime syndicated television that involves the former mayor of Cincinnati on the mic and Steve Wilkos breaking up fights on stage in front of a raucous studio audience….

JERRY! JERRY! JERRY! JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!

Book it, Jerry is gonna piss off Parsons until he hands him a contract with a record-setting AAV ($42 million, just surpassing Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt’s new deals) one day before the Cowboys play the Birds in the opener.

Look, the man is an artist. We all have to respect his creative process.

Mina Kimes: Pretty good get for the Wednesday shows!

Mina, who has her own podcast in addition to regularly appearing on NFL Live, legitimately loves football. She watches it and studies it obsessively. And most importantly, to me, Mina also appeared on the award-winning segment Roy’s Realm.

Sparty Party: Porter Martone committed to Michigan State. Charlie and Bill podded about it here, Charlie wrote about it here. What a year coming up for B1G hockey! Just running circles around the SEC.

If you will recall, Michigan State came in second to Penn State for Gavin McKenna’s services. I would imagine some of the leftover McKenna NIL money will now go towards our guy Porter.

In a previous newsletter, we talked about the difficult spot Martone was in. He could have signed his entry-level contract and tried to make the Flyers out of camp, but the Orange and Black could not guarantee him a spot… especially after how well Alex Bump played both at Western Michigan and at development camp.

If Martone did not make the NHL team, he would have had to go back to junior hockey. And everyone understood that Martone scoring 300 goals in the OHL was not gonna help his development at all. Porter needs to play against some older players.

So, Sparty it is. I do not think this is a Quitter Gauthier situation, even if I understand why Flyers fans would be scarred. Remember, this kid was a legit Flyers fan growing up.

One other benefit? Martone will play with fellow Flyers prospect Shane Vansaghi at MSU, the Bash Brothers. The Flyers do like doubling up with their prospects. Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey just won the Memorial Cup together. And second-round picks Carter Amico and Jack Murtaugh are gonna play together this season at Boston University. That will save John LeClair and Patrick Sharp some extra trips.

We could still see Martone in Philly this season. He can sign his ELC in March/April when Michigan State’s season ends.

Max Lazar: I thought Zack Wheeler pitched great (six innings, two runs, ten strikeouts) on a night he did not have his best stuff. That would have been a terrible loss, by the way. The great Jayson Stark listed Wheeler as his NL midseason Cy Young and Boston starter Walker Buehler as his AL midseason Cy Yuk. Of course, Buehler completely shut down the Phils in seven innings. Great offense we have over here.

But how about Max Lazar shutting down Boston’s 1-2-3, striking out Jarren Duran and Roman Anthony, and stranding the ghost runner? Electric appearance from Lazar.

One last Phils link: The Ump Scorecard from Sunday’s game was a doozy.

Phils-Sawx Game 2 (6:45 p.m., NBC Sports Philly and TBS), Sanchy against some guy named Richard Fitts. I bet Fittsy spins a gem. And, oh yeah, the Birds report to… South Philly. Do not know if “report” is the right verb when they all go back to their homes at night, but whatever.

Your tentative Tuesday schedule at ​PHLY​:

Let's make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS