Morning Phil-Up: Aaron Nola Staying In Minors For Now

Ruben Amaro and the Phillies have been notorious in recent years for being hesitant to call up the team’s top prospects. They fear bringing a player up before he’s ready could stunt their development, and the organization is also concerned with allowing the young talent to start picking up major-league service time.

Amaro Says Nola Is Staying Put For Now – CSNPhilly

Top pitching prospect Aaron Nola has been dominating at Double-A Reading.

Nola currently holds a 1.54 ERA, and a 6-2 record. Opponents are hitting just .203 against him, and he’s struck out 39 while walking just six.

However, Phillies’ General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. says that Nola will still not see a promotion to the major leagues anytime soon.

While the Phillies have had issues determining when the right time to call up a player is, I think they’re making the right call in not rushing Nola. He’s only made a month and a half’s worth of starts, and while his numbers are impressive so far, he should be given some more time to develop before a promotion is seriously considered.

Lottery Hasn’t Cleared Anything Up For Sixers – Philly.com

Bob Ford of Philly.com wrote a column pointing out that even though the Sixers have a plan, there’s no guarantee of success and that Tuesday night’s lottery didn’t provide the Sixers with any more clarity as to what to expect for their future.

Many critics of Hinkie and the Sixers are painfully shortsighted. In today’s society, no one has patience anymore and everyone demands instant gratification. And thus it is very difficult for the average person to accept the idea of tanking and slowly building something special over three to five years.

While it’s true that the lottery didn’t provide clarity about when the Sixers will be able to contend, it did in fact play out in a way that will benefit the Sixers and allow them to take the next step forward.

ESPN Thinks Eagles Had A Good Off-Season – Bleeding Green Nation

There is much debate about whether or not the Eagles had a good off-season or not, however ESPN is of the belief that the Birds did a good job improving themselves.

ESPN handed out their off-season grades, and gave the Eagles a B. While their graders acknowledged the injury risk involved with the Eagles’ moves, they believe that the additions at running back will greatly increase Sam Bradford’s chances of success.

I’ve been extremely skeptical of most of Kelly’s moves. I still don’t understand the Bradford trade, I think it was unnecessary to dump so much money into the running back position, I believe they badly misjudged the market for Jeremy Maclin and created an unnecessary need that they had to fill with their first-round pick, and I think it was a flat out mistake to ignore the offensive line for a second straight year.

I do like the additions that the team made on defense, but the changes on offense were too drastic and unnecessary (I keep coming back to this word, but I feel it best describes the nature of the moves).

Depth Chart Projection: Defense – Birds 24/7

Sheil Kapadia of Birds 24/7 offered his take on what the Eagles’ defensive depth chart could look like.

Among his notable decisions, Kapadia has Mychal Kendricks as a reserve behind DeMeco Ryans and Kiko Alonso, Eric Rowe opening as a starting corner, Earl Wolff at safety.

If Kendricks is still on the roster, it’s hard to imagine a guy with his talent and skill on the sidelines, but Chip Kelly loves DeMeco Ryans and you can bet that as long he’s healthy, he’ll be on the field.

Rowe as the starting corner seems like a fairly safe bet, but if it’s a fair competition than I believe Brandon Boykin could make the Eagles think long and hard about giving him a shot on the outside instead.

Wolff as a starting safety is the only idea that I disagree with. Wolff just hasn’t been able to keep himself on the field and couldn’t ever seriously challenge Nate Allen, a guy the Eagles desperately wanted to move on from, for the job in his first two years. The Eagles don’t have many options here, but I think they really want Jaylen Watkins to step up and win the job here.