Philadelphia Phillies Philes Vol 1.6: Swingin’ into May

Eflin shines. Harper struggles. Segura keeps hitting. Should the Phillies retire Rollins’ No. 11? That and more in this week’s Philadelphia Phillies Philes.

Leading off

Last night stung. There’s no doubt about it. After a back-and-forth game that saw the Philadelphia Phillies go up by three runs with six outs to get, the Washington Nationals fought back, scoring five unanswered runs en route to a 10-8 win.

Despite the loss, the Phillies still hold a 1.5 game advantage over the Atlanta Braves in the standings, who surpassed the New York Mets for second place.

Harper’s struggles continue

Bryce Harper has certainly seen better days. In a week where he hit .118 and flubbed a fly ball in right, Harper heard his first dose of boos from the fervent home crowd.

In a sense, it’s a right-of-passage that every Philly star athlete must endure at some point. You knew it would come, and this past Tuesday was it.

Known for hot starts, Harper has been anything but. Over the past 30 days, the Phillies offseason prize is batting .192 with 36 strikeouts, worst among all of the Phillies’ everyday batters.

Ef’lin great

Zach Eflin had everything working for him last Sunday against the Marlins as he pitched a complete game en route to a 5-1 Phillies victory. It was the best start of any Phillies pitcher on the year, and came against the team that previously lit Eflin up for six earned runs in only four innings pitched at Marlins Park.

Eflin is 3-3 on the year with a 3.34 ERA. He’ll toe the rubber this afternoon in the rubber match against the Nationals. He’ll be opposed by Anibal Sanchez who is in search of his first win (0-4).

The return of El Torito

After missing the past 14 games with a strained hamstring, Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera returned to the active roster Saturday night. Through 18 games played, Herrera is batting .262 with one home run.

To make room on the roster, the Phillies designated Aaron Altherr for assignment. A ninth-round pick in the 2009 draft, Altherr showed flashes of brilliance, in particular during the 2017 campaign slashing .272/.340/.516 along with 19 homers in only 107 games played. Teams have seven days to claim him off waivers.

Celebrating a Champion

More from Philadelphia Phillies

• The Real Reason Behind Trea Turner’s Recent Hot Streak
• VIDEO: Bryce Harper Hustles for Inside-the-Park Home Run vs. Giants
• Phillies Fans Let Ex-Manager Gabe Kapler Hear It in First Inning
• Andrew Knapp Finds New MLB Home With AL Contender
• VIDEO: Phillies Send Touching Message to Media Little League Team Before World Series

Last night, the Phillies officially celebrated the retirement of their all-time hits leader in front of a sellout Citizens Bank Park crowd. Jimmy Rollins, now 40-years-old, spent 15 of his 17 big-league seasons with the Phillies, leading the team to five consecutive division titles while winning the ’08 World Series and returning a year later.

A three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, and 2007 National League MVP – all earned while with the Phillies – J. Roll walks away as the team’s all-time leader in hits with 2,306, having surpassed Mike Schmidt in 2014.

This won’t be the last celebration for the future Phillies’ Wall of Famer in South Philly. I could see a No. 11 jersey retirement celebration in the near future.

Which leads to my next question…

Retiring Rollins’ #11? – You decide

Since the Philadelphia Phillies inaugural season in 1883, the team has retired just five of its players’ numbers: Richie Ashburn (#1), Jim Bunning (#14), Mike Schmidt (#20), Steve Carlton (#32), and Robin Roberts (#36). (Jackie Robinson‘s #42 is retired across all of baseball.)

While there is no official team policy, all five of the Phillies’ retired numbers belong to players enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame. Only time will tell whether J. Roll joins their ranks in Cooperstown.

In the meantime, do you believe the Phillies should retire Jimmy Rollins’ #11? Vote now:

Phillies Trivia

Keeping in line with the jersey number theme, can you name all four jersey numbers Jimmy Rollins wore during his 15-year career with the Phillies?

(Answer will be given at the end.)

Adam Morgan sets record…then blows lead next night

Phillies reliever Adam Morgan set a franchise record Friday night after pitching a scoreless seventh against the Nationals. The outing was his 16th consecutive scoreless appearance to start the season, which is best in team history.

Unfortunately he’d blow a lead the next night, subsequently ending his streak and hot start. Last night aside, Morgan has quietly had a superb season for the Phils.

Most Valuable Phillie Power Rankings – Top 15 (through 5/4/2019):

1. Jean Segura (SS) – Previous Rank: 2 (↑ 1)
2. Rhys Hoskins (1B) – Previous Rank: 3 (↑ 1)
3. J.T. Realmuto (C) – Previous Rank: 4 (↑ 1)
4. Hector Neris (RP) – Previous Rank: 7 (↑ 3)
5. Jake Arrieta (SP) – Previous Rank: 5 (↔)
6. Maikel Franco (3B) – Previous Rank: 1 (↓ 5)
7. Zach Eflin (SP) – Previous Rank: 15 (↑ 8)
8. Aaron Nola (SP) – Previous Rank: 9 (↑ 1)
9. Andrew McCutchen (OF) – Previous Rank:  10 (↑ 1)
10. Adam Morgan (RP) – Previous Rank: 8 (↓ 2)
11. Jerad Eickhoff (SP) – Previous Rank: 11 (↔)
12. Cesar Hernandez (2B) – Previous Rank: N/A (↑)
13. Pat Neshek (RP) – Previous Rank: 14 (↑ 1)
14. Bryce Harper (OF) – Previous Rank: 6 (↓ 8)
15. Vince Velasquez (SP) – Previous Rank: 12 (↓ 3)

“Ring the Bell” Award Winner of the Week

Jean Segura: the man can flat-out hit.

After getting plunked in the helmet during his first game back from a stint on the injury list last Saturday, Segura has been on fire. In five games since, he slashed .476/.476/.810 with one dinger.

Phillie Pholly of the Week

This goes to umpire Bill Miller, who interrupted Friday’s game against the Nationals in the top of the ninth after Hector Neris threw one pitch. The reason? To instruct Neris that he must separate his hands before eventually bringing them together as he comes set in his delivery.

Apparently it’s a rule, albeit one that hasn’t been called all season. Neither Kapler nor Neris were overly pleased.

As Neris stated post game, “The police got me. It surprised me because it’s me the whole year, my whole career. It surprised me today. Right now, I’m just waiting to know what the rules say.”

Phillies Phlashback

In honor of Jimmy Rollins’ retirement ceremony last night, in this week’s Phillies Phlashback we remember the team’s all-time hits leader by taking a look at his first major league hit, which also happened to be his first career game.

The date was Sunday, September 17, 2000 and the Phillies played host to the then Florida Marlins at Veterans Stadium. Manager Terry Francona batted Rollins second, who would walk in his first Major League plate appearance.

His next time up, the 21-year-old lined a curveball down the right field line, and as Harry Kalas would proclaim, “Watch him fly!” (See it here.)

The Phillies would go on to beat the Marlins 6-5 behind seven strong innings from Randy Wolf, who would take the win. Rollins finished the day two-for-four with two runs scored and a stolen base.

On Deck

The Phillies hit the road following today’s game to take on the first-place St. Louis Cardinals for three, before heading west for a weekend interleague series against the last-place Royals.

Trivia Answer

Jimmy Rollins sported four different jersey numbers throughout his Phillies career:

#29 (2000)
#11 (2001-2002; 2004-2014)
#6 (2003)
#42 (in observance of Jackie Robinson Day each April: 2007-2014)