Promotions for Phillies’ Prospects
By Tal Venada
While contending teams are buying veterans in July, tomorrow’s stars are making their cases for advancement to general managers like Matt Klentak of the Philadelphia Phillies between now and the trading deadline.
Make-or-Break June:
Sometimes, people confuse expectation, assumption and perception with good judgment and reality – known and unknown.
Under normal circumstances, Klentak’s preference is success for half a campaign to earn a promotion for the balance of this summer or the next Opening Day. The GM knows a player with a hot April can also have a cold May because most hitters are streaky. In other words, the regular’s numbers overall can deceive a casual observer positively or negatively if that fan has a preconceived notion. For instance, Tommy Joseph is batting .257 but his average is .296 from May 1 through June 12.
If a general manager has a productive regular at a position, he’s going to concentrate on the squad’s weaknesses, not its strengths. Ergo, since Joseph has a 2017 projection of .257 with 26 homers and 84 RBIs, he is blocking Rhys Hoskins. But keep in mind, Triple-A production is not a guarantee against major league pitching.
When the parent club has an injury, the opportunity to impress management is at hand for the Triple-A stud. For example, Jim Thome was blocking Ryan “The Big Piece” Howard at first base. Ergo, Howard did not advance but Thome’s trip to the disabled list changed the equation.
Despite an 11-12 mark for April, Twitter users were in mid-season form with demotions: Why was Joseph still here and Hoskins at Lehigh Valley? Another tweet stated Cameron Rupp is a backup for Jorge Alfaro. And they didn’t forget about Andrew Knapp either because they loved his porn ‘stache (their words). Did they have a new career in mind for him?
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