Phillies Make MULTIPLE Moves...MASSIVE Ranger Suarez Injury Update

It was a wild day in the Phillies organization, including a new signing to the bullpen, one familiar face being DFA'd, and a serious update on Ranger Suarez that doesn't sound too great. We're going to get into all that today on the newest episode of Phillies Digest. But before we do that, I do want to remind you guys, if you guys have not subscribed to the channel already, please do so. Just 23% of our viewers have subscribed so far. That means over 75% of you guys that are watching our videos have not subscribed to the channel. I want to continue to build that here, myself and Sean Bernard, on Phillies Digest. This is the only place to be for all things Philly content, so I do want to get into this because it was a wild day in Phillies baseball, and I'm not just saying that. There was about four or five different things that happened today that all have implications on this start of the Phillies season, that it is here in just four days, March 27th. This upcoming Thursday at Nationals Park is Game 1 of 162. So first, this morning we got the update here from Todd Zielecki. The Phillies optioned Michael Mercado to AAA. It likely meant at the time that Matt Strom will be on the opening day roster. If Ranger Suarez isn't ready to make his first start, Tywon Walker would take his place. Tyler Phillips would take the last bullpen job. That is what we all thought was going to happen. I had basically my roster set, other than the last bench spot with Clemons. I figured it was going to be Walker because we still didn't know for Ranger, fifth day, and then Tyler Phillips, last bullpen spot. Then we learned about this, that Rob Thompson said on the TV broadcast that Ranger Suarez will start the season on the injured list. Tywon Walker will be the number five starter, and he will start the sixth game of the season. So Zach Wheeler will actually start that fifth game because there is a few days off. The Friday after opening day is off, and the Monday after the Phillies home opener. That Tuesday is also an off day, so there's more time for Wheeler to get back out there. So Tywon Walker will start the sixth game. So from this, we all expected that the last bullpen job was going to Tyler Phillips. No. We would then find out that the Phillies claimed off from the Royals, they claimed reliever Carlos Hernandez. So he was removed from the 40-man roster from the Royals, placed on waivers, and the Phillies picked him up. Now, this is an interesting pickup for the Phillies because Carlos Hernandez has some juice to him. He's 6'4", he's a really big presence on the mound. Last year he had an ERA plus of just under 130, 30 innings pitch, just one homer allowed in 30 innings, 27 strikeouts, 24 hits allowed. The issue is there was a good amount of walks. So right now, and I've done a lot of digging on Hernandez today and I've watched him film and I've seen a lot of some Royals people talk about him, he has a lot of juice to him. He mainly hits 100 just about every outing he's out there. He sits around the 98 mark. The issue with Hernandez is it seems like he has a hard time throwing some strikes right now. That was sort of his issue last season, but the Phillies are obviously trying to tap into this potential here. I think they'd rather give him a try than trot out Phillips in the bullpen. I think we all know the big Tyler Phillips two-week spree where he had the complete game shut out and everything looked great, and then he allowed six earned runs and outing for a month straight, and it was really bad. I don't think the Phillies wanted to go into the season with Tyler Phillips in their bullpen. Listen, this time yesterday, yeah, it seemed like that was the plan because I had a feeling that Phillips would make it over Mercado, but then Mercado got optioned this morning, so I thought that was Phillips' job to lose. Indeed, it was. So now it will be Carlos Hernandez out there. A few more nuggets here really quick. We found out today that Rob Thompson also said there's going to be a little lineup tinkering. He said it could be maybe Turner leading off against a lefty and Schwarber leading off against a righty, but most importantly, the top four guys will stay in whatever order he decides. The top four hitters in the order will always be Schwarber, Trey, Harper, Boehm, and that's exactly how it should be. I don't really think there's any ifs, ands, or buts there because those are the top four hitters on the Phillies. But I think this is kind of interesting from Rob Thompson, and I will say I do like it. This has been a thing that teams around the league have been doing a lot over the years. The Yankees did something similar to this last year, the Orioles were very big on this last year. They kind of have a lefty lineup and a righty lineup, and when I say that, that's not the players switching, and that's not Brandon Marsh coming out specifically if it's a lefty because he is going to be the everyday center fielder. They're going to have them out there against lefties opening day, the Phillies will face a lefty, Marsh will be out there. It's not about what guys are out there, it's about how you attack a certain handed pitcher in order. So maybe if it's a righty, then you want to lead off with a lefty. If it's a lefty, then you want to lead off with a righty. So I think they're going to be doing some tinkering. Granted, once they get to the playoffs and later in the season, I don't expect them to be going back and forth through the lineup. I think they're going to kind of settle on some things, but right now I think it's something absolutely worth trying out because on one side of the argument, it is the crowd that says you have to switch something up, this team needs change, Schwarber can't hit lead off anymore. The other side of the crowd is, go look at the Phillies regular season record when Kyle Schwarber hits in the leadoff spot. And yes, I get it, we're not here to just win regular season games, but the matter of the fact is, Phillies win baseball games when Kyle Schwarber's in the leadoff spot. I have been pro-Schwarber leadoff forever, I'm also very pro of this offseason of changing something up. And I think if there's a guy to replace Schwarber with in that leadoff spot, it is absolutely Trey. So I think it seems like they're going to sort of try out some things. And I don't think there's any harm there, considering Schwarber has hit leadoff in the last five spring training games. I think there's going to be games where you see Trey leadoff, and I think there's going to be games where you see Schwarber leadoff. Another little nugget from today, I know there is so many. Last one really quick, Johan Rojas has been told that he did make the team, which wasn't really a huge shock. I think there was a chance that he wouldn't, just because he did have an option remaining. But Rojas will be on the opening day roster. And just a quick little jersey note, he is switching from number 18 to number 23 this season. Last worn by Jeff Hoffman, before that Cody Clemens, and before that guys like Jay Bruce, Kyle Garlick, Aaron Altair. It is a legendary Phillies jersey number. So let's hope, maybe the jersey number will, you know, fresh start for Rojas. I am pretty high on Rojas coming into this year. I don't think he's going to be playing a ton like he did last year. But I think this year, it's a good chance for him to prove that he can be a serviceable bench guy. He's an unbelievable defender. The issue is the bat. If the bat is improving, then the Phillies are going to have him up here, because the defense is unbelievable. So once again, I do want to kind of run sort of through this really quick. So first note, once again, Michael Margato, option to AAA. He will not be on the team. Second note, Ranger Suarez headed to the IL. Tywon Walker will be the fifth starter. Third note, claimed Carlos Hernandez, DFA Tyler Phillips. I can't remember if I said that Tyler Phillips was DFA-ed earlier. I definitely should have said that earlier, I apologize. So to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, Phillips was DFA-ed. Number four here, lineup, the obvious, Trey leads off against a lefty, Schwarber leads off against a righty. And then fifth, we had Rojas making the team, switching from number 18 to 23. So once again, a lot went on today for the Philadelphia Phillies. We have four days until opening day. It'll be Zach Wheeler vs. Mackenzie Gore at Nationals Park at 4 o'clock on March 27th. I am excited. I hope you guys are excited, and I hope you guys are excited to continue for more videos here on Phillies Digest. Myself and Sean Bernard will be posting 10 videos a week throughout the Phillies season. And we are, I promise you right now, we are the number one Phillies content on YouTube. There is nobody better. So once again, if you have not hit that subscribe button already, please do so. Just 23% of you guys that are watching our videos have subscribed. Let's get that number up, and I will see you guys on the next episode of Phillies Digest. My name is Luke Berkman.