The magic gets a little more real with every victory. Both kinds of magic, that is — the floating feeling of giddiness that gets sprinkled over a fanbase as the beginning of something possibly special unfolds in front of them, and the wanded magic of the Mike Vasil variety. The latter seemed to have a particularly powerful effect on Jacob Gonzalez, much to the embarrassment of the Phillies broadcast booth yesterday. ICYMI:
It’s hard to imagine a more satisfying first big league homer than Gonzalez’s last night, an absolute tank on a middle-middle slider that makes me want to make a “hung” joke that SB Nation probably wouldn’t appreciate. I genuinely can’t think of another example of a player so drastically remaking himself in such a short period of time. It really shouldn’t be possible to go from slugging sub-.350 over three years in the lower-mid minors to blasting 108 mph tanks in the big leagues over the former top pitching prospect in the game. I spent about half an hour stumped as to who exactly I was seeing in Gonzalez’s revamped swing before it dawned on me — maybe the Sox really did get their guy, about two presidential administrations after we wanted him:
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Clearly Machado is a righty, a bit heftier, and a bit more open in his stance, but the core mechanics are pretty similar. Both Gonzalez and Machado are listed at 6´2´´, drafted as shortstops with high defensive prowess who bulked up, grew into some power, and found a home in the corner infield. I like the trajectory.
Gonzalez’s reward is getting his sixth start at first base over the team’s first eight games since his call-up as the Sox look to get back on track with another series win and equal their previous high-water mark of five games better than .500. Bold prediction of the day: Rikuu Nishida notches his first career extra-base hit, a line drive double to the opposite field on an Aaron Nola knucklecurve that catches just a little too much of the plate’s outer half.
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With a quartet of tough lefties occupying the top of the Philadelphia lineup, Tyler Gilbert serves as the opener for David Sandlin today, who hopes the rubber match of his first three starts will look more like his first than his second. After retiring 18 straight hitters to end his big league debut, Sandlin’s spotty control came back to bite him earlier this week, when four walks and eight hits allowed to Minnesota resulted in an ugly eight earned runs. Still, his fastball is averaging faster than 97 mph, and pitch models are generally liking what they see out of his arsenal.
Sandlin’s arsenal bears some similarities with yesterday’s starter, Sean Burke, and I would expect Sandlin to utilize the same approach as Burke did yesterday: four-seamers above the zone to lefties, arm-side sinkers to jam righties, and curveballs/sweepers below the zone to go for a whiff when ahead in the count.
If Sandlin can find the plate earlier in the count more than Burke did, I expect he’ll see a lot of success today, even though this is the type of lineup that does not typically let mistakes go unpunished.
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The Phillies look like they’re experiencing some deja vu, going 25-11 with manager Don Mattingly after a 9-19 start cost Rob Thomson his job. Let’s see if Will Venable can put a stop to that. First pitch at Citizen’s Bank Park is at 12:35 p.m. CT. If you want to join us, broadcasts are available on CHSN (TV) and WMVP AM 1000 (radio), like always!
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