Another great afternoon of Phillies baseball came to a conclusion as the Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-4.
The Phillies move to 7-6 in Grapefruit League action, and we got an extended look at many of our starters for the 2023 season.
Homerun Heaven
The long ball was on display yet again for the Phillies, as they hit 6 homeruns on the day. Darick Hall started the action, hitting an opposite-field bomb to cut the Pirates’ lead to one run.
A few batters later, Rhys Hoskins would join his fellow first basemen as he hit his first home run of the Spring.
The Phillies would not stop there, however. Darick Hall would get his second home run of the day and fourth of the Spring with a blast off a left-handed pitcher. Scott Kingery would then follow that up by hitting his first home run of Spring Training, showing off the brand-new swing he’s created for 2023.
The Phillies kept swinging late in this game. In the bottom of the 8th, they would hit two more home runs. Will Toffey would lead off the inning with a solo home run to left. Two batters later, Jhailyn Ortiz would hit an absolute tank to leftfield as well. These would be the 5th, 6th, and final dingers for the Phillies on Friday
New Tires for Wheeler
Zack Wheeler has had a bit of a rough couple of outings over the last week or so.
The Phillies ace is certainly just getting acclimated to pitching once again and, like all pitchers, is learning how to pitch with the new rules.
Wheeler’s best start of Spring Training came in his first game of work. In that game, he worked with JT Realmuto behind the plate. With JT being on the Team USA squad, Wheeler has had to pitch to backups for the last couple of games. Not that it is an excuse by any means, Wheeler is learning how to work with these guys, as well as the pitch clock.
Wheels let up two homeruns on the afternoon, but other than those, he looked alright. Zack’s velocity is exactly where it should be, which is the most promising takeaway from these outings.
The Phillies Weekend Slate
The Phillies will take on the Yankees and Bluejays in more Spring Training action this weekend. They will travel to the Yankees’ facilities in Tampa Bay on Saturday and host the Bluejays at BayCare Ballpark on Sunday afternoon.
The next broadcast of Phillies baseball will be on Tuesday, when they take on the Atlanta Braves in action. The game will be on NBC Sports Philadelphia and MLB TV.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Matt Rourke
