It is time for another Phillies mailbag! This week, Phillies contributor Shaun Nestor (@Shaun_Nestor) joins me to answer your hard-hitting questions.
Explain the Nola hate vs the Sanchez love
Kylee: Aaron Nola is the last player on the Phillies who has any connection to the 2008 Phils. He was teammates with Ryan Howard. He was the hope before Rhys Hoskins. He was the first prospect in years that showed any sign of being a core member of the new era. Nola finished third in NL Cy Young Award voting twice, in 2018 and 2021.
He also finished fourth in the voting in 2022. In 2020, he finished seventh. With these expectations every season, he gets a short leash. It doesn’t help that he’s notorious for giving up the long ball. For whatever reason, players don’t miss the few mistakes he makes per game. He doesn’t get run support, so the home runs he gives up are crucial. I am not saying I agree with it, I’m just explaining the thoughts behind it.
As for Sánchez, he was never expected to have Cy Young-caliber seasons. He is a day-three starter when his expectation was day five. He is far exceeding the expectations put on him. He currently has better stats than Nola, but time will tell. The season is young, and pitchers are still finding their grooves.
Shaun: Here’s the thing: Aaron Nola is in his 11th year with the Phillies. He is the longest-tenured player on the team. When he was drafted, Chip Kelly was head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. With that familiarity has come the city seeing Nola at his best and at his worst. We are all quite familiar with his flaws, his home run tendencies, all of it. So when a player is not performing at what the fans know is his best, the complaints come.
Cristopher Sánchez, meanwhile, is still very much a new figure. Though he made his first appearance on the team in 2021, it was not until 2023 that we saw what he could do. He has finally established himself and, as the new homegrown pitcher in the rotation, is still getting a lot of favor in the eyes of Phillies fans.
Yes, Sánchez is pitching better than Nola at the moment, but Nola still ranks among the higher echelons of starting pitchers. Give him time; he’ll be back to form and has already shown all the right signs.
How long of a leash do you give Kepler and Romano?
Kylee: With players like Kody Clemens and Johan Rojas losing playing time due to Kepler, I don’t give him a long leash. Kepler is hitting .200/.308/.311/.619 with a single home run and lone RBI. I go back to last year when the Phillies signed Whit Merrifield before spring training and traded for Austin Hays at the deadline. I have seen it before and don’t want to deal with it for longer than I have to. I know he was injured last year, so he gets some time, but not much for me. The Phillies’ outfield isn’t known for its offense, and they need offensive help.
I give Romano a pretty long leash. He was dealing with a lengthy injury. He continued to have elbow issues throughout all of 2024, and it hindered his performance. While he had a rough start to the season, his last two outings were great. I trust pitching coach Caleb Cotham to work with him more and get him right. He was an elite closer before the injury.
Shaun: Remember what I just said about Phillies fans wanting the best out of their players? That means when a team signs X player when the fan consensus is they wanted Y player, X player is always going to have a shadow over their head. Kepler and Romano were the two top signings for the Phillies in an offseason where everyone wanted them to make a big splash. Before either of them even arrived in Spring Training, there was disdain from the fans about them. So, of course, after a suboptimal start to the season from the pair of them, this question is already coming up.
Barring injuries or a regressive season, Kepler should continue to be the player he was the past two years in Minnesota, where he batted .257 with 16 home runs per season. Romano, meanwhile, is coming out a 2024 season full of injuries. Before that, he was a cornerstone closer for Toronto. Give these players time to settle into a new city and a new team. For both of them, this is their first time in their career they are playing for a new team. Let them establish their rhythms on this team. If they haven’t settled in by June, then we can talk about a “leash.”
What do we make of Taijuan Walker?
Kylee: To say I’m thrilled about Taijuan Walker’s start to the season would be an understatement. It is winning the Phillies games and boosting his confidence (and maybe trade value before it has the chance to go back down). He is an easy guy to root for. He is the first person you see in the dugout hyping everyone up, coming back in. He comes in and works his tail off to get back to where he used to be. At the end of the day, no player likes to underperform. They all care. To see Walker’s efforts this offseason pay off early makes me happy to see. I hope it continues.
Shaun: My expectation for Walker going into this year is to pitch five to six innings per game when called upon, hopefully clocking in quality starts in the process. So far, through two starts, he has yet to allow an earned run and is averaging 5.1 innings pitched per game. He struck out five Braves batters on Wednesday and, though he got the no decision, allowed zero runs in what would be the only win of the Phillies’ series against the Braves.
Walker will allow runs at some point, but if he can pitch around a 4.50 ERA when needed, knowing that Ranger Suárez is rehabbing and Andrew Painter is on the horizon this season, then he will do his part in the Phillies’ campaign back to Red October.
How many hot dogs will the Phillies sell on BOGO Monday?
Kylee: It is truly a crime that Dollar Dog Night is gone. It was a staple here in the city. My grandparents went to nearly every Dollar Dog Night because they loved it so much. It was a good chance to take your family to the ballgame and not go broke paying for food. Two hot dogs for the price of one is an okay deal, so I think they’ll still sell thousands. I just don’t think they’ll sell as much as they did when they were $1.
Shaun: For better or for worse, Dollar Dog Nights are dead at Citizens Bank Park. But we all know fans will continue to buy the discounted dogs in droves on Monday night against the Giants. Knowing attendance has been great, I’m going to say 82,000 hot dogs are purchased Monday night. Let’s see how wrong I am.
Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
