Rise and Phight: 3/20/2023

Mar 20, 2023 - 11:00 AM

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Mick Abel had to make a somewhat emergency start over the weekend and looked really good. He’s been somewhat lost in all of the Andrew Painter hoopla that has followed the team throughout spring training, but his development is just as important to the team.

It’s doubtful he’ll see any starts in the majors this season, but they would still like to see him banging down the door to get in. He’s been overshadowed by Painter, but his continued improvement at his craft could set the team up well in the coming years. He should be pretty good this season.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• The bench spots, the two that are available, have come down to five players and the competition is fierce.
• Dave Dombrowski spoke yesterday about the pitching depth the team has and is optimistic. He’s also optimistic about Andrew Painter.
• What to do about Matt Strahm? The team isn’t really sure what they’re going to do with him this year, so they’re trying everything.

MLB news:

• Jurickson Profar, the final remaining “big” free agent, has found a home in the thin air of Colorado.
• Jose Altuve will be out for a while as he undergoes surgery to repair his fractured thumb suffered over the weekend.
• The Braves might have wanted Vaughn Grissom to grab the shortstop job, but he may not be on the Opening Day roster.
• The Diamondbacks have suffered a blow to their pitching depth with Corbin Martin going down to lat surgery.