Don't look now, but you are looking up at the team you signed Harper away from, and are picking fights with the most dysfunctional franchise in baseball over this holiday weekend.
Starting pitcher Jake Arrietta decided to plunk the New York Mets' Todd Frazier with a change-up in the fifth inning last night. Frazier has been hit three times this season by the Phillies and had choice words for the umpires and Arrietta while still at home plate after being hit. Frazier continued barking at Arrietta while walking with the home plate umpire and Phillie catcher J.T. Realmuto. Eventually Frazier was tossed out.
The fact that the Mets were warned despite their guy being hit is laughable...even more than the Mets on the whole this season. Arrietta was quoted as saying he would "put a dent in (Frazier's) skull." Then it was announced after the game that Arrietta has been pitching recently with a bone spur in his pitching elbow. The secondary ace of the Phillies' rotation has given up 15 runs over his last three starts.
Now he may need season-ending surgery to remove the bone spur. This coming hot off outfielder Oudbel Herrera being suspended the rest of the season following a violation of the MLB's domestic violence policy. Arrietta also had surgery to clean up the meniscus in his left knee back in January. Andrew McCutcheon was also lost to a knee injury in the first week of June.
They are one bad manager and General Manager away from being the Mets...period. The only thing saving the Mets from being the worst team in the National League is the fact that the Miami Marlins are a perennial dumpster fire...every year.
Realmuto is the only Phillie player that will have anything to do with the festivities in Cleveland beginning tomorrow, not counting the Future Stars Game. The Mets are sending three, despite being a train-wreck. I find it hard to imagine that being one of the odds-on favorites to win the National League pennant going into 2019 that the Phillies are trying to pick fights with the Mets.
Then again, it seems even more strange that it is Arrietta instead of Harper, who usually wants to fight everyone.
Arrietta, 33, was the 2015 Cy Young Winner with the Chicago Cubs, and was a part of their 2016 World Series Championship squad. He has two no-hitters in his career.
The Phillies are paying Arrietta $25 million per year this and next season, to go along with Harper's $25.3 million this year. Staying with that number, Arrietta and Harper currently account for 25.38 percent of the Phillies' payroll for 2019.
The saving grace for Philadelphia going into the Midsummer Classic is that the Wild Card race in the National League is chocked full of mediocrity. Sitting a half-game out right now, the two teams that are holding the Wild Card spots (Washington and Milwaukee) are only four games above .500 themselves. Contrarily, the American League has both of their placeholders at 11 games above .500 at the moment.
Arrietta is slated to make his next start on Friday against the Nationals. You cannot really picture Philadelphia being buyers at the trade deadline, unless they are looking to shore up a spot for McCutcheon or Arrietta, assuming the latter does opt for surgery.
Either way, you do not play down to the Mets, no matter how disappointing your season has progressed thus far. If things get any worse, could we just get the NHL's Flyers to loan Gritty to scare the hell out of the players?
-JC24