Matt Winkelman
@mattwinkelman.bsky.social
Cats, phillies prospects, hopefully less unhinged rants. He/Him.
I write things at https://philliesminorthoughts.com/ / @philliesminorthoughts.com
I write things at https://philliesminorthoughts.com/ / @philliesminorthoughts.com
Pinned
Matt Winkelman
@mattwinkelman.bsky.social
· Mar 25
New season, new pinned post:
Depth Chart - docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Org Roster - docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Pitch Tracking - docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Top Prospects - philliesminorthoughts.com/phillies-202...
Weekly/Monthly Recaps - philliesminorthoughts.com/scouting-rep...
Depth Chart - docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Org Roster - docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Pitch Tracking - docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Top Prospects - philliesminorthoughts.com/phillies-202...
Weekly/Monthly Recaps - philliesminorthoughts.com/scouting-rep...
Dislocated my collarbone diving for a volleyball as a camp counselor, then spent the next many weeks with my arm in a sling playing one armed against a bunch of 8 year olds
What's the most ridiculous way you ever hurt yourself? I got out of the tub, skidded in water and tripped over the toilet. Ankle sprain.
😅
😅
January 6, 2026 at 3:33 AM
Dislocated my collarbone diving for a volleyball as a camp counselor, then spent the next many weeks with my arm in a sling playing one armed against a bunch of 8 year olds
Cool to see the Flyers are still the Flyers, just falling for one of the classic move of making a good move and the doubling down to make it a bad move.
January 6, 2026 at 1:36 AM
Cool to see the Flyers are still the Flyers, just falling for one of the classic move of making a good move and the doubling down to make it a bad move.
Because I have been caught up in so many other things I feel like I have not been playing enough games, and while I am aware of my backlog of video games, I am totally out of the loop on board games and have largely struggled to keep up with what is new and interesting.
u heard sharon, everyone post about their esoteric interests right fucking now. for the good of the community, we need to be hyperfixationmaxxing.
i think this site really needs to figure out how to grow the non-politics verticals (the baseball moment was a good thing!) because i suspect a lot of the bad clusters come out of the political clusters driving 95% of ENG-lang posts
January 6, 2026 at 12:35 AM
Because I have been caught up in so many other things I feel like I have not been playing enough games, and while I am aware of my backlog of video games, I am totally out of the loop on board games and have largely struggled to keep up with what is new and interesting.
There are still some red flags (7 BB 26 K), but Devin Saltiban has quietly been very good in Australia this winter. He has continued to move back to center field and in 30 games is hitting .333/.386/.570 with 12 doubles, 5 home runs, and 9 stolen bases.
January 5, 2026 at 10:56 PM
There are still some red flags (7 BB 26 K), but Devin Saltiban has quietly been very good in Australia this winter. He has continued to move back to center field and in 30 games is hitting .333/.386/.570 with 12 doubles, 5 home runs, and 9 stolen bases.
I have long thought Randal Grichuk was an ideal fit, but we are sort of running out of time of Randal Grichuk actually still hitting lefties well enough for Randal Grichuk to be an ideal fit.
January 5, 2026 at 10:20 PM
I have long thought Randal Grichuk was an ideal fit, but we are sort of running out of time of Randal Grichuk actually still hitting lefties well enough for Randal Grichuk to be an ideal fit.
I am really basic, but it is probably best that I don't know how many hours of Age of Empires II I played
What’s your favorite video game that’s at least 27 years old (so 1999 or earlier)? Let’s get a list of classics going.
January 5, 2026 at 10:16 PM
I am really basic, but it is probably best that I don't know how many hours of Age of Empires II I played
This will be Jorge Alfaro's 10th team (and potentially 9th he will play in a mlb/milb game for) and 17th professional season.
He does not turn 33 until June.
He does not turn 33 until June.
January 5, 2026 at 7:54 PM
This will be Jorge Alfaro's 10th team (and potentially 9th he will play in a mlb/milb game for) and 17th professional season.
He does not turn 33 until June.
He does not turn 33 until June.
List is going to start coming out this week, but here is the preview from my wife who always does the editing.
"The lack of depth in the system is so clear by the just the caliber of players you feature in this tier. Several of these players wouldn't even make a list in other years."
"The lack of depth in the system is so clear by the just the caliber of players you feature in this tier. Several of these players wouldn't even make a list in other years."
January 5, 2026 at 7:43 PM
List is going to start coming out this week, but here is the preview from my wife who always does the editing.
"The lack of depth in the system is so clear by the just the caliber of players you feature in this tier. Several of these players wouldn't even make a list in other years."
"The lack of depth in the system is so clear by the just the caliber of players you feature in this tier. Several of these players wouldn't even make a list in other years."
The baseball rumor monger is essentially dying off as a journalist path. Teams/agents just aren't leaking things in a way that don't just sound like lies and the heyday of Twitter engagement is dead so there isn't really a reason to do it anymore. This is all probably a good thing overall.
January 5, 2026 at 6:24 PM
The baseball rumor monger is essentially dying off as a journalist path. Teams/agents just aren't leaking things in a way that don't just sound like lies and the heyday of Twitter engagement is dead so there isn't really a reason to do it anymore. This is all probably a good thing overall.
I mostly have been distracting myself today by writing and while not really successful at distracting me, I have gotten a lot done
January 3, 2026 at 10:27 PM
I mostly have been distracting myself today by writing and while not really successful at distracting me, I have gotten a lot done
A couple of things here. Miller isn't ready now (or not assured to be ready). The skillset fits a bit better on the left side, but he probably could play second. There isn't a big Stott market either and Stott's glove makes his floor high. So you don't have a clean 2026 path.
Would you think it’s worth considering Stott in this conversation and pivot miller to second
January 3, 2026 at 8:29 PM
A couple of things here. Miller isn't ready now (or not assured to be ready). The skillset fits a bit better on the left side, but he probably could play second. There isn't a big Stott market either and Stott's glove makes his floor high. So you don't have a clean 2026 path.
My take on the Okamoto deal and the Phillies is that he isn’t good enough to commit to blocking Aidan Miller or deciding you are going to trade Aidan Miller. Alec Bohm at a one year commitment is just a placeholder.
January 3, 2026 at 8:21 PM
My take on the Okamoto deal and the Phillies is that he isn’t good enough to commit to blocking Aidan Miller or deciding you are going to trade Aidan Miller. Alec Bohm at a one year commitment is just a placeholder.
Dominican Republic not getting Jhoan Duran and Cristopher Sanchez is probably good for the Phillies but bad for the WBC
January 2, 2026 at 4:28 AM
Dominican Republic not getting Jhoan Duran and Cristopher Sanchez is probably good for the Phillies but bad for the WBC
The opt outs vs long term contract thing on Imai opens up a downside not being talked about. What if he takes 4-5 months to adjust and develop, you get months of mediocre results and the market and his reps don’t care about sample size and he opts out
January 1, 2026 at 8:32 PM
The opt outs vs long term contract thing on Imai opens up a downside not being talked about. What if he takes 4-5 months to adjust and develop, you get months of mediocre results and the market and his reps don’t care about sample size and he opts out
The Astros earlier in the offseason traded two of their top 3 prospects for a pitcher unlikely to make the Pirates rotation
I don't think the Astros are a well run team anymore, and that contract is almost all risk over reward for them.
January 1, 2026 at 5:37 PM
The Astros earlier in the offseason traded two of their top 3 prospects for a pitcher unlikely to make the Pirates rotation
So Imai went to a pitching desperate team on a deal that indicates he didn’t have a market that believed in him
January 1, 2026 at 5:17 PM
So Imai went to a pitching desperate team on a deal that indicates he didn’t have a market that believed in him
Also Happy New Year to my fellow central time people!
January 1, 2026 at 6:07 AM
Also Happy New Year to my fellow central time people!
We went outside because we thought we heard fireworks. There weren’t any, but it was real fucking cold.
January 1, 2026 at 6:05 AM
We went outside because we thought we heard fireworks. There weren’t any, but it was real fucking cold.
This is now 13 years living in Madison realizing that the rest of the world isn’t like Philly where there isn’t just a channel showing me the city fireworks (I don’t know if this is still true about Philly)
January 1, 2026 at 5:52 AM
This is now 13 years living in Madison realizing that the rest of the world isn’t like Philly where there isn’t just a channel showing me the city fireworks (I don’t know if this is still true about Philly)
This isn’t really tiki, but it is rum forward while also clearly having a wine-y vanilla roundness. Sort of almost flavor wise a Manhattan distant cousin with the singular but complex flavor that is boozy but not burning
January 1, 2026 at 3:52 AM
This isn’t really tiki, but it is rum forward while also clearly having a wine-y vanilla roundness. Sort of almost flavor wise a Manhattan distant cousin with the singular but complex flavor that is boozy but not burning
Here is the thing, I don't. I have publicly available information. I don't have detailed pitch shape and what the ball difference does to that. I don't know the competition level translations. It is totally different that me looking at Ranger Suarez.
do you have an opinion on what he's worth?
December 31, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Here is the thing, I don't. I have publicly available information. I don't have detailed pitch shape and what the ball difference does to that. I don't know the competition level translations. It is totally different that me looking at Ranger Suarez.
This year feels like a smarter version of the Yasmany Tomas and Rusney Castillo sweepstakes where teams are ahead of the public at not being caught up with every foreign player will be good because previous ones were.
December 31, 2025 at 7:50 PM
This year feels like a smarter version of the Yasmany Tomas and Rusney Castillo sweepstakes where teams are ahead of the public at not being caught up with every foreign player will be good because previous ones were.
Reposted by Matt Winkelman
It’s a little maddening to see baseball writers who spent most of their careers lauding (and *advocating for*) the increased fungibility of pitchers now trying to take a line of moderation without *acknowledging their role in normalizing this*.
December 31, 2025 at 12:58 AM
It’s a little maddening to see baseball writers who spent most of their careers lauding (and *advocating for*) the increased fungibility of pitchers now trying to take a line of moderation without *acknowledging their role in normalizing this*.
When you have the balance a ballot fall of people who cheated by removing some good vibes guys and adding a domestic abuser.
Ballot #98 is from Zach Braziller. After dropping Jones last year, he selects him (+6) once again. Félix (net +20) and Utley (net +10) both suffer drops
In the Tracker: tracker.fyi
In the Tracker: tracker.fyi
December 30, 2025 at 7:16 PM
When you have the balance a ballot fall of people who cheated by removing some good vibes guys and adding a domestic abuser.
Reposted by Matt Winkelman
Not that this is a debate now, or has a high probability of mattering, but this is part of the reason why I went so crazy with the Cris Sanchez not getting an All-Star nod stuff. People count this shit over your career. It shouldn't, but it does.
This is exactly how I approached lack of GG for Utley, lack of ASG for Abreu, etc
that stuff matters a *little* but if I'm just relying on awards given out for best BA and highest fielding % or whatever, it's just regurgitating decades-old analysis.
that stuff matters a *little* but if I'm just relying on awards given out for best BA and highest fielding % or whatever, it's just regurgitating decades-old analysis.
"Chase Utley wasn't seen a HoFamer during his playing career" is not an indictment of Utley, it's an indictment of the media of the time.
December 30, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Not that this is a debate now, or has a high probability of mattering, but this is part of the reason why I went so crazy with the Cris Sanchez not getting an All-Star nod stuff. People count this shit over your career. It shouldn't, but it does.