PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL: Today, the Phillies will take the field and embark on their 141st season (since 1883), enduring as the oldest, continuous, one-nickname, one-city franchise in all professional sports … This marks the first time the Phillies have opened on the road since 2018 (at ATL) after hosting four straight openers at CBP from 2019-22 … All time, the Phillies are 63-75-2 on Opening Day.
FLAGS FLY FOREVER: The Phillies were National League champions in 2022 for the eighth time in franchise history (1915, 1950, 1980, 1983, 1993, 2008, 2009, 2022) … The road to the pennant began with a two-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card Series at Busch Stadium, followed by a three-gamesto-one Division Series win over the Atlanta Braves and a victory over the San Diego Padres in the NLCS, four games to one, clinching the series with three straight wins at Citizens Bank Park … In the Fall Classic, the Phillies fell to the Houston Astros in six games; it was only the second postseason meeting between the two clubs, the first being the 1980 NLCS …On May 31, the Phillies were eight games under .500 at 21-29 with a .420 winning percentage that ranked 11th in the National League and 22nd in MLB … Starting June 1, the Phillies went 66-46, 20 games over .500 with a .589 winning percentage that ranked 4th in the NL and 7th in baseball … The Phillies clinched their first postseason berth since 2011 with a 3-0 win against the Astros on Oct. 3 … The Phillies became only the fifth team in MLB history to start 21-29 or worse through their first 50 games and then make the World Series, joining the 2019 Washington Nationals (19-31 start), 2005 Houston Astros (18-32 start), 2003 Florida Marlins (21-29) and 1914 Boston Braves (20-30).
GO NOLES: Today, Phillies RHP Aaron Nola is scheduled to make his sixth career (also consecutive) Opening Day start … Nola will join Hall-of-Famers Robin Roberts (12) and Steve Carlton (10) as the only pitchers ever to make six straight Opening Day starts for the Phillies … Nola will also tie Chris Short for 3rd place in franchise history with six Opening Day starts trailing only Carlton (14) and Roberts (12) … All time on Opening Day, Nola is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA … Nola enters today’s game in the top 10 in franchise history in double-digit strikeout games (4th with 27 – Cole Hamels ranks 3rd with 29), strikeouts (7th at 1,380 – HOF Grover Cleveland Alexander ranks 6th at 1,409), games started (10th at 203 – HOF Jim Bunning ranks 9th at 208) and ERA (10th at 3.60).
NOLA vs deGROM IV: Today, Phillies RHP Aaron Nola and Rangers RHP Jacob deGrom will face off for the fourth time in their respective careers … They have previously met three times: 8/13/22 at NYM, 9/6/20 at NYM and 5/13/18 vs NYM … In three previous starts against deGrom, Nola has posted a 2.33 ERA (5 ER, 19.1 IP) with 22 strikeouts to 4 walks (27.8% SO rate, 5.1 % BB rate) … In their most recent matchup, 8/13/22 at Citi Field, Nola went 8.0 innings and allowed only 1 ER with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk in a 1-0 Phillies loss (deGrom went 6.0 scoreless).
HEART OF THE PHILS: Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins is scheduled to undergo left ACL reconstruction surgery today in Forth Worth, TX … The procedure will be performed by Dr. Steve Singleton … In 12 games this spring, Hoskins slashed .375/.487/.813 with a 1.300 OPS in 39 plate appearances and went 12-for-32 at the plate with 7 runs, 2 doubles, 4 home runs, 10 RBI and 5 walks … Last season, in Game 3 of the NLDS vs ATL on 10/14, he hit his first career postseason HR, a 3-run shot in the third inning (Spencer Strider); it came on the first pitch following an intentional walk to Kyle Schwarber … Additionally, he homered four times in four postseason games from 10/19-23 and joined Jayson Werth (10/21-31/09) as the only players in franchise history to hit four HR in any four-game span during the postseason … He hit four HR in the NLCS against SD, setting a new franchise record for most HR ever in an NLCS … For his career, Hoskins owns a 125 wRC+, per FanGraphs … There have been 2,155 players to ever appear in a game for the Phillies over 140 seasons … Of those 2,155, only 70 have accumulated at least 2,5000 plate appearances in a Phillies uniform … Of those 70, Hoskins ranks T-13th in franchise history in wRC+ (with Scott Rolen), and among Phillies first baseman, he ranks 3rd in franchise history behind only Dick Allen (152) and John Kruk (138).
NEW TONIGHT, AT (THE) 6: On December 8, 2022, the Phillies signed All-Star shortstop Trea Turner to an 11-year contract, taking him through the 2033 season … Last year with the Dodgers, Turner was selected as an All-Star for the second time in his career, was named All-MLB First Team and won his first career Louisville Silver Slugger Award after slashing .298/.343/.466 with a 121 OPS+ and 27 steals in 30 attempts … Per Statcast data, his average sprint speed of 30.3 feet per second ranked 5th out of 582 qualified players … In 2021, Turner led the majors in AVG (.328) and hits (195), led the NL in stolen bases (32) and total bases (319) and posted a career-best 6.8 fWAR (FanGraphs) which ranked 3rd among all ML position players … Since 2018, Turner has accrued a ML-best 24.9 fWAR among position players (teammate J.T. Realmuto ranks 4th at 23.0) … In 2019 with Washington, he reached base safely in 15 of 17 postseason games and won his first World Series championship.
DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS: The Phils enter play today having lost each of their last nine games against the Texas Rangers (since 4/1/14) … Prior to this current skid, the Phillies won seven of the first 10 matchups against Texas from 6/7/05-3/31/14 … The last time the Phillies handed the Rangers a loss came on Opening Day, March 31, 2014 at Globe Life Park in Arlington, a 14-10 barnburner … In that game, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit 2-through-4 in the lineup and Cliff Lee started and got the win for the Phillies.
TOLLS OF BRILLIANCE: Catcher J.T. Realmuto was named All-MLB First Team last season, took home his third Silver Slugger Award and second Gold Glove Award and finished 7th in NL MVP voting … Additionally, he finished with 6.5 fWAR, 3rd in MLB history for a catcher aged 31 or older, led MLB with 1281.2 innings at catcher (regular and postseason combined) which was 240.0 innings more than HOU’s Martin Maldonado who ranked 2nd at 1041.2, and finally, became only the second catcher in MLB history with 20 HR and 20 SB, joining Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez (1999).
TRADE WINDS: Yesterday, the Phillies acquired center fielder Cristian Pache from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for RHP Billy Sullivan … Pache, 24, was tied for fifth among American League center fielders with five defensive runs saved in 2022, trailing only Michael A. Taylor (19), Myles Straw (17), Byron Buxton (8) and Jose Siri (6) … He played in 90 games (70 starts) for Oakland last season, all in center field, posting a .995 fielding percentage … Per Statcast, Pache ranked in the 94th percentile among all center fielders in Outs Above Average (7) and the 92nd percentile in average arm strength (92.3 mph) … Pache, a native of the Dominican Republic, has appeared in 115 major league games for the Atlanta Braves (2020-21) and Athletics (2022) and has played center field in all but two of them … He was signed by Atlanta as an amateur free agent in 2015 and appeared on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list in each year from 2019-22, ranking as high as No. 7 prior to the 2021 season.
SPRING RECAP: The Phillies finished Grapefruit League play with a 16-15-1 record (.516 win %) which included a 10-6 record in 16 games at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater … The Phillies sold out eight of their 18 games in Clearwater this spring which included a crowd of 10,933 on 3/25 vs NYY which was the 8thlargest crowd in ballpark history.
LET THE GOOD VIBES ROLL: This spring, the Phillies hit 51 home runs in 32 Grapefruit League games which led all teams in MLB during the spring (next: DET, 46) … As a club, the Phils combined to slash .255/.339/.459 with a .798 OPS that ranked 5th among all MLB clubs during the spring and 3rd in the Grapefruit League.
TODAY’S STARTER
AARON NOLA • RHP #27
TODAY’S START:
• Mark the Calendar: Nola is taking the hill for his 6th straight Opening Day, extending his MLB-best active streak of Opening Day starts … He is the first pitcher in baseball to make 6 straight Opening Day starts since Julio Teheran in made his 6th consecutive for ATL in 2019, and joins Robin Roberts (12) and Steve Carlton (10) as the only Phillies to do so
• Starting off Right: In his eight season debuts, Nola has combined to post a 3.17 ERA (17 ER, 48.1 IP) and has struck out 52 batters … The Phillies have won 3 of his last 4 Opening Day starts
• To the Nines: Nola is embarking on his 9th season as a Phillie, becoming the 7th pitcher in franchise history to make a start in 9 straight seasons for the club, and joining Cole Hamels (10) as the only Phillies draft picks to do since Larry Christensen made starts for his 9th straight year with the team in 1981
• Top of the Class: Since 2018, Nola leads all ML pitchers in starts (143) & IP (871.2), is 3rd in SO (1007), trailing only Gerrit Cole (1196) and Max Scherzer (1044) and 5th in fWAR (21.6), behind Jacob deGrom (25.6), Scherzer (25.5), Cole (23.2) and Zack Wheeler (22.1)
• Climbing the Ladder: Nola enters the 2023 season with the following all-time Phillies rankings (min. 1,000 IP for rate stats): 1st in SO/BB (4.23), SO % (27.5) & SO/9.0 IP (10.11), 4th in WHIP (1.13) & 10+ SO games (27), 7th in SO (1,380), 8th in bWAR (29.9), 9th in fWAR (29.9), 10th in starts (203) and 11th in quality starts (113, since ER became official in 1912) … Following his start today, he will need 4 more to tie HOFer Jim Bunning for 9th on the Phillies all-time list
• Lone Ranger: With is first career start against TEX, Nola is now only yet to face CLE among all other teams aside from PHI … Nola is facing deGrom for just the 4th time in his career (last: 8/13/22), despite them pitching in the same division from 2015-22
• Total Body of Work: Nola is coming off a 2022 season in which he made 37 starts, posted a 3.43 ERA (88 ER, 230.2 IP), struck out 262, walked 34 and posted a 1.00 WHIP in the regular and postseason combined
ROAD:
• 2022: 5-9, 3.00 ERA (36 ER, 108.0 IP) in 16 starts
• Career: 34-38, 4.05 ERA (270 ER, 600.2 IP) in 102 starts
2022 SEASON:
• ML Rankings: 1st in fWAR (6.3) & SO/BB (8.10), T-1st in SHO (1), 2nd in IP (205.0), BB % (3.6) & BB/9.0 IP (1.27), T-3rd in CG (2), 4th in SO (235), T-5th in starts (32), 6th in bWAR (4.0), 7th in WHIP (0.96), SO % (29.1) & OPP OBP (.256) and 9th in SO/9.0 IP (10.32)
• Struck out a career-best 235 batters and issued just 29 walks, joining Jim Whitney (1884 Boston Beaneaters) as the only pitchers ever with 220 or more SO and fewer than 30 BB in a season
• Named All-MLB Second Team, his first career All-MLB selection
• Led all pitchers with 6.3 fWAR, becoming the first Phillie to lead all pitchers in fWAR since Roy Halladay in 2011
• His 8.10 SO/BB was the best ever by a qualifying Phillies pitcher and the 18th-best in ML history
• Surpassed 220 SO for the fourth straight fully-scheduled season (2018-19, 2021-22)
• Surpassed 200.0 IP for the third time (others: 2018-19) and made 30 or more starts for the fourth straight fully-scheduled season
• Made his 200th career start on 9/17 at ATL, making him the seventh Phillie to have his first 200 career starts with the club and just the 10th with 200 at any point
• Retired the first 20 batters he faced (6.2 IP) in the postseason clincher on 10/3 at HOU, the longest perfect game bid of his career
2022 POSTSEASON:
• His 203 starts before a postseason start were most ever by a Phillie whose whole career was spent with the team and 2nd-most among all active pitchers (Jordan Lyles, 214)
• His 11.2-inning scoreless streak to begin his playoff career was the longest ever by a Phillie
• Became one of seven Phillies pitchers to start Game 1 of a World Series and joined Cole Hamels as the only Phillies 1st-round picks to do so
• Joined Zack Wheeler, Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee as the only Phillies to make at least five starts in a single postseason
CAREER:
• His 10.11 SO/9.0 IP (1380 SO, 1,228.1 IP) is 10th-best all-time (min. 1,000 IP)
• Finished 3rd in 2018 NL CY Young Award Voting and made his first career All-Star team
TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:
THE OPENER: The Rangers open their 52nd season since moving to Texas against the Philadelphia Phillies today at Globe Life Field…this will be the 6th time in the last 8 years for TEX to play its season opener in Arlington (also 2015-20)…club played back-to-back season openers on the road in 2021 (4/1/21 at KC) and 2022 (4/8/22 at TOR) for the 1st time since 2007-08.
• Texas is 23-28 overall on Opening Day, losing 2 straight, 5 of last 6 (1-0 win on 7/24/20 vs. COL in 1st-ever game at Globe Life Field) and 8 of the last 10 years…club won 4 in a row from 2009-12, but has dropped 13 of 19, 15 of 22, and 17 of the last 25 openers overall.
• Rangers are 17-12 all-time in season-opening games that take place in Arlington, snapping a 3-G losing skid in such games with a 1-0 win in last instance on 7/24/20 vs. COL.
• This will be the 4th time the Rangers have played an Interleague game on Opening Day, all of which have come in Arlington: 3/31/14 vs. PHI (14-10 loss), 3/28/19 vs. CHC (12-4 loss), and 7/24/20 vs. COL (1-0 win)… this will be the 3rd straight season-opener in Arlington to come against a N.L. club.
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME: Today will be just the 2nd-ever Rangers season opener to take place at Globe Life Field (also a 1-0 win on 7/24/20 vs. COL in the park’s debut), and it will be the 1st-ever Texas season opener at this facility with fans in attendance…the Rangers’ last season-opening game at home – with fans in the stands – came on 3/28/19 vs. CHC, which began the club’s final season at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
BACK IN TIME: Today marks the Rangers’ 1st game with the new pitch timer that was utilized throughout 2023 MLB Spring Training and in the minor leagues in various forms over the past several seasons…of the Rangers’ 31 Spring Training games in ‘23 (all utilizing the clock), only 4 lasted 3-hours-or-longer…in 2022, 11 of club’s 18 Cactus League contests lasted 3+ hours.
• Texas 9-inning games averaged 3 hours, 1 minute, and 7 seconds in 2022 (3:01:07), a drop of over a full minute from 2021 (3:02:17), and the 2nd-shortest figure in at least the past 6 seasons…TEX 9-inning games have averaged over 3 hours in at least 6 straight years: 2022-3:01:07, 2021-3:02:17, 2020-3:03:14, 2019-3:07:01, 2018-3:00:53, 2017-3:10:24.
DEBUT OF deGROM: Jacob deGrom was announced as the Rangers’ Opening Day starter on Friday…today will be his 4th career Opening Day start, as he had the honors for the Mets in 3 straight seasons on 3/28/19 at WAS (6.0 SHO IP), 7/24/20 vs. ATL (5.0 SHO IP), and 4/5/21 at PHI (6.0 SHO IP)…deGrom overall in his 3 O.D. starts: 17.0 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 25 SO…opposing batters are a combined 9-for-57 (.158) with 2 XBH (both doubles) in those 3 outings.
• DeGrom will be just the 3rd Texas pitcher to start on Opening Day for the club after having previously won a Cy Young Award…he will be the first Opening Day starter in Rangers history to take the mound for Texas after having previously won multiple Cy Young Awards…the previous 2 Rangers to start an opener after winning a CYA:
- Fergie Jenkins (1971 N.L. Cy Young with CHC), started Opening Day for Texas on 4/8/75 vs. MIN and 4/7/79 at DET.
- Gaylord Perry (1972 A.L. Cy Young with CLE; also 1978 N.L. Cy Young with SD), started Opening Day for Texas on 4/9/76 vs. MIN.
• According to Elias Sports Bureau, deGrom is one of four pitchers in MLB history to not allow a run in each of his first 3-or-more Opening Day starts:
MOST CONSECUTIVE SCORELESS OPENING DAY STARTS
TO BEGIN A CAREER, MLB HISTORY (credit Elias Sports Bureau)
No. Pitcher Team Years
4 Rick Mahler ATL 1982/1985/1986/1987
3 Rip Sewell PIT 1943/1947/1949
3 Clayton Kershaw LAD 2011/2012/2013
3 Jacob deGrom NYM 2019/2020/2021
FIRSTS FOR BOCHY: Today marks Bruce Bochy’s first game as Rangers Manager, his 1st game as a MLB skipper since his final contest with the Giants on 9/29/19 vs. LAD…this will be the 1st time he has managed an American League team in his career…he will be the first manager in MLB history to manage over 4000 games in one league (4032 w/ SD and SF) before managing a single game in the other league…Bochy has 2003 career wins as a manager, 12th-most in Major League history, and he needs just 38 more wins to crack the top 10 in that category…he will be the 1st manager in Rangers history to have previously won a World Series title as manager with another club.
THE ROSTER: The Rangers formally announced the club’s season-opening 26-man roster this morning…club is returning 12 players from last year’s 28-man roster to begin 2022, one more returnee than 2021-22 (11)…the returnees from 2022: Brock Burke, Dane Dunning, Adolis García, Mitch Garver, Jon Gray, Taylor Hearn, Jonah Heim, Nathaniel Lowe, Brad Miller, Martín Pérez, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien…just 4 players are on the O.D. roster for a 3rd straight year: Dunning, Hearn, Heim, and Lowe.
• There are 5 players on an Opening Day roster for the 1st time: Ezequiel Duran, Josh Jung, Cole Ragans, Josh Smith, and Bubba Thompson… none of those 5 are seeking their ML debut…total of 6 Rangers are seeking their Texas debuts: Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Robbie Grossman, Andrew Heaney, Travis Jankowski, and Will Smith.
THE HOME OPENER: The Rangers open their 52nd season in Arlington this afternoon against the Phillies…Rangers are 25-26 all-time in home openers (12-10 at Arlington Stadium; 12-14 at Globe Life Park in Arlington; 1-2 at Globe Life Field)…TEX has dropped 2 straight, 5 of 6 and 7 of last 9 home openers…full home opener results are on page 6.
VS. PHILADELPHIA: Texas and Philly will meet for a 2nd straight season in ‘23, 1st time clubs have ever squared off in back-to-back years…the Rangers went 4-0 last year against the eventual N.L. champs and have won 9 straight vs. PHI beginning 4/1/14…the 9-G win streak is Rangers’ longest ever vs. an N.L. opponent (prev. 7-0 vs. STL, 6/21/13-5/17/19)… last year’s 4-0 finish vs. PHI marked just 3rd time in Washington/Texas franchise history (since 1961) to go 4-0 or better against one opponent in a season (12-0 vs. MIN in 1999), something the Rangers have never done versus a N.L. opponent…club was 12-0 vs. MIN in 1999, and went 6-0 vs. DET in 2019…TEX leads all-time, 12-7…Rangers are 9-2 vs. PHI in Arlington, winning 7 straight…prior to last year’s visit to GLF (6/21-22), Phillies had not been to Arlington since 5/16-18/17.
FACING A PENNANT-WINNER: This year marks just the 6th time the Rangers will ever play a league champion from the previous year in a season opener, 1st time to face the N.L. pennant-winner…the previous 5 opener instances (-indicates won the WS): 2018 vs. HOU, 2017 vs. CLE,
2003 at ANA, 1978 vs. NYY, 1974 vs. OAK*.
I’M OPEN: While the forecast remains uncertain today in Arlington, an effort will be made to play the game with the roof open at Globe Life Field… the roof was open for the Rangers’ workout yesterday afternoon after being closed for exhibition games here both Monday night and Tuesday afternoon…of the 33 regular season games all-time played at GLF with the roof open (6 in 2020, 11 in 2021, 16 in 2022), 14 have taken place prior to May 1 on the calendar…today (3/30) would be the earliest date for any open roof game at GLF (currently 4/5/21 vs. TOR)…this would be just the 9th day game in GLF history (reg. and postseason) to be played with the roof open, a list which includes the most recent contest at the park (season finale 10/5/22 vs. NYY).
RIGHT AT HOME: The top 2 HR hitters in Globe Life Field history are in the Rangers’ lineup today…Corey Seager is a career .290/.370/.590/.960 (106-366) hitter with 30 HR and 67 RBI over 95 games in the regular season (79) and postseason (16) at Globe Life Field…has 30 career HRat GLF (regular and postseason), 2nd-most in facility history (34-Adolis García)…has 23 HR in regular season at GLF (22 w/ TEX, 1 w/ LAD), also 2nd-most (34-García).
KIND OF A BIG DEAL: Each of the final 2 G of this series will air on national TV (FOX on Sat. and ESPN on Sun.)…Sunday’s contest will be the 1st-ever ESPN broadcast at Globe Life Field.
MISCELLANEOUS: LHP Will Smith has changed his uniform number to #51, effective for Opening Day…Mitch Garver and Brad Miller both hit HR in their Rangers debuts in club’s Opening Day game last year in Toronto… Adolis García also homered last year in his 1st career O.D. contest…Jacob deGrom will be just the 4th pitcher to ever make his Rangers debut by starting Opening Day in Arlington…the others:
Kevin Millwood on 4/3/06
vs. BOS (L, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R-ER), Ken Hill on 4/1/96 vs. BOS (W, 8.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R-ER), Jon Matlack on 4/8/78 vs. NYY (W, 9.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R-ER)…today marks Mike Maddux’s first game as Rangers pitching coach since 2015ALDS Game 5 on 10/14/15 at TOR, a 6-3 Texas defeat…Corey Seager in 7 career Opening Day games: .310/.382/.621/1.003 (9-29) w/ 2 HR, 3 2B, 7 RBI, and 4 BB
