{"id":77841,"date":"2016-01-25T18:36:12","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T18:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=77841"},"modified":"2023-04-12T21:50:50","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T21:50:50","slug":"sportstalk-shop-thinking-warm-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/sportstalk-shop-thinking-warm-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"The SportsTalk Shop:  Thinking Warm Thoughts&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cjYtmGk7GDo\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In the fallout of record amounts of snowfall, coinciding with the cold and blustery conditions we suffered through this past weekend, I\u2019d like to pass along the following public service announcement\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re under a month away from the start of Major League Baseball\u2019s opening of spring training!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I said in an earlier post that I\u2019m more confident in the <a href=\"http:\/\/washington.nationals.mlb.com\/index.jsp?c_id=was\">Nationals<\/a>\u2019 chances of making the playoffs this year and it should be a great summer\/fall for fans in the Washington, DC region.<\/p>\n<p>While many baseball fans will write off 2016 year as a lost year for the <a href=\"http:\/\/philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com\/index.jsp?c_id=phi\">Phillies<\/a>\u2014with most of the organization\u2019s top prospects at least a few months away from being on the major league roster\u2014I think there are many intriguing storylines for the upcoming season.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cSportsTalk\u201d cameras recently had a chance recently to speak with some of the key members of the organization going forward, new General Manager Matt Klentak, Manager Pete Mackanin, who\u2019ll begin his first full year as the team\u2019s skipper, and young right-handed pitcher Aaron Nola.\u00a0 Despite the fact that Nola enters the season with just a few months of Major League experience under his belt, he holds the distinction of being one of the \u201coldest\u201d members of the pitching staff, and could very well be the \u201celdest\u201d pitcher on the team\u2019s Opening Day starting rotation.<\/p>\n<p>Here is Mackanin\u2019s thoughts on a number of issues, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>his approach of how Ryan Howard will be used this season<\/li>\n<li>a critical season for third baseman\/outfielder Cody Asche<\/li>\n<li>a peek at what his Opening Day outfield alignment could look like<\/li>\n<li>who has the edge to round out the starting rotation<\/li>\n<li>the competition for the team\u2019s closer position<\/li>\n<li>why fans should be enthusiastic about the 2016 Phillies ball club<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2VCdHYZCOXY\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>New GM Matt Klentak answered questions on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>what are this year\u2019s team goals<\/li>\n<li>why the team is headed in the right directin<\/li>\n<li>young, highly touted prospect Vincent Velasquez, who was acquired in the Ken Giles\u2019 trade<\/li>\n<li>an off-season conversation he had with Ryan Howard, regarding his future with the Phillies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a4u81cTqHWQ\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Nola also talked about his expectations for the new season, how he and his teammates will approach a \u201crebuilding season,\u201d and his insights on how he\u2019s learned to have success, even on days in which he doesn\u2019t have command of all his pitches.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S90foN3W7gQ\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>There could very well be a number of additional storylines that develop and players to watch over the next several months for the \u201cPhightins,\u201d as they continue to turn over the roster and look to rebuild after a period that will go down as the greatest era in team history.\u00a0 With young prospects like Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, J.P. Crawford, Roman Quinn, Andrew Knapp and a host of good, young pitching prospects, it may not be too long before the Phillies return to the upper half of the division and resume stringing together playoff appearances.<\/p>\n<p>Check back to the \u201cSportsTalk Shop\u201d as we get closer to Opening Day for more insights on the Phillies, the Nationals and topics of interested for baseball fans in the RCN viewing area.\u00a0 Also, email us your baseball comments and opinions to <a href=\"mailto:RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com\">RCNSportsTalk@rcn.com<\/a> and we\u2019ll read and respond on an upcoming edition of \u201cRCN SportsTalk.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the fallout of record amounts of snowfall, coinciding with the cold and blustery conditions we suffered through this past weekend, I\u2019d like to pass along the following public service announcement\u2026 \u201cWe\u2019re under a month away from the start of Major League Baseball\u2019s opening of spring training!\u201d I said in an earlier post that I\u2019m&#8230;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5],"tags":[354,570,421],"class_list":["post-77841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-sports","category-the-sportstalk-shop","tag-mlb","tag-nationals","tag-phillies"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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