Phillies Notes: Short-Term and Long-Term Issues Facing the Top 10 Rotations

More than 40 percent of the season has no doubt about the strength of the Phillies rotation. Only one team, San Diego, has received more substitutions from their starters. The five throwers that Phillies intended for rotation have made 94 percent of the starts. They didn’t need depth. In almost every measurement, Phillies is one of the top 10 rotations in the major leagues.

It helps when Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, who are the best starters in the National League this season, start two out of every five games. For the rest of the rotation, the bar is lower – Phillies only wants lengths and good enough performances to keep a strong attack at range. The less you have to hope for the Phillies, the better.

It is therefore the responsibility of Kyle Gibson, Zach Eflin and Ranger Suárez to remain competent. Depending on the week, at least one of them has looked like No. 3. It has been up and down. This in turn makes them turning points.

It all depends on them starting every fifth day, so Eflin’s situation is somewhat worrying given his chronic knee problems. Eflin is in contract year; not surprisingly, he wants to break through the pain to prove his resilience. But one thing is to do it and another thing to be effective. Interim manager Rob Thomson told reporters after a 9: 3 loss to Nationals that the plan was to remove Eflin from about 40 squares.

It wouldn’t be wise for Phillies to take a 15-day break. Eflin underwent major knee surgery 12 months ago. Starts in July and August are just as important as in June.

Four of Suárez’s previous five starts had lasted 4 1/3 or less, so the sixth race on Friday was an achievement. “A little is still missing,” Thomson said. “But he was better. He’s not where I think he’ll be or what we’re used to, but he was better.

Washington strikers swayed and missed just six of Suárez’s 94 squares. He was asked on the left if he was still looking for a second gear.

“No, not really,” Suarez said. “You know, it’s obviously not the same as last year (1.36 ERA 106 rounds). But I work hard. I feel good. I think things will work out.”

No one expected Suárez to do what he did in 2021, but that performance affected the potential for him. The evaluators had debated whether he was a recurrent type or better suited for average support work. After the previous season, it was easier to squint and imagine that Suárez is No. 4 in the rotation, or maybe even No. 3. So far, in 2022, he has lagged behind.

The Phillies may live with Suárez as number 5, but that puts a little more pressure on Eflin and Gibson to be more consistent in the middle of the rotation. Suárez’s move in 2022 will have short- and long-term effects, as both Eflin and Gibson are likely to be free agents this season. Phillies have to deal with rotation; If they know Suárez better by 2023, they may target fewer beginners. It has been years since Phillies was a player in the free agent market for mid-rotation starters. This is a place they have been actively trying to avoid.

Give them a cutter

The Phillies have tried several ideas to help José Alvarado use his powerful but volatile left hand. They often simplify this by forgetting to locate, throwing the ball down the middle, and letting the squares do their thing.

It hasn’t worked well with his fastball. The teams have reached 0.419, against which there is a 0.581 percent drop. So when Alvarado entered Friday’s two-game second round under pressure, he threw more shots than ever in one outing.

The Washington strikers swayed and erred in five of the 16 cutters. They made little contact with it. Alvarado can throw your fastball at 102 miles per hour, but the cutter is better. He throws it harder than most throwers with his four-stitch speed balls.

So he throws it more.

“Yes, I think you can say that,” Alvarado said through the team’s interpreter. “Honestly, I think they’re better off hitting the diver than the cutter. Although the diver has a higher speed. But I’ve seen how uncomfortable the bats can be for my cutter. I have enough confidence in all my squares.”

Hanenahk

Jean Segura was lying in a leather chair in the Phillies clubhouse last week, saddened by her current situation. Segura has broken needles on the right index finger. He may return by September.

“Honestly, I’m really jealous,” Segura said. “I’m really jealous because this is the race the boys are attacking right now. They’re having fun. I’ll definitely see it on TV. They look happy. They look relaxed. The best part is that they enjoy playing ball right now.

He raised his left hand. Goose skins appeared.

“I’m not lying,” he said. “I’m jealous that it’s not available.”

Phillies’ second player will score 0.225 / 0.287 / 0.525 this month with 87 recordings, the first without Jean Segura. It works if they can maintain power. The future of Segura, who will turn 33 next year in March next year, is uncertain. Phillies has a $ 17 million option by 2023. They will probably pay a million dollars to buy it out.

Segura has played the most games among active MLB players without appearing this season.

“I think I played well (before the injury),” Segura said. “I hit a lot of balls this year hard, more than (in previous years). And I said okay, maybe I’ll get stronger. The situation with my contract, it’s probably my last year here. Or not. I can’t control it. I love this team, I’d love to end my career in Philadelphia because I still … look, it’s not wrong.

Segura looked at the goosebumps on her hands again.

“I think this type of company is doing something really great,” he said, “because we have talent in the locker room.”

From Indian ball to the big ones

When there was nowhere to go, Michael Kelly found a job in the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in 2019. He walked there with 63 1/3 innings, but wanted to continue. He was the 48th choice in the 2011 MLB draft. No one would have blamed him for leaving almost ten years later.

Kelly was still unemployed when a pandemic stopped playing baseball in March 2020. So he bought a training facility in Tennis Chattanooga. “It was a great deal,” Kelly said. He trained at the Fury Academy in the morning and gave baseball lessons in the afternoon. He still wanted to play, but it was a way to think about life after baseball. He spent the whole of 2020 on organized baseball.

Before the 2021 season, he filmed his bullpen screenings and sent videos to the teams with Rapsodo data. Nobody called. Then, in May 2021, he joined Double A with the Astros organization. He was a full-time facilitator. Some metrics were good; The Phillies offered him a sub-league deal.

And on Thursday, he became the 2270th player in Major League Baseball history. He scored a goal without a goal in Nationals Park.

“That was great,” said Kelly, 29. “I mean, many years in the making. It was pretty exciting.”

His parents and wife were watching it at the ball court. Kelly’s time in major was short; after another outing on Sunday, the Phillies downgraded him to a triple-A to comply with the MLB limit of 13 pots that would take effect on Monday. But he did it.

“I just love baseball,” Kelly said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

New repeater

Last summer, while Riley Wilson was working to recover from another injury, she began meeting as many different people as possible in Philles’ organization. “Because,” he said, “I knew after I finished playing, be it in 20 years or 20 minutes, that I wanted to do something in baseball.” He was a left-wing mitigator, a freerolling agent from the University of Virginia.

He was released by the Phillies last December.

“I felt like I was probably done,” Wilson said. “I think I was 25. I put 10 innings higher than a newcomer. So I saw an inscription on the wall.

He ran for various baseball jobs, including some Phillies positions. Later, out of season, Phillies hired him to help his research team develop trends and strategies for future opponents. It was a basic role, but a good opportunity.

Wilson just didn’t know he would have a direct impact on the actual Phillies games by June.

“That’s great,” Wilson said.

When Phillies fired Joe Girard and promoted Thomson to interim manager, the chain reaction put new eyes on Wilson in the video room, who decided when or when not to play. Quality Assurance Coach Mike Calitri was a repeat player for the first year. Earlier, when Thomson called to challenge the decision, Calitri was at the other end.

Now the new bench coach is calling Calitri Wilson.

“Looks like you’re almost in the game,” Wilson said. “I’m not too far from my career as a player, but before the game you feel like you’re going into a game. Because, of course, you have an impact on the game. You’re still preparing the same way you play.”

Wilson’s father played underage with Padres and never made it to the main event. His older brother Tyler did it. He scored for Orioles in 42 games. Now Riley is in the main – right behind the scenes.

“I would have liked to do it, but it was a small dream,” he said.

(Top photo by Ranger Suárez: Brad Mills / USA Today)