New Look for the Phillies Pitching, Offense
It took Manager Pete Mackanin and the Phillies only 16 games to realize enough is enough. A plethora of changes were made following the latest home series loss to the Mets.
On the pitching front, LHP James Russell was designated for assignment, struggling his way through 4.1 innings, allowing 9 runs, and possessing a hefty 18.69 ERA. He had initially won a slot in the bullpen over Andrew Bailey, Elvis Araujo, and Edward Mujica. To replace Russell on the roster, the team selected the contract of RHP Andrew Bailey from the Iron Pigs. Bailey was considered the favorite for the team’s closer role during spring training, before faltering in his last few spring outings which ultimately sent him to AAA Lehigh Valley. With this move, the bullpen has two new additions in the past week, adding Bailey to Araujo who had replaced Stumpf following his suspension.
On the offensive end Pete Mackanin desperately searched for answers following Tuesday’s 11-1 clobbering by the division rival New York Mets; they managed to squeak across one run on Howard’s RBI single in the eighth. In an attempt to jump start the offense that is hitting a major league worst .214 through 16 games, Mackanin continued to tinker with the lineup hoping to generate productivity. He has utilized Galvis, Hernandez, and Burriss atop the lineup for most games thus far, while Herrera sat second in the order- with the highest OBP and most drawn walks on the team.
Wednesday’s finale with the Mets had a lineup Phillies fans were surprised to see, but willing to accept:
CF Odubel Herrera
2B Cesar Hernandez
3B Maikel Franco
1B Ryan Howard
C Carlos Ruiz
SS Freddy Galvis
LF David Lough
SP Jeremy Hellickson
RF Peter Bourjos
Though Mackanin insisted Herrera was better fit for the second spot, he caved in, finally penciling in Odubel at the top spot. That was not the only change, however, opting to put the pitcher (Hellickson) in the eight spot for the first time in his managerial career, ahead of .191 hitting Peter Bourjos. He does not see a long term adjustment in the lineup, but noted he saw an opportunity for a change, “I never really had anyone convince me why that’s a good idea… But, I looked at the lineup today and thought: Why not today?”
A change in the lineup seemed to have sparked up some new life into the team. Albeit in extra innings, the new look resulted in their first 10-hit game of the season, and a 5-4 win to avoid the sweep. They started sluggish, but came up with big plays in late innings.
The hero? Peter Bourjos. He came in clutch hitting ninth providing the game winning hit, a ground ball infield single down the third base line which scored Freddy Galvis. It was his second big hit; he was also the one who sent the game into extras, knocking in David Lough on a single in the seventh.
One game may not determine the future, but some things seemed to click. The manager agreed “things worked out,” but would not commit to the change for the foreseeable future:
“We’ll see. Like I said, once he starts swinging the bat better, like I know he can, then I probably won’t do that. It just happened to fall into place tonight.”
The Phillies will begin a 6-game road swing, first traveling to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers this weekend, followed by a series at National Park.
photo credit: Drew Hallowell/ Getty Images
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Categorized:Phillies