The Struggles Continue for the Young Phillies Pitching Staff
Before the first pitch in Wednesday nights game, it was announced that starting pitcher, Aaron Nola will be forced to miss the remainder of the 2016 season. The 2014 first-round draft pick finished his year with a 6-9 record and a 4.98 ERA, though Nola went 1-5 with a 9.82 ERA in his last 8 outings. In addition, Frank Herrman was called up prior to Wednesday nights game, and will serve as a temporary solution for the Phillies until September, when they can expand to a 40-man roster. Manager, Pete Mackanin should not have too many concerns about who to call from the bullpen when his starters lose momentum. When discussing the overall progress with his young pitching staff, Mackanin said, “[w]e’re trying to develop nine-inning pitchers.” Additionally, Mackanin feels as though the main issue with the young starting pitchers is that they find themselves in “[t]oo many high counts early in the game.” There is no question that the young pitchers’ inability to eat up innings has put a tremendous amount of pressure on the bullpen, so far this season. Though the Phillies bullpen has been less than stellar, many problems arise when Mackanin can’t hand his bullpen a late inning lead.
Going into Wednesday nights game, the Phillies, since July 27th, ranked last in the MLB in starters’ ERA (6.95) and 29th in innings pitched (90 ⅔). To make matters worse, the Phillies starting pitchers have only thrown 6.0 or more innings three times since July 27 (18 GMS). 22-year old Jake Thompson took the mound on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, making his third overall MLB start. In the 5 innings he pitched, Thompson gave up 5 runs on 5 hits and walked 4 batters. Thompson also lacked location the entire night, as he fell behind 14 of 24 batters he faced. After proving to have high command of his pitches down in Triple-A, his control on the major league level has been an issue for the young starting pitcher. Over the course of the 5 innings, Thompson threw 103 pitches (55 strikes, 48 balls).
After the game, manager, Pete Mackanin spoke about Thompson’s performance in a post-game interview. He explained that those types of outings make his job very difficult. In regards to the Phillies bullpen, they not only lack situational lefties, but there aren’t any left-handed pitchers in their entire bullpen. Araujo was demoted, and rookie, Daniel Stumpf earned himself an 80-game PED suspension back in April. After Thompson’s rough outing, leading to a 7-2 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday night, it marks the 8th consecutive time that a Phillies starting pitcher has thrown less than six innings. In those games, Phillies starters have a 7.06 ERA.
When asked about the current state of the Phillies pitching staff, manager, Pete Mackanin simply stated, “I can’t even remember our rotation right now.” Though, the young starting pitchers have been struggling as of late, there is much to remain hopeful about, as the Phillies prepare to head into the month of September just 8 games out of the second wild card spot.
Photo: WEBN-TV (via: Flickr)
Discover more from Philadelphia Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categorized:Phillies