Phillies’ Rotation Answers
Of all the possible outcomes regarding the five-man staff, the upshot is a pleasant surprise despite the lofty expectations of the fans for the starters acquired by general manager Matt Klentak of the Philadelphia Phillies.
A Dose of Insight:
When you blame the messenger for negative developments, you don’t realize the fault may be your incorrect perception of reality.
Looking at the successful rotation arms from the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the faithful see many possibilities – in fact, more than enough – to slot behind Aaron Nola. Ergo, a competitive staff. But a GM eyeballs things differently: He views quantity, not quality.
In the front office of the Texas Rangers, they wanted an ace atop their rotation. And the only unavailable prospect in such deals is a future stud from the high minors who doesn’t raise even a single doubt.
Basically, the trades from rebuilding yielded flamethrowers Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta and Mark Appel, while the other picked-up hurlers don’t have a mid-90s fastball. They depend completely on control: 100 percent. However, a fireballer has the luxury of a 97-mph mistake.
In Double-A, the talent level for successful players is the same as the majors with some differences. One is many opponents will never reach Triple-A or the big leagues or be standouts if they do. Normally, Double-A starters hit their target 40 percent of the time, but they must improve to 70 percent accuracy against MLB competition. And management expects only one poor outing out of five according to Mackanin. But if they don’t achieve that standard, what word will you hear from the skipper? Inconsistent.
IN OTHER WORDS: “Consistency is something you can always improve on. You can be more consistent with your mental approach, the things you do physically on the mound. Instead of doing five good pitches an inning, try to make six. You can always do more of what you are doing well and try to be as consistent as you can be.” – Greg “The Professor” Maddux
If a hurler isn’t commanding his arsenal, he gets hit. For instance, Jacob deGrom has mid-90s smoke and other plus pitches, but the Phils knocked him out of a recent game in New York because he lacked control. Basically, a high-ERA starter can twirl a gem in one contest out of five, and the opposite is true of a deGrom. In other words, the finesse pitchers for Philly who have a shot are plentiful, but only one or two of them will make the rotation at its bottom.
To find the answer to the starting woes of the red pinstripes, you must understand the question the way Klentak and Mackanin do. Their take: How many control-type hurlers will they need to fill one or two spots in the rotation? Ten or so. Therefore, only the moundsman himself can locate seven pitches every 10 times: 70 out of 100.
Having a pitching guru is rare. The St. Louis Cardinals had one through 2011, and the Pittsburgh Pirates have one now. Ergo, the Philadelphia Phillies are one of 29 other franchises that don’t have one. So, unless Klentak can pry Ray Searage away from Pittsburgh, changing the coach will only provide temporary relief.
On the Internet, one poster blamed atrocious pitching on the coach ruining a young staff. And the local continued with the command either to fire Bob McClure or hang him in Ashburn Alley by his reproductive lower twosome (not his words). Well, sir, if McClure could coach throwing accuracy, the red and white would have five studs. A coach can teach pitching grips but mastering precision is up to the player: Only an ace perfects his arsenal over time.
In the bullpen, the coach can provide his accumulated knowledge, work with his charges on mechanical flaws, motivate them, and point out intangible deficiencies. Those areas include curbing emotions and overcoming mental challenges during the game. However, the coach has limitations beyond instructing and fixing. In other words, he can’t manufacture a Greg Maddux or change a player’s makeup, and exceptional coaches like superstars are rare.
Firstly, Appel and Thomas Eshelman are unproven talent. Appel had some good streaks before finishing the last two summers on the disabled list. On the other hand, Eshelman had an excellent campaign for Lehigh Valley – 121 innings over 18 games for a 10-3 mark with a 2.23 ERA – but he relies on pinpoint control.
On the DL, Jerad Eickhoff, Zach Eflin and Velasquez will not see action again this 162. For what it’s worth, though, Eickhoff is one acquisition who could pan out for more than three years.
Of the two with command concerns, both Jake Thompson and Pivetta will probably be working on their shortcomings with the IronPigs next April. Yes, the team will inform them of things needing improvement. But while Pivetta has a high-velocity arm, he lacks control. Additionally, he is vulnerable out of the stretch and must develop mental toughness to get outs during a jam.
WORDS OF WISDOM: “When I was younger and inexperienced, I was a very animated pitcher. I pitched with a lot of adrenaline. I was my own worst enemy when things weren’t going well.” – Randy “The Big Unit” Johnson
From Twitter, Sass wondered how long it will take for McClure to screw up Ben Lively. Well, the obvious question is who gets the credit for Lively’s good outings? And since Nola has been here for three seasons, how did he fire 10 consecutive gems? Impossible, no?
Remaining are two starters: Mark Leiter and Ben Lively. So far, both have demonstrated the ability to be precise more often than not. Leiter, for example, has six pitches: a four-seam fastball, a slider, a curve, a changeup, a cutter and a splitter. Meanwhile, Lively has an abundance of drive and determination.
THEY ALL SAY: “Going back down to the minors is the toughest thing to handle in baseball.” – Gaylord Perry
Next: Phillies Forming a Core 4
For the 2018 rotation, Nola, Eickhoff, Velasquez, Leiter and Lively are the top five arms. Nola and Leiter were farm-system products, while Velasquez was the flamethrower acquired for Ken Giles. That stated, the deals brought Eickhoff, Lively, Eflin, Thompson, Eshelman, three fireballers and others who reached their ceiling. And when you consider that Eickhoff and Lively out of the five finesse pitchers are good shots, what do you have? Success!