Phillies have a strong plan B

Competitive formula: 

Because of the shortage of quality starting pitchers, franchises like the New York Yankees have strengthened the final three frames with one-inning hurlers. General manager Brian Cashman’s relief corps was Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Aroldis Chapman.

By limiting the rotation arms to five or six frames, the Yankees had a decent chance for victories. In other words, if you have enough offensive production and get quality starts from your moundsmen (six innings with three earned runs), the object is to be in it with the game literally in your relievers’ hands.

Yes, other clubs have employed this strategy to compensate for a weak five-man staff. But Cashman is the best example of this approach.

With the Phillies, the expectation is for Nola to fire seven frames, while they also get outings of five or six innings from the rest. And, yes, unless they acquire a starter, the red pinstripes have nine other hurlers to compete for those four spots.

Planning for two years, Klentak inked two additional relievers through ’19. And if the team is .500 or better, neither will be on the market in July without a high asking price because the locals will be ready to contend in 2019.

Unfortunately, many of the faithful fall for the illusion of failure if a reliever has an occasional bad outing or an inflated ERA due to one poor performance. But keep in mind, the expectation is four acceptable appearances out of every five, while a top closer’s success rate is 90 percent.

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