Phillies: Lineup’s role for wins

Shortly, Phillies’ bats will be providing the team with every opportunity to be victorious, while the rookie skipper could still be like Icarus flying too close to the sun.

Expiration date:

When Aaron Nola began his third turn through the batting order during his first start, he allowed a leadoff double, and the analytical answer, as opposed to baseball IQ, is a pitching change. But the Philadelphia Phillies manager is finding out he can ignore exceptions at his peril.

"IN OTHER WORDS: “Analytics will never tell you everything you want to know.” – Albert Einstein"

Before getting to an offensive strategy, this article adds information to the concerns for the short-lived pitching debacle. To illustrate, it may be better to fail initially. Yes, if Gabe Kapler had won on Opening Day, he’d be even more reluctant to modify this approach.

Sooner or later, if not already, the skipper and the pitching coach will realize starters not named Jake Arrieta and Nola will need relievers to work multiple innings behind them. And that will be easier with Pat Neshek and Tommy Hunter in the pen and not on the disabled list.

Before every game, uniformed management has meetings to cover, among other things, handling potential situations: Pitch counts are just one. And remember, Kapler replaced Nola without two of his best bullpen arms being available.

Those powwows also involve player evaluations, and the relief corps’ difficulty is not a subtle issue. Additionally, working one frame total for three outings isn’t the same as one appearance. A numerical lie by omission?

Because the coaches, manager, and execs earn their pay by producing results, they must make adjustments to keep their jobs. So, the question isn’t if they fix the problem but when. Was it Tuesday night? The decision-makers have 159 million reasons to succeed: Carlos Santana, Scott Kingery, and Arrieta.

On April 1, Phillies sites had everything but jokes for the beleaguered skipper of a newfangled ship already taking on water during its maiden voyage. And one restless native supplied a half dozen examples of Kapler’s lack of motivational skills. Meantime, all the preseason complaints about the new manager resurfaced.

And even though one local stated it’s too early to panic, finding agreement wasn’t available for Chip Kelly 2.0. Sadly, many fans are already demanding someone competent enough to let a reliever warm up before waving him in. Hey, where’s the strong pen?