Call to the pen
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Phillies: Tough questions for September and not much later

By Rick Soisson

PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 27: Rhys Hoskins #17 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on from the dugout prior to the game against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park on September 27, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Marlins 5-4 in fifteenth inning. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 27: Rhys Hoskins #17 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on from the dugout prior to the game against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park on September 27, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Marlins 5-4 in fifteenth inning. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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GM Matt Klentak of the Philadelphia Phillies (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
GM Matt Klentak of the Philadelphia Phillies (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

What should the Philadelphia Phillies do after the 2020 season ends…

Barring a relief pitcher falling out of the sky into the Phillies bullpen, re-working that group is the team’s first priority when the season ends…

…after re-signing Realmuto – because it certainly appears the team might not handle that task before the season’s end.

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It would be pleasant to have the Phillies prove this assessment wrong.

Facing Atlanta for three games beginning Aug. 28, the Phillies still faced the task of taking three of their four last games in August to hit .500 by Sept. 1. However, their abbreviated sweep of the Nationals including a day off for meditation on social justice that was surely a welcome rest as well. This, unfortunately, created another doubleheader sometime soon.

The morning of Aug. 28, whether or not the Braves and Phillies would play that evening remained unclear, but the game was listed as “next” on both teams’ websites. It was Jackie Robinson Day.

The trade deadline hurtled toward both squads.

All in all, the Phillies did a bit better after Aug. 25 than Philly fans might have foreseen. Only five of the original six games scheduled were actually played. Philadelphia went 4-1. During that stretch, one observer put the chances of another trade acquisition at 40 percent on Aug. 28. Everybody yawned.

The Phillies finally touched .500 for the second time in the season on Aug. 29, and the sweep of Washington and three of four against Atlanta and Washington the second time around was accomplished.

The high point in the week came in the 11-inning win Aug. 28 when five different relievers held the Braves scoreless for 15 outs. On Aug. 29, less than 24 hours after Kingery won that extra-inning game with a walk-off home run, Hoskins homered and ended a 4-1 win with a diving catch. Better, the bullpen added another two scoreless innings.

Hoskins had raised his .190 BA and RBI total of one on Aug. 12 to .239 and 13 with two days to the trade deadline, but neither he nor Kingery was traded.

But thinking more positively, could one of those games have been the turning point? (That didn’t quite seem the case in the Aug. 30 loss to Atlanta.)  Was the bullpen “healed enough” for another month? (The Phillies added Milwaukee’s David Phelps for prospects in the last half hour before the trade deadline.)

Phillies GM Matt Klentak and team president Andy MacPhail had better hope so. At this point, whether they stay or go has to still be on the ownership agenda for consideration in September or after the season.

Next. The Miami Marlins are buyers and we’re loving it!. dark

The Philadelphia Phillies entered the final month of the season at 15-15. They had won two series in a row and taken the first game of the next series.

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