Philadelphia Phillies pitching may just be enough after all

Philadelphia Phillies fans knew, if they were really paying attention, the first real test of their pitching staff would come Apr. 5 – or at least they knew that once the Mets-Nationals opening series was postponed due to COVID concerns.

Yes, of course, the opening series for Philadelphia against Atlanta was a vital – a home series against the defending division champions – but in fact, on paper, the Phillies and Braves are roughly even. Moreover, the first three Phillies starters are at least potentially more difficult pitchers to face than the Braves first three.

(And then Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Zach Eflin proved that, beating the Braves three straight, posting a 1.31 ERA, with help from an apparently much improved bullpen. Four different relievers gave up no runs in 7.1 innings.)

The Phillies first pitching staff test came in the form of Jacob deGrom and the Mets.

But once the Mets opener slid down the schedule to Apr. 5 in Philly, it became obvious the Phils’ first truly daunting contest would be that very game. This was because the most intimidating NL pitcher since Bob Gibson – Jacob deGrom – would pitch for the Metropolitans while the newly acquired Matt Moore would take the ball for the Phillies.

Nobody needed to check the Vegas line to determine the favorite in this contest. As SNY TV tweeted, deGrom is “aging like fine wine,” after winning two NL Cy Young awards in the past three years and placing third last season. Moore, on the other hand, the Phillies fourth starter, is trying to return to MLB competition from a year in Japan.

Hey, at least the prodigal left-hander saw a bit more game action in Japan than most American MLB starters did in 2020.

This game would be tough. In addition to deGrom, the Mets would trot out a significantly improved supporting cast for their ace.

At least nature cooperated. Monday produced a perfect evening for baseball in South Philly, pleasantly cool, rather than too cold.

Roughly 80 minutes later, though, the Phillies would encounter their first genuine hurdle of the season in terms of pitching. The wheels came off Matt Moore’s fourth inning, two walks leading to a 2-0 deficit while Jacob deGrom was locating 99 and 100-mph fastballs for New York. Moore hadn’t actually pitched badly, but….

The first of the second-line relievers for the Phillies trotted from the bullpen to the mound – 36-year-old Brandon Kintzler. This was exactly the point in the season anticipated by so many Phillies watchers in the off-season. The back end of the rotation followed by more than a couple innings by the relief pitchers.

Kintzler induced the Mets leadoff hitter, Kevin Pillar, to ground into a double play. And then pitched a one-hit, scoreless fifth inning.

After the game, Phillies manager Joe Girardi called the ground-ball specialist’s forced ground ball “the biggest situation in the game.”

Kintzler was followed by two more bullpen role players, both hard throwers – homegrown Connor Brogdon and Sam Coonrod, who had been traded by the Giants to the Phillies. They too shut down the visitors’ potent lineup for three innings.

By the time the Mets started doing Mets things in terms of pitching and defense in the eighth inning, surrendering the lead, the next Phillies question became clearer: Who would close, with a 5-2 lead, since Hector Neris had been declared unavailable?

Jose Alvarado, the fireballer acquired from the Rays, took the ball. He struck out Brandon Nimmo (swinging), Jonathan Villar (looking at a 101-mph delivery at the knees), then gave up a run.

No doubt some Phillies fans groaned silently, thinking, “Oh, hell, here we go.” But Alvarado got a fastball just close enough to his catcher and far enough out on Pete Alonso’s bat that the first baseman flied out to right field.

Philadelphia had fashioned their fourth win in a row with their role-playing pitchers.

Four games, of course, do not a season make, but suddenly, it appeared that the Phillies might just have enough pitching to be taken more seriously than they were before the games that count started.