McCaffery

this weekend, as they hit Citi Field trying only to make it to October with something still remaining from what had been a reasonably productive season. They were down to trusting outside consultants to provide a veteran presence, using a temp-employee leader in a clubhouse with decaying identity.

If the Phillies are young, it’s by choice. So they must finance that cost. But that burden is becoming heavier than they might have expected. And by the time they finished a week that included losses of 9-0, 9-1, 9-4 and, Saturday night, 12-1, Mackanin would all but request some fresh experience. As they began a new week Sunday with a 5-1 victory over the New York Mets, they had one in Ellis.

“Yes,” Mackanin had said Saturday, when

asked if he was worried about the lack of in-house veteran accomplishment. “Yes. I think that could really help. That could be helpful to us.

“As a group, we are young. And the pitching is young. And it is nice to look up to somebody who can kind of lead the way.”

Until last week, the Phillies had Carlos Ruiz, a former All-Star, a world champion, a leader among young players, even if his demands on developing pitchers to perform with the precision of Roy Halladay occasionally trended counterproductive. Ryan Howard is the only member of the 2008 championship team still around, and he reacted professionally to losing his everyday job to Tommy Joseph. Andres Blanco, 32, has the respect of the young players, but he is with his fourth majorleague franchise and has never appeared in a playoff game.

The progressive way of building a baseball roster

is not always to worry about chemistry, that if enough statistics are correctly analyzed and employed in player acquisition, victory will follow. And the dynamic of any clubhouse has changed, even over the last five years. Where once players often could be seen enjoying a robust pregame card game in the locker room, it’s become more likely to see 25 individual players staring at 25 hand-held devices, many while wearing earbuds. That could work, too. It’s different, that’s all. And if it is going to be a problem, it will be with a young team that seems lost and tired.

The Phillies made a public spin last season toward a more analytical approach, so their 35-year-old rookie general manager will have time to form a team his way. But Matt Klentak has been less visible than most of his Phillies’ predecessors on the clubhouse level, seeming content to let Mackanin

guide the players through their growth. Sunday, the manager trusted Vince Velasquez to the catching of Ellis, a ninth-year pro, hoping the rookie could win for the first time since July 8.

It went as scripted, with Ellis accepting hours of study then working Velasquez through a challenging first inning before settling for a productive five-inning, seven-strikeout start.

“I like the way he sets up with everything,” Velasquez said. “And I felt I could work through him.”

Ellis was a reluctant Phillie, spending days after his trade for Ruiz lamenting that he would no longer be helping the Dodgers try to earn a playoff spot. But he was professional all weekend. He spent Saturday night in the bullpen, trying to connect with Edubray Ramos, Hector Neris and Jeanmar Gomez, each of whom would pitch a scoreless inning of relief. Sunday morning, he put

in more hours of preparation, aware that Velasquez had been sputtering, aware too that he was unlikely to be a Phillies catcher beyond this season.

“I was really getting to know the guys, talking to them, what they like to use, what’s their get-ahead pitches, what’s their finish pitches, what signs they use with runners on second — simple things to kind of smooth the transition,” Ellis said. “So when those guys came into the game today, it was seamless.”

Ellis mixed in a basesloaded double, breaking a 1-1 tie in the seventh. That helped.

But on a day and at a time of the season when the Phillies were gasping for nothing less, his leadership and professionalism helped even more.

Major League Baseball

To contact Jack McCaffery, email him at jmccaffery@21stcenturymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @JackMcCaffery.