Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Rebuild has become Mackanin juggling act
NEW YORK » For the second time in about a month Tuesday, the Phillies threw a rebuilding piece at Pete Mackanin and told him not to let it fall. If there was a Page 2 in that instruction manual, he never got that far.
This time, it would be J.P. Crawford, the shortstop-turned-thirdbaseman, once the most valued piece in the Phillies’ rebuilding project. The last time, it was Rhys Hoskins, the first-baseman-turned-left-fielder. Last year, it was Tommy Joseph, the catcher-turned-first-baseman. Nick Williams, just a regular outfielder, was in that swirl, too. So is Mackanin’s head.
“It’s not managing the game, it’s managing the people,” the manager was saying Tuesday, be----
fore a game against the New York Mets. “That’s what it is. That’s the hard part. Our guys are pretty good. They’re accepting of what’s going on and they have to be.”
What’s going on is a rebuilding project with no completion date, one rushed a bit for two reasons: One, the players were deemed ready; two, there is a value to the diversion technique in a season so lost from the beginning.
So to the big leagues Crawford was promoted, and in such a hurry that the Phillies didn’t even want him to stick around for the minor-league playoffs, where, among other habits, he might have learned how to win. For the event, Andy MacPhail was a pre-game visitor to the clubhouse and dugout, though he quite politely declined to discuss the goings-on. It was probably just as well. Chances are he might have been asked about the night’s lineup, which was multilayered with questions. Among them: How’d it happen so soon that Joseph and Maikel Franco could have their situations Philadelphia Phillies’ Rhys Hoskins gets a base hit during the fifth inning against the Miami Marlins, Thursday in Miami. Hopkins, single extend his hitting streak to 13 games. The Phillies defeated the Marlins 3-2. diminished? Weren’t they just as trumpeted as Crawford and Hoskins not that long ago?
Yet that was the signal from a batting order that had Crawford at third base, Hoskins at first, and Joseph and Franco seated. And so convoluted was the mess that somehow there was room in left for soonto-turn-30, short-termcontracted, .224-hitting Hyun Soo Kim.
“We’re getting a look at the other kid,” said Mackanin of Crawford, “just like we found a spot for Hoskins up here to try to get a look at him. We know Crawford can play shortstop. We feel that he’s going to be a good shortstop. At the same time, he has to get a taste of the major leagues. Eventually he’s going to be here. So it’s a good way to do it. Last year (Ryan) Howard had to sit so we could a look at (Joseph).
“That’s the way it is.”
If Crawford was promoted with any particular plan, it was difficult to figure. As recently as Monday, Mackanin shrugged and said, “I don’t know anything,” about Crawford being promoted. But given his new assignment, the manager said he would play Crawford at third and second, and would give him about one start a week at shortstop, even if it meant Freddy Galvis would not start all 162 games after all.
But that’s been the theme for days: The manager knows he has too many players, not enough positions, and too many personalities to juggle. A day earlier, he was pressed on what should have been a simple issue, yet he would not commit to playing Hoskins and Williams every day through the end of the season. By Tuesday, he was borderline dismissive of the puzzle, explaining that Kim, not Joseph, was playing because he needed to see Hoskins at first.
To a point, that’s September baseball, when the rosters are inflated, and when the truly horrible teams will use the head start for a look at some farm-system treasures. If Crawford is what the scouts have said, he will excel at any infield position,
even if he did admit some surprise that he’d make his debut at third, not short.
“But I was kind of happy, too, at the same time,” he said. “It’s just a way to find more spots where I can play and just be on the field.”
He’s on the field, and chances are, he will remain on the field. What that means for Franco, Galvis or Cesar Hernandez, short-or-long-term, is in question. But that’s the Phillies’ situation, fluid as it may be.
“These are things we feel we have to do,” Mackanin said. “It’s good. I’m anxious to see him, too. You never know what’s going to happen.”
That’s how it goes, both in baseball and in rebuilding. One play leads to the next, and some are sloppier than others. When he arrived in the clubhouse Tuesday, Crawford received a hug from Galvis, then quickly went out to take some early batting practice. Like everyone else around there, he was just trying to manage what comes his way.
To contact Jack McCaffery, email him at jmccaffery@21stcenturymedia.com; follow him on Twitter @ JackMcCaffery