McCaffery: Rupp catching the blame for Phillies’ failures
PHILADELPHIA >> The Phillies were losing and the pitching coach was looking for reasons. He didn’t look far, just 60 feet, six inches from his own work space.
“A catcher not being able to lead him into the right direction,” Bob McClure yelped to WIP radio about his pitchers, “is a major problem.” He said more, about the pitch selection, about location, about what to throw to left-handed hitters and what not to throw to righthanders. But he was blasting the catchers. And within 10 days, Cameron Rupp would stop seeing his name on the nightly lineup card.
McClure rips the catching. The catcher is benched. The math. Simple, right?
“No,” Pete Mackanin said Wednesday, before starting Andrew Knapp for a second consecutive game against the Colorado Rockies. “Don’t read into that. I wish I had a Plan B where I could go right to Plan B to win games. I don’t have a Plan B. I’m trying to figure something out.”
That’s the manager’s position, as it is his obligation: Find a way to win. And recently, the Phillies had won just three of 22. So what was Mackanin supposed to do, print a dozen copies of the same lineup card, just to cut down on his afternoon tasks? So among his initiatives was to sit Rupp for a couple of days and try Knapp, who is three years younger and still closer to a prospect than to a known. And there was Knapp Tuesday, hitting a home run.
But Rupp is only 28, and he hit 16 home runs last season. And Mackanin is saying he needs more personality in the clubhouse, where Rupp had been something of an emerging, everyday voice. So while the move was acceptable, and while it will not be permanent, it still left a scent of blame. What was Rupp to think, anyway, with the pitching coach badgering him and the manager holding auditions for his job?
“It is what it is,” he said. “I have tough skin. I can take it. I move forward and look at it as a challenge to get better and show them that I still belong here.”
He’s 6-2, 260, and he has spent more than a year trying to mesh with young starters and relievers in fluctuating roles. So if he is hit by a foul ball or a troublesome lineup card, he’ll shake it off. That goes, too, for criticism from a pitching coach unlikely to wind up on any hot lists for a manager’s job. Yet Rupp is not completely certain that the noise from McClure and his diminished playing time were unconnected.
“Ah, I really don’t know,” he said. “If it was, I don’t know. It’s something we moved past and you just have to move forward. I’m not going to hang my head on it. I am just going to look for an opportunity to get better and when I am in there, show them that I can play.”
He’ll have that chance, because no catcher squats behind the plate for nine innings every day. Mackanin already has informally appointed him as his catcher for Thursday afternoon, after a night game. The manager has not, however, begun to walk back his announcement that Knapp is about to receive an extended look.
“I think I’m going to play Knapp a little bit more,” Mackanin said. “As I said, Rupp’s been fine. He has an OPS over eight. Sure he’s got his issues, like we all do. He’s got some issues catching, behind the plate. But he’s doing OK. It’s not an indictment on Rupp at all. I just want to see more of Knapp. I think the competition might make them even better. I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be. Plus it gives Knapp an opportunity to feel like he’s more a part of it.”
Rupp was hitting .248 with four home runs, 13 RBIs and a .776 OPS. But he’d caught just 20 percent of base-stealers and had to take some share of the heat for the Phils’ disappointing pitching, particularly after the second time around any lineup.
Mackanin gave Rupp a veteran’s respect, informing him of his plans, face-to-face. Rupp said he didn’t hear any suggestions, though, on how he could firmly re-establish himself as the No. 1 catcher.
“I don’t know what else there is to say,” he said. “That’s his decision. He’s the manager and I’ve got to respect what he wants to do and whatever is going to help this club to win. And that’s the ultimate goal.”
Rupp won the job from Carlos Ruiz, a franchise legend. He won it with his bat and his arm and his talents. Andrew Knapp must win it that way, too. Because any other way would be a major problem.