Alvarez will get a thorough look in season’s last two weeks
PHILADELPHIA » With a sixman rotation in place for the Phillies’ final 14 games, a frenzied, brief but potentially significant experiment will begin Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.
Henderson Alvarez will make his first major-league start since 2015 for the Phillies against the Oakland A’s. If the rotation breaks as Pete Mackanin has it outlined, it will be one of three starts for the one-time All-Star. Don’t blink. “I think the key is to just to see how the ball is coming out of his hand if he’s healthy,” the manager said Saturday, when he formally announced the right-hander as his Sunday starter. “I’ve seen him before. He was pretty good. We’re just going to get a look at him and see how he looks.”
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Alvarez, who has had his career perforated by two shoulder surgeries, was healthy enough this summer to thrive with the independent Long Island Ducks, win an opportunity with the Phillies’ Triple-A Iron Pigs and surface in the big leagues for a late audition.
And who are the Phillies to big-time a 27-year-old who once threw a no-hitter at Detroit for the Marlins?
“So we’ll get a look at him, see what he looks like,” Mackanin said. “We’re here to get a look at these guys. We can use some starters.”
Alvarez will face Oakland lefthander Sean Manaea (10-10, 4.65 ERA) at 1:35. He’ll be followed in the rotation by Nick Pivetta, Aaron Nola, Jake Thompson, Mark Leiter Jr. and Ben Lively, who started Saturday.
“We have younger pitchers,” Mackanin said. “We’ll give them that extra day’s rest. Plus, we want to get an audition for Alvarez.”
*** Freddy Galvis will be a strong Gold Glove candidate. However, certain metrics are not tilting in his favor. For instance, Galvis is ranked sixth among National League shortstops in runs above average at eight. Addison Russell of the Cubs is No. 1 at 14.
“It makes no sense to me,” Mackanin said. “I’ve seen him play every game. And I’ve seen a lot of shortstops over 49 years. He’s as good as anybody I’ve ever seen. Somebody asked Larry Bowa to compare himself to Freddy. He was pretty darn good, and he had to think about it.” *** Mackanin gave Aaron Altherr time off Saturday, starting an outfield of Rhys Hoskins, Odubel Herrera and Nick Williams. Tommy Joseph started at first.
“I am just being careful with his hamstring,” he said of Altherr, who recently spent a month on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring. “Plus I’ve got to get everybody into games. I wanted to get Joseph another start.”
*** NOTES » Lively was lifted after a third-inning rain delay Saturday. He allowed two earned runs, struck out two, walked none and surrendered a second-inning home run to Matt Olson. … The Dodgers will arrive Monday night for a four-game series. Pivetta (5-10, 6.75 ERA) will oppose lefty Clayton Kershaw (17-3, 2.12). Tuesday, it will be Nola (11-10, 3.60) and right-hander Yu Darvish (9-12, 4.08). Thompson (2-2, 4.46) and left-hander Alex Wood (15-3, 2.66) will start Wednesday. Thursday afternoon at 1:05, it will be Leiter (3-6, 4.93) and righthander Kenta Maeda (126, 4.21). … In his one-inning Phillies debut Friday night, reliever Zac Curtis struck out two. Mackanin: “He was a little impressive. He looks like a gutsy kind of guy.” The left-hander was recently acquired off waivers from Seattle.