Arrieta simplifying his manager’s tasks
PHILADELPHIA » Before Gabe Kapler manages a baseball game, he will consider every lineup possibility, bullpen flow-chart, defensive-shift ramification and pregame weather forecast.
Every fifth day, he figures, it all may be a little less complicated.
Not that the Phillies aren’t paying for such a luxury, but whenever Kapler drops Jake Arrieta at the nine-spot in his lineup, he can be a bit more relaxed for the next few hours. So it was Thursday, as Arrieta befuddled the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 7-0 victory.
“One of the things I know about Jake is that he doesn’t just have a nasty sinker and he doesn’t just have a nasty cutter,” Kapler said. “He’s also got a lot of savvy.”
Arrieta also has a 2-0 record and a 2.04 ERA after pitching seven innings, striking out 10, walking two and allowing only one hit, a second-inning infield single to Francisco Cervelli. He threw 97 pitches, 65 for strikes.
A pitcher with two career no-hitters, Arrieta had that look Thursday. He felt it, too.
“Yeah, it was good,” he said. “Other than being able to locate the changeup a little better, it was about as good as I’ve been. If this game takes place in June, I might go one more inning. But staying warm takes a little more effort when it is below 40 like that.”
The Phillies will spend $75 million for Arrieta to provide the kind of movement and velocity he showed Thursday. But that threeyear investment was also in his experience, something that he has shared in the clubhouse with relatively young teammates.
“He has been healthy, he’s been successful and he’s been among the best leaders I’ve ever been around,” Kapler said. “He’s taken our young pitchers under his wing. They gravitate towards him and learn so much from him. Those are the things I continue to be focused on.”
Because he tends to manage unconventionally, Kapler often bats his starting pitcher No. 8 in the order, a concession to baseball analytics that encourage surrounding the leadoff man with hitters. Yet Thursday, Kapler calmly inserted Arrieta in the customary nine spot, an apparent nod to his status as a Cy Young Award winner, a World Series champion and a seasoned pro.
“A lot of it is that we want somebody on base in front of our best hitters,” Kapler said. “With Cesar (Hernandez), (Carlos) Santana, Odubel (Herrera) and Rhys (Hoskins), it’s, ‘Who can we put on base in front of them?’ And sometimes it might be about where we are likely to pinch-hit. There’s a lot of factors. I am not going to give away an entire strategy because I knoww the opposing managers are also listening to these conversations. But I would say there is a variety of factors that helps make those decisions.”
When asked whether it is best to just leave Arrieta alone in his customary spot, Kapler seemed to squelch a knowing smile.
“We consider,” he said, “everything.”
Some nights, they consider more.
Some nights, they just allow Arrieta to be Arrieta.
“He’s got a tremendous amount of deception,” Kapler said. “So some days he is going to have a ton on his fastball and other days he might not have as much. But he always has his deception. He always has savvy characteristics. He always has the movement on his pitches.
“So those are the things we are excited about when it is Jake’s night to pitch.”
Excited … and maybe even relaxed.