Right on schedule, signs of improvement
PHILADELPHIA » After a difficult, early-season series against the Mets, the Phillies were 1-4, roundly unpopular and, it seemed, in early trouble.
Thursday, they returned from a 4-3 road trip at 10-7 and tied for second in the National League East. And when the conversation turned toward that improvement before a game against the Pirates, Gabe Kapler outlined almost every logical reason.
One, though, he tried to avoid.
“We pitched deeper into games,” the manager said. “I think we got some big hits. I think our guys were gritty and demonstrated a lot of conviction in their pitches. A lot of things combined to produce a really good road trip for us.”
Then, there was a potential hidden secret to what had been a 9-3 run: Games against Miami, Cincinnati and Tampa Bay before a stop in Atlanta. By Thursday, the Marlins were 5-12, the Rays were 5-13 and the Reds, at 3-15, were firing manager Bryan Price.
Do those analytics not suggest that the Phillies were defeating below-average teams? Bad teams? Very bad teams?
“I’ll say this,” Kapler said. “We don’t really know who the better teams are yet. We’re at the point of the season where if we played the Dodgers, it would be, ‘That’s not one of the better teams.’ But the record (8-9) is not indicative of their true talent.”
Kapler is unwavering in his view of baseball math, convinced that small sample sizes are insignificant. But the Marlins are in one of their rebuilding binges and the Reds already had seen enough to make the change in the dugout.
Either way, the Phillies were proud of their 4-3 road trip.
“We started getting some big hits,” Scott Kingery said. “Guys were stepping up in big spots.”
Eventually, the Phillies will face teams with strong records. And those were the 12-6 Pirates visiting Thursday.
“I think the Pirates have a chance to be a good club,” Kapler said. “But I think the Braves have a chance to be a good club. I think the Rays are a much better team than their record suggests. They are going to pitch. That team is going to pitch.
“A club that may look like a worse club than people thought,” he added, “may not look that way later.”
*** Tommy Hunter, out all season with a right hamstring strain, will make a rehab appearance Friday in Reading. Kapler has suggested that the veteran righthanded reliever will require more than one minor-league game before his return.
“He profiles as a guy who can give us one-plus innings,” Kapler said. “On some days, he can come in for a couple of batters. On others, he may go a little bit longer for us. But one of the things that make Tommy unique is his flexibility. He’s ready to go earlier in the game. He has his routine. You don’t have to tell him exactly what’s coming for him to be ready.”
An 11th-year major-league veteran, Hunter, 31, can be a bullpen key.
“His ability to go through a left-handed part of a lineup is what is most exciting,” Kapler said. “He’s a guy who can run his cutter in on a tough left-handed hitter from the right side, but then also be able to dominate some right-handed hitters as well. That’s very exciting.”
*** Kapler started Kingery at third Thursday, hitting sixth. Shortstop J.P. Crawford was batting seventh.
“We always feel like J.P. has the ability to drive the baseball,” Kapler said. “It would be nice to see some runners on in front of him potentially. So it is definitely an endorsement that J.P. can be flexible as it relates to where we put him in the lineup.”
*** The Phillies wore powderblue throwback uniforms Thursday.
“I love them,” Kapler said, adjusting his cap. “This is my favorite hat, a childhood hat. I’m proud to be wearing this uniform today.”
Kapler was raised in Los Angeles, but he had a certain interest in the Phillies as a youth.
“I wasn’t a Phillies fan,” he said. “But I had a red, satin Phillies jacket that my mom got me for Christmas. And I had the red Phillies cap. I loved Pete Rose. My dog was named after Pete Rose, a little, black mutt terrier.” Did the dog gamble? “Yes,” Kapler said. “He always bet on himself though.”
*** Ben Lively (0-1, 5.87 ERA) will oppose Bucs right-hander Ivan Nova (2-1, 4.88) Friday night at 7:05. Saturday afternoon at 4:05, it will be Aaron Nola (1-1, 2.22) and lefty Steven Brault (2-1, 4.74). Nick Pivetta (1-0, 2.49) and righthander Trevor Williams (3-0, 1.56) will pitch Sunday at 1:35.