Bullpen questions deepen again with Morgan back on IL
PHILADELPHIA >> The Phillies started the 2019 season with eight relievers on their 25-man roster.
Friday night, they had as many of those eight available as relievers who’d started the season outside the organization (two).
The latest addition to the sizeable bullpen injured list contingent is Adam Morgan, who hits the IL for the second time with a recurrence of left forearm issues.
His forearm strain from May has gotten worse since his last IL stint, according to the imaging. While Morgan was gutting through the pain, his lack of velocity was evident, and he was reticent to alter his mechanics lest the strain grow into a larger issue. The good news is that rest, not surgery, is the recommended treatment.
“It’s going be longer than a week off of throwing, I know that for sure,” Morgan said. “I just don’t know how long it’s going take for me to come back.”
Morgan is 3-3 with a 3.94 ERA and 19 holds in 21 opportunities over 29.2 innings in 2019. But where he turned himself into a potent weapon against lefties and righties last year as a lateinning option, he’s just not physically in the same place this year.
Morgan carried a 1.96 ERA when he went on the shelf in May. Since his return June 22, he’s posted an ERA of 7.30 in 11.1 innings.
Manager Gabe Kapler didn’t put a timetable on Morgan’s absence, but the caution is ratcheted up with this being his second issue.
“The concern is that he’s not available, healthy and strong,” Kapler said. “I think what’s most important is we get him back to that place where he’s 100 percent on exam so that he can go out there with full confidence.”
“Full” isn’t a description applicable to many aspects of the Phillies bullpen. David Robertson’s season is essentially done. Morgan’s is in doubt; he joins Pat Neshek, who Kapler said Wednesday “is still a ways from picking up a ball” and Tommy Hunter in earning multiple IL stints this year. Kapler also termed Victor Arano as “a long shot” to get back on the mound in 2019.
There is some hope. Seranthony Dominguez as “a legit possibility” to return after Tommy John surgery was averted on the elbow that has sidelined him since early June. Edubray Ramos, also among the two-IL club, is throwing and Kapler, “can see (him) being a contributor at some point this month.”
With Hector Neris serving the second of his three-game suspension Friday, Kapler has just Jose Alvarez and Juan Nicasio (who also survived an IL stint) available from his opening-day relievers.
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Corey Dickerson, acquired from the Pirates at the trade deadline, reported to the Phillies Friday. He did so nursing a groin strain about which Kapler is being careful, but player and manager are confident that the issue will soon be in the past.
“It’s getting the point where I’m pretty much good to go,” Dickerson said. “I just want to be safe and make sure I have no setbacks. I want to be able to play every day and play the way I know how to play, play hard. I don’t want to worry about missing a few days, so I’m trying to knock it out right now.”
Dickerson hit .315 with four homers and 25 RBIs in 44 games with the Pirates. He missed two months after a shoulder injury in April, then missed three games with the hamstring issue before returning to belt two homers in what proved to be his last game as a Pirate Tuesday. Dickerson has 107 career home runs in 742 big league games with the Rockies, Rays and Pirates.
Kapler said he could’ve started Dickerson Friday if he needed to but opted for the longer-term view of his availability. Dickerson’s health comes at a time when the Phillies bench/platoon options are all recovering. Jay Bruce, out since July 17 with an oblique strain, worked on the field pregame and hit off the fastball machine. Brad Miller (hip flexor) is also getting closer.
Kapler isn’t yet sure how he’ll balance Bruce, Dickerson and Adam Haseley. But he’s adamant that those three fit on the roster together with Miller. Dickerson is willing to accommodate the crowded bench by taking turns in center field, where the Phillies have no clear starter.
“I would love the opportunity,” Dickerson said. “We haven’t fully talked about the roles and things like that. It’s kind of been chaotic trying to meet everybody, (get a) routine, get out here to practice. There’s just a lot going on. I’m sure me and Gabe will sit down and talk about it.”
••• Speaking of rehabbing pitchers, Jerad Eickhoff (remember him?) threw two scoreless innings for Clearwater Tuesday as he rehabs his right biceps tendinitis. He’ll throw again Saturday.
For a pitching staff where everything between Aaron Nola and Neris is up for debate, he is another option in the mix. The goal is to ramp him up to starters’ innings, given the gaping hole the Phillies have in that department.
“He’s going to be a starter for us, and that’s the mentality right now,” Kapler said. “We don’t have a crystal ball so we can’t say how we’re going to use him when he returns, but we’re going to stretch him out to be able to take down a full start.”
The line between starter and reliever is getting blurrier by the day, with Vince Velasquez back in the rotation after excelling in the bullpen, Nick Pivetta settling into the pen (presumably as a closer option sans Neris and Morgan) and Zach Eflin somewhere in between. Eickhoff was 3-4 with a 5.71 ERA in 12 appearances (10 starts) with the Phillies.