Klentak ‘proud’ how team has handled crazy season
The 2020 season has not gone as anyone would’ve planned it – not in January, not in March, not in June. The Phillies’ course through an unprecedented summer has been bumpier than most.
But on the precipice of the final week, which the club enters in playoff position, general manager Matt Klentak found plenty of positivity Monday, with seven games separating the Phillies from their first playoff appearance since 2011.
“I am really proud of this team, the way that they have overcome not only the COVID issues early in the year, but more recently, the way the guys have stepped up to overcome some of the injuries we’ve had and put themselves in a position this week to control their own destiny and make a push for October,” Klentak said before a four-game set in Washington. “That’s the biggest thing for me. I’m proud of the way this group has handled it.”
That group includes 10 players who’d never played in the bigs before. Among the debuts is the Phillies most reliable hitter of the last month, Alec Bohm, and Sunday’s starting pitcher, Adonis Medina.
Many of those players, including Medina and catcher Rafael Marchan, never played in Triple-A. All have been pressed into service by gaping needs, from three starting pitchers that have missed rotation turns in the last month to the unending bullpen shuffle to injuries for J.T. Realmuto and Rhys Hoskins.
If the Phillies, a half-game up on the Reds for the first of two National League Wild Card spots, qualify, the contributions from a bevy of players not on the radar when spring training convened will be a big reason.
“Your biggest performances can be your veterans, but you’re always going to need young players to provide energy and to help push your club,” Klentak
said. “Most World Series winners, if you look at them, had a young guy or two that stepped up and became a key performer for them. This year, we’ve had a number of guys step up.”
The presence of so many young contributors isn’t what made gave Klentak the most trouble in compiling a 40-man playoff pool in concert with manager Joe Girardi. Many of the young players – Medina, Marchan, Mickey Moniak, JoJo Romero and Connor Brogdon – are among the 40 players eligible for the playoffs. The complicating factor came with injuries, weighing the needs of the final week with those who can help deliver wins if they get to October.
Hoskins, working his way back to swinging a bat after damaging a ligament in his left elbow, is one potential contributor. Left-handed reliever Jose Alvarez, on the 60-day injured list due to a testicular contusion and ineligible to return until the division series, is another.
“We had to assess the impact those players could have if they return and make a judgement on that,” Klentak said. “I’ll use Rhys as an example: He’s making good progress and we don’t know his timeframe but he’s tough as nails so I believe if anybody can return and meet the expectation, it’s him. We don’t know exactly what the day is. But if he can get back, he’s a guy we want on our team.”
Klentak postponed any assessment of his job performance until after the season. But struck an upbeat tone on the postseason chances. Klentak has strengthened the front end of the rotation two of the last three offseasons with Jake Arrieta and Zack Wheeler. In a three-game series, being able to toss Aaron Nola and Wheeler is a daunting 1-2 punch, with Arrieta (if healthy) and Zach Eflin left.
“There are a lot of talented teams in the National League,” he said. “But I think in particular in a short series, if we can run out the front of our rotation, I think that’s a good club. I wouldn’t think there’s a lot of teams that would want to face the Phillies in a first-round match. We need to get there, and that’s the focus of this week.”
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On the rotation: The sooner the Phillies can make the playoffs, the better their chances of a deep run. Wheeler started Monday, with Nola pitching in a doubleheader with a bullpen game Tuesday.
With Thursday’s off day, that puts Nola on tap for Sunday’s finale in Tampa Bay, a game the Phillies hope will be meaningless, allowing them to rest their ace for Game 1 of the threegame postseason schedule. Wheeler is due to pitch again Saturday.
Spencer Howard (shoulder) could be activated by the weekend. That would put him in line for a relief appearance against the Rays before relief duty in the Wild Card series.
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On the Realmuto front, Klentak played it close to the vest as to whether the emergence of Sixto Sanchez ups the ante to re-sign the All-Star catcher. The former Phillies top prospect, part of the package to land Realmuto two offseasons ago, is 3-2 with a 2.75 ERA and a WHIP just over 1 for the Marlins, including a threehit gem against the Phillies Sept. 13. It has the Marlins ahead of the Phillies in the standings.
“What I’ve said all along is we would love to have JT here,” Klentak said. “But when you make that trade, you’re trading for two years of control, and you know that. Sixto looked really good against us, he’s looked very good this year, but we’ve had two very productive years of JT, too.”