Girardi has his reasons for being careful with relievers

PHILADELPHIA » The Joe Girardi job security watch continued Tuesday in all its spotlighted glory, and the Phillies manager’s usual pre-game dugout talk came in front of several television cameras and more than the usual media contingent.

Though still not making making any expressions of defense as his critics and disappointed Phillies fans grow in number with each successive loss, Girardi did use the opportunity on this day to address what probably is the most visible criticism of his managing style … the way he seems to limit the use of his primary relievers.

Some might consider it a form of player coddling. Girardi calls it common sense.

“You can run a guy out there three days in a row and I can guarantee you his stuff won’t even be close on the third day to what it would be on the first or second,” Girardi said. “So then he doesn’t get the job done and people will say, ‘What’s wrong?’ I’ll say, well, I’ve used him three days in a row, and they’ll say, ‘Why did you use him three days in a row?'”

There would be a good reason why Girardi would want to be as careful as could be when it comes to the way he handles the bullpen — he’s overseen two seasons of bullpen incompetency in his two seasons as the manager.

While this year’s group of relievers couldn’t rival the 2020 bullpen’s historically hysterical collective ERA of 7.06, they’re holding their own as one of the worst in the league in several statistical areas. On the dawn of the Phillies’ 50th game Tuesday of what thus far has been a forgettable season, the bullpen’s 4.23 ERA was the eighth-highest of the MLB’s 30 teams. Their 1.50 WHIP was second-worst in the majors and their 10 collective saves was tied with Texas’ bullpen for 21st in the majors.

Girardi also has a bullpen with a closer in Corey Knebel who had Tommy John surgery a couple of years ago and missed three months last season with a lat strain, and a set-up man in Seranthony Dominguez who missed essentially all of the last two seasons with elbow problems that eventually required Tommy John surgery.

“It’s not fair to them. It’s not fair to always put them at that risk of injury, right?” Girardi said. “And bullpen pieces are hard to replace. They’re not just hanging out in the ballpark or hanging out on the street or on the corners. Dominating bullpen pieces are hard to come by. And when you have any bullpen pieces, I think you have a responsibility to take care of them; not get them hurt. And if people don’t like that, I don’t care. Because I want them healthy for the whole year.

“I saw it as a player where a guy would get overused and then they wouldn’t be effective in the second half and then everyone would be down on them. And it’s ‘What happened to this guy?’ Well, he’s got 62 appearances in the first 90 games. Again … we manage for 162 games. And you have a responsibility to the organization.

“Every time a guy gets hurt on my watch I feel bad, whether it’s my fault or not. I feel responsible. Sorry, that’s who I am.”

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In case anyone was wondering, Giants manager Gabe Kapler resumed his “protest” of this country’s horrendous gun problem by not going out on the field for the national anthem at Citizens Bank Park Tuesday evening.

Not that it’s unusual, because a lot of players don’t show up for it for reasons other than protests.

“I think I’ve made my thoughts on this fairly clear. I’ve talked about it extensively and spent a lot of time thinking about it,” Kapler said before the game. “The protest was not about the anthem and I think I made that clear as well. The landscape is everchanging; it’s nuanced. These issues are not black and white. They require, in my opinion, a lot of thought and a lot of passion.

“I don’t know if it makes sense to answer questions on a day to day basis about whether or not I come out for the anthem. I think what makes more sense is to recognize that peaceful protest of any kind around important issues like gun control, and in particular, gun safety are very important to me and I’m going to continue to express my thoughts on those.”

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NOTES » Phils shortstop Didi Gregorius, out the past three weeks with a knee sprain, was to play seven innings Tuesday night Class AAA Lehigh Valley, then DH for the IronPigs on Wednesday. … The Giants were missing ex-Phil Darin Ruf, who headed home due to the unexpected death of his father.