Phillies’ Buchholz to seek second opinion
Coming off Tuesday night’s forgettable start against the New York Mets, Clay Buchholz has a partial tear of the right flexor pronator mass, as determined by the team.
PHILADELPHIA >> Pitcher Clay Buchholz has a partial tear of the right flexor pronator mass, according to the Phillies, and will see orthopedist Dr. James Andrews next Monday to learn how bad it is.
Bucholz is looking at down time. While a flexor-pronator strain typically is treated with therapy and a break from pitching to allow the tendons time to heal, the veteran’s decision to get a second opinion hints at the potential need for surgery, according to web information.
Buchholz exited after 2 1/3 innings Tuesday. He allowed eight hits and six earned runs in the 14-4 loss to the Mets.
“He said he was in some pain,” Mackanin said. “So that’s not a good indication. I don’t know if we should be optimistic or not. If he is on the DL … We’ve got five starters in Triple-A that anyone of them could fill in for him.”
Buchholz’s treatment decision could be influenced economics. The 32-year-old veteran is in the final year of a $13 million contract.
Buchholz has a 12.27 ERA two starts since joining the Phillies from Boston, where he was a twotime All-Star. He hasn’t been the force he was in 2013 when he went 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA that sparked the Red Sox to a World Series title.
*** The Mets had drilled 27 home runs in their last 11 games against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
That figure includes nine homers in the previous two games heading into Wednesday’s series finale. Seven cleared the fence in the Mets’ 14-4 romp Tuesday night.
The Mets had launched 46 rockets off Phillies pitching in the last 21 games in Philly, and are the only team in MLB history to hit seven or more dingers in a single game at an opposing ballpark — all at CBP, or course.
There must be a reason The Bank has turned into Citi Field South. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin was on the verge of providing it before making a checkswing to the question.
“The only common thread... ,” Mackanin said before stopping himself in mid-sentence. “I won’t go back to last year but just this year, it’s a lot of mistakes — too many pitches out over the plate that are really hittable. That’s what it boils down to for me. You don’t see many hitters reaching out or diving at a fastball low and away, yanking it out of the ballpark. You might see a base hit here and there but they don’t do damage on good quality pitches. They do damage on mistakes.”
Mackanin is satisfied that Phillies pitchers are prepared for the Mets. He’s just not happy they’ve failed to follow instructions.
“I don’t think it’s game-planning,” Mackanin said. “I think we have a good book on all the hitters on how to get them out. Anybody can see if a guy can’t hit a breaking ball or you can pound a guy inside. It depends on when you do that. It boils down to the player has to execute the pitch. We just failed to execute a lot of pitches.”
Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp thinks the Mets’ homer barrage is an anomaly. He’s not about to lose sleep over it. And it’s not like he went back over each of the homers to figure out what went wrong.
“I saw them first hand,” Rupp said. “I didn’t really need to go back and watch the video. If I saw something, it was just pitches that weren’t located. That’s what good hitters do, they hit mistakes. When that happens as often as it did, you get those results. We’re eight games into the year. What’s the point?”
*** The Phillies recalled Luis Garcia from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill the roster spot of Adam Morgan, sent down after gifting the Mets four of their seven home runs in just 3 2/3 innings Tuesday.
Recalling the pitcher who couldn’t beat out Morgan for an opening day roster spot almost is as comical as HUD secretary Ben Carson getting stuck on an elevator on a trip to a HUD property in Miami.
It’s the hand Mackanin has to play right now, one aggravated by the strained flexor tendon of Clay Buchholz.
Mackanin expected results of an MRI to the 32-year-old starter hauling in $13 million this season to be available after the series finale with the Mets.
“He said he was in some pain,” Mackanin said. “So that’s not a good indication. I don’t know if we should be optimistic or not. If he is on the DL … we’ve got five starters in Triple-A that anyone of them could fill in for him.”
Buchholz allowed eight hits and six earned runs in the 14-4 loss to the Mets.
Morgan was a lefthander. Garcia, 30, is a right-hander.
It’s been difficult for the Phillies, and a lot of their contemporaries, to find a solid lefty to man the bullpen.
“When you look around baseball you don’t see that many really good lefthanders to get lefties out,” Mackanin said. “You see that all the time. They seem to get right-handers out more than lefthanders. And I think because the pressure for them to do that particular job is probably what hurts them. Throughout baseball I don’t think there’s that many guys that are really good at it. When you find one that’s really good at it, he’s special. A guy like (Joely) Rodriguez, he’s got the stuff to be really good at it. He’s got a real good slider. But you have to be more consistent with your location of your slider. That’s what it boils down to.”
*** By the way, Phillies players cannot help but notice how Mets fans have made themselves heard at The Bank in this series.
It’s aggravating although, as Rupp concedes, the Phillies haven’t given their fans much to cheer about lately.
“It’s not fun when you’re getting beat and you hear cheering when you’re getting beat,” Rupp said. “It’s not what you want to hear. But they travel well and we have some good funs that travel. Hopefully when we go to their place, they’re just as loud.” The Phillies are off Thursday, and then head to Washington for a three-game set with the Nationals.
Aaron Nola (1-0, 4.50) is slated to oppose Stephen Strasburg (1-0, 3.21) Friday at 4:05 p.m.
Jeremy Hellickson (1-0, 0.90) opposes Tanner Roark (2-0, 4.09) Saturday at 1:05 p.m. and Jerad Eickhoff (0-1, 2.63) takes on Gio Gonzalez (1-0. 0.69) at 1:35 p.m. Sunday.