Girardi approaches spring with unanswered questions
CHERRY HILL, N.J. » Still a few weeks removed from taking his first verbal cuts as a Phillies manager, Joe Girardi has the luxury of being optimistic about the rebuilding job with which he’s been tasked.
It’s nothing like the one that his stopgap predecessors Gabe Kapler, Pete Mackanin and even Ryne Sandberg were presented, but Girardi isn’t exactly inheriting a club that’s ready to compete for a championship at every position.
“There’s always a few things you have to iron out in spring training,” the veteran manager said Monday night, “and that’s always interesting. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Girardi was speaking prior to the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association’s annual banquet at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, joining catcher (and Pro Athlete of the Year award winner) J.T. Realmuto in making the first of what will be a series of appearances by Phillies personalities in the days leading up to departure for spring training next month.
For both, the anticipation of a new season offered excitement. Yet arbitration-eligible Realmuto is still without a contract, and Girardi will be coming to the party with a lot of questions unanswered.
He would be right to hope that he doesn’t have to look forward to the assortment of injuries that helped derail Kapler’s managerial ride after only two seasons.
Foremost among those injuries were free agent center fielder Andrew McCutchen’s season-ending knee injury, No. 2 starter Jake Arrieta’s never-right right elbow and a bevy of injuries to almost the entire bullpen.
“With the bullpen, I love the experience so many people got there (last season),” Girardi said. “I did four or five games with the Phillies last year (as an MLB network analyst), and every time I came into town it seemed like there was a new bullpen.”
As the manager, Girardi is hoping he doesn’t have to come north from Florida with a new man in center, saying McCutchen is cleared for Clearwater duty and is “on schedule” with his rehab.
“We’ll have to see how his body reacts (and) take his spring training slower,” Girardi said. “You want him to clear hurdles . ... But we feel good about where he’s at.”
The same slow-progress plan will be followed with Arrieta,
who will benefit from the signing of free-agent starter Zack Wheeler but still will be heavily counted upon to make a fast and full recovery.
“You have (Aaron) Nola,
Wheeler and Jake as the top three,” Girardi said. “We’ll look at some of the guys that might compete for the last two spots in the rotation, and then you think of guys that maybe aren’t a starter, do they move to the bullpen and offer a lot of help down there? Because I think there’s some pretty good arms. And when you look at the names they have experience in both roles.”
For that last classification Girardi noted Ranger Suarez, a minor league starter who saw significant time late in the season in a dual callup role with the big club, and Vince Velasquez, who was jockeyed back and forth by Kapler in various starting and bullpen roles as obvious candidates.
“Those are the competitions and things that you have to iron out,” Girardi said of the pitching questions. “Most important to me is you take the best staff (north). Sometimes you have to move pieces around and maybe there were starters before and they end up in the bullpen. But you take the best arms and you work it out.”
Girardi said he had some success during his long career managing the Yankees with getting the most out of former rotation arms that he had to move to the bullpen. He seems to think Velasquez could replicate that.
“I’m excited about what he offers,” Girardi said. “He’s a young man that at times threw five or six innings pretty well last year.”
Keeping fingers crossed about Arrieta being able to hold down the third-starter’s role, with questions lingering about Zach Eflin,
Nick Pivetta and Velasquez for possible fourth and fifth rotation roles left Girardi seemingly in a mood to lightly lobby for more offseason maneuvers by general manager Matt Klentak.
“There’s always a possibility that something else could happen,” Girardi said of the prospect of adding more pitching. “As we get down to a few weeks before spring training, for a lack of a better term, there’s some pretty good buys out there. And if you think that someone might be a fit, you might take a chance.”
•••
It might seem obvious that Scott Kingery is ticketed for third base, since the freeagent signing of Didi Gregorious seems to lock up shortstop and likely would push Jean Segura to second base, where he once played.
But with Odubel Herrera designated for assignment last week, Kingery might have to keep one foot in the outfield, especially since McCutchen is coming off such a significant injury.
“We’re going to take a look at the group of infielders and figure out where each guy fits the best,” Girardi said. “Jean Segura has an important role and is very important to this team. We’re going to see where Jean fits and where Scott fits and Didi fits and everybody fits.
“Part of that is finding where the players are most comfortable, but also where it’s most advantageous for us . ... That’s a combination you have to weigh there so you get the most out of the player and get the most out of your team.”
••• Girardi lost his job with the Yankees after losing to none other than the Houston Astros in the 2017 American League playoffs. That would be the then-World Series bound As
tros team caught up in the cheating scandal that has cost general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch their jobs, along with then-cohort Alex Cora, just fired by the Red Sox as their manager because of the scandal.
But Girardi indicated he won’t get his feelings caught up in the process.
“I don’t think about that really,” he said. “What happened has happened. The Dodgers lost to them in the World Series (that year), not us. But sign stealing has been going on for years. It’s our responsibility to protect (the signs). We will work really
hard to protect every sign that we have and have different combinations and make pitchers use multiple sequencing so we can protect them.”
Asked again if there was any bitterness considering the loss cost him what he once called his “dream job,” Girardi added, “I always felt there’s a God above who has a plan for my life. I don’t ever think, what if? You can play that game every day, no matter what walk of life you’re in. What-ifs don’t really do me any good. It’s what’s in front of me that I worry about.”