Faulty Phils not strong enough to be buyers as deadline nears
PHILADELPHIA » Well before a pitch clocked at 97 pulverized Bryce Harper’s left thumb, the Phillies already were cracked, broken and on a fast track to nowhere. By then, neither an operation, a splint, therapy or rest was going to help reverse what already had been established.
Nor would some panicky trade that would sting the farm system.
That was obvious weeks ago, as it has been in a telling homestand where the Phillies continue to lose their way in even the cheapest of wildcard races. Proving Saturday that they are just as capable of presenting ridiculous pitching early in games as they had been late, it was Kyle Gibson’s turn to show they don’t have enough arms to win anything.
While true that flimsy All-Star Game candidate Seranthony Dominguez did the ninth-inning honors by surrendering the game-winning home run to Nolan Arenado, it was Gibson making the Phillies the first team ever to surrender four consecutive first-inning home runs that set the foundation for a 7-6 defeat. With it, the Phils would
fall to 2-3 in what could have been a meaningful homestand against wildcard contenders Atlanta and St. Louis, as if the 27,657 in attendance really were expecting much else.
While no team is perfect, the Phillies are a special kind of flawed. Their infielders are slow to ground balls and their outfielders prone to defensive follies. Their starting pitching could be worse, but that doesn’t include Gibson, who has been bombarded early in his last two tries, his ERA rising Saturday to 4.91.
“That was a tough first inning,” Gibson said. “In two starts, I have kind of put the team in a tough spot early in the game, so I am going to work on that between starts and be right for next time.”
There will be next times. But July 4 is a customary checkpoint for any serious contender, and the Phillies are about to careen into it no closer than 7.5 games out of first place and behind the Braves and Cardinals in the wildcard race they
could have taken command of in recent days. But if they play just better than OK in July, their front office could be tempted to take one last swing at something before the August 2 trade deadline. After all, a $200 million payroll is just not enough these days to make ends meet.
Before the game, interim manager Rob Thomson was discussing Griff McGarry, a 23-year-old second-year pro who is being squeezed through the system in a hurry. A strong right-handed starter, the University of Virginia product is 23, or at the age where it’s time to decide if he is of big-league quality. After a splendid first half of the season at Class A Jersey Shore, the Phillies’ Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June was bumped to Reading, an Uber ride from the big leagues.
“We know Griff’s got a great arm,” Thomson said. “You can do a lot of good things. I think there’s a lot of guys in the mix.”
Among those things is to give McGarry a try in the Phillies’ rotation. Another is to showcase him against higher minorleague talent in case a rebuilding team might want to part with an outfielder able to take some shifts until Harper returns.
The Phillies are known to have some other promising pitchers in the minors, including Andrew Painter and Mick Abel. And Darick Hall in recent days has shown that he could spring from the system to hit major-league pitches for distance. Typically, it would make sense in baseball’s largest monopoly market to try to win games and not to obsess on developing talent. But will one more player make a difference to a team with so many shortcomings?
One of the Phillies’ problems is that their managers — Gabe Kapler set the industry standard and Joe Girardi maintained the tradition — keep selling the concept that all is well. By the time the four-hour-plus game was over Saturday, there was Thomson claiming to be “proud” of Gibson for settling down, and hawking the nonsense that Corey Knebel, who walked in a run in a one-run game, did a “great job.” He was also pleased that his team battled, as if a fan base is expected to be satisfied with almost winning. If that is the denial that the Phillies have twisted themselves into after 79 games, then they just could be enticed into scuttling their prospects in a longshot play that a thirdplace finish will be good enough for their first postseason try since 2011.
Eventually, Harper will return, and perhaps Jean Segura, too. With Kyle Schwarber’s power, the excellence of Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, and the way Nick Castellanos is starting to stir, the Phils could have their moments. But if that nucleus can’t do better than a so-so homestand at a critical time, then another costly piece or two will not matter.