Manship finding role with Phillies
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — If Jeff Manship were putting together a video portfolio to sell his services to the Phillies, he wouldn’t include in that his 2013 start against the Phillies.
“I did well for the first three innings,” Manship said, recalling his 5-4 loss to the Phils at Citizens Bank Aug. 19 of last season, “then (John) Mayberry tagged me for a home run.”
It was a three-run bomb, as Manship gave up five runs in five innings. As a career goes, the 29-year-old nonroster invitee to camp would be best described as a “depth addition.” He made just one opening-day roster — in 2011 with the Twins — and after two weeks was sent down to Triple-A. In 52 big-league games over five seasons, 10 of them starts, he has a 6.42 ERA.
Yet there has been a great deal of intrigue from Ryne Sandberg and pitching coach Bob McClure in the opening three weeks with Manship. The pitcher they are seeing on the mound here seems to have more going for him than his recent history has suggested.
“He’s putting together some outings, from sides to live BP, to now in the game,” Ryne Sandberg said of Manship after the Phillies’ 6-1 loss to the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park Monday. “He’s been pretty consistent with the mixing of the pitches and keeping the hitters off-balance.”
That continued when Manship threw two scoreless innings, which came after Roberto Hernandez worked three strong innings as the starter against the team for whom he pitched last season.
“That’s good to hear,” Manship said. “McClure after my last ’pen basically said I was a machine keeping the ball down, which is always great to hear. It’s encouraging. I had some friends say that after the last time I pitched Sandberg had said some good things, too. That’s always encouraging, it keeps you motivated to keep working hard.
“I’ve definitely been feeling really good this year. This offseason I was focusing on a few things mechanically … I’m keeping my front arm up and it’s keeping me from flying open, which
has been a problem I’ve been having for a long time.”
Manship, a Notre Dame graduate originally from San Antonio, believes the difference in the pitcher he is this spring compared to the inconsistent guy who shuttled between starting and relieving in the minors and majors the past few years came when he moved to Austin, Texas, and started working out this winter with other pros at the University of Texas facility.
“I’ve been working with the pitching coach at UT, Skip Johnson,” Manship said, “and he works with guys like Clayton Kershaw, Homer Bailey, and some bigname guys, and you can see what he has done with those guys and how much help he has offered them.
“It’s encouraging to go into the offseason and have him there, helping me out. Usually you’re on your own and try to feel what’s right and wrong and make corrections yourself. When you have someone hands-on like him who knows as much as he does, it makes your job a lot easier.”
The Phillies are preparing Manship for starting duties, although if there are no more setbacks for the five penciled in the rotation — the No. 5 man at the moment in Hernandez, who has a $4.5 million guaranteed contact — that could mean Manship gets a shot to be the Phillies’ long man.
“It’s early in the spring to put a role on him,” Sandberg said of Manship. “We’ll see how he goes. We have competition in the bullpen, and he has started in the past.”