Phillies’ risky rotation left with too many issues

PHILADELPHIA >> When 3:59 became 4 o’clock Wednesday afternoon, Matt Klentak was stuck. He was stuck with a pitching rotation. He was stuck with a philosophy.

Correctly or not, and that can only be made clear in early October, the Phillies’ general manager had been committed to a plan for at least a year. So with only a marginal, deadline-week deal for a starting pitcher, it would not change. The idea: Employ one dominating pitcher and one aging former star, then turn the other three rotation spots into a lawof-averages play. Use Aaron Nola, hope that Jake Arrieta pitches at his best once in a while, then try to throw something together with minor trades, minor-league salvage hunts and that crowd of once-promising starters ever likely to disappoint.

For a franchise with a bigtalking owner and a fan base thirsty for postseason baseball for the first time since 2011, it has been a timid and, so far, failing play. Even Thursday, during a 10-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants, it was subject again to question.

Though Arrieta pitched well early, he never made it through the fifth inning and thus would not toil long enough to be the winning pitcher. And because he has a bone spur in his elbow, he’s not going to pitch often beyond the fifth for the rest of the season. With that, it’s going to be difficult for the Phillies to contend for much, if anything.

A night earlier, it was much of the same, with Five-Inny-Vinny Velasquez rolling nicely into the sixth before the inevitable collapse began with a two-run Buster Posey home run. He never recorded another out, and the Phillies lost.

“There were a lot of foul balls,” Gabe Kapler reasoned. “And I think it took a lot of energy for him to get through those first five. And then as he went out for the sixth, the ball started to creep down a little bit. He made one pitch that Posey punished him on. That was it.” MCCAFFERY >> PAGE 3

CHRIS SZAGOLA — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS If any of the Phillies — Jake Arrieta, center, and his balky elbow included — were looking to Matt Klentak to patch an ailing and ineffective rotation at the trading deadline, they were left disappointed by the general manager.