If bullpen continues to crack, Klentak will be on thin ice
PHILADELPHIA » It was six innings into the Phillies’ delayed opening game when the bullpen door creaked open, revealing two things.
It revealed Ramon Rosso.
And it threw light on the diminishing job security of Matt Klentak.
That Joe Girardi’s first consequential decision of what figures to be a successful run as manager was to replace tiring Aaron Nola with a 24-year-old who had never thrown a big-league pitch was curious enough to send a howl of protest through the press box. But afterward, the manager mentioned Rosso’s velocity, what he felt were favorable matchups and, later, that Nick Pivetta would not be available until the next day. That is, 102 games off were not enough for Pivetta, who evidently required 103. So Rosso it was.
The right-hander had looked strong in the justcompleted Half-a-Grapefruit League and the intrasquad games. But he was overwhelmed by the moment, allowed the game to get out of hand, and uncorked two pitches that literally looked like they belonged on a ceremonial-first-pitches-gone-wrong reel.
“That didn’t work,” Girardi would lament, “quite the way that we wanted it to.”
No. Maybe not.
Immediately afterward in the dugout, Girardi took Rosso aside to offer comfort. After the game, he mentioned his own big-league debut and its emotional challenges, and promised that the traumatic experience would help Rosso grow. G-Kappy couldn’t have been more supportive of failure.
But enough about Ramon Rosso, and even Joe Girardi. The moment was not as much about either of them as it was about a general manager who has had five years to build a useful major-league bullpen and whose go-to brainstorm is to keep signing Tommy Hunter.
Klentak has provided his high-priced, new manager with 11 relief pitchers, a necessity in a cockamamie season. The Phillies, though, have taken that option to load up with unproven arms too casually. For that, they came up with the cast of a baseball horror show.
Consider that All-Star Salute to Relief Pitching that was Girardi’s Opening Night presentation. There was Rosso, in his debut. Then, it was Reggie McClain, who was claimed on waivers at age 27 after 14 games of experience in Seattle. Austin Davis, who pitched to a robust 6.53 ERA last year, was next. And how’s about your Trevor Kelley to finish it all up? That would have been him going 0-3 with an 8.64 ERA when the Red Sox let him walk last season.
A general manager would almost have to use a computer to assemble a less qualified parade of pitching failures.
Zack Wheeler was a magician in Game 2, giving
Hunter and Deolis Guerra enough of a lead to pitch without pressure. But in Game 3, after Vince Velasquez did his usual quick-burn-out thing, career failure Cole Irvin, McClain and the finally ready Pivetta could not suppress the Marlins. So on a day they would score six runs, the Phillies would lose by five.
The nature of the season, with a checkered rampup that challenged starters to be ready to provide length, guaranteed that baseball would be dirtied by under-qualified relievers. If every team had an 11-man bullpen, that’s an announced crowd of 330. That doesn’t even include the other half of the 60man player pools. There are not that many majorleague-level backup arms on the planet.
It is not Klentak’s fault that David Robertson needed Tommy John surgery or that Seranthony Dominguez would be in the lobby waiting for that operating room to clear. A bullpen including Hector Neris to close, Dominguez to set-up, Robertson to fluster both left-handed and right-handed hitters, the talented if underachieving Adam Morgan providing a left-handed option, the veteran Hunter in the mix and Pivetta around for long relief would have had a good chance to thrive. But the Phillies knew Robertson would miss the entire season, and Dominguez officially has durability issues. Yet Klentak came up with a bullpen best suited for a team in a two-traffic-light town with the word Dawgs somewhere in its title.
Beyond the splendor that is Rosso, McClain, Davis, Kelley, Guerra (who had one appearance last year, his ERA popping at 54.00), Pivetta, Irvin, Morgan, Neris and Hunter, who has made a total of six appearances since 2018, Klentak has presented Girardi with veteran Jose Alvarez, who does supply seven-plus years of responsible major-league ability.
Given the lineup, which will produce, and the starting pitching, which is fine if not spectacular, the Phillies should make the playoffs. If they don’t, it will be because that bullpen, all these years later, is of substandard major-league quality.
Klentak is in his fifth season, has yet to field a winning team, and was made to sit in of TV cameras last year when owner John Middleton fired the manager against his wishes. His situation is not ideal. Every time that bullpen door opens, that becomes more clear.
Follow Jack on Twitter @JackMcCaffery and reach him at jmccaffery@21st-centurymedia.com