Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Altherr hurts his wrist, but says he’s ‘fine’
little day here.”
Altherr, who has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 starts, was — and likely remains — in position to keep a regular starting job.
“I’ll always defer to Pete on the lineup construction,” general manager Matt Klentak said. “That’s Pete’s role. But having spoken with Pete, that’s a priority for him. Pete’s priority is to put the best nine in the lineup, or best eight in the National League, that he can. If Aaron is giving us the best chance to win, I expect Aaron will continue to play.”
••• Vince Velasquez struck out eight and walked none in his seven innings. But he allowed two home runs, including a threerun shot from Anthony Rendon in the sixth and left with the Phillies trailing, 6-1. All six runs were earned.
“Other than the two home runs, Vinny pitched very well,” Mackanin said. “He kept his pitch count down early, then got in a little trouble a little bit later. The middle of their lineup is really good. They produce. And they are really producing runs.”
Velasquez threw 71 of his 100 pitches for strikes. His catcher, Cameron Rupp, said both home runs, including a tworun shot by Ryan Zimmerman in the fourth, were on pitches out of the strike zone.
“You live and learn and you deal through experience,” said Velasquez, who fell to 2-3. “And it was just one of those times where I have to do a better job of having a better pitch selection. But I’ll face them next week and take this outing and learn from it.”
••• Rupp hit a seventh-inning home run Saturday, going 2-for-4 and improving his batting average to .247. He is hitting .317 over his last 11 games.
“I’m comfortable,” he said. “I’m being selective. And I am not fouling them off like I was the first few weeks. I am making good contact. They’ll come around. I wasn’t worried about what was going on. I am swinging the bat well. I’m gaining confidence and will continue to go.”
Even with backup catcher Andrew Knapp hitting .296, Mackanin is not sold on the offensive production of his catchers.
“They’ve been OK,” he said. “Statistically, we’re fine. What I’m looking for on a daily basis is consistency in at-bats, quality of at-bats. And (hitting coach) Matt Stairs preaches, ‘Don’t give away any at-bats.’ But when you see guys swing and miss at pitches in the dirt over and over again, that’s not showing improvement in that area. That’s what we’re trying to get done. Once they get the hang of that, then you are going to see some more production.”
Then there’s a bit of a different opinion, this one from Klentak Friday on his pair of catchers.
“Andrew Knapp has over a .900 OPS and Cameron Rupp, I’m pretty sure entering (Friday’s) game, is better than a leagueaverage offensive player. He had a slow start but recently he’s been good. I have no qualms at all with the catching at the major-league level, and in fact, I think if we sized up against the rest of the league, we’re doing pretty well in that department.” ••• Jeremy Hellickson (4-1, 3.18 ERA) will face Nationals righthander Tanner Roark (3-1, 4.04) at 2:35 Sunday, an hour later than usual due to the annual Broad Street road race. … Off Monday, the Phils will begin a two-game series with Seattle Tuesday night at 7:05. … Cesar Hernandez was 2-for-4 in his 14th multi-hit game of the season. … Tommy Joseph, hitting .286 over his last 12 games, had two hits.