Stassi runs into trouble in home debut
PHILADELPHIA » Popular Brock Stassi, the feel-good story of spring training at age 27, had probably been harboring a bit of a dream about being in Citizens Bank Park Friday, making his bigleague home debut in front of a sold-out crowd.
The bulk of the 46,000plus contingent was gone by the time Stassi came on as a pinch-hitter to start the bottom of the seventh inning, however, since the Washington Nationals scored seven straight out of the gate and were still ahead by six runs at that time.
But Stassi drew a free pass ... and little did he realize how that trip to the bases would end.
Tommy Joseph walked, too, and when Nationals starter Max Scherzer went wild to the next hitter, Cameron Rupp, the buzz picked up. Scherzer’s wild pitch would normally have put two Phillies in scoring position with no outs. Instead, the ball slammed off the back wall and rebounded perfectly to Nationals catcher Matt Wieters, who wheeled and fired a perfect strike to third baseman Anthony Rendon to nip the surprised Stassi.
If that weren’t enough, the Phillies were still able to mount a two-out comeback after Rupp had struck out, courtesy of a Freddy Galvis double and an Aaron Altherr home run to cut their deficit to 7-4. Two innings later, a Galvis home run would bring the Phils to within a run, though it would turn out to be a run too little.
Phils manager Pete Mackanin pointed out that had Stassi not been thrown out at third base in the seventh inning, “that would have been a different ballgame.” That said...
“I can’t blame Stassi for going,” Mackanin said. “If the ball goes back to the wall I guess you have to be aware of that. But it’s one of those things. It couldn’t have been knocked back to Wieters any better.”
Galvis’ home run, his second in the first four games, would bring the Phils to within 7-6, which is where the comeback would end. To his credit, Stassi wasn’t blaming himself for the onerun Phillies shortfall.
“I got back to the dugout and everybody was like, ‘Wow, nothing you can do there,’” Stassi said. “We’re taught to run the bases aggressively . ... I saw it in the dirt, then looked up about halfway to third (base) and thought, ‘Oh, great.’ And he threw a strike to third.
“Galvis after that inning said, ‘I’ve been playing here how many years, and that’s the first time I’ve seen that happen.’ I thought, ah, figures it happens to me in my first game here.”
*** Aaron Nola will finally get his long-awaited first start since last July Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.
Nola had a strong start to his second season a year ago, but his performances really dovetailed in the summer. He finally was diagnosed with an elbow sprain after a 7-5 loss July 28 and a few days later was declared done for the season.
The hope is his long offseason rehab will pay off. “What I’m happy about is the velocity he showed in spring training, which means, hopefully, that his arm is healthy,” Mackanin said.
*** Ryan Howard is heading to extended spring training in Florida and will soon join the Atlanta Braves’ Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett after signing a minor league deal this week with the organization. Of course, that drew plenty of media and fan criticism.
But he’s 37, bought a house in the Atlanta area not long ago, costs comparitively nothing ... and the Braves’ bench could really use some occasional pop that Howard could provide. Of course he’s essentially done, but he did hit 13 homers and a respectable .262 (against mostly right-handers) after the AllStar break last season. So ... why not? “It was kind of strange because I don’t know how that would work in Atlanta with (first baseman Freddie) Freeman over there,” Mackanin said. “But I’m happy for Howie. Hopefully he’ll get an opportunity to get back to the big leagues and do something.”