Kapler has plenty of options in restocked bullpen
JUPITER, FLA. » As he does often after games, unprompted by any question in a brief media scrum, Gabe Kapler started rhapsodizing about a player last week. Someone who stood out this spring, who had impressed his manager, who was on his mind. That player? Yacksel Rios. No, really. “He’s really established himself as a guy that if things broke just right, he could find himself on our major league roster sooner rather than later because of the consistency of his slider,” Kapler said Monday after a 4-1 loss to the Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter.
The praise is evidence of Kapler’s enthusiasm, sure. But the choice of player upon whom he directed his rosy glow is indicative.
Draw out a list of Kapler’s bullpen options for 2019 and Rios, the 25-year-old who has a 6.02 ERA in 49 (mostly lowleverage) appearances over two seasons, wouldn’t feature prominently among the right-handed talent. But the loss to the Cardinals was the first time Rios had allowed a run in the spring, in his seventh game covering 8.1 innings. He’s allowed just seven hits and one walk while striking out six in that time.
So if Rios is impressing while being, by the roster math, a virtual certainty to land at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, how good are the other options? On paper, pretty darn good.
The Phillies viewed the bullpen as an area to shore up after finishing 18th in the bigs with a 4.19 ERA last year, and they possess three viable ninth-inning options. Seranthony Dominguez remains the closer of the future, even if his dynamite beginning in the bigs came back down to earth, resulting in a 2.95 ERA over 58 innings with 16 saves in 20 chances.
While Dominguez struggled, deposed closer Hector Neris rehabilitated his game in Triple-A and allowed runs in only two of 20 appearances after a mid-August call-up. Add to that mix David Robertson (3.23 ERA in 69 games as a set-up man for the Yankees last year and 137 career saves) and the Phillies have options aplenty, plus they return veteran righties Pat Neshek and Tommy Hunter (though the latter will likely start on the disabled list).
For a team that had a club record nine pitchers record saves last year, that’s a lot of guys who can finish games. But the key to the equation is Kapler, who doesn’t buy the fallacy that the last three outs of a game are the most important or most difficult to record.
As such, he’ll continue to roll his bullpen based on the granular details of a game — situation and score, matchups, etc.
“It could happen that somebody just emerges as the clear-cut option to pitch the ninth inning for us,” Kapler said. “But lets say that that clear-cut option emerges as the best reliever in our ‘pen hands down, maybe it doesn’t make sense to use him exclusively in the ninth inning. The game plan is to be very flexible and to read and react. Because we have so many arms that we know can pitch, from the fifth inning to the ninth inning, and successfully.”
Kapler’s options are stronger on the right side, which includes the five names above and Edubray Ramos (plus Victor Arano, who was demoted after a disastrous spring). The Phils used an excess right-handed option in Luis Garcia to acquire left-handed help, with Jose Alvarez arriving from the Angels. Alvarez made 76 appearances last year with a 2.71 ERA.
He’ll battle with Adam Morgan and James Pazos (2.88 ERA in 60 games for the Mariners) for innings. Edward Paredes, a 32-year-old non-roster invitee who pitched 25 games the last two years with the Dodgers and hadn’t allowed a run in his first seven spring outings, is another option, while Juan Nicasio could catch on as the long man.
Kapler prizes flexibility in managing his relievers. The roster has copious arms to provide it.
“A lot of this is for the best interests of the Phillies to maintain that flexibility to decide what’s best for the club, to take the emotions of the players into account and make the best decisions for the players,” he said. “Certainly you don’t have to plan out the rest of the season in the middle of March.”