GDT 6/18/18 St. Louis Cardinals (Mikolas) @ Philadelphia Phillies (Pivetta)

[zambonir]

Nobody can really prove that having a closer is the best way, but it's the traditional way, and it's safer for the manager to have one. The media can much more easily understand the narrative of sticking with your closer (Lidge, Giles, Neris) until you don't, and then you get another closer. When it doesn't work, it's the closer's fault. When you have no closer and it doesn't work, it's the manager's fault. And when you lose a low-scoring game because Tommy Hunter gives up a run in the 8th inning the articles will also talk about the offense, but if the closer does it in the ninth, that's what the story is about..

Much as the first week disaster reset Kapler's approach it seems Neris being sent down and the ensuing chaos, win or lose, is going to end with Seranthony closing, though I hope it's not exclusively the case (i.e.having him face the most important batters has been working).

[andyb]

I think the problem is less about having a closer and more about not identifying the 3 or 4 relievers that will be responsible for late inning situations. Before the season we thought this group would be Neris, Neshek, Hunter and then one of the younger harder throwing arms. Now we have identified Dominguez as part of that group but nobody else has been consistent enough for those roles. Hunter has been in and out. At times Ramos and Garcia and Rios and Arano have been good, though rarely dominant. No left-handed option has emerged. In short, the problem is not the lack of a closer. It is the lack of a group of late inning arms that can be consistently identified.

Part of this problem is bad luck. A small part might be Kapler's management of the bullpen but really Kapler thought he would have Neris and Hunter and Neshek (or at least 2 of the 3) pitching well. So he has to improvise.

[Dirk41]

Everyone misses a pitch now and again, but how long until everyone realizes exactly how awful Andrew Knapp truly is?

[Austinfan]

Kapler is right, right now it's about development, and you have to throw young guys into different situations and see how they handle it.

Closer is for real, you can see young pitchers get tight in the 9th, grip the ball too hard, lose command and hang breaking balls - but you have to try them, give them multiple opportunities, and see whether they can learn to handle pressure.

In a couple months, players will settle into roles and this situation will work itself out.

[EastFallowfield]

Hoskins' foul ball, a little left of where Carpenter's homer went.

[allentown]

On the pitching staff, probably so. I think playing guys out of position is stupid. There is no progress towards a bright future in playing Crawford at 3B and Kingery at 2B. That is just a recipe for failure. They are not going to turn Kingery into a plus SS and they are not going to turn Crawford into a plus 3B.

[California_Dreamin]

allentown...I agree with you. It is difficult enough to establish yourself as a major league player without having to learn a new position in the major leagues. With Hoskins in LF, Williams in RF, Crawford at 3rd and Kingery at SS, on any given day the Phillies are playing 4 position guys out of their comfort zone. I also believe this affects their hitting and in my opinion its no coincidence that all 4 have struggled offensively after being very solid hitters in the minors.

The great Vin Scully always used to say that the ball always has a way of finding a player who is playing a position he is unfamiliar with.

It would seem counterproductive to me to subject young hurlers [and the Phils start 4 of them, not to mention almost their entire bullpen] to a defense that almost never plays to their strengths.

[Lawman]

There is no progress towards a bright future in playing Crawford at 3B and Kingery at 2B. That is just a recipe for failure. They are not going to turn Kingery into a plus SS and they are not going to turn Crawford into a plus 3B.

Agreed. They either need to platoon Kingery/Crawford to get them both playing time, or they need to platoon Kingery/Hernandez. Or, Kingery back down to AAA to continue to get steady playing time.

[Austinfan]

Williams has played RF before.

Hoskins is actually starting to look comfortable in LF, he's a pretty decent athlete, and started the season hot, his hitting problems have nothing to do with the position change, but getting overeager and swinging too hard.

Crawford is a pretty good looking 3B and could be an elite fielder there, problem is he doesn't hit well enough for SS right now much less 3B.

Kingery is overmatched at SS, but it's good for him to have the experience down the road, you never know when you're starting SS will go down for the count. Same way Valentin needs time at all three IF spots to be a supersub.

[andyb]

Hoskins at -1.4 dwar is the worst fielder on the team this year. Williams (-1.0), Kingery (-0.8), Santana (-0.7), and Franco (-0.7) are also very bad. Hoskins may look comfortable out there, but he has never had any range. Not his fault as he is a first baseman. Williams and Kingery and Santana should all be better. Kingery has largely played out of position. Williams must get poor jumps on balls. Santana should be better than his stats but is really no better than average.

What gets me is that Crawford is the one guy who could really be above average at an important position and they just are not playing him at that position.

This page on BR has the sortable dwar rankings.

2018 Philadelphia Phillies Statistics | Baseball-Reference.com