Phillies Slow Start Not the Time to Panic
By Ethan Witte
The Philadelphia Phillies may have lost the first two games of the season, but it is far too soon for panic, by the team or fans.
These first two games of the 2016 Phillies season haven’t exactly gotten off to a rousing start. On Opening Day, David Hernandez, James Russell and Hector Neris were unable to protect a one-run lead for Jeremy Hellickson, who gave the team six innings of fantastic work to begin the season.
On Wednesday night, more of the same. This time, it was Dailer Hinojosa blowing the game for Aaron Nola, who was also fantastic in his season debut. It’s a kick in the pants to all Phillies fans who had decided to tune in, and may have turned off a few fans to the season already.
However, now certainly is not the time to panic.
In this era of dominant pitching and high octane bullpens, it should have been apparent to any outside observer that the 2016 Phillies bullpen was going to be the biggest weak point of the ball club this season.
When the Opening Day roster was announced, it included a pen with one left-hander coming in on a minor league deal (Russell), and another lefty as a Rule 5 draftee (Daniel Stumpf) whom the team has openly discussed keeping for the entire season.
When constructing the bullpen over the winter, it was obvious that management was hoping that a few arms would hit, while having others that they could move up and down to Lehigh Valley depending on results.
Keeping a flexible roster was certainly something that GM Matt Klentak and company had in mind for the 2016 season. Being able to shuffle players in and out of the bullpen, up and down from the minors, was a way they could build that part of the roster on the cheap, especially when relief pitching today is so volatile all across Major League Baseball.
More from That Balls Outta Here
- Phillies rumors: Club targets Seth Lugo for possible bullpen role
- Pirates’ bizarre Vince Velasquez hype video will make Phillies fans laugh
- Acquiring Brandon Marsh gave the Phillies flexibility
- Former Phillies starter Zach Eflin shares heartwarming goodbye message
- Is Rhys Hoskins the future at first base for the Phillies beyond 2023?
That volatility means that the Phillies’ brain trust valued players on minor league deals, those that were relatively inexpensive, as well as those with minor league options remaining. If someone was struggling, they could send them down or release the player without feeling much of a financial impact. This is a different tactic than a contender would employ, one that rebuilding teams such as the Phils have done and should continue to use.
As they try to figure out which of the current players are going to stick as core players, any financial resources that could potentially be used on the more established bullpen free agents should be deployed elsewhere, such as in the draft and on the international market.
The Phillies’ finances would also be better utilized at this stage with the building of minor league prospect complexes in other countries in order to build a pipeline to bring more talent into the organization. As the team gets better in the future, only then should those funds be reallocated towards improving things like the big league bullpen.
For now, the Phillies will be content with storing as many arms as they can between the Major and minor league levels. This is inevitably going to lead to outcomes such as those we have experienced these past two games.
While it can be frustrating and borderline unwatchable for some fans, we have to remember that this was done with a plan in place. If a player isn’t performing over time, he will undoubtedly be shipped out, and another arm will be brought in to the team. This will continue until the right mixture of arms is assembled to successfully end the majority of ball games.
Don’t panic about the Phillies bullpen just yet. There will be days like this, probably more often than we as fans would like. Just remember, as this famous philosopher once said, “It’s all part of the plan.“