The Phillies have already used their bullpen heavily so far to start the season. How much longer can they keep this usage up?
The Phillies opened their season by using six pitchers in nine innings. They then used nine more Friday night, setting a record for the most pitchers used by a team in its first two games of a season, doing it in six fewer innings.
All of the relievers used in Thursday’s game were called on again Friday night. Hector Neris entered the ninth inning both nights needing to keep the game tied. One night he failed; the other he succeeded.
Gabe Kapler used both of his lefties, Hoby Milner and Adam Morgan, in the fifth and sixth innings. This came back to bite him later when Luis Garcia walked Freddie Freeman and later allowed the tying run off the bat of another lefty, Preston Tucker.
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Philadelphia’s starters have pitched a combined 9.1 innings so far this year, while their relievers have pitched 10.1. They have only faced two batters a third time through the order. The Dodgers were wary to use their starters a third time through the order last year, and Kapler has continued to show that will be the case this year.
How long will Kapler be able to keep this heavy usage? At a certain point the starters will have to throw more than four or five innings.
Otherwise their relievers will clear 100 innings pitched. This amount of usage simply can’t continue.
Kapler remains adamant that the team will be able to keep their bullpen fresh:
"“I’m well aware that we can’t use everybody every night, if that’s what you’re asking me,” Kapler said. “But I can also tell you that we’ll be creative and we’ll be flexible and we’ll find ways to put together a bullpen that’s going to be protective.”"
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Doing this will be considerably harder without their two free-agent signings from the offseason. Pat Neshek and Tommy Hunter both are on the disabled list. Hunter is dealing with a minor hamstring strain, but Neshek is suffering from a shoulder issue. He has been dealing with soreness behind his right shoulder since the end of spring training and it is unknown how long he will be out.
These two injuries have already depleted the team’s bullpen depth in Triple-A. Lefty Zac Curtis is the only reliever left on the 40-man roster in Lehigh Valley. The other pitchers on the 40-man in Triple-A are Zach Eflin and Drew Anderson. If anyone else gets injured, the depth is going to run even thinner.
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Philadelphia will conclude its series with the Braves Saturday night with Vince Velasquez on the mound. Velasquez consistently struggled to last deep into games last year, so Kapler may have to lean on the bullpen heavily yet again. Can he expect his relievers to perform well after needing to pitch three consecutive nights?