Phillies: Joe Girardi discusses need to adjust amid pandemic

Keeping the taxi squad ready

Girardi says the Phillies have had discussions as far as different facilities they will use for “taxi squad” players, and that they need to have another group of starters ready to go on the same day as other starters “in case someone gets sick or goes down.”

“Lehigh is close, Reading is close,” he says. “They have to get live at-bats. Pitchers have to get to where they are facing hitters and competing but you’re also not wearing them out. I think you have to be strategic about that [as well].”

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Getting to know players’ strengths and weaknesses

Girardi kept things frank on MLB Network in saying it is “unfortunate” the team had to break up their first spring training back in early March. He says he was “getting a decent feel” of the roster at that time.

“We were just getting to the competition stage where you were going to learn a lot about our players,” the 2009 World Series-winning skipper says. “But now, we start all over again.”

Fast-forward to July, Girardi says he will have to “really pay attention,” while relying on video and his coaching staff, to get a similar good feeling about his team in “spring training 2.0.”

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“To me, I always think about the bullpen usage the most. And, about starters and how they look when their stuff is good — how it looks — and when they’re struggling it’s not,” says Girardi, who thinks he will have a pretty good handle on his hitters given he can study matchups.

At the end of the day, Girardi believes there is a “bunch more thought” he will have to put into this season than any season he has managed before.

“But, I think if we all put our heads together and we make sure that we’re responsible when we’re away from the field,” he says, “I think we can do this.”