4 honest Phillies observations heading into Blue Jays series

Joe Girardi’s in-game management is not good.

Maybe it is Joe Girardi finally managing in the National League again or something else, but his poor success double-switching, using David Hale in high leverage spots — among other weird moves — seem to be getting old quickly.

Just looking at the recent games, there are a few head-scratching double-switches we can point out. The first was against the Atlanta Braves. Scott Kingery — who just shouldn’t be in games right now — was inserted and struck out twice. That same game, Jean Segura — in just his second game back from the injured list — was replaced with rookie Nick Maton to keep Jose Alvarado for the eighth inning. While this decision scratched some heads, it did work somewhat in Girardi’s favor — as the Phillies entered the ninth with a 3-1 lead.

The faith Girardi has entrusted in Hale has arguable costed the Phillies some games. Against the Colorado Rockies, Hale entered with the bases loaded opposite Trevor Story, who launched a grand slam in the eventual 12-2 Phillies loss. In St. Louis, Hale entered in a tie-game, 10th-inning scenario with a runner on second. The run ended up scoring, and the Phillies lost, 4-3. Girardi’s bullpen decisions need to be better. Hale should only be in the game when either the Phillies are up by a lot of runs, or their opposition is down by a lot.

Other Girardi decisions can be questioned, such as keeping Connor Brogdon in after he allowed his first of two three-run home runs in the same outing. The most confusing and baffling Girardi move so far was letting Chase Anderson hit with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth. Luckily, the Phillies still won the game, 6-2.

Luckily for Girardi, poor in-game management is a lot easier issue to fix than clubhouse chemistry, for example. He needs to get better to avoid costing the team any more games.