PHILADELPHIA— Adam Morgan hadn't allowed a run in 8⅔ innings over his last 11 appearances.
The lefty had become one of the only consistencies in a pitching staff that has beenspoiled by injuries andmostly disappointing.
But even Morgan wasn't immune to a bad outing. Wednesday night, he gave up two home runs and retired just one batter as he allowed the Giants to add three runs to the 2-0 deficit he inherited when manager Gabe Kapler brought him in to replace Vince Velasquez.
That was after Velasquez walkedMike Yastrzemski to start the sixth inning and Buster Posey blasted a high fastball over the fence in left, ending Velasquez's night and ensuring the Phillies' starter would make it to 10consecutive starts without completing six innings. That fastball was nearly three mph slower than a fastball Velasquez blew by Posey three innings earlier.
"I talked to him after his fifth inning of work and, mentally, he seemed sharp and strong and right where he needed to be," Kapler said.
"I'm putting myself in tough situations," Velasquez said of not getting through six innings of work.
This is what general manager Matt Klentak thinks is going to be good enough to make a run over the final two months of the season. Right now, Velasquez will be out there every fifth day. The Phillies will need him to pitch more than five innings.
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Here's the problem: Velasquez, who struck out six and allowed four walks in five-plus innings, isn't the only pitcher in the starting rotation who can't give them six innings. The bone spur in Jake Arrieta's elbow hasn't allowed him to pitch six innings in his last four starts. The bullpen, depleted by injuries, is being taxed.
The trade deadline came and went Wednesday and the Phillies' biggest acquisition was an outfielder. The earlier-in-the-week roster movethat brought Jason Vargas from the Mets and the signing of Drew Smylyin mid-July were the big starting pitching upgrades. Those two and some middle-of-the-road bullpen adds.
Smyly has been great in two starts. But he amassed an ERA of 8.42 in 13 starts with the Texas Rangers before they designated him for assignment and released. Vargas, 36, has one of the slowest fastballs in Major League Baseball but has had a decent 2019– except for the time he threatened to beat up a reporter.
The Phillies started 2019 thinking Velasquez, Zach Eflin and Nick Pivetta were enough behind Nola and Arrieta to make a playoff push after a splashy offseason that brought Bryce Harper and greater expectations.
But all three of them have been pulled from the rotation at one point or another. Right now, Eflin and Pivetta are relief pitchers. The idea has even been floated that Eflin, who says he's dealing with a "heavy" body, could be used to piggyback off Arrieta or Velasquez in some situations.
"It makes our bullpen stronger and deeper," Klentak said Wednesday evening of the two starters now being relievers. "I've been encouraged by some of the things we've seen from our rotation recently. I've been encouraged by what we've seen from Pivetta out of the 'pen, last night's home runs not withstanding. His stuff is playing up in that 'pen role. I think with the depth we have now more so than we had a week ago or a couple of weeks ago, I think that lends itself to perhaps some more creative pitching moves."
And that piggyback scenario with Eflin?
"Is that a way to help us win a game? I think we'll be fairly traditional and we'll run the five man rotation out there for the foreseeable future, but there maybe times when we use the bullpen a little bit differently to support that," Klentak said.
Wednesday night's deployment was pretty normal. A good reliever came on to stop the bleeding. It didn't work. Some nights, it happens. But it's happening too often for the Phillies.
In the ninth inning Wednesday, Eflin made his first bullpen appearance with San Francisco already leading 5-1. He walked a pair and allowed a single before getting out of a bases-loaded jam.
Before the game, Kapler was asked about the difficulty getting the likes of Eflin and Pivetta to recalibrate their mindsets to being relief pitchers.
"I think the way you calibrate it for them is that you remind them that nothing is permanent," he said."They are special young pitchers and very much developing young pitchers, especially those two guys and Vince is probably included in that conversation.
"Every time those guys go out on the mound, it's an opportunity to remind everybody in baseball how capable they are of taking down important innings, whether those important innings are at the beginning of the game or near the end of the game."
It sounds better than it looks.
Klentak decided to not go after top-of-the-line arms before the deadline Wednesday. All that did was delay the team's spending untilwinter, when Klentak and president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail won't have a choice but to upgrade the rotation. Gerrit Cole, Madison Bumgarner and Cole Hamels– as of now–will all be available on the free agent market.
The Phillies probably can't go another yearhoping Velasquez, Pivetta and Eflin are enough to make the playoffs.
Right now, it's hard enough to get Velasquez to pitch six innings.
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Contact Jeff Neiburg at jneiburg@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeff_Neiburg.
