CLEARWATER, Fla. — The pitchers and the catchers were mandated to report Tuesday morning, but most of them have been here for days, even weeks in some instances. The exhibition games start in 10 days. The long slog that precedes the six-month season has begun, and Joe Girardi saw no need to emphasize anything beyond that in his first speech to the team as Phillies manager.
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“I don’t want to bore the pitchers and catchers because they’re here long enough,” Girardi said Tuesday. “This is a time of preparation. It’s a time of competition, too, but the competition does not start tomorrow. It’s a chance for the players to get in shape and prepare to compete.”
This particular spring training is designed to build a competent bullpen. Girardi noted that some of the relievers on the club’s robust tryout roster — which includes 39 pitchers — will be behind others at the start. “But again, spring training is really for starters,” the manager said. “They are the ones who need the six and a half weeks.” They do, although the Phillies spent an entire offseason amassing depth in every area but the rotation.
It’s important to construct a functioning bullpen for Opening Day, but that unit is subject to change dozens and dozens of times. It could be more crucial this spring to identify whom the Phillies will summon in case of rotation distress — the sixth, seventh and eighth starting pitchers.
They will need reserves at some point because every team does over a 162-game schedule.
It’s a layered issue because it might require the Phillies to make decisions that force short-term concessions with long-term gains. If Vince Velasquez bests Nick Pivetta for the fifth starter’s job, is it more beneficial to keep Pivetta stretched out as a starter in Triple A or as a reliever in the majors?
Ranger Suárez impressed when thrust into a bullpen role last summer, but he’s been a starter during his minor-league career, and he’s left-handed. Is he better served as the No. 7 starter or a solid middle reliever? The same goes for JoJo Romero, who moonlighted as a reliever in the Arizona Fall League and found success, but has been a starter in the minors.
All relievers are failed starters, and most fringe starters will profile better as relievers because they can refine their arsenals and gain some power in shorter stints. It’s tempting to turn some rotation prospects into relievers because of the immediate benefit to the big-league team.
But someone has to be the backup plan. Asked whether he thinks the club has enough starting depth, Girardi said, “Oh, I do.”
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He added: “But in saying that, you never have enough starters. You could have 10 and you’d want 11. You could have 11 and you’d want 12. You could have 22 and it’s still not enough. I mean, it’s the way that an organization thinks. It’s the way that a manager thinks. But I think that we have a really good number of starting pitchers here that are going to compete for the spots, and then some of those guys are going to go to the bullpen. If we have to make a switch at some point, I believe that there’s depth there and guys that have major-league experience depth. It’s our job to help them reach their potential.”
This is why it’s curious to see the Phillies enter the spring with a gigantic roster and no veteran-type additions for rotation depth. There is very — very — little experience among the starters in camp outside of the four rotation locks (Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Jake Arrieta, Zach Eflin), Velasquez and Pivetta. One injury could be calamitous.
Cole Irvin and Enyel De Los Santos have each made three starts in the majors. Francisco Liriano and Bud Norris are here, but their starting days are in the past. Adonis Medina and Cristopher Sanchez have yet to pitch above Double A. Damon Jones and Ramon Rosso hit speed bumps once they reached Triple A.
The wild card, of course, is Spencer Howard. The top prospect has been throwing bullpen sessions, and has already drawn high praise from coaches and front-office officials who have watched. He might not see much action in the Grapefruit League.
“Spencer has an innings limit so we have to think about this because we believe at some point that he’s going to play a role for us,” Girardi said. “We can’t go wear him out by June, so we have to think about that.”
Team officials have cautioned that Howard’s limit is not a strict number. They are open to various scenarios, especially if the team is contending deep into September. Creative solutions are being proposed — maybe Howard doesn’t break camp with an affiliated team and instead does lower-stress work at the club’s complex in Florida for a month. His total innings might not be restricted; rather, the Phillies could cap him at a max of five innings per start to reduce strain.
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Either way, given the rotation depth chart at the onset of spring training, the Phillies are banking on Howard being a contributor. Even in a best-case scenario, they will need a sixth and seventh starter. In 2018, their initial rotation mustered 131 starts over the course of the season. That number dipped to 122 starts in 2019. In both seasons, they were blessed with relatively decent rotation health. And still, almost a quarter of each season needed to be covered by other starting pitchers.
The Phillies have adopted a line of thinking that the fourth and fifth spots in a rotation are interchangeable and the bar to fill those spots is low. That is reflected in their previous two offseason acquisition strategies. The price for proven veteran starters was not cheap this winter. The Phillies had a budget. They stuck to it.
There were stark differences in the tactics they used to assemble rotation and bullpen depth, and Tommy Hunter’s pending agreement for a major-league contract is the latest example.
Hunter, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations, had more lucrative minor-league offers from other teams — provided he made it to the majors. Instead, Hunter sacrificed a higher salary for a guaranteed roster spot. The Phillies were willing to provide that spot. He would make less than $1 million on this contract, plus performance bonuses, if he passes a physical exam administered Tuesday.
The Phillies had their reasons for pursuing this arrangement — chiefly, their desire to remain under the $208 million threshold for the luxury tax. Most of the minor-league deals they have negotiated with veteran relievers call for a guaranteed salary of around $1.5 million if those pitchers reach the majors. They viewed Hunter as equal to or better than some of those arms, especially if he was a tad cheaper.
Still, it’s odd to see the Phillies guarantee a bullpen spot to a 33-year-old pitcher who threw 5 1/3 innings last season before he underwent surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right arm. Then again, the salary is not a hindrance if Hunter is not effective.
Some bottom-of-the-barrel veteran starters remain unsigned, and maybe the Phillies convince one or two to come to camp knowing that they would begin the season at Triple A as depth. But the Phillies did not do that last spring, and not until they went hunting for Drew Smyly and Jason Vargas last summer did they augment the back of the rotation with experienced pieces.
Spring training begins Wednesday, and there is an enormous onus on the current rotation members to be both good and healthy.
(Top photo of Ranger Suárez: Joe Robbins / Getty Images)
