Arlington, Texas – Rob Thompson inspected the clubhouse shortly after the Phillies lost the second game of their season. He was holding a piece of paper in his hand and flashing it to a few players who needed to know. It was the lineup for the third match. Bryson Stott saw it. There was against a left-handed player.
It was a test. The Phillies, now, have four spots on the field that can become platoon situations. They wouldn’t be able to hide every left-handed hitter from left-handed pitchers. So, Stott faced Martin Perez in the Phillies’ 2-1 loss to the Rangers on Sunday night and reached base all three times — a walk and two singles.
Stott said, “Obviously, we trust everything Topper does. So, if he thinks it’s better to have a right-hander up there against a certain left-hander, you’ll never wonder what the director’s doing. Because he does his research and he knows.”
There are more decisions for the manager to make now that the Phillies, who are winless in their first three games, plan to mix and match without Bryce Harper and Reese Hoskins. Only one of them will return, and it could take months for Harper to be available. The immediate sting of losing Hoskins, whose number 17 jersey had been hanging in an empty locker for the entire first series at Globe Life Park, prompted Thompson to try out during the first week of the season.
Everything is subject to change.
“Sorting through your lineup early in the year is sort of sorting through your bullpen earlier in the year,” said Thompson. “You have to get the guys in different places and see where they land for their part.”
On Sunday, Thompson tried out the Christian patch — who had been pushed aside by the rebuilding Oakland franchise — in center field. Phillies got Pache in his defense; His 35 OPS+ ranks 317th among 317 batters with at least 250 games played last season. is legitimate.
Last summer the Phillies traded one of their top prospects, catcher Logan Ohope, to acquire Brandon Marsh from the Angels. At the time, club decision makers said they envisioned Marsh as an everyday player at the position, even though they planned a platoon in 2022. President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski said he would not have traded O’Hoppe for a platoon player.
At all times, the Phillies declared their confidence in Marsh’s improvement against left-handed pitchers. Every indication is that he will get chances against them. Marsh will likely be center field Monday at Yankee Stadium against lefty Nestor Curtis. But right-handed Patch hit the ninth on Sunday night, and the game found him.
He hit a triple with two men on base. On his first offense, he was accused of violating the pitch timer for an automatic hit. Then, on the next pitch, he jumped in to play a double. He made it through looking three pitches in the third with runners on first and second. In the sixth, again with runners on first and second, he appeared on the first pitch that saw him in foul territory for the third.
“We have to see what we have here,” Thompson said. “But we know he can play defense. We’re giving him a chance to get some racquets. We’ll see where we go.”
Once a frontrunner in the Braves organization, Batch was viewed as a crucial piece by players when they traded star starter Matt Olson prior to last season. But Oakland, a team that had every reason to be patient with Patch, deemed him undeserved. “We just felt he needed to evolve as an offensive player,” said Oakland general manager David Forest Tell the San Francisco Chronicle. “And with the staff we have now, we didn’t have time to wait it out.” Phillies, a team with much higher goals than the first team, saw it another way.
“He’s struggled offensively in his career,” said Dombrowski, “but if anyone’s in a position to come around to help him, we’re with Kevin Long because he’s such a masterful hitting coach. Even if he doesn’t shoot much, we think he helps us just because of the defense he plays.”
It is ambitious. Patch is, basically, a Rule 5 draft pick. The 24-year-old is out of minor league options. It is difficult for competing teams to use one of the 26 active roster lists in the project. Batch could be deployed as a defensive replacement, but Thompson resisted those maneuvers late in the game last season because he was concerned about the potential repercussions of losing an important lineup batter.
Patch didn’t spend much time with Long before he was thrust into the mix.
“He was looking at my swing on video and live, and said there were a few things he’d like to adjust to make me a better hitter,” Patch said through a translator on the team. “So I’m excited about that.”
It is difficult to make adjustments during the season. It’s even more difficult when the player has sporadic hits. “I think it’s a little bit more difficult,” Thompson said. “Absolutely. But, you know, with the curveball machine, the high-velocity machine, the HitTrax machine, I think we can simulate a lot of things.” One bad game—one that the Phillies would have won had Batch not cut six men on base—wouldn’t change the club’s thinking.
But, in the ninth inning, Thompson hit a pinch hit with Darrick Hall. Even with a left-hander on the mound.
Hall will have chances against leftists. He is likely to start on Monday against Curtis. On Sunday, Thompson got Alec Boehm at first base with Edmundo Sosa at third. Josh Harrison was in left field. The Phillies take various factors in determining who will play; It is not just based on hand use.
“Someone might be a curveball player, and one of our lefties hits singles better than sliders,” said Thompson. “This kind of thing.”
Thompson was asked if he viewed Stott and Marsh as regular players, or if he felt the need to continue to reduce their exposure to left-handed pitchers early in the season.
“I’m thinking against some lefties,” Thompson said, “because we’ve got (right-handed hitters) like Souza and Harrison. If we didn’t have those guys, I wouldn’t have a problem using them.”
What kinds of left does Stott and Marsh want to protect against?
“A solid left-hander,” said Thompson.
Stott positioned himself against lefties as a junior. 263/.336/.414 in 110 plate appearances. But only 15 of his first 78 starts (through May) were against lefties, and Stott said that affected his overall performance. When he saw the right, he would pull the ball and hit ground balls on the right side.
After June 1, with more regular playing time against all pitchers, Stott hit .291/.358/.453 lefties.
“I don’t mind them,” Stott said. “I mean, it makes me stay on the ball. If I pull away, you’re kind of screwed. When I’m having a little funk, I want to go left-handed. Even if I come up and I get jammed four times in a row. At least I know I’m staying on the ball and staying there.”
Perhaps, as the Phillies determine the right lineup mix, they learn to lean more toward that view.
(Top photo by Bryson Stott: Emil T. Lippe/Associated Press)
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