Reading Between The Lines Of Tuesday’s Miraculous Win

Tuesday night’s win was one of the most non-Phillies, Phillies win my eyes have ever seen. That’s truly saying a lot given I said the exact same thing just three days ago about Sunday’s win.

 

The sudden turn around of the Phils and the recent wave of doing the exact opposite of what they were doing for the first two months of the season doesn’t take anything away from just how bonkers last night was. The Phils went through most of Tuesday night putting together a bunch of singles and leaving every base runner stranded, in typical Phillies fashion.

 

Come to the top of the ninth, and the Phillies had the bottom of their lineup going against the best closer in baseball down by a run. Considering Josh Hader, the aforementioned best closer in baseball, was yet to give up a run in his last 40 (FOURTY) appearances, the game was all but over.

 

…Until It Wasn’t

 

Alec Bohm stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth on the cusp of breaking out of a cold streak. During that cold streak, Bohm had recorded just one hit in 28 at-bats, and lost a valiant battle to a bat rack that saw his own weapon turn against him!

 

 

However, that clash with the bat had a silver lining. Bohm obviously had to replace the bat, given the war crimes that ole Louisville Slugger had committed, and since then he’s started to turn a corner at the plate.

 

After a three hit effort on Sunday, Bohm was hitless before digging into the box to face Hader. Lo and behold, Bohm did something he never does: hit a home run to his pull side on a pitch that was on the outside part of the plate. Oddly specific set of prerequisites to get to that result, yes, but true nonetheless.

 

 

Bohm has consistently been a contact hitter who actually sends the ball the other way about as much as he pulls it. For a 6’5″ corner infielder, this can be frustrating at times, given that he entered Tuesday night with just three tater tots to his name this season. I’m not sure if he can do it, but if Bohm can finally start to channel into an ounce more of power, the Phils lineup could get even more potent.

 

That was the biggest news of the night for approximately three minutes. Then, Matt Vierling stepped to the plate to pinch hit for Mickey Moniak against the left-handed Hader. Vierling, who made the opening day roster, has been in AAA since May 10 on account of his .170 batting average and exactly two extra-base hits.

 

After a slew of roster moves and injuries, Vierling was brought back up to the big league club for Tuesday’s game. Vierling stepped to the plate in the ninth after sitting on the bench for the first eight innings. Despite not having faced a major league pitcher in a month, and his reintroduction to big league pitching being Josh freakin’ Hader, Vierling knew exactly what to do with a hanging 1-2 slider.

 

 

Naturally, this was Vierling’s first home run of the season and just the third of his career. While Moniak is still expected to receive most of the opportunities in center field for the foreseeable future, the Phils are in desperate need of bench depth. If Vierling can, at the very least, be a productive bench bat or late inning defensive replacement, the Phils will be better for it.

 

Bohm and Vierling had the fellas absolutely buzzing while reporters were trying to talk to Thomson.

 

 

It’s Time To Give Someone Else A Shot

 

To put it bluntly, Corey Knebel cannot under any circumstances be the Phillies closer anymore. Knebel has been of no help to anyone in the Delaware Valley with heart problems. It feels like every time he gets the ball in a save situation, every butthole in the tri-state area and on the Phillies roster puckers.

 

Gross metaphor aside, the stats back up the sentiment. In three of Knebel’s last five appearances, he has surrendered a go-ahead run. While Knebel didn’t allow a run to cross the plate last night, it sure didn’t feel like he was trying not to.

 

Knebel allowed three walks and loaded the bases with two outs. Nothing changed in this appearance compared to any other appearance where he has struggled. His curveball was extremely ineffective, so he had to resort to only throwing fastballs. You can’t be a closer in the big leagues by only throwing fastballs, no matter how hard you throw.

 

Quite frankly, Knebel doesn’t even throw hard enough to get away with throwing fastball after fastball. Not only that, but his fastball is all over the place, he seemingly has no control over it. In all honesty, Knebel was lucky to escape last night having not blown another game for the Phils. Maybe, just maybe, there is a reason Knebel has pitched for three teams in three years.

 

 

Now that Rob Thomson has taken over managerial duties, he has already proven to do things differently than his predecessor Joe Girardi. If Thomson wants to truly take the reigns and really make this his team, he needs to try other guys at closer. Knebel can be relegated to the 7th or 8th inning, because he’s unfortunately still one of the best relievers on the team.

 

It’s not as if the Phillies don’t have candidates for the closer’s role on the roster. In fact, I think they could have two.

 

Replacements For Knebel

 

The first option is Seranthony Dominguez. Another member of the famous union of players Girardi seemed to have a vendetta against, Dominguez has had a superb season out of the bullpen.

 

Since returning from Tommy John surgery that cost Dominguez the entire 2020 season and all but one game of his 2021 season, he has pitched to a phenomenal 1.78 earned run average in 20-plus innings. He also has great life on a hard fastball that still touches the upper 90s, as well as a ton of good movement to his best pitch, the sinker. 

 

Dominguez hasn’t surrendered a run since May 3. In that time, he has pitched 11 straight scoreless appearances to go along with 15 strikeouts. Dominguez is a guy who was grossly underused by Girardi. He’s the Phillies best reliever, and it isn’t particularly close at the moment. 

 

 

The other option, at least in very specific situations, would be Brad Hand. The left-hander has rebounded from a truly horrendous 2021 campaign that saw him pitch for three different clubs in the final two months of the season.

 

So far in 2022, Hand has pitched to a superb 1.13 earned run average in 16 innings. The last time Hand gave up a run was just a day after the last time Dominguez did, May 4. Since then, Hand has gone 13 straight appearances without allowing a run to cross the plate.

 

The potential advantage Hand would have over Dominguez for the hopefully vacant closer’s role is that Hand has experience as a closer. Not only that, Hand was an all-star in 2019 with Cleveland as their closer, racking up 34 saves. The following season, Hand led the majors in saves with 16 in the Covid-shortened season to along with a sparkling 2.05 earned run average.

 

Even still, I give the advantage to Dominguez over Hand. Despite Hand’s experience as a closer, at this point in his career he doesn’t have the kind of swing-and-miss stuff you want from a closer. Dominguez, on the other hand, does. Dominguez throws harder than Hand ever has in his career, while also having a tad more control of his pitches and nine more strikeouts.

 

In my opinion, Dominguez should get the first shot to replace Knebel as the new closer for the Phils. In all honesty, though, I’m just hoping Thomson has enough sense to give anyone other than Knebel the opportunity. See ya at 8:10.

By Matt Szczypiorski | June 8, 2022
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