Phillies return home after being swept in five-game series for first time in 40 years | Extra Innings

Bet you can’t wait to welcome home the Phillies for their final three games of the season at Citizens Bank Park. We’re sure that Sunday’s Fan Appreciation Day is going to be special. Then again, maybe not.

At the very least, we should have a verdict on manager Gabe Kapler’s future soon. If managing partner John Middleton was on the fence about Kapler before the Phillies’ final road trip of the season, it did not help the second-year manager’s case that he oversaw a 10-day, 11-game train wreck that concluded with Thursday’s 6-3 loss to Washington at Nationals Park.

The Nationals completed a five-game sweep, marking the first time since 1979 at Pittsburgh that the Phillies were swept in a five-game series. The loss also left the Phillies at 79-80, pushing them below .500 for the first time this season. Their 3-8 road trip that started with two wins in Atlanta also locked up fourth place in the National League East for the Phillies.

Bring on the Marlins and, please, please, please bring on the end of this awful season.

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— Bob Brookover (extrainnings@inquirer.com)

The Washington Nationals decided to let Bryce Harper walk as a free agent after last season and general manager Mike Rizzo decided to use a lot of that money he saved on starting pitching, dishing out $159 million to add the duo of Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez to the already formidable duo of Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg.

“Starting pitching is king,” Rizzo declared shortly before Christmas.

Washington’s starters lead the majors in innings pitched and are second in ERA at 3.52, which is a huge reason the Nationals are returning to the postseason for the fifth time in eight years.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia ...

You know the story. The Phillies got Harper for $330 million and added the game’s best catcher in J.T. Realmuto via trade, but they fell far short in the starting-pitching department and not because of injuries. Their rotation ERA of 4.58 is 16th in baseball.

The Nationals went 14-5 in the season series with the Phillies in large part because of, you guessed it, starting pitching. In the 19 games between the teams, Washington starters had a 3.16 ERA, pitched six or more innings in 11 of the 19 games and allowed three or fewer runs in 16 of the 19.

The Phillies starters had a 4.88 ERA, pitched six or more innings seven times and allowed three runs or fewer 12 times.

Corbin had a 2.88 ERA in four starts against the Phillies, and Sanchez had a 3.95 ERA in five starts.

After being swept in a five-game series for the first time in 40 years, Kapler was asked about his team’s fourth-place finish in the NL East.

“I think a fully healthy Philadelphia Phillies is an entirely different ballclub than we have right now,” Kapler said. “I don’t think anybody can dispute that.”

Perhaps, but the Phillies will not be good enough to reach the postseason until they upgrade their starting pitching, and there is definitely no disputing that.

The road portion of the Phillies season came to a crashing halt with Thursday afternoon’s 6-3 loss to the Nationals, as they became just the fifth team in this century to be swept in a five-game series. The Phillies finished 36-45 on the road, and now Middleton must make a decision about Kapler’s future.

If you were hoping to see Aaron Nola one final time this season in Sunday’s game against Miami, it’s not going to happen. Kapler decided to shut down the Phillies ace after he made 34 starts and covered 202 1/3 innings this season. It was the second straight season Nola pitched more than 200 innings. He finished 12-7 with a 3.87 ERA, but was 0-4 with a 5.27 ERA in his final seven starts, all of which resulted in Phillies losses.

Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper did not want to go into detail Wednesday night about what some heckling fans at Nationals Park yelled at him in the eighth inning while he was playing right field. His wife, Kayla, however, shed some more light on the situation in a Thursday tweet that indicated the fans said something about the couple’s newborn son, Krew.

Friday: Vince Velasquez pitches against Miami’s Pablo Lopez, 7:05 p.m.

Saturday: Zach Eflin goes for 10th win vs. Caleb Smith, 6:05 p.m.

Sunday: Season finale and Fan Appreciation Day at Citizens Bank Park, 3:05 p.m.

Oct. 22: Game 1 of the 2019 World Series

March 26, 2020: Opening day for Phillies in Miami, 4:10 p.m.

On May 29, the Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-4, to improve to 33-22. They had the second-best record in the National League, the sixth-best record in baseball, and a 3 1/2-game lead over the second-place Atlanta Braves. They were also six games ahead of the third-place Mets and 9 1/2 ahead of the fourth-place Nationals.

Since then, the Phillies are 46-58 and have lost 21 1/2 games in the standings to Atlanta, 19 1/2 games to the Nationals and 10 games to the Mets.

Send questions by email or on Twitter @brookob.

Question: Thank you for Extra Innings. It’s not easy following the Phillies from central Ohio without paying an arm and a leg for subscription services. I follow every game online (ESPN) but I appreciate the daily insights that Extra Innings gives me. Now if I could just access those Inquirer articles without having to subscribe.

My question is why would the Phillies would throw "foolish money" at Anthony Rendon? While Rendon is an outstanding talent, wouldn't signing Rendon just block the progress of Alec Bohm? If the Phillies really believe that Bohm is ready mid-2020, or even early 2021, then we don't want Rendon locked in there for the next 6 (or 13) years. The Phillies have a history of not trusting their young players (Dom Brown and others) and preferring veterans instead. They did it right with Ryan Howard when they brought in a veteran Jim Thome to play several years before Howard was ready.

Thanks again!

— Scott J., via email

Answer: Thanks for the kind words about Extra Innings, Scott, and I can assure you that if you get a digital subscription to the Inquirer, you will not be spending stupid money.

As for your question, it’s a good one. With Bohm being close to ready for the big leagues and the Phillies in need of pitching help, it seems unlikely that they will fork over huge dollars in a long-term contract for Rendon even though he is an absolute stud.

The only way you make a move like that is if you think that Bohm cannot play third base in the big leagues. In that scenario, you could move him to first base and try to get pitching help by trading Rhys Hoskins. The problem with that right now is that Hoskins’ value is not trending up after his prolonged second-half slump.