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Did Aaron Altherr just help his chances of remaining with the Phillies? | Extra Innings

Find out why in today's edition of Extra Innings, our Phillies newsletter.

Aaron Altherr pitched in a game for the first time since high school ... and didn't do too bad.
Aaron Altherr pitched in a game for the first time since high school ... and didn't do too bad.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

It got ugly late Tuesday night when the Phillies blew a 6-1 lead and surrendered nine unanswered runs in a 10-6, 10-inning loss to the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. And then it got even uglier early Wednesday night when the Nats jumped on starter Nick Pivetta for three runs on four hits in the first inning, then knocked him out while scoring four more times in the fourth. Unlike the Nationals the night before, the Phillies could not muster a rally against former teammate Jeremy Hellickson. In fact, they couldn’t even score a run until the bottom of the ninth and were left to deal with a 15-1 defeat.

The Phillies (7-4) lost back-to-back games for the first time this season and also lost their first series. They have off Thursday night before starting a three-game series against the last-place Marlins (3-9) in Miami Friday night.

You’re signed up to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday during the Phillies season. If you like what you’re reading, tell your friends it’s free to sign up here. I want to know what you think, what we should add, and what you want to read, so send me feedback by email or on Twitter @brookob. Thank you for reading.

— Bob Brookover (extrainnings@philly.com)

Phillies have a difficult roster decision looming

Outfielder Roman Quinn, healthy again after suffering an oblique injury in late February, continued his rehab assignment Wednesday night by going 2 for 3 with a walk, a stolen base, a run scored and an RBI in his first game with triple-A Lehigh Valley. Those are the kinds of things he does that make you want him on your big-league roster.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, outfielder Aaron Altherr contributed in a far more unconventional way. In an era when position players are often asked to literally pitch in during games that have gotten out of hand, Altherr came on in the top of the ninth and provided one of the better performances of the night from the home team. Admittedly, the bar was low after Nick Pivetta had allowed seven runs on seven hits without getting through the fourth inning and a trio of Phillies actual bullpen guys followed by surrendering seven more runs on eight hits.

Still, Altherr’s performance was impressive, especially when you take into consideration that he had not pitched since high school. He allowed a run on two hits, but also struck out Brian Dozier and Yan Gomes. Both his fastball and his slider were clocked at just below 90 miles per hour.

Manager Gabe Kapler admitted to being surprised by Altherr and the outfielder’s teammates were definitely entertained by the performance during a night in which there was not much to laugh about. The Phillies used four different position players to pitch last season, but Altherr was not one of them.

“We didn’t know that he might be the best guy we have,” Kapler said. “I thought that was a good light moment and probably pretty necessary given our performance.”

The big question is whether Altherr’s ability to pitch could help him remain on the roster when Quinn comes off the injured list. The team can extend Quinn’s rehab assignment until April 24 and seems inclined to do so because Kapler’s three-man outfield of Andrew McCutchen, Odubel Herrera and Bryce Harper is going to play almost every day. That means bench players are mostly limited to pinch-hitting opportunities anyway, so Quinn benefits more by playing every day with the IronPigs for the next two weeks.

Still, a decision looms because both Altherr and Quinn are out of options, which means they would be exposed to waiver claims before they can be sent to the minors. Altherr is 1-for-9 at the plate this season and it’s doubtful his surprising pitching performance will have much impact on the Phillies’ looming roster decision.

At a time when teams are keeping more pitchers and fewer bench players, it should be some food for thought that a team tries to develop a player that is a decent hitter who can also fill the role of a long reliever on nights when the starter stumbles or the game goes long.

Aaron Brown, a lefty the Phillies selected in the third round of the 2014 draft, has moved from being an outfielder to a pitcher with some promise at double-A Reading. He had a career .252 batting average and .696 OPS as a minor-league hitter. Some day, maybe, we’ll see a hybrid.

The rundown

Columnist Bob Ford weighed in on Gabe Kapler’s bullpen issues and determined that one of the reasons the Phillies manager does not have a set closer is because he does not have an obvious closer.

So the big question after Nick Pivetta’s ERA soared to 9.45 following the Phillies’ lopsided loss to the Nationals was how much patience can Gabe Kapler employ with his struggling closer? The manager admitted he did not have a good answer for that question.

The Tuesday night meltdown of the Phillies’ bullpen have the masses jonseing for relief help again and unsigned closer Craig Kimbrel is the desired addition. Phillies general manager Matt Klentak would not mention Kimbrel by name, but he told our Matt Breen and other reporters Wednesday that he feels “really good about the construction of our bullpen.”

Is it time to start worrying about Phillies ace Aaron Nola? Matt Breen, Scott Lauber and I discuss that and much more in our latest edition of the Extra Innings podcast.

The ubiquitous Marc Narducci was at double-A Reading this week and tells the story about how three former first-round picks -- Cornelius Randolph, Mickey Moniak and Adam Haseley -- are roaming around in the same outfield for the Fightin Phils. Moniak is the hottest of the three right now, hitting .292 with three doubles, two homers and eight RBIs in the team’s first six games.

If you want to relive the Phillies’ ugly night in photographs, our Charles Fox took some great ones.

Important dates

Today: Fourth off day of the season and last until April 29.

Friday: J.T. Realmuto returns to Marlins Park, 7:10 p.m.

Saturday: Zach Eflin vs. Miami’s Caleb Smith, 6:10 p.m.

Sunday: Vince Velasquez vs. Jose Urena, 1:10 p.m.

Monday: Aaron Nola scheduled for home start vs. Mets’ Noah Syndergaard.

Stat of the day

The average age of the 12 position players the Phillies have used through the first 11 games of the season is younger than the 12 position players used by their triple-A affiliate at Lehigh Valley. The Phillies’ 12 position players have an average age of 27.3 and only one player (Andrew McCutchen) who is 30 years or older. McCutchen is 32. The average age of Lehigh Valley’s 12 position players is 28 and the IronPigs have four players (Sean Rodriguez, Phil Gosselin, Andrew Romine and Shane Robinson) over the age of 30.

From the mailbag

Send questions by email or on Twitter @brookob.

Question: Everyone seems to agree that J. T. Realmuto calls an excellent game, including Gabe Kapler. Yet Ramos shook off his catcher multiple times before throwing a home-run ball. Shouldn’t pitchers have to earn the right to disregard a veteran catcher? — Joe D., via email

Answer: Thanks for the question Joe. It’s a good one. In fact, Ramos’ outing Tuesday night was a topic of discussion with manager Gabe Kapler before Wednesday’s game. The fourth-year reliever appeared to shake off a fastball sign from Realmuto before throwing a slider that Victor Robles hit out of the park to tie the game at 6-6 with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. Kapler said he thought the slider was right pitch to throw in that situation, but the manager was not thrilled with Ramos’ location on the pitch. Kapler said Realmuto tapped his glove in the dirt in an effort to tell Ramos that’s where he wanted him to throw the 2-2 pitch to Robles. Instead, he left the pitch up and Robles lifted it out of the ballpark. To your question, I would say, yes, young pitchers especially should be following Realmuto’s game plan because the Phillies’ catcher is diligent about studying opposing hitters.

Question: Thanks to all of you for your good reporting and analysis, from spring training through (ugh) last night; you have been consistent and on point, especially with bullpen issues. And, with a nod to the Nationals (my 2nd favorite team) the Washington Post reporting has been similarly accurate. What a year this will be.

My question: what is it with MLB teams and pitching? The last several years this has been a strong, ongoing, issue. Are the pitchers more physically fragile than before? Are they just not trained enough? Are there not enough pitchers, even? I'm curious to read your take.

Thanks for all you do and keep it up; my second email read each morning. — Cliff E., via email

Answer: Thanks for the kind words Cliff, although I’m a little disappointed we are the second morning read. (Just kidding). As for your question, pitchers are not conditioned to throw the way they did in the past because the belief is that it’s better to bring in a fresh reliever that can throw in the mid- to high-90s in the later innings rather than sticking with a tired starter. That’s why only 12 pitchers logged 200 innings or more last season as compared to 56 pitchers 20 years ago. Conditioning for relievers has also changed in this century with almost all of them being trained to throw just one inning. Multiple-inning relievers such as Milwaukee’s Josh Hader and Oakland’s Yusmeiro Petit are increasing in value around baseball, but the Phillies do not appear to have anyone of that ilk at the moment.