When the bottom of the ninth inning rolled around in Sunday’s 6-4 loss to the Washington Nationals, things weren’t looking terribly great for your Phils.
Matt Strahm’s wildness allowed the Nats to take a 5-4 lead in the eighth inning followed by a Jeff Hoffman dinger allowed to Washington rookie James Wood (no, not the guy from Diggstown) turned a 4-4 tie into a two-run deficit. The bottom of the order – Edmundo Sosa, Cal Stevenson and Garrett Stubbs – were due up, not exactly a murderer’s row for Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan to wade through.
However, manager Rob Thomson had a couple aces up his sleeve. Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto, two of his most important veteran bats, did not start the game and were seemingly available off the bench if the situation warranted. Certainly, Sosa was going to be allowed to hit, and hit he did, smacking a groundball single into center field to start the ninth.
Thanks to Sosa’s knock, the Phillies had the tying run at the plate. Cal Stevenson was due up, but surely Thomson was not going to let a player with 94 plate appearances and just 11 since being called up by the Phillies a week ago hit when he had the two-time MVP of the National League, one of the biggest superstars in the sport, and a guy with more clutch moments under his arms than any two players in the majors today, ready to potentially tie the game with one swing of the bat, right?
To everyone’s amazement, Harper’s head did not pop out of the dugout. Instead, Stevenson, with two hits in 10 at-bats this season with the Phils, was allowed to swing the bat.
You know what happened next. Stevenson bounced a chopper to Finnegan, who snagged it out of the air, threw to second followed by a CJ Abrams throw to first for a rally-killing double play. Stubbs, who did not represent the tying run, was understandably allowed to hit and grounded out to second to end the game.
Despite the defeat, it was still a very good series for a Phillies team that appears to be back on track. They won three out of four against the Nationals, blowing them out on Thursday in the Weston Wilson cycle game, winning on Friday thanks to a Trea Turner walk-off single, and behind a Cristopher Sanchez complete game on Saturday. I do not want to harp on the one loss the team suffered this weekend, and there is no guarantee Harper would hit a dinger in that spot anyway.
That said, Thomson’s decision not to pinch-hit Harper in the ninth was mystifying, and his explanation after the game was frustrating.
Thomson wanted to give Harper and J.T. a full day of rest. With an off-day on Monday, that would give them two entire days of having nothing to do with baseball. Thomson also noted that the Phils are about to embark on a six-game road trip against two very good teams – Atlanta and Kansas City – with a three-game series against the surging Astros and four more against the Braves at home following that.
“That’s what I’m thinking about is that this is going to be a tough stretch, no doubt, and we’ve got to be able to handle it,” Thomson said. “We want healthy bodies and rested bodies so we give ourselves every chance to play well.”
Look, I get it. Giving guys rest during a grueling, 162-game marathon is vital. I’m all for it, especially for a catcher like Realmuto, who takes a beating behind the plate every night. But it’s ridiculous to think that allowing Harper to pick up a bat and pinch-hit for Stevenson in the bottom of the ninth would be all that taxing.
Harper wouldn’t even have had to take the field in extra innings if he had managed to help tie the game. Johan Rojas or Weston Wilson could have taken over for Stevenson in center, with Bohm staying at first base. Protecting your players is one thing, and there’s no guarantee Harper gets the big hit, but not using him in that situation is simply not justifiable.
Yes, the Phillies’ lead in the NL East is a sizable seven games over the Braves and nine games over the Mets. They would have to utterly collapse in the next week and a half against Atlanta to allow them back into the race. But the Phillies are playing for a first-round bye past the wild card round and, to get it, they need to finish the season with a better record than the Dodgers and Brewers.
After Sunday’s loss, they lead L.A. by just a half-game and Milwaukee by one.
This isn’t May. It’s August. These wins all matter, and not giving yourself a better chance to win the game for the ridiculously low cost of letting Harper pick up a bat and pinch-hit is malpractice.
I love Rob Thomson. I’ve defended him more than most fans have. But when fans complain he doesn’t have a sense of urgency in the regular season, these are the kinds of situations they point to. It’s wise to pre-plan time off for players, but players also have to know that plans can change and that situations are fluid.
Baseball players for decades have pinch-hit late in games on their days off. It’s part of the deal. They know there’s always that chance. Not allowing Harper to hit in the ninth is overprotective of his players, and unnecessarily so.
In the end, it’s a small moment that shouldn’t take away from a wonderful weekend of baseball in Philadelphia. But it’s also a small annoyance that didn’t need to happen, and there’s just no good reason for it.
