The Phillies always were a faux contender. By payroll alone, they fooled some people into thinking otherwise. Only the Mets, Dodgers and Yankees spent more than Philadelphia’s $233 million.
The Phillies always were a faux contender. By payroll alone, they fooled some people into thinking otherwise. Only the Mets, Dodgers and Yankees spent more than Philadelphia’s $233 million.
But it was going to be difficult for the Phillies to push 90 wins with poor defense and a questionable bullpen. Joe Girardi paid the price for those flaws. But he also added to them.
The Phillies fired Girardi as manager Friday after a 273-game tenure that can only be classified as a failure. Girardi was 132–141 with Philadelphia while presiding over the worst bullpen in baseball (5.00 ERA) other than the Rockies (5.38 ERA).
Girardi’s relievers somehow gave up the fourth-most homers and suffered the fifth-most losses in three seasons despite throwing the fourth-fewest innings.
Unofficially, Girardi was gone May 24. That was the night in Atlanta when Girardi refused to use his closer, Corey Knebel, after a two-run homer in the top of the ninth by Bryce Harper gave the Phillies a 5–4 lead.
A win would have pulled the Phillies to within one game of .500. Girardi asked Nick Nelson to do something he had never done before: Close a one-run ball game.
Ten pitches later, the Phillies lost. And Girardi lost the clubhouse. It started a 1–7 tailspin that sealed his fate.
Why didn’t Girardi use his closer that night? He has a “rule” that no reliever should pitch three consecutive days, especially early in the season. Defending himself, Girardi brought up junk science. “Look how many guys had Tommy John surgery last year,” he said.
He told Knebel, who wanted the ball, “You threw a lot of pitches” on each of the previous two days. His pitch counts: 23 and nine.