Phillies’ struggling rotation and banged-up bullpen not a good mix

Phillies manager Gabe Kapler often challenges his players to perform their best even when conditions are what the manager deems “suboptimal.” Maybe it’s the weather that is presenting a challenge. Perhaps it’s the difficulty found at the end of a long road trip or the task of playing five games in four days.

Baseball, Kapler said, is defined by who can handle those suboptimal conditions best. And now that challenge falls on his bullpen.

“Our bullpen is just a suboptimal condition right now,” Kapler said before Monday’s game. “We're not the only team that has struggled with injuries. Can we do it better than some other teams?”

The Phillies, if they are to make a run this summer at the postseason, will have to. They have a starting rotation that has struggled to pitch deep into games and a bullpen that does not know when its four highest-paid relievers will return. It’s not an optimal situation.

The Phillies could add reinforcements this month before the trade deadline. But their interest to be active remains uncertain after team president Andy MacPhail said last week that the team is not one player from a championship and must be “judicious” with its prospects.

If so, they could continue to roll with a rotation of Aaron Nola and four inconsistent starters. Jake Arrieta’s bone spur affects him the higher his pitch count rises, so Sunday’s five-inning performance could be considered near his ceiling. Nola is pitching strong again but the other three starters -- Zach Eflin, Vince Velasquez, and Nick Pivetta -- entered Monday with a combined four starts in the last five weeks that have lasted at least six innings. The woes of the starting rotation will only cause Kapler to lean even more on his already-beleaguered bullpen.

“I see it as a challenge, but one that comes with a lot of reward as well,” Kapler said. “It makes you work a little bit harder on trying to put guys in the best position to succeed. We're going to screw it up. We're going to think somebody is ready for a moment, and he might not be. One thing we know is we don't have a choice about whether we deploy a young developing pitcher in a situation it might be a little bit early for.”

The Phillies have six relievers -- Seranthony Dominguez, Pat Neshek, Victor Arano, Tommy Hunter, David Robertson, and Juan Nicasio -- on the injured list. Nicasio should return to the team Tuesday, but the other five are not expected back anytime soon. Robertson, on the injured list with an elbow injury, has thrown off the mound but is making slow progress. There’s no timetable for Hunter (forearm strain) and Neshek (hamstring strain) hopes to be back in September.

They will instead have to rely on pitchers like Ranger Suarez and J.D. Hammer, who were not on their radar before the season. The conditions are suboptimal and it’s the challenge the manager hopes his team can overcome.

“We have a limited number of options. We can’t pitch the same guys every single day. We’ve been through that pretty much all season long,” Kapler said. “I keep going back to the Suarez example. I don’t know how this is going to play out. But what I can say is during the All-Star break, I spent a lot of time thinking about Ranger and thinking about how to put him in a position to succeed.

"I went back and looked at all the batters he faced since he’s been a major-leaguer. Then I filtered by left-handed batters. Then I compared those numbers to Adam Morgan and Jose Alvarez -- two very effective left-handed relievers. What I found was that Ranger was effective. Does that mean he’s going to be effective for the next 35 left-handed batters he faces? I don’t know, but at least we can try and see if that is a place he can land.”

The Phillies have announced their starters for the final three games of the series, but Gabe Kapler said the team could elect to use a reliever to start one of the games. ... Vince Velasquez is scheduled to start Tuesday night against right-hander Walker Buehler.

Get insights on the Phillies delivered straight to your inbox with Extra Innings, our newsletter for Phillies fans by Matt Breen, Bob Brookover and Scott Lauber. Click here to sign up.