While most Phillies fans were asleep, Ricky Bottalico blasted two pitchers after terrible loss
“The one thing that’s missing here is some guts,” Bottalico said as he called out two Phillies pitchers by name.
Most Phillies fans were probably fast asleep by the time Ricky Bottalico blasted the team’s bullpen after a wild 13-7 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.
Bottalico, the former relief pitcher known for his fiery rants during Phillies Postgame Live on NBC Sports Philadelphia, didn’t hold back in the early morning hours on Tuesday, ripping two pitchers in particular — Cristopher Sanchez and Andrew Bellatti — who combined for five walks and a hit batter in a little over two innings of work.
“The one thing that’s missing here is some guts,” Bottalico said. “Have some guts, throw some fastballs. I saw more 3-2 breaking pitches with the bases loaded? What are you, afraid? Use your fastball, hit a spot!”
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“Hit a spot with your fastball, it’s the best pitch in the world!” Bottalico continued. “And you’re throwing sliders that are starting off the plate and going a foot further off? I have issues with this. And when I saw Bellatti do this — he did it, I think, on three separate occasions — you’ve got to be able to challenge somebody … suck it up and throw some strikes.”
On the Bottalico scale, Tuesday morning’s rant was about a five out of 10, but the former relief pitcher and new 97.5 The Fanatic talker was clearly frustrated by the bullpen’s performance. He also took to Twitter during the game to vent after a 7-0 lead turned into a 13-7 loss.
As Phillies beat writer Alex Coffey wrote, the Phillies threw 91 pitches combined in the fourth and fifth innings and allowed 12 runs against a team with a collective .229 batting average, the fourth-lowest in the league.
The Phillies are just 1.5 games ahead of the San Diego Padres and 2.5 games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card race after both teams won last night. The Phillies have 33 games remaining this season and currently have an 84% chance to make the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight. But as Michael Barkann pointed out Tuesday morning, that’s not 100%.
“They’re not in the playoffs yet,” Barkann said.
The Phillies will take on the Diamondbacks again tonight at 9:40 p.m., with Aaron Nola taking the mound against Zac Gallen. While Nola has been pitching well lately, he’ll have to overcome a six-game losing streak against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix that dates to 2019.