Phillies’ Griff McGarry finds success in second outing by slowing things down

CLEARWATER, Fla. — When Phillies right-hander Griff McGarry took the mound in the fifth inning on Tuesday afternoon against Tampa Bay, his housemates, Mick Abel and Andrew Painter, stepped up to the dugout railing to get a closer look.

The pitching prospect’s first outing of the spring, against Boston last Thursday, had not gone well. McGarry allowed five earned runs and three walks in one-third of an inning. The pitching coaches noticed he was rushing and letting the pace of the game get a little bit quick, which impacted his delivery.

“I think it was just being on a bigger stage,” McGarry, 23, said. “I needed to be a little bit more within myself.”

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So that’s what he focused on in his last bullpen session. He tried to slow his cadence out of his windup, taking his time with that first initial step to gather himself before throwing a pitch. He treated the session like a game, which helped him feel more calm Tuesday in his lone inning. McGarry was sitting at 95-96 mph with his pitches. He allowed a walk and a double but struck out two batters and was able to get out of the inning unscathed. He threw 23 pitches, 15 of them strikes.

“Even my misses, even with that walk today, I was still in or around the zone,” McGarry said. “I think that one slider got away from me, but everything else I was really happy with.”

“He was really good,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He threw strikes. Early in his inning, he was having trouble with his slider, finding the strike zone, but he got it in the end. But his fastball was explosive. He was really good.”

There was no update Tuesday on the status of Painter on Tuesday. Painter was at the Phillies’ complex watching batting practice on the backfields earlier in the day, and sitting in the dugout during the game against the Rays. The 19-year-old has not thrown since last Wednesday. He said his pitching elbow felt “tender” after his first and only Grapefruit League start.

“We’re still trying to get all the information together,” Thomson said of Painter. “He’s such an important guy in our organization. Young, top prospect, we just want to make sure the information is right. And we’ll give it to you at that point.”

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Painter’s agent Scott Boras, provided the following statement on Tuesday:

“I have extensive studies on young pitchers with extreme velocity at young ages. Andrew is aware and understands his development requires great attention and patience so his rare skill extends throughout a long MLB career.”

Thomson said there is no update on reliever Gregory Soto and his visa status in the Dominican Republic, but he will officially not be participating in the World Baseball Classic. ... Cristopher Sánchez made his first game appearance of the spring on Tuesday after dealing with back issues earlier in camp. He allowed one hit and had a strikeout in one inning.