PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies’ final roster decision on Tuesday came down to matchups and series length … and to two guys who will remember Aug. 9, 2023, for the rest of their lives.
Michael Lorenzen was left off the roster for the NL Wild Card series with Miami, manager Rob Thomson opting to name 12 pitchers and 14 position players. The extra batter’s spot went to Weston Wilson.
Wilson, then 28, made his major league debut Aug. 9, homering in his first big league at-bat against Washington. Lorenzen threw 124 pitches that night for the 14th no-hitter in club history, in his first appearance as a Phillie at Citizens Bank Park.
Since, Lorenzen struggled in the rotation, then was shunted to the bullpen to reduce his workload. His last three outings have been scoreless, including a save against the Mets Sept. 24. But he had a 9.23 ERA in the six appearances immediately after the no-no.
With the Phillies already carrying five starters, a sixth stretched out arm was of less value than an extra bat off the bench, particularly a right-hander.
“Just because it’s a short series, we felt we were better off with another right-handed bat coming off the bench than we were with the extra arm,” Thomson said. “Michael is working on a couple of things right now, so that gives him some time to continue that. Doesn’t mean he won’t be on the next roster if we get there, but we thought it was just that we were suited better with the extra bat than with the extra arm.”
Wilson turned 29 last month. He’s gone 5-for-16 over three stints in the bigs, the latest on the weekend against the Mets. Wilson hit .259 with 31 homers, 86 RBIs and 32 steals at Lehigh Valley in his eighth pro season, the first seven of which were in the Rays’ organization and the last two mired at Triple-A. He hit .325 against lefties with the IronPigs and is 1-for-4 with the homer against lefties in the bigs.
“He’s a really good player, man,” Bryce Harper said. “Being able to kind of have him come up here and do what he did and send him back down, and him being a 30-30 guy in the minor leagues, that’s really tough to do. He did that all year and did a really good job. I think he was probably in discussion to start tonight, if I had to guess. He’s a great player, great person, really smart on the bases. I think he’s going to bring some fire to that dugout.”
Wilson has played first base, third and both corner outfield spots with the Phillies.
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Wilson’s place on the roster owes in part to seven (!) lefties on the Marlins staff, including Game 1 starter Jesus Luzardo and Game 2 starter Braxton Garrett.
That handedness split informs the attention-grabbing pre-game lineup choice, Brandon Marsh out and Cristian Pache starting in right field. Pache was to bat eighth, with center fielder Johan Rojas ninth.
Injuries have limited Pache to 48 games and 95 plate appearances, in which he hit .238 with two homers and 11 RBIs. But he’s a plus defender, he hit .314 against lefties this year and .248 career against lefties. He has hits in three of his last five starts, though he batted .114 and slugged .171 in 16 games since returning Sept. 3. Pache has 25 career postseason plate appearances, with Atlanta in 2020-21, though a .182 average.
Most important for Thomson’s calculations, Pache was 2-for-4 against Luzardo and 1-for-2 against Garrett. Marsh is 0-for-6 against them.
“Over the course of the time he’s been here, he’s hit left-handed pitching pretty well,” Thomson said. “He’s had good at-bats. … And we’re getting the defense. This is a team that we’re playing that, you can’t give them anything. The more defense we have out there, the better.”
Marsh hit .229 with three homers and 16 RBIs this year against lefties, including a homer against the Mets’ Anthony Kay Sunday. Despite his massive three-run home run in Game 4 of the NLDS last year, Marsh batted .179 with 17 strikeouts in 45 plate appearances last postseason.
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The left-right balance will be a focus all series, though it doesn’t break cleanly.
Right-handed swingers J.T. Realmuto (1-for-13), Alec Bohm (1-for-11) and Trea Turner (0-for-8) have struggled mightily against Luzardo, while Bryson Stott is 4-for-6. Against Garrett, Bohm is 5-for-9 and Turner is 2-for-6 with a pair of homers.
“It’s definitely going to be on our right-handed bats to get the job done,” Realmuto said Monday. “The good thing about our lineup is our left-handed hitters hit lefties pretty well, so they’re still going to contribute. It’s not like we’re going to get zeroes from Harper and (Kyle) Schwarber and Stott and those guys. They still put together good at-bats on those lefties. But it’s going to give us as right-handed hitters maybe better opportunities with maybe some more favorable matchups.”
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NOTES >> Game 2 starter Aaron Nola didn’t play playoff baseball until his eighth big league season. Realmuto waited until year nine. Orion Kerkering is there in three … weeks. “He told me J.T. got on him a little bit after we clinched the other night,” Nola said. “He said he had to wait eight years, and Orion had to wait like three days. It’s really cool for him, a guy that was in college last year and just kind of rolled through our minor-league system, and he’s up now. It’s pretty special.” … Marlins second baseman and NL batting champ Luis Arraez declared himself ready to go Tuesday, batting leadoff. “If I’m here with one leg, I’ll go play with one leg,” he said. “I need to be there to help my team win.” Arraez hit .354, including .347 in 49 plate appearances against the Phillies.
Source: Berkshire mont
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