Phillies: What Must Manager Pete Mackanin Do to Stay After 2017?
Apr 28, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin (45) in the dugout during the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Phillies manager Pete Mackanin’s contract lasts through the 2017 season, but there is a team option that the Phillies can pick up. What must he do to get that option picked up, or to earn another extension?
If you would go around asking Phillies fans about how they think manager Pete Mackanin has done during his tenure as the team’s manager, you would likely find that many people are pleased with the job he’s done so far. But does he deserve to stay after 2017?
The only questions surrounding Mackanin are whether or not he will be here when the team is ready to compete annually again and how long should he be here for.
There’s no question that the 2017 season will be telling for the Mackanin and the team’s future. Here are three things he needs to do in order to have his option picked up for the 2018 season.
Sep 17, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Tommy Joseph (19) smiles after final out against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies defeated the Marlins, 8-0. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
1. Manage the playing time of the young players efficiently
The Phillies were already one of the youngest teams in the league last season, but they will be even younger next season.
The team has a loaded farm system, and many of those players will likely break into the majors next season. J.P. Crawford, Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams, and several others will likely find themselves on the 25-man roster sometime during the 2017 campaign. It will be important for Mackanin to manage these players’ playing time the right way, and it will be interesting to see if Mackanin keeps his young players fresh and playing hard.
Mackanin will also have a new full-time starting first baseman in 2017. With the departure of Ryan Howard, Mackanin won’t have to worry about platooning Howard and Tommy Joseph next season. It’s clear Joseph has earned the right to be the team’s starting first baseman on Opening Day. Despite Joseph being the everyday first baseman, it will still be important for Mackanin to keep Joseph fresh and to make sure he plays him correctly if and when he enters a slump.
Aug 13, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin (45) takes the ball from starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff (48) during the sixth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
2. Manage the Bullpen Effectively
The Phillies bullpen got off to a rough start in 2016, especially during the opening series in Cincinnati, but the unit was arguably one of the more consistent over the course of the season.
Mackanin’s late-inning combination of Edubray Ramos, Hector Neris, and Jeanmar Gomez served him well. He knew who was going to pitch in each inning night in and night out, as long as they were available to pitch.
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However, the bullpen, particularly Gomez, struggled in the last month of the season and it’s unclear whether or not he will be the team’s closer come Opening Day. The team recently signed Joaquin Benoit to a one-year contract, so it will be interesting to see how Mackanin pieces together the back end of his bullpen.
Unless the Phillies make a trade like they did last offseason with Ken Giles – and the only player that could garner a decent return is Neris – then Mackanin will likely have Ramos, Neris, Gomez, and Benoit to use at the end of games. Left-hander Joely Rodriguez looks like Mackanin’s first left-handed option out of the ‘pen.
No matter which pitcher is in which role, Mackanin will likely have a more experienced bullpen and more pieces to work with, so the success of the bullpen will help determine his success as a manager.
Jul 27, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zach Eflin (56) is taken out of the game by Phillies manager Pete Mackanin (45) during the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. The Marlins won 11-1. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
3. Control the Innings of the Young Starters
Barring new injuries or setbacks with current ones, the Phillies starting rotation will look very similar to how it did last season. The likely starting rotation as of right now would be: Jeremy Hellickson, Jerad Eickhoff, Aaron Nola, Vince Velasquez, and one of Jake Thompson or Zach Eflin.
The Phillies still have a lot of youth in the rotation, and in order to preserve their arms, Mackanin will have a similar challenge like last season in limiting the innings of his starters. All of their starters excluding Hellickson and Eickhoff will likely have innings limits for next season.
Nola and Velasquez will be the most heavily watched because the two both dealt with arm injuries last season, especially Nola because his season was cut short by an ulnar collateral ligament sprain.
Does Mackanin go with a six-man rotation by including both Thompson and Eflin in order to preserve arms? That is something to watch during Spring Training and as the season approaches.
Even if a player like Nola isn’t ready to go at the start of the season, Mackanin may include a player like Alec Asher or Ben Lively to a six-man rotation if he wants to start limiting innings early on in the season. How Mackanin pieces together his rotation of young pitchers will be interesting to watch for Phillies management.