Thomson’s decision to withdraw Turnbull proved costly in the back-to-back loss to Reds and originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
CINCINNATI – First, veteran righthander Spencer Turnbull was pulled from the game after five innings despite allowing just one run in five innings while striking out eight Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park.
Then, based on every available piece of evidence, he’s removed from the rotation despite a 1.33 earned run average in five starts.
The Phillies can only hope the second decision turns out better than the first.
Turnbull was figuratively written off the baseball unemployment line when camps opened, insurance against the possibility of him needing a starter sometime this year. The Phils had to cash in on that policy sooner than expected when Taijuan Walker was placed on the injured list before opening day due to shoulder soreness. He’s healthy now, starts Sunday in San Diego and that’s how it goes. It may not seem fair, but sometimes it’s the breaks.
Rob Thomson had a tougher decision going into the bottom of the sixth inning against the Reds. Turnbull had thrown 89 pitches, but was coming off a 1-2-3 inning. The Phillies led by two.
Turnbull received a congratulatory slap on the back. Reliever Seranthony Dominguez got the ball.
Oops.
“He wanted to go out again, but then the Reds made two pitching changes,” the manager said. “It took about 25 minutes. That’s why we made the change. If he had been on a (smaller) number of pitches, I would have sent him back out. But once you get into that 90 range, it’s a bit of a long wait.
Turnbull said: ‘I was ready to go back but it’s their decision. They were just trying to take care of me. Play it safe.”
Of course, you can’t know what would have happened if Turnbull had been allowed to pitch one more inning. But we know damn sure what happened when he didn’t.
Dominguez got only two outs. He gave up four runs. His earned run average for the season rose to 9.72. The Reds went on to win 7-4. The seven-game winning streak is a quickly fading memory as the Phillies have now dropped back-to-back games to Cincinnati. The Reds have also won the season series (4-2 with the last meeting between the two teams on Thursday), meaning they would prevail in any tiebreaker scenario. Hey, you never know.
And, perhaps cruelest of all, Turnbull was robbed of a potential victory as he was presumably headed to the bullpen to become a long reliever for the foreseeable future.
Thomson, predictably, emphasized that he is not concerned about Dominguez’s general lack of effectiveness thus far. ‘He’s been quite hot and cold, you know, but I always have confidence in him. Because he has a great arm,” the manager said. “I think this is going to be an important year for him. He had trouble finding the plate in this match. All he has to do is throw strikes.”
He walked two in his two-thirds of an innings Wednesday night and threw 32 pitches, only 16 of which were for strikes.
Dominguez could not be reached for comment after the match.
The Phillies also reached two outs themselves. In both cases – Alec Bohm in the first and Trea Turner in the fifth – the runner assumed the Reds would continue throwing and ended up in short rundowns when they couldn’t.
Bohm continued his hot streak with three singles, a double, a walk and 2 RBI. In his last eight games, he hit 16-for-30 (.533).
On a busy night with a lot of moving pieces, however, the storyline that stood out is that a starting pitcher who has been wildly successful in his five starts this year is quickly told that’s not good enough to stay in the rotation. There’s a reason why his ERA ranks fourth in the major leagues among all qualifying pitchers.
“I try not to worry about it,” he said as he stood next to his locker. “I’m just going to focus on preparing for my next start. Everything else is just noise and I will deal with it however it comes.
“Of course I am aware of things, but I have no control over them. When things change, they change. Hopefully I pitched well enough to give myself a chance to stay in that conversation. I know there are other factors involved, but they haven’t told me yet. So I’m just going to prepare for my next start and see how it goes.
‘I’ll do what they tell me. Like I said, it’s not my decision. I want whatever gives the team the best chance to win, that’s what I want to do. So when they say they’re going in a different direction, I’ve enjoyed my five starts so far. I feel amazing. I feel strong. I feel healthy. I’m not worried about the collection limit or anything like that.”
Thomson said: “He was fantastic this year. We couldn’t have expected anything more. He threw the ball really well. But we have a 15-game winner (Walker) coming back who threw the ball pretty well for us last year.”
Of course, it’s also possible that the Phillies could go to a six-man rotation later in the season when they have fewer days off. Or, heaven forbid, another injury hits the rotation. Whatever happens, it’s almost certain he’ll start again at some point this season.
There are no certain things in baseball. No one knows that better than Turnbull at the moment.
WHOSE DEED
Spencer Turnbull became the latest pitcher to complain that the mound at Great American Ball is flatter and lower than prescribed. The Reds say they have measured repeatedly and it meets MLB standards. . .Nick Castellanos, who had been in a season-long slump, was moved from sixth to the clean-up in the batting order. “Just to give him a little bit of confidence. At some point it gets hot. With him you don’t know when it’s going to happen. But it will happen,” said Rob Thomson. That didn’t happen Wednesday night. Castellanos went hitless in five at bats, dropping his season average to .174. . .Bryce Harper, who has missed the last three games while on paternity leave, was in the clubhouse after last night’s game.
SHORTLY
RHP Zack Wheeler (1-3, 2.30) will face Reds RHP Nick Martinez (0-0, 4.76) in the series finale at Great American Ball Park at 1:10 p.m. Then the Phillies fly to San Diego for a weekend series against the Padres. Matchups for Petco Park: RHP Aaron Nola (3-1, 3.16) vs. RHP Joe Musgrove (3-2, 5.74) Friday at 9:40 PM, LHP Ranger Suarez (4-0, 1.36) vs. RHP Dylan Cease (3-1, 1.82) Saturday at 8:40 PM and RHP Taijuan Walker, who makes his first start of the season, vs. TBA Sunday at 4:10 PM
