Game Day: Thursday, July 2nd

I had written and posted a piece on the AL divisions and the standings as they sit entering July.  I wasn't all that happy with the article and shelved it.  

It's Game Day:  Take Two.

Last night it was Paul Skenes and Zach Wheeler in a showdown between two of the NL's best starting pitchers. 

The Phillies jumped on Skenes early and with an 8-2 lead, Wheeler takes the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Brandon Lowe at the plate.  Bryan Reynolds on deck.  

Wheeler gets Lowe to ground out.  Bryan Reynolds strikes out.  Two outs in the inning.  Wheeler is an out away from becoming the pitcher of record.  

He gives up three singles in a row, it is an 8-3 game with runners on first and second base and the bottom of the Pirates' lineup (7,8,9) set to bat. 

Wheeler was up to 104 pitches.  He was struggling to get the last out in the fifth but there are two outs, he has a five-run lead and Jake Mangum is at the plate.  

Mangum is a good hitter but he doesn't hit too many home runs.  There isn't much concern that Wheeler is going to give up a home run ball to Mangum.  Wheeler could have given up a double to Mangum and it's an 8-5 ball game.  He would have accepted the yank after five earned.

Don Mattingly decides to pull his veteran ace with two outs and nullifies Wheeler's opportunity to post a win in this game.  Phillies win 8-6 in nine innings.  

Mattingly says after the game, "My job is to make sure this guy stays available through the course of the season and we’ve got a long way to go. If he’s mad about it or doesn’t like it, I understand. But I still have to do what I have to do.”

Wheeler stated in the postgame interview, "I feel like I have earned that..." referring to the opportunity to finish the inning despite the high pitch count.  

Mattingly, instead of having a pair, reiterated his job description.  He established himself as a boot licker and a yes man.  

Last night, Mattingly put on a power-play within the dugout and locker room of his own team.  He used his authority like a babysitter instead of a Manager.  A manager is supposed to support his players and his team.  He didn't do that last night.  What he did do was spurn the captain of this Phillies' team.

The statement that he made wasn't, "I support this team and am looking out for my players", it was more along the lines of "I am the boss".  

To then offer your job description in the post-game conference makes him out to be a man who is passing the buck.  It establishes Mattingly as a gutless middleman.  

It is hard to overcome a loss like that for a pitcher.  Sure, Phillies win the game but it feels like a loss to Wheeler.  He didn't get to celebrate with the team last night.  Not only did you take a win from him you alienated him from the team in some regard.    

Why would Don Mattingly put that kind of anguish and pain on his pitcher?  

Wheeler should have been in there to face the bottom of the Pirates' order.  If it got back to the top, then you can pull him without any issue.  It's the bottom of the order with two outs and a five-run lead.  Wheeler can throw twenty more pitches in that spot.  

I'd fire Don Mattingly at the end of the series for this one.  I wouldn't wait until the end of the season. Taking a win out of the pocket of a guy who has been on the team for 12 seasons. A guy who is clearly in contention for the Cy Young this season.  The guy you depend on every five days to go out there and give you seven innings.  That win was important to him.  Mattingly went home and ate it like the fat ham he has always been.

Dave Dombrowski gets no pass either.  Dombrowski has used his good looks and charm to feign his competance for a decade now.  Mattingly was a chic choice.  Dombrowski likes chic more than he likes substance.  

Mattingly shouldn't have been hired.  He was the wrong choice for this Phillies' team and it's unlikely that he will ever get the team back in his corner after last night.

Wheeler is a man who is on record stating that he plans to retire when his contract expires at the end of the 2027 season.  Mattingly knew this about the man.  He doesn't have all that many games left.   

Mattingly wanted the spotlight last night.  He got it.  It's his for the rest of the season.  

I'm not a Phillies' fan but I feel for that team having to share a dug out with Mattingly for the remainder of the season.  He is a poisonous snake.  

That's it for Game Day today.  I have a pick posted.  I took the Rays tonight (-125) at Kansas City.  

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