CLEARWATER, Fla. — On their last day in Florida, the Phillies spent a good chunk of time Wednesday morning working on pickoff plays.
It was a scene typical of the entire spring.
One day, it was bunt defenses. Another it was squeeze bunts. Another it was cutoffs and popup coverage. Another it was base running, specifically taking the extra bag. There was lots of that.
Every team in Florida and Arizona does this stuff before games.
The Phillies went crazy on it.
Fittingly, a successful suicide squeeze by Cesar Hernandez helped the Phils rally from three runs down in the eighth inning to beat the Houston Astros, 8-4, in their last game in Florida on Wednesday. The Phils scored all of their eight runs in the inning. Hernandez’ squeeze (the Phillies' fourth of the spring) tied the game and Andres Blanco iced it with a grand slam, the Phils’ second of the spring.
Though the Phils hit 35 home runs in Florida, tying them for fourth in the NL through Wednesday, they are not expected to be a power-hitting team once the games start counting on Monday.
That’s why fundamentals — on both sides of the ball — were emphasized in camp.
“It was a very productive camp,” Mackanin said before heading to the airport for the flight back to Philadelphia. “We hit the ball better than I expected. We played pretty solid defense. Our base running was very good. I think the thought of bearing down on defense and pitching and base running really paid off for us up until this point. The thing now is to carry it through the season. Since we don’t have the Toronto Blue Jays' lineup, we have to manufacture runs and do things right, make the plays, execute fundamentals. It’s a cliché, but it’s very true for us.
"We’re going to use all kinds of methods that we can to try to score runs. We’ve squeezed, we’ve hit and run, used delayed steals. Everything we’ve tried we’ve executed very well, so we’re going to try to take that into the season and continue working on it throughout the season.”
The Phillies had the worst record in the majors last season at 63-99.
Though this rebuild still has a long way to go before it produces a contender, Mackanin believes the club will improve its record in 2016.
“I think with our rotation and the bullpen we’re going to have — excluding the closer right now — I think we’re going to be in a lot more games than we were last year,” he said. “I think that’s going to lead to more wins.”
Mackanin mentioned the closer spot. No one stepped up and grabbed the role in camp, but someone will trot out of the bullpen in the team’s first save situation. If that guy converts the save, he will get another shot. If he doesn’t, someone else will.
David Hernandez and Dalier Hinojosa are the top candidates for the role, but Mackanin could mix and match his lefties until he designates a closer. He is expected to have three lefties in the bullpen, James Russell, Brett Oberholtzer and Daniel Stumpf.
“I said two or three weeks ago that I didn't want to go closer by committee, but it may very well amount to that,” Mackanin said. “I have to use the bullpen the best way I think to win a game. So if there's two lefties coming up in the ninth inning, I very well might use a left-hander because I don't have a bona fide closer. I think somebody will jump into that role. Somebody will become our closer. But right now, there is nobody who is our closer.”
The Phillies leave Florida with a few roster questions hanging in the air. Hector Neris, Andrew Bailey and Ernesto Frieri are battling for the final spot in the bullpen. Bailey and Frieri are on minor-league contracts and could be sent to Triple A if the Phils want to go with Neris, who pitched in 32 games for the big club last season.
There are two position spots open and three players competing for them, Cedric Hunter, Emmanuel Burris and Will Venable. Burriss’ versatility — he plays infield and outfield — is attractive. Hunter and Venable both hit left-handed. The Phillies want a lefty bat in the outfield to platoon with Rule 5 rookie Tyler Goeddel. Mackanin mentioned Hunter as one of his spring standouts, but the front office pursued and signed Venable in the final days of camp.
Rosters must be set by Sunday afternoon, but the Phillies are traveling to Cincinnati, site of Monday's season opener, on Saturday night so final decisions will likely be made that day.