BRADENTON, Fla. – In word and action, Ryne Sandberg is a very calm person. It takes a lot to get him riled up and even more to get him to say something about it.
So you can bet that his insides were hotter than a hundred habaneros when he offered a measured but blunt assessment of his team’s play in Monday’s 18-4 — that is not a typo — loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“Unacceptable,” he said. “Unacceptable game. Hitting, pitching and defense.
“We pitched up in the zone. Our bats didn’t hit on a good day to hit, and we didn’t play good defense.
“Unacceptable in all phases.”
The Phillies have been picked by many to have not just the worst record in the National League, but worst in all of baseball — Sam Hinkie is jealous — this season. If a roster teeming with No. 5 starters and declining players that management would love to (but can’t) trade hasn’t sufficiently fueled the pessimism then maybe the last six Grapefruit Leagues games will:
Record: 0-5-1.
Combined score: 50-11.
Errors: Nine.
Batting average: .213 (38 for 178).
Batting average with runners in scoring position: .194 (6 for 31).
ERA: 8.11.
Walks: 20.
Oh, your head is hurting. OK, we’ll stop.
“Yeah,” said Sandberg, acknowledging the poor run of baseball. “This time of the spring, we want to have things together. We need to get the roster together and get fine-tuned for the season. There are still decisions to be made and it has resulted in not having the group together.
“But this is a game to put behind us, that’s for sure. It was bad in all phases.”
Pittsburgh hit six home runs in the game, but only one against a pitcher (Justin De Fratus) who is projected to make the team. Two of them came against 20-year-old Zach Eflin, who was up for a look-see and will start the season at Double A. Eflin, acquired in the Jimmy Rollins trade, allowed four runs over three innings, but only one was earned. The Phils made three errors, two by Cody Asche.
Veteran Kevin Slowey, a candidate to be in the bullpen or the fifth starter, was also tagged for two homers on his way to giving up six hits and six runs over two innings.
Sandberg was asked afterward if Slowey was still a candidate for the No. 5 job.
“We’ll have to talk about that,” he said.
Slowey was involved in a little dustup with Pirates outfielder Sean Rodriguez in the fourth inning. Rodriguez complained that Slowey quick-pitched him and jawed with the pitcher after striking out and again as he ran in from the outfield in the middle of the fifth. The benches emptied and tempers got pretty hot. A fan in the box seats at McKechnie Field yelled at Larry Bowa and the 69-year-old bench coach told him to sit down before he got popped. Phillies coach Juan Samuel and Pirates coach Rick Sofield nearly went at it. Both were ejected.
“Rodriguez called (Slowey) some unnecessary words coming off the field,” Samuel said. “We told him to get in the dugout. Their third base coach told me to get in my dugout and I told him to help me in my dugout and I’ll show you.”
Slowey said he was surprised by Rodriguez’ “animosity.”
“To challenge someone to a physical altercation hardly seems to be the right way to handle that,” Slowey said. “But it can be a frustrating game when you fail and how you choose to react to that frustration is your choice.”
It will be interesting to see if any of this spills over into the weekend. The Phillies and Pirates will play exhibition games at Citizens Bank Park on Friday and Saturday.
Sandberg made it clear he’d like to use his regular lineup in those games. He sounded like a man who is ready to cut down the roster and end some of the tryouts that have been going on.
“I’d like to get the guys together last couple of games in Philly, piece together the roster and hopefully go into opening day on a positive note,” he said. “It would be nice to end spring training on a good note.”
Up next
Sean O’Sullivan starts against the Blue Jays on Tuesday.