PHILADELPHIA − There are so many permutations on what the Phillies can do leading up to the Aug. 1 trade deadline.
But whether they do nothing, or go after a big bat, or a starting pitcher, depends on two players doing something they have never done before at the major-league level.
For Bryce Harper, that’s playing first base. For 20-year-old phenom Andrew Painter, that’s pitching.
CAMP COUNTDOWN:Eagles 9 most important players: At No. 5, do they have a backup plan if this DB shows age?
COSTLY CLIMB?Hike! Cost to climb from FCS to FBS for Delaware, football peers may become much higher
Everything rests on finding out in the next 12 days. Clearly, that’s not a lot of time, but it should be enough to know one way or the other if the Phillies have to address two major issues that could derail their postseason hopes.
Then again, the Phillies could easily stand pat if they get the answers they have been looking for.
That’s because the Phillies (52-42) are 27-10 since June 3 after beating the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 on Tuesday night. That’s the second best record in all of baseball over that span, surpassed only by the otherworldly Atlanta Braves.
This time, Kyle Schwarber led off the first inning with a home run, his 26th of the season. And the Phillies benefitted from Aaron Nola’s top form. He had a perfect game going through 4 2/3 innings, helped in large part by Schwarber’s leaping catch at the wall in left to take away at least an extra base hit, if not a home run, from Owen Miller.
Beyond ‘shocked’ at Schwarber’s catch
Schwarber couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he threw the ball back in while his teammates roared from the dugout steps along with the crowd.
“Everyone’s a little shocked, I guess, that I can play left field,” Schwarber said with a laugh.
And that brings us back to Harper and Painter.
Last week, Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Harper would make his debut at first base during this series against the Brewers. But it didn’t happen Tuesday, and it might not happen until the Phillies play this weekend in Cleveland. If not then, it might not be until next week.
The Phillies’ plan is by playing Harper at first base, they can make Schwarber, rated as one of the worst outfielder in the major leagues, the designated hitter.
Harper has been the everyday DH since returning from offseason elbow surgery on May 2. The Phillies have pretty much ruled Harper out from playing the outfield this season. Thus the work at first base.
But it hasn’t happened yet, and Thomson blamed the All-Star break and the weather for this most recent delay. Since July 9, Harper has only worked out at first base last Friday and on Tuesday.
The Phillies played a day-night doubleheader last Saturday, so there wasn’t a chance for work on the field. There was a three-hour rain delay before Sunday’s game, again preventing Harper from working out. That was followed by a day off Monday.
“There are no boxes to check anymore,” Thomson said. “We just need to get him moving, get him out there and keep getting him ground balls and things like that. We just haven’t been able to get him out (on the field) these last few days.”
The Phillies won’t know if Harper can play first base adequately until he actually plays first base. And that will have to come at the major-league level, in the heat of a playoff run.
“It’s really gotta be game speed,” Thomson said. “And we can’t simulate that here. And we can’t send him out on a rehab assignment, so we’re just going to have to do it on the fly.”
Thomson did say that even three or four games at first base before the trade deadline will be enough to determine whether the Phillies can go forward with Harper there.
If that’s the case, the Phillies could either stand pat, knowing their offense should improve with Harper and Trea Turner finding their hitting stroke. Harper only has 4 home runs in 226 at-bats this season. Turner, meanwhile, is turning around a slow start with 10 home runs and 21 stolen bases.
Schwarber, meanwhile, is still hitting just .189. But he has thrived in the leadoff spot ever since the beginning of June, which coincides with the Phillies’ run. He has 13 homers and 30 RBIs in his last 36 games, and he has homered in four straight games.
“It’s June and July. He goes on these streaks, and it’s pretty incredible,” Thomson said.
What’s the latest on phenom Andrew Painter?
As for Painter, the unsaid plan was for him to be their fifth starter this season. When he suffered elbow soreness in spring training, the plan was to have him pitch sometime after the All-Star break.
But Thomson said Painter “is still feeling symptoms,” and he hasn’t thrown since he was shut down a few weeks ago.
There’s still a chance the Phillies could start ramping Painter up to be a reliever into September and the postseason. Or he could even serve as an opener, gradually working his way up to 3-4 innings.
The Phillies, at least, are in a better position to handle Painter’s absence than they were earlier in the season. That starts with Nola, who has had an up and down season. Over his past eeight starts, he has allowed 2 runs or less four times. He has allowed 4 earned runs in the other four starts.
The rest of the rotation has pitched well after a slow start. And Cristopher Sanchez has taken over the fifth starter role, with a 3.26 ERA in six starts.
But there’s little depth behind the five starters. And here is where Painter, even in a limited role, could help the Phillies.
Yet that is very much in jeopardy.
“I don’t know,” Thomson said when asked if Painter will pitch this season. “All I can tell you is that we’re going to be really careful with this guy. We’re going to take our time, and if that means if he doesn’t pitch this year, that’s what it’ll be.
“I’m not sure of the timetable, but we’re kind of closing in on August, so it’s getting late.”
So the Phillies might have to trade for another starting pitcher. And if Harper can’t handle first base, can they keep relying on Schwarber to make leaping catches at the wall in left field?
“He got up there,” Nola said with a laugh. “Honestly, I thought it was either gone or it was going to hit off the chain-link fence up there. That was awesome.”
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
