By: Matt Rappa, managing editor 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Twenty games into the season, the Philadelphia Phillies and manager Pete Mackanin find themselves at the .500 mark, four-and-a-half games behind in the division to the Washington Nationals (14-5).
In Tuesday evening's victory over their division rivals — in which third baseman Maikel Franco hit a game-winning RBI-double to center field in the seventh inning — Mackanin secured his 100th career managerial victory.
"I think the pitching has so much to do with it," said Mackanin on the club's early success in conversation with Angelo Cataldi and The Morning Team Wednesday morning on SportsRadio 94 WIP. "We're last in the National League in hitting, so the pitching plays a huge part. If you get good pitching you got a chance."
Right-hander Vince Velasquez, acquired this offseason from the Houston Astros in the Ken Giles trade, has been one of the bright spots of the Phillies' starting rotation, which ranks first in the National League in strikeouts (130) and second in fewest walks allowed (27).
Velasquez earned his third victory of the season on Tuesday, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks spanning six innings — his third quality start in four appearances overall.
"[Velasquez] kind of reminds me in a way [of Roy Halladay]," said Mackanin. "I remember when Halladay would give up three runs in a game and Sam Perlozzo and I [would] come back in the coaches' room and comment how he was terrible tonight. When he gave up three runs it was a bad day, but that's still a quality start so this guy kind of reminds me of that."
The victory in the series opener featured a starting lineup in which a position player batted in the ninth position. It was the fifth consecutive game Mackanin had done so. On the surface the move has appeared to pay off thus far, with the Phillies winning four of those five contests and averaging 5.8 runs per game.
"I never even thought of doing it in the past," said Mackanin. "All of a sudden, because Bourjos wasn't swinging the bat well, Hernandez wasn't swinging the bat well, I didn't have any guys down in the order swinging the bat well. I looked at it and thought, 'Well, you know if I hit Bourjos ninth, that puts him in front of [Odubel] Herrera.'"
The Phillies had batted a position player just three times before in franchise history, with the most recent occurrence coming in 1979 in a game started by Hall of Fame left-hander Steve Carlton.
"If you hit the guy eighth who is a stolen base threat like Bourjos, very often he won't have the opportunity to steal a base because you don't want him getting thrown out and have the pitcher leading off the next inning," said Mackanin. "So, it just kind of slapped me in the face and I said, 'why not?' We weren't scoring runs the other way, so why not?"
Franco's clutch RBI-double in the seventh was his fourth go-ahead hit and eighth extra-base hit overall for the season. Since April 22 he is batting .444 with nine runs-batted-in.
"The guy is a huge talent. He's going to do nothing but get better, better and better," said Mackanin. "At times he has the tendency to overswing. He's come up with some big hits. He's made some good plays although he hasn't been playing the type of defense I know he is capable of playing. He's way better than he has shown. He looks a little bit shaky, but to me he should be an All-Star caliber third baseman. I'm happy to have him. He's one of our top hitters and he comes up big in the clutch."
While Franco has shown through his 115 career games thus far he can be a strong contributor to the club, there is still room for improvement. This was shown on Tuesday in the fifth inning when he failed to turn a 5-3 double play instead of throwing over to second. With the inning extended, the Nationals went on to score two runs off Velasquez to tie the game at three. Franco also was seen not running hard on the basepaths when he hit the RBI-double to center.
Both plays, according to Mackanin, do not warrant him to be reprimanded.
"He just needs to be talked to, to be reminded that you can't do that," said Mackanin. "When you play 162 games, unless the guy does it all the time, once in awhile they get a little lazy, well you give them a little slap on the back and say, 'hey, listen . . . don't do that again.' But, the play that irked me the most [the whole night] was the easy double play that if he goes to second base. It would have been a no-brainer. Why he chose to go to third . . . I didn't care for that."
In the field, Franco made an excellent diving stop on a sharp ground ball down the left field line in the bottom of the third inning. The play preserved what was at the time a 2-1 Phillies advantage. Mackanin said Franco has worked with Phillies bench coach Larry Bowa to improve his fielding.
"Last year we had to work with him on going to his left," said Mackanin. "Larry Bowa had him working on balls to his left and to his right because when we first got him at the big league level, the minor league people told us he had an issue because when he dove, he could not get up quickly enough. He had a hard time getting up off the ground, so Larry had him working on diving to his left and right and getting up quickly. He's showing improvement that way."
As for three-time All-Star Ryan Howard, who is batting just .177 this season with four home runs and nine runs-batted-in, Mackanin expects him to break out "at any day."
"I want him to start hitting better. That's all I can say," said Mackanin. "He's not hitting right now and I know he's a streaky guy. He might not be the hitter he once was, but still he goes through those streaks where he'll carry a team for a week. I've seen him do it over the years and that's what I'm hoping to see every time he plays."
In his first full season as a Major League manager, Mackanin is getting exposed to the various aspects that the position entails. During late-game, intense situations, he said he views himself "like a duck you see on the pond."
"The web feet are paddling like crazy underneath," he said.
"That's how I feel."
