While the Phillies are in the portion of a losing season known as “playing out the string,” there are still plenty of little things to examine to size up Sandberg. It is a reminder this weekend, with Charlie Manuel being inducted into the Wall of Fame, that Sandberg of course essentially motivated management to fire Charlie Manuel on the day he was supposed to be honored. There’s a lot to get to, so let’s jump in it.
Pulling the ace in a pitchers’ duel: Sunday’s matchup of Cole Hamels and Stephen Strasburg was set up to be a fantastic pitchers’ duel. It’s a shame that it was cut short. Hamels was cruising, having only allowed the game’s only run—an unearned run. Strasburg was everything he was expected to be and the two were locked in a good one. However, Hamels came up to bat in the eighth with none on and one out, but Sandberg pulled him back for Reid Brignac. The move did not pay off and so the Phills had to tap into a bullpen that had pitched 13.2 innings over the previous three nights. That didn’t work, as the bullpen turned a workable 1-0 deficit into a rather hopeless 4-0 hole. Sandberg pulling Hamels for a weak hitter as a pinch hitter while he had thrown less than 90 pitches is not the worst move in baseball history, nor is it probably the worst move Sandberg has ever made. However, the fact of the matter is it proved to be the wrong move and simply did not work, taking away the chance for his club to win the game.
Extra innings: While yes, Sandberg has had plenty of practice in managing extra-inning affairs (the Phillies have played the most innings in baseball), that does not make it any easier. And while yes, things are a little easier when facing a bad American League team in a National League ballpark, Sandberg managed his bullpen masterfully in Tuesday’s 15-inning game. What makes the job he did Tuesday remarkable was it was a series of one-inning matchups, for the most part. With the exception of Antonio Bastardo’s night of two innings, Ryno used all seven of his relievers—all of whom prevented a run from scoring—for only an inning each. Bastardo was likely the exception because he struck out six of the seven batters he faced. This is notable, Sandberg’s pitching approach, because the traditional way to get through extra innings is to have a “long man” go eat up a bunch of innings (think Danys Baez in that classic 2011 game). So kudos to Ryne managing a great game—or nearly two games, really.
Left field: As many have pointed out, it is probably best for the Phillies if Dom Brown is playing everyday. Not to collect more information on him—nearly 1,500 plate appearances is no small sample size, but rather because they are of the belief that the best way for him to get better is by playing everyday. I’m of the belief that it wouldn’t be the worst thing to fix his swing playing everyday in the minors while evaluating Grady Sizemore, but that’s a separate issue. The takeaway here is that Sandberg, despite all hope being lost, is going for it this year apparently to the end.
There are a few ways to take this. Some may say that Ruben Amaro Jr. should intervene and advise Sandberg on what is best for the team’s long-term prognosis. On the flip side, perhaps him not saying anything is on board with the way Sandberg is managing. Another possible thing to keep an eye on is may Sandberg feels pressure to win every game possible for job security. This is worth monitoring in the event that Amaro is relieved following the season, and Sandberg would like to have sell the new general manager on keeping him as the manager. In any event, this is a developing story worth at least keeping an eye on if any further smoke emerges.
Big Piece: It’s become pretty clear that Sandberg was lying when he said it would be a platoon with Ryan Howard moving forward. After all Howard went 1-for-25 and somehow that led to him getting more playing time. Good, he was the biggest reason for the Phills’ latest sweep. But looking at the whole picture in terms of Sandberg’s actions, it is puzzling how he got from Point A and “needing to see Ruf”, benching him for three games and, in the eyes of some, disrespecting his slugger to Point B of playing him everyday now after a 1-for-25 slump. Either way, it led to a great series from the team’s highest-paid player.
