Phillies Mailbag: Guthrie, McGarry, and a Tired Staff?

I can see the Phillies doing with Dalton Guthrie what they did with Darick Hall: let him rip.  Aside from throwing Nick Maton and Garrett Stubbs out there, or calling up Yairo Munoz or Johan Camargo, the Phillies went with a natural outfielder who has played all year and some so well, so I think they will use him.

Guthrie was one of the types of players affected by the 2020 COVID shutdown. Like Hall and Matt Vierling, Guthrie missed a full season.  And being a sixth-round draft pick doesn’t usually lead to prospect status.

Having had the season at Triple-A to show his ability he’s done well.  Now it’s time to show what he can do at the big league level.  At the very least, the defense is improved.

-Steve

I expect the Phillies to call Griff McGarry up at some point. I think we are at the point that all hands are on deck.  If there’s an arm that looks good enough to get something out of it, now is the time.

I think the place to use him is after an early exit by a starter. Should a Ranger Suarez go four innings again, that’s a better option than Cristopher Sanchez.  And let’s face it: starters are tired.

He’s 23 years old so why not?

-Chris

I think there’s something to this.  When you look at the roster, Ranger Suarez has not had this type of workload yet.  Noah Syndergaard either.  Some bullpen arms have not had a full year either.

The 2020 small season may have contributed to some having light workloads.  Tommy John surgeries limited others.  So yes, there are probably some dead arm/tired arm issues.

With Zach Elfin returning possibly and possibly Griff McGarry appearing, I think they are trying to manage that.