Phillies Mailbag: Bullpen, Wheeler, Inconsistent Offense

We are back with the 97.3 ESPN Phillies Mailbag.  Each week we take your questions and answer them on The Sports Bash with Mike Gill.  Tune in each Tuesday afternoon to hear your questions answered on the air.

Don't the Phillies have anything better than Seth Johnson?  Guy couldn't even get outs with a 10 run lead.
~Angela

The Phillies placed right-handed reliever Jonathan Bowlan on the 15-day on the 15-day injured list with a mild groin strain.  Seth Johnson was summoned from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace Bowlan on the active roster.  And Johnson was put right to work.

With Cristopher Sanchez departing after six innings and two runs, the Phillies had a comfortable 12-2 lead.

So the Phillies called upon their freshest arm in Johnson to eat some innings.  After entering with a 10-run lead, Johnson would give up five runs, three of them earned.  He got five outs before Orion Kerkering would get the final four.

Being on the 40-man roster made Johnson the quick band-aid for the fill-in.  Bowlan should be back after 15-days, according to the team and Bowlan's own opinion.

Should the Phillies need another fresh arm, they can swap Johnson out with one of the other 40-man roster pitchers, including Nolan Hoffman, Kyle Backhus, or Alan Rangel.

The Phillies do not yet have a long-man in the bullpen, so I would not be surprised if they swap Johnson out if the bullpen gets taxed.

How soon until Zack Wheeler returns?
~Dave

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is scheduled to pitch tonight for Double-A Reading at the Somerset Patriots.  He will then pitch on Sunday for once again against the Patrios.  Unless anything unforseen takes place, that would have Wheeler starting in Atlanta the weekend of the 24-26 of April.

Wheeler is still ramping up his pitch count.  80-85 pitches are what are expected tonight.

The main thing to look at with Wheeler is his velocity.  It has wavered or been a little bit low to this point, as he returns from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

Wheeler began a 30-day rehab assignment on March 28.  Those 30 days will run out soon.  If necessary, Wheeler could make one more start the weekend of the 24-26 before that clock runs out.

It's still relatively early in his progress.  A pitcher in Spring Training probably will also have thrown just over 10 innings as Wheeler has by now.  The ramp up continues for now.

What do the Phillies do about this inconsistent offense?
~Greg.

The Phillies offense sure put up a lot of zeroes lately.  After going 20 innings without scoring a run, their scoring in subsequent outings was limited to a single inning, including a quick 4-0 lead against the Diamondbacks, before failing to score throughout their 27 outs there forward.

To me, too much of the scoring was done through the home run as the Phillies failed to string hits together.

That changed on Monday night, as the Phillies erupted for 13 runs.  There were two Kyle Schwarber home runs in that mix, but plenty of hitting along the way.

Schwarber had been slumping.  And both Alec Bohm and Adolis Garcia were in the midst of 0 for 17 and 0 for 13, respectively.

Justin Crawford, the most consistent to that point, went 0 for 5, the only one in the lineup without a hit.

I suppose it is good that they are showing signs of life.  But it remains a concern that the offense can go quiet at any time - especially when that could happen in the playoffs.