Phillies in need of lengthy starts from rotation

PHILADELPHIA — Phillies manager Pete Mackanin answered a question about his bullpen on Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, when he quickly segued into a discussion about the rotation.

“We just need our starters to get out of that rut where we’re not getting six, seven, eight innings,” he said before a 7-2 loss to the Dodgers. “We’re trying to develop nine-inning pitchers.”

But it has not happened like the Phillies had hoped, particularly lately. Rookie Jake Thompson yielded five hits, five runs, four walks and two home runs in five innings in his third big league start. He threw first-pitch strikes to just 10 of 24 batters as he fell to 1-2 with an 8.79 ERA.

“He’s 22 years old and made some mistakes,” Mackanin said of the Phillies’ No. 5 prospect. “The interesting thing is that he doesn’t walk that many people, but he’s got nine walks in (14 1/3) innings. I attribute that to the fact he’s 22 years old and his first go around at the big league level. Pitching is all about repeating your mechanics and making good pitches. In time, he’ll get there.”

Mackanin said Thompson simply might …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com