PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies added an electric young arm to their big-league bullpen from Double-A.
Right-hander Alex McFarlane was promoted to the major-league roster straight from Reading for the second time this season, the club announced Monday. Alan Rangel, the team’s fifth starter for the past month, was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after a rough outing on Sunday.
“His stuff’s been really good,” interim manager Don Mattingly said of McFarlane. “I think he’s got a really good arm. Obviously, he’s young, so I don’t really know exactly what to expect. But he’s got the stuff to be able to pitch here.”
The Phillies (55-45) have been unable to find a consistently reliable No. 5 pitcher for their rotation. Rookie and former top prospect Andrew Painter began the year in the role, but he was sent down in June with a 7.06 ERA in 14 outings. Rangel filled Painter’s spot for five turns and struggled in his last two starts, so he won’t be the choice for now.
Interim manager Don Mattingly said the Phillies have considered skipping the fifth spot in their rotation during the next turn, which would allow them to only need a No. 5 starter (or use a bullpen game) one more time before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. But the team has prioritized extra rest for its other starters over skipping spots at other points this season.
“We’ve talked about it,” Mattingly said of the possibility of skipping the fifth starter. “Not real sure. We’ll see how everything comes out in the next couple days and see where we go from there. In general, we like keeping those guys, giving them the rest. … We’re going to need to keep them strong all year long. So we’re going to be careful with that.”
Mattingly said the Phillies have talked about the pros and cons of both a spot starter and a bullpen game whenever they need to make a decision. If the rotation remains as is, the fifth rotation spot will be scheduled for Saturday’s game against the Yankees. If the team skips the next start and utilizes Thursday’s off day to pushes up Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler to pitch this weekend versus New York, a fifth starter would not be needed until June 28 in Miami.
In any scenario, the Phillies have called up McFarlane to gain an extra reliever in their taxed bullpen until they have to potentially add a fifth starter. It was not the first call-up for the 25-year-old; he spent one day in the majors in May after the Phillies released Taijuan Walker, but he was sent back down to Double-A without appearing in a game when Zack Wheeler was activated for his first start of the year. Perhaps he will get the opportunity to make his big-league debut during this week’s three-game series against the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park.
“I just took it to my experience,” McFarlane said of his one day as a major leaguer. “Just whatever I experienced up here last time with the big-league guys, just making sure I learned as much as I could in that short time to take to Double-A. Then when I got the opportunity again, come up here and do what I need to do.”
McFarlane had a 2.06 ERA in 32 games in the Eastern League with 12 saves in 13 opportunities. He has a big arm with a fastball that reaches triple digits. He profiles as an intriguing potential bullpen piece in Philadelphia — or a possible trade chip.
For now, he’s in the Phillies’ bullpen once again. But Mattingly would not give an indication whether or not he thinks it will be much longer than last time.
“We’ll just see what happens,” Mattingly said. “We never know with injuries what’s going to happen. If we’re going to go spot start or we’re going to go bullpen day, all that makes a difference for probably a number of guys out in the ‘pen.”
