Phillies (65-82) vs. Marlins (73-73)
7:05 p.m. on CSN
With just three home series and eight home games remaining in the 2016 season, the Phillies begin a weekend set against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park tonight.
1. Howard will play
Phillies manager Pete Mackanin has gone back and forth with Ryan Howard's playing time. Howard opened the season as a platoon first baseman, then Tommy Joseph became the regular 1B, then Howard got hot and started to play against most right-handed pitchers, then Mackanin said he'd curtail Howard's playing time in September.
Now, it appears Howard will play quite a bit over the season's final 15 games. The plan is for Howard to start all three games this weekend, as well as the Phillies' final three games of the season at home against the Mets Sept. 30 through Oct. 2.
The Big Piece will get his send-off.
"I spoke to Joseph and Howard. Howie is going to get the next three," Mackanin said Thursday. "I rethought that and I just decided Howie is going to play a little bit more because this is ... possibly his last year.
"I just thought about it. The whole year I've been thinking about it. As well as he's handled the whole thing and been so good about the whole thing, I want to give him something.
MLB
"I was going to try two-on, two-off with him and Joseph, but another 20 or 25 at-bats won't matter for Joseph."
Mackanin hopes Howard is received by Phillies fans in his final days here similarly to Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins when they returned.
"I hope they give him as much as they gave the other guys," Mackanin said. "He's done a lot for this organization."
The Phillies face three right-handed starting pitchers this weekend in Tom Koehler, Jose Urena and Andrew Cashner.
Howard is 6 for 27 (.222) lifetime off Koehler with a double, a homer, four walks and nine strikeouts.
2. Lucky draws
The Phillies and Marlins wrap up their season series this weekend and it will end with them facing Jose Fernandez just once in the 19 games.
The Phillies are 8-8 against the Marlins. They'd probably be a few games worse if they had to face Miami's hard-throwing ace, who is 15-8 with a 2.99 ERA and has 241 strikeouts in 174⅓ innings.
Fernandez doesn't just lead all big-league starting pitchers in strikeout rate, he's in another stratosphere. He's struck out 12.4 batters per nine innings; next-closest is Diamondbacks lefty Robbie Ray at 11.3. Fernandez has struck out 34 percent of the batters he's faced this season.
It's just the way the schedule has worked out that the Phillies faced Fernandez once and will see Koehler tonight for the fifth time in 2016. That actually hasn't been much of a consolation.
3. Koehler vs. the Phils
In four starts against the Phillies this season, Koehler is 2-1 with a 1.29 ERA in 28 innings. The Phils have hit .149 against him.
Koehler is a No. 4 starter in the National League. He'd be a No. 5 in the AL. He's nothing special, but he's dominated the Phillies lately. He enters this game 9-11 with a 3.97 ERA, but his ERA this season against all teams other than the Phillies is 4.53.
The 6-foot-3 right-hander uses five pitches: fastball, slider, curveball, changeup and sinker. The slider has been his best pitch, limiting opponents to a .196 batting average and just one home run in 179 at-bats ending with it. His fastball hasn't been nearly as effective — .304 opponents' batting average, 12 doubles, 13 home runs.
No current Phillie has good numbers against him. Maikel Franco is 2 for 17. Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez are each 4 for 17.
The way to beat Koehler is to wait him out. He can get wild. He's walked 68 batters this season after walking 77 a year ago. His control has been much better of late, but Koehler does have seven starts this season with four or more walks.
4. Can Morgan keep it up?
If only things clicked like this for Adam Morgan earlier in the year. The lefty has reeled off three straight quality starts and four in his last five tries since being recalled from Triple A.
When Morgan was sent down, the Phils wanted him to focus on learning and commanding a two-seam fastball. They felt his straight four-seamer, which has average velocity, just wouldn't play at this level. The results showed it. Morgan's opponents had hit .341 against his four-seam fastball with 21 extra-base hits at the time of his demotion.
Since returning, Morgan has thrown the two-seamer 34 percent of the time, which is 34 percent more than he threw it previously. And nearly half of the balls in play against that sinker have been groundballs.
The new repertoire is working and it's making his other pitches more effective. The opposition has hit .250 against Morgan's four-seam fastball since the recall and .148 against his changeup.
And these are some good lineups Morgan has been holding in check. He held the Nationals to four runs in 12⅔ innings. He gave up just one run to the Cardinals in six innings. And he beat the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 6, allowing a run over six frames.
Over his last five starts, Morgan has lowered his ERA from 6.62 to 5.73.
It's still not enough to push him past the Phillies' younger, better pitchers. But Morgan has again set himself up to compete for the No. 5 starter's job in spring training, and his chances of cracking the staff would improve if Aaron Nola isn't healthy enough or Jeremy Hellickson isn't re-signed.
Morgan has now pitched 183⅓ innings in the majors and has a 5.15 ERA. But he's allowed three earned runs or fewer in 21 of his 33 starts, so he's actually kept the Phillies in more games than he's cost them. It's just that when Morgan is bad, he's really bad.
Current Marlins have hit only .213 against him with no home runs, no walks and one extra-base hit in 47 plate appearances.
5. Gold Glove for Galvis?
Freddy Galvis' last 36 games: .271/.312/.566 with eight doubles, 10 homers and 25 RBIs. He has 11 homers since the All-Star break, most among all National League shortstops.
He's having a stellar defensive season as well. Galvis hasn't committed an error in 49 games, 423 innings and 183 defensive chances. He has just six errors on the year, fewest among all NL shortstops. He really could win a Gold Glove.
Remember how consistently excellent Jimmy Rollins was defensively? J-Roll had only one season with a fielding percentage better than Galvis' .989.
If the Phillies could combine Galvis' defense and newfound power with Hernandez's speed and on-base skills, they'd have one heck of a middle infielder.