Miami Marlins Doubting David Phelps?

Feel I have to start this off by saying David Phelps is easily in the midst of the best season of his career, and the Miami Marlins wouldn’t be where they are today without his contributions.  He’s by no means Mike Dunn, the human billboard that has done nothing but flash “trade for a situational lefty” since 2014.  All of that appreciation aside though, Sunday’s Marlins- Cardinals finale might have included a very interesting subplot.

David Phelps just might have been replaced as the Marlins 7th inning specialist.

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Yes, it was only one game.  No, Kyle Barraclough hadn’t pitched yet in the second half.  Maybe Don Mattingly decided to give a situational, fluid bullpen a shot for a day, just to see how it feels.  All qualifications worth considering, and all it takes is a couple Phelps-filled 7th innings the next couple nights to cast this theory to the scrap heap.

But… consider what we saw happen this afternoon.

Kyle Barraclough comes on in the 6th, his usual spot post Fernando Rodney.  He records not one, but two big strikeouts in the inning.  Job well done, right? Bridge is built to the next inning, and the Phelps/Rodney/A.J. Ramos show will now commence.

Turns out only the back two-thirds of that was in the cards.

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Mattingly brought in Barraclough to pitch the entire 7th.  Five outs, all him.  And then the Rodney to Ramos relay.

If you’re thinking maybe Phelps was being rested for one reason or the other, I’d invite you to consider the fact that he was warming up right beside Ramos in the 9th.  Meaning he was warming up as…the mop-up guy.  That says a lot.

It says a lot more if you look back at Phelps’ last three appearances.  In two of them, he gave up two earned runs; in the scoreless appearance, he gave up three hits. Barraclough came into today with three straight scoreless frames, and has really done a great job of cutting back on his walks, with only one allowed in eight previous appearances.  While Phelps is still his better in the ERA department, that lead is shrinking by the game.

When you combine a falling walk rate with Barraclough’s typically upper-echelon K/9 numbers, it makes a compelling case to flip the assignments for these two Marlins pitchers.