SPOTLIGHT: RHP Griff McGarry

Rain stayed away on Sunday afternoon, so we took the Mick Abel Checklist down to Baseballtown to catch the last game of Reading’s opening series against Portland (AA-BOS).

RHP Griff McGarry is back in the rotation after advancing as a starter to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, getting the “maybe try being a reliever” treatment, and then an injury or two and a shut down over the past couple seasons.  All but forgotten this Spring Training, he did get into a game or two but didn’t fare well.  When the rosters were announced, he showed up on the Reading roster.  It was a surprise but at the same time it wasn’t.  What we saw in Spring I thought would have him in Extended Spring Training at the Clearwater Complex to get things cleaned up.  The Phillies determined that the best way to get back in the groove was to get starts with Double-A Reading.  That way, he could get as much work in the game as the situation would allow, then get a week to figure it out, make adjustments, and know exactly when he is to pitch again.  This instead of trying to be ready as needed as part of the gaggle in a bullpen.

So yesterday was the first game of this arrangement.  We had no idea what it would look like.  It looked pretty, pretty good.  He went four innings.  He used 55 pitches, of which 38 were strikes.  There were zero hits.  There were zero walks.  There were eight strikeouts.

But let’s go over the checklist:

1. Fastball:  He opened the game at 97, then sat at 95 for a while, and when the 93s started to creep in, he started using a four-seam/sinker combination according to the scoreboard, as well as a cutter, which showed up at 86-88.  All were effective and he was able to both fill the zone as well as miss bats.
2. Accuracy:  He was hitting his spots well enough, from our observation.  No walks is what you want to see.  He was able to throw secondary pitches for strikes.  It’s a good-hitting Portland team and they would have been patient enough if he wasn’t getting ahead of them.
3. Pitchability:  The first batter got mostly fastballs, but from there it was a nice mix with the slider, and occasional change and a show-me curve.  You don’t have to deal with seeing the lineup too many times when you’re just getting everyone out.  It was the arrival of the cutter at the end of the third inning and then in the fourth which gave the different look.  He was able to throw it for strikes as well as miss bats.  That will be the thing to watch going forward.
4. Outlook:  We’ll skip the lineup notes and the home/road notes for now.  What does this start mean?  It’s something to build on.  It’s at a level he graduated from already.  But he checked all the boxes.  And then some, probably.  It’s something to build on so we’ll let him do his work and see if he can repeat the performance–at least to some extent–next week on the road in Somerset.  If everything goes swimmingly, and he gets through a few starts like this, what’s next?  Right now, probably the return to Triple-A will have him in whatever role the IronPigs need.  He probably still profiles as a long-relief or bulk role in the Majors should he get there, so he’ll continue starting if the IronPigs need that, or he’ll join a crowded bull-pen with three groups of guys trying to get to the Majors (article coming soon.)

BONUS:  Painter Watch

Top prospect RHP Andrew Painter is set to make his first official minor league start later this week in Clearwater, we’re hearing.  Where will it go from there?  Don’t know.  But that won’t stop us from engaging in wild speculation:

Friday, 4/11:  Clearwater, Home vs Daytona

Friday, 4/18:  Reading, Home vs. Binghamton

Friday, 4/25: IronPigs, Home vs. Columbus

it might go slower than that.  Some of the starts might be one or three innings.  They could go longer between starts.  Don’t buy tickets based on wild speculation.  Also, it might rain.

See you at the park,

@Kram207

Featured Image:  Steven Kiebach