Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said Thursday that he hasn’t spoken to Zack Wheeler about his postgame comments from the night before.
But he also isn’t bothered that Wheeler was upset. Wheeler was direct about his frustration at being removed from his start against the Pirates on Wednesday after 4⅔ innings with an 8-3 lead, leaving two runners on base for Kyle Backhus. The righty was at 104 pitches on a hot day, matching a season high, but said he felt he had earned the chance to finish the fifth inning.
“I was upset,” Wheeler said postgame.
Since he departed with two outs in the fifth, he was ineligible to get credit for what ultimately was a 10-6 win.
“I don’t think he wants to talk to me yet. Maybe he’ll settle down, and we’ll talk a bit later,” Mattingly said pregame Thursday. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet. I mean, it really doesn’t bother me at all that he’s upset. I think the great ones never want to come out of the game, and he’s no different.”
Mattingly compared managing Wheeler to managing the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, who he said similarly never wanted to be taken out. In this situation, his justification for removing Wheeler in that moment was to protect the rotation as a whole.
“Our rotation is obviously a great rotation, but the depth of it is not filled with four Paul Skenes down in the minor leagues ready to pop in and fill the spot,” Mattingly said. “So my job is to make sure that this guy stays available through the course of the season, and we’ve got a long way to go. So I really don’t mind guys being upset, that’s what the greats do, but I still have to make decisions for the whole club.”
Mattingly was concerned that the next batter, Pirates center fielder Jake Mangum, would work a long at-bat, driving up Wheeler’s pitch count even further. Pittsburgh had already fouled off 20 of Wheeler’s pitches on Wednesday.
Backhus took over and hit Magnum with a pitch. He also hit the next batter to force in a run charged to Wheeler.
Mattingly said the fact that Wheeler was one out away from becoming eligible for his ninth win of the season did not factor into his decision. Wheeler, whose ERA crept up to 2.36 after Wednesday’s start, has been forthright about his ambition to win a Cy Young Award.
“I think more about the situation that we’re in as a club. I think it probably helps that nowadays wins aren’t really a big thing anymore,” Mattingly said. “It used to be that you’d let that guy try to finish it. And in a different time, you may be letting the guy throw 130 [pitches], but that’s not the time we’re in. That’s not the situation that we’re in right now.”
Mattingly added that he doesn’t expect this frustration to linger. When things cool off, he wants to discuss the move with Wheeler, but it also won’t change how he manages.
“I want to know his feelings on it, and all that stuff, but I’m still making the decision based on the club and the team and moving forward, where we want to go,” Mattingly said. “So I don’t mind him hearing my side of it. I don’t mind hearing his side of it, and, again, just have to deal with being mad about it or doesn’t like it. I understand it, but I still have to do what I have to do.”
Extra bases
Brad Keller (right forearm tendinitis) is scheduled to start a rehab assignment Friday with triple-A Lehigh Valley in Rochester, N.Y. … Following Friday’s off day, Jesús Luzardo (6-4, 3.88 ERA) is scheduled to start the series opener against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
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