Pitching coach Bob McClure calls out Phillies catchers on pitch selection
He faulted Cameron Rupp for letting Edubray Ramos serve up a fastball to Bryce Harper. The ball ended up in the seats.
WASHINGTON - The morning after Bryce Harper again punished the Phillies for throwing him a fat fastball in a crucial moment, Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure issued a sharp critique of his catchers' pitch calling.
McClure, speaking Sunday to Phillies broadcaster Larry Andersen during the team's pregame radio show on WIP-FM (94.1), said Cameron Rupp should have never had Edubray Ramos throw Harper a fastball. Harper crushed a two-run homer in a 6-4 win, the second time this season he beat the Phillies with a walk-off homer.
McClure said both pitcher and catcher failed to read Harper's intentions.
"If you can't recognize that, you know, I'll tell you what: [Saturday] night is a perfect example," McClure told Andersen. "Harper comes out of his shoes on a fastball up. I mean, out of his shoes because he's got one thing and only on his mind: I just signed this contract and I'm going to show these fans I'm worth it, right? He comes out of his shoes on a high fastball and just misses it. If that ball is eight inches lower, it's a home run on the first pitch instead of the second pitch.
"So if I'm pitching or if I'm catching, there's no way I'm throwing him a fastball. I don't care if it's down and away - I'm not throwing him a fastball. Whatever I'm throwing, I'm throwing down and away, but it ain't going to be a fastball. It's going to be a change-up or a curveball. Not only that, our pitcher knows that lefties are hitting [.071] against him on breaking balls when they put it in play.
"Those things combined, and a catcher not being able to lead him into the right direction, is a major problem."
McClure, in a subsequent interview between games of Sunday's doubleheader against Washington, said his intentions were not to rip Rupp. What he told Andersen in the radio interview, McClure said, had already been explained to the catcher.
"I'm trying to teach at the same time as being honest," McClure said. He added: "If it came out wrong, I apologize. I may have still been in the moment."
Rupp had not yet heard what McClure said, but the two discussed it. Rupp was not offended.
"Did he mean to rip me? No. I don't believe so," Rupp said. "We've talked about the game, about situations. It's a mistake I made. I have to learn from it."
Harper fouled off the first fastball Ramos threw him. Ramos said the plan was to attack Harper down and away. He threw another fastball that was not located well. Harper crushed it.
McClure, in his interview with Andersen, said he convened a 45-minute meeting Sunday morning with the catchers, Rupp and Andrew Knapp, before the doubleheader.
"I said, 'Listen, man, you have to call the right pitch, what you think is right for that situation, to that guy whether the [pitcher] can do it or not,' " McClure told Andersen. "In my opinion, you at least have to put the fingers down that signifies this is the right pitch, I think, to get him out. And fastball, obviously, wasn't it last night. Obviously.
"I mean . . . I'm getting a little carried away here, I know that. But I couldn't believe it. My mouth dropped. I just couldn't believe he threw a fastball. I might have to start calling pitches. I don't know. I've got to do something because you have to be able to see swings. It's very important to be able to see that."
Near the end of last season, McClure expressed his preference that the Phillies carry a veteran catcher to help guide a young staff. The Phillies instead opted for Knapp, a rookie, to pair with Rupp. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin, in the past, has been critical of Rupp's game-calling abilities.
"I believe the catcher is the general," McClure said on radio. "He has to lead. We have a very young staff, second youngest in baseball, maybe the youngest now. So when they're trying to do too much, it's not going to work. It's not. So I need the catcher to grasp what is right and what is wrong."
Extra bases
Odubel Herrera did not start in the first game but pinch-hit and singled. He started the second game. Herrera was 0 for 5 with some bad-looking at-bats Saturday night. He did not run out a double-play ball, and Mackanin said Herrera is healthy. . . . The Phillies are off Monday. They start a three-game series in Texas with former Rangers farmhand Jerad Eickhoff against Yu Darvish. The Phillies have never faced Darvish.
@MattGelb