Trades could help Phillies expand bullpen auditions

MIAMI — It is no secret the Phillies wish to trade Pat Neshek and Joaquin Benoit within the next two weeks. This is a time when just about every team with dreams of postseason baseball craves a bullpen reinforcement, so both of those veteran arms could find new homes. The Phillies will do everything they can to facilitate a deal.

Why? It will be less about what they receive in return, although Neshek could fetch a decent lottery ticket, and more about providing chances for different bullpen arms.

The Phillies still believe in Hector Neris, especially when his splitter is right. They have seen Luis Garcia thrive at times in a setup role. They have liked the initial returns from Ricardo Pinto's strong right arm. Edubray Ramos, whose stuff often impressed, has regained confidence in the minors. Lefthander Adam Morgan is throwing 96 mph with a biting slider.

And two righthanders who will be minor-league free agents at season's end — Jesen Therrien and Yacksel Rios — have emerged as late bloomers. They have combined for 101 strikeouts and 17 walks in 93 1/3 innings and are at triple A, awaiting a big-league chance.

But most teams can boast a bunch of big arms in the bullpen. That is where the game has trended, to hard-throwing relievers with one good breaking pitch. The key, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said, will be to separate the strike throwers from the rest.

So the process of forming next year's bullpen will kick into the next phase. Soon.

"It's nice to see good arms," Mackanin said. "At the same time, if you watch winter ball, every relief pitcher looks exactly the same. They throw 95-plus with a slider. Every one of them. There are tons of guys who can have good arms. But locating pitches is what it boils down to.

"Look at how long it took Luis to get to even where he's at now. He's not a finished product. He's made progress. But it took him three-and-a-half years. That's the hard part. He's finally learned how to relax and throw more strikes."

The current bullpen, actually, has shown signs of improvement. Entering Tuesday, Phillies relievers had permitted 12 earned runs in their last 50 innings with an improved strikeout rate. Only three teams have a lower bullpen ERA since June 26.

The bullpen's ERA has improved from last season by almost half a run, but the relievers' strikeout rate is down a tick while their walk rate has risen. The 21.8 percent strikeout rate is in the bottom 10 in baseball and the 9.8 percent walk rate is in the top 10.

"A pitcher's best pitch is command," Mackanin said. "And, to me, you have to have a put-away breaking ball in the big leagues to get hitters out. So I don't like to get overly excited about anybody."

The Phillies optioned righthander Mark Leiter Jr. to triple-A Lehigh Valley to clear a roster spot for Vince Velasquez, who returned Tuesday. Leiter will be used as a starter in the minors. … Nick Pivetta will look to rebound from a rough start last weekend in Wednesday's matinee against Marlins righthander Dan Straily. Pivetta has a 5.63 ERA in his first 12 major-league starts.