CHICAGO â Jake Arrieta spent a relaxing day off in his former home city by strolling through Millennium Park, seeing old friends and dining at Maple & Ash, his favorite North Side restaurant.
Then, on Tuesday, he cleared the air with his Phillies teammates.
Arrieta sought out rookie infielder Scott Kingery, specifically, and spoke âat lengthâ about his comments after Sundayâs loss in San Francisco. Within an overall rant about the Philliesâ ineffective defensive shifts and startling lack of offense, Arrieta was critical of Kingeryâs decision to throw to first base rather than record a potentially easier out at second on a grounder that was scored an infield hit during a five-run sixth inning.
âIâve talked to Kingery. I love this kid,â Arrieta said. âThis kid is our shortstop, tremendously talented and only going to get better. Iâve talked to pretty much everyone on the team, and weâre on the same page. Iâd do anything for these guys, and they know that itâs coming from a good place. They know itâs not a hostile position or disrespectful. Sometimes, certain things need to be said to make a statement.â
Arrieta insisted he didnât intend to call out Kingery, who believed Arrietaâs comments were made in the course of detailing what happened in the inning. Kingery also claimed he never took offense, though he appreciated the conversation with Arrieta.
But Arrieta stood by his statement that the Phillies must play better in all areas or risk falling out of the playoff race before summer officially dawns. In particular, Arrieta believes the Philliesâ aggressive employment of defensive shifts has hurt his performance, given the fact that heâs a pitch-to-count sinkerballer.
Most metrics support Arrietaâs claim. The Phillies use a shift 28.1 percent of the time, according to Statcast, more than the league average of 17.3 percent. With Arrieta on the mound, they shift 29.1 percent of the time. And according to Sports Info Solutions, they rank last in the majors with a minus-11 rating in runs saved by the shift.
Manager Gabe Kapler said the Phillies have been aware of their shift-related problems since early in the season and have made adjustments accordingly, based on the comfort and skills of individual players. For instance, he cited changes in the positioning of second baseman Cesar Hernandez in the shift.
âEarlier in the season when we deployed a full shift, we had Cesar playing fairly deep, and what ended up happening is he was able to get to some balls, but wasnât able to make the throw, because by the time he got to the ball, the runner had gotten to the base or was close to the base,â Kapler said. âWe pulled Cesar in a little more shallow with the understanding that he might get to a few less balls over the course of a really, really long time, but the balls he does get to, weâre going to have an opportunity to throw the runner out.â
Kapler contends the Phillies have been better at shifting since April and will continue to tinker as necessary. Arrietaâs criticism also likely will give the pitchersâ more input on defensive positioning.
âIf itâs the pitcherâs desire to position our players differently and they look back and theyâre positioned in a way that doesnât make them feel confident, what are we doing?â Kapler said. âA little bit more conversation with anybody that wants to have it, and then before we go out on that mound, everybodyâs on the same page.â
Said Arrieta: âCertain guys need to be shifted differently. I think thatâs apparent, and I think thatâs just something that, moving forward, weâre going to have more of an open discussion leading into each series. Thatâs just the best thing to do, have as open a line of communication as you possibly can so that everybodyâs comfortable.â
Extra bases
Shortstop J.P. Crawford (right forearm strain) was expected to play nine innings for triple-A Lehigh Valley, the last stop on his minor-league rehab assignment. It seems likely Crawford could rejoin the Phillies this week. ⦠Arrieta received a standing ovation from a sellout crowd at Wrigley Field when the Cubs honored him with a between-innings highlight video. Arrieta was part of the Cubsâ 2016 World Series championship team.