NEW YORK — Two days after a bullpen meltdown that won’t soon be forgotten at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies made a flurry of roster moves, including the addition of a former All-Star closer for a pennant-winning team.
But the biggest change Friday was at least two weeks in the making.
The Phillies removed Héctor Neris from the closer role before a series-opening doubleheader here against the division-leading New York Mets. For the time being, manager Joe Girardi said, hard-throwing lefty José Alvarado will get the majority of save opportunities.
Neris gave up a go-ahead two-run single to Washington’s Starlin Castro in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s 13-12 loss in which the Phillies also blew a five-run lead in the fifth inning and a four-run cushion in the sixth. After going 9 for 11 in save opportunities and posting a 1.90 ERA through June 6, Neris coughed up three of his last four chances and has a 12.46 ERA in five appearances.
“I think it just comes down to location with Héctor,” Girardi said. “If he’s throwing his split for strikes, then he can expand with [the fastball]. It’s just been a little bit of a struggle. He just hasn’t been as sharp as he was early on, so we’ve got to get him back to where he was.”
Neris said this week that he’s “behind the manager” if Girardi decided to displace him as the closer. It isn’t the first time in his career that this has happened. Last season, in fact, he came out of the role after blowing three saves in nine days but was reinstalled as the closer in late September and went 2 for 2 in save opportunities down the stretch.
The Phillies also placed hard-throwing right-hander Sam Coonrod on the injured list with right forearm tendinitis and designated reliever David Hale for assignment.
Coonrod reported discomfort after a June 15 outing in Los Angeles. He felt better after not pitching for seven days but had a recurrence of the problem Wednesday after walking three of five batters he faced in the sixth inning against Washington. Hale gave up a grand slam to Josh Bell in that inning, hiking his ERA to 6.41 in 17 appearances.
To replace them, the Phillies purchased the contract of former Texas Rangers closer Neftalí Feliz, who had a 1.26 ERA in 15 appearances at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, and recalled infielder Nick Maton.
Feliz, a 33-year-old right-hander, had 72 saves to help the Rangers to back-to-back American League pennants in 2010-11. But injuries, including Tommy John elbow surgery, conspired to keep him from pitching in the majors since 2017 with Kansas City.
The Phillies were impressed with Feliz’s fastball-slider combination in Lehigh Valley. His fastball registered in the 94-97-mph range, a sign to the Phillies that he’s healthy at last.
“I’m not going to lie to you, it was a difficult time for me,” said Feliz, who signed a minor league contract with the Phillies after pitching in winter ball in the Dominican Republic. “But I enjoyed the time with my family. I always kept my head up. I had the confidence in myself, so I knew if I worked hard, this could happen.”
Girardi said it’s “way too early” to consider Feliz as a closer option. When Alvarado is unavailable to pitch, Archie Bradley will be Girardi’s second choice to close.
In time, Neris could regain his job, too, just as he did last season after fixing his problems during a stretch of appearances in lower-leverage situations.
“I think he still wants to be our closer,” Girardi said. “Héctor did it for me last year. We went through this last year and then Héctor was really good in those situations. He’s a real team player, and he’ll do whatever we ask. He doesn’t necessarily like what’s happening, and I wouldn’t expect him to.”
