Phillies news: Hoskins, Alfaro, and a six-man rotation

During Tuesday’s beat writer-clubhouse visit time, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin shared his plans for the last 18 games of the season. And he and GM Matt Klentak are finally making it official.

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING, SINGING THE SONG OF ANGRY —

Jorge Alfaro will get the majority of the playing time at catcher, and Rhys Hoskins will spend most of his time at first base instead of in left field. Cameron Rupp and newly activated Andrew Knapp will be spending their time on the bench, as will Tommy Joseph.

With Rupp and Alfaro, things were already trending slightly in that direction. Of ten September games, Jorge Alfaro has gotten six starts while Cameron Rupp has gotten just four. That’s not a huge difference, but now Mackanin has said it out loud. Hopefully

As for Hoskins, there’s no more room for him in the outfield with Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera back. That leaves two options: first base or the bench. And the manager that benches 2017 Rhys Hoskins is an idiot who wants to get fired. Especially if the other option at first base is 2017 Tommy Joseph.

Mackanin announced one other thing.

The Phillies need 18 more starts from their pitchers. And to help, they’re calling up Henderson Alvarez, who was signed as a free agent last week, and switching to a six-man rotation. That means each member of the rotation gets three more turns on the mound. Let’s hope this helps, or at least doesn’t suck too much. In the waning days of the season, that’s really as much as we could hope for.