Don Mattingly puts his stamp on Phillies' process – and a Jhoan Duran update

MIAMI – Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly offered some interesting insights during a dugout meeting with reporters before Sunday’s game against the Marlins.

Closer Jhoan Duran, who has been nursing a minor oblique strain, is almost ready to return. The hulking right-hander threw a bullpen session Saturday.

“I heard the bullpen was really good,” Mattingly said. “It sounds like he felt really good. He ramped it up. Without telling too much, I guess he hit 100 (mph) down there. We wanted to make sure he got some intensity because throwing at 90 percent is different than throwing at 100. So (the oblique issue) is totally gone. He feels great.”

The question is: Will the Phils require Duran to pitch an inning or two on minor-league rehab before they activate him? He has not pitched in a game since April 11.

“I don’t know,” Mattingly said. “It’s something we’ll talk about.”

Duran, for the record, does not believe he needs a rehab outing. He said Sunday that he was ready to return, but will honor the team’s wishes, either way. He added that he was 100 percent healthy.

Duran’s hitting 100 in the bullpen led to an interesting observation from Mattingly, who was a six-time All-Star, an American League MVP and batting champ during his playing career with the Yankees.

Mattingly was asked if he could have imagined a pitcher hitting 100 mph in the bullpen during his playing days.

“I never thought about what they were doing in the bullpen, honestly, I was playing,” he said. “But the velo has really changed the game. I really kind of believe there were guys that threw just like that, just not nearly as many. The quality of pitching keeps going up – every night you see somebody that’s got great stuff. That part of the game has changed, for sure. It’s made it harder to hit. The amount of information we get on (defensive) positioning, all the metrics with that. We position better than ever. The evolution of things, guys are bigger and stronger.”

On the subject of defensive positioning, Mattingly said he’s not thought much about how the Phillies’ infielders have been lining up. There have been times in the early season when opposing teams have found holes in the Phillies’ infield alignments.

“Balls get through,” he conceded with a that’s-baseball tone. “I don’t like talking about it because it kind of feels like an excuse. But, in general, when we bobble a ball or don’t make a play, it hurts us.”

That said, at Mattingly’s behest, coaches and team officials will meet to review the club’s quality of play during the coming homestand. Mattingly said these review sessions will happen periodically throughout the season to identify trends and weaknesses and come up with plans to address them. He took part in these sessions during his three seasons as Toronto’s bench coach and believes they have value.

“We’ll look at where we rank in all areas — offense, defense, pitching — what areas are not as good, just to get a factual starting point where we are and what we’ve been. We’ll do it again in three weeks to a month, stuff to keep an eye on.

“It’s not about anything we’ve done to this point. It’s where are we as a group, these are the facts, are we playing good baseball or not according to the league and we rank. It’s something we did in Toronto and I liked it. When you see something you like, you bring it with you.”