CLEARWATER, Fla. – Gabe Kapler looked like a member of the Knothole Gang as he peered through a hole in a fence Wednesday morning and gazed at his new pitcher. Three pitchers were throwing on the other side of that fence, but the manager’s attention was on the righthander in the middle: Jake Arrieta.
Arrieta threw a bullpen session – the $75 million pitcher’s first baseball activity since joining the Phillies – on the other side of that fence. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz and assistant Chris Young stood near the mound. More than 50 minor-leaguers watched from afar.