PHILADELPHIA — Long earlier than the Houston bullpen struck out a 3rd of the batters it confronted within the 2022 World Series and held these Phillies to a .123 batting common and .178 slugging share, Dave Dombrowski was fascinated with velocity. The first participant the veteran govt acquired upon taking management of the Phillies was José Alvarado. Velocity was value chasing, however there was extra to it than that. Velocity needed to develop into greater than an acquisition technique.
But, within the last World Series, it was a separator. Astros relievers averaged 96 mph on their fastballs. They had command. They had sharp breaking balls.
“As far as their bullpen,” Nick Castellanos mentioned Sunday, “just quality s—.”
Now, when Castellanos watches the Phillies bullpen this October, what stands out?
“Great stuff,” Castellanos mentioned. “But, I mean, Dave’s a really smart guy. I don’t think that’s by accident. You know?”
It’s not. Dombrowski, the membership’s president of baseball operations, didn’t want last 12 months’s World Series as proof. “It really didn’t influence me because it’s been a philosophy of mine for years,” he mentioned. “That did not change it. The difference, like a lot of things, is it becomes the opportunity to acquire individuals that fit that description.” Phillies relievers, throughout the 2023 season, threw more durable fastballs on common than some other bullpen in baseball. Their 96.3 mph common velocity was 0.5 mph increased than the next-closest bullpen and 1 mph increased than the third- and fourth-ranked bullpens.
That may signify the largest disparity between the Phillies and Diamondbacks on this National League Championship Series. Arizona’s bullpen ranked nineteenth in regular-season fastball velocity. In the postseason, Phillies relievers have fired their fastballs at 97.2 mph on common. Arizona’s bullpen averages 3.5 mph much less at 93.7 mph.
Phillies relievers have thrown 119 fastballs at 97 mph or better this postseason and never a type of pitches has resulted in an extra-base hit.
“I think from the time I got here, every year there was a little bit more emphasis on building that bullpen,” Phillies supervisor Rob Thomson mentioned. “And I think we’ve got an extraordinary bullpen now that I have a lot of confidence in.”
José Alvarado ranked within the 98th percentile in fastball velocity this season. (Bill Streicher / USA Today)
It’s not as if the Phillies have stumbled upon some unimaginable revelation.
“I don’t think it’s a major-league secret that teams are trying to acquire stuff,” Phillies director of pitching growth and assistant pitching coach Brian Kaplan mentioned. “But it’s the consistency and the durability of the stuff from the beginning of the season all the way through the playoffs. That’s what is truly valuable.”
This, the Phillies imagine, is the place they have uncovered something. They don’t wish to talk about it. It’s one factor to target pitchers who throw laborious. It’s one other to take these pitchers and optimize their pitch utilization and strike-throwing skill whereas conserving them wholesome.
The 12 months earlier than Dombrowski got here to Philadelphia, the Phillies had one of many worst bullpens ever — albeit in a shortened, 60-game season. Their relievers threw fastballs that averaged 92.5 mph. “Whatever (the) reason,” Dombrowski mentioned, “a premium wasn’t put on that.” Now, Dombrowski mentioned, it’s an organizational cornerstone that extends past the precise quantity on the radar gun.
“From our perspective, we have pitching coaches at the big-league level and throughout the system that are able to help individuals,” Dombrowski mentioned. “Then you get into the training staffs and the conditioning people that are able to help people maximize that. It’s really a thought process from the top to bottom in the organization. It’s something we emphasize a great deal.”
The Phillies have invested important sources into their biomechanics division. Their athletic coaching workers, honored in 2022 as the very best in baseball, underwent key adjustments earlier than the 2020 season. The Phillies overhauled their energy and conditioning applications earlier than the 2022 season. They employed pitching coach Caleb Cotham earlier than the 2021 season and Kaplan earlier than 2022.
They completed the 2023 season with two 40-man roster pitchers on the injured record — Dylan Covey and Erich Uelmen. Andrew Painter, the membership’s high pitching prospect, suffered a serious elbow harm in spring coaching. But, as a rule, the Phillies have discovered methods to harness excessive velocity and hold it out there.
Their relievers are throwing even more durable in October.
“Stuff by itself is incredibly physical,” Kaplan mentioned. “It’s taxing. It’s stressful. It requires a very strong understanding of that athlete and how they move their body. How they carry stress. How they manage stress from the training room to the weight room to nutrition. It’s all a piece of it.”
Seranthony Domínguez is throwing more durable in October than he did in September. (Eric Hartline / USA Today)
The distinction, to Dombrowski, was what constituted elite velocity and what didn’t. Five years in the past, he considered elite velocity being 95 mph.
The Phillies established the next benchmark as they constructed the present unit.
“Now, it’s 97 mph,” Dombrowski mentioned. “There are a lot of guys coming in and throwing 95. I don’t mean to take away from 95. But all of a sudden, it’s different. You notice even when people are doing the calculations on how guys hit against velocity. Really, the number they’re using is 97. So those are harder to find than guys throwing 95.”
It presents a problem to an upstart Diamondbacks group that soared into this spherical by smashing 13 homers in 5 postseason video games. Arizona slugged .359 in opposition to 97-plus mph fastballs throughout the common season. That ranked fifteenth in baseball.
Arizona supervisor Torey Lovullo mentioned it’ll be a degree of emphasis.
“It’s about the preparedness,” Luvullo mentioned. “It’s about figuring out how to win the inch and making sure that we’re ready to go. We’ve got all of our information in the hopper right now, and we’re going to pull it out and give it to the players and have those meetings with the players. Allow them to go out there and just be as great as they can be.”
A superb rotation and bullpen are symbiotic. No bullpen threw fewer innings throughout the season (543 1/3) than the Phillies’ did. (Houston had the second-fewest bullpen innings in 2023.) The Phillies managed their relievers with the concept of going deep into October. They had starters who may shoulder bigger workloads and nonetheless be efficient in October. They had their strategies of monitoring and sustaining well being.
Now, in a seven-game collection, that steady of pitchers will face a stress check. The Phillies don’t wish to run out of gasoline this time if they are to succeed in one other World Series. Maybe what Houston threw on the Phillies in 2022 didn’t affect 2023, nevertheless it was laborious to neglect how that bullpen did what it did.
“Guy after guy after guy,” Castellanos mentioned.
“They already did it and perfected it,” Dombrowski mentioned. “But it was not a change in philosophy because of what they did.”
It just proved how highly effective a hard-throwing bullpen could be when the last groups are standing.
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(Top photograph of the Phillies bullpen throughout the Wild Card Series in opposition to the Marlins: Rob Tringali / MLB Photos through Getty Images)
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