Phillies 2021 Spring Training Preview: Pitching Staff
Hector Neris
Long time closer Hector Neris is next. While he has been the guy in the 9th for a while now, that may change in 2021. Neris will not be the favorite to win that job in Spring Training with Archie Bradley and Jose Alvarado joining the Phillies this off-season.
A big part as to why he isn’t the favorite is the inconsistency he has presented year to year. In 2017 Neris was solid with a 3.01 ERA, 3.71 FIP, and a 4.21 xFIP.
2018 was rough and at one point was sent down to Triple-A. 5.10 ERA, 4.04 FIP, and a surprising 2.71 xFIP.
He would regain form in 2019 his best season since 2016, with a 2.93 ERA, 3.83 FIP, and a 3.53 xFIP.
Now we get into his 2020 season where there are 2 things we need to note before listing his stats, one is that he had a lot of pressure on him with the weak depth they had in the bullpen. Another thing is that his FIP is a lot lower than his ERA and xFIP with a 4.57 ERA, 2.50 FIP, and a 4.10 xFIP.
The consistency has just not been there for Neris in his career and the Phillies are not trying to bank on Neris having a bounce-back season. If he does, that is excellent news to the back end of the bullpen, but if he doesn’t it won’t be the worst thing in the world.
Sam Coonrod
Another pitcher the Phillies acquired this offseason is Giants righty Sam Coonrod.
The good thing about Coonrod is his potential as an off-speed spin-rate and hard-throwing reliever out of the bullpen. The bad thing is that he hasn’t ever proven himself.
In 2020 he had a 9.82 ERA, 4.76 FIP, and a 5.22 xFIP which by any means is pretty bad. The one positive is that he did strikeout over 9 batters per 9 innings but still, the overall production is not very good at all.
He did have a solid 2019 with his ERA at 3.58 however, he had a significantly higher FIP and xFIP at 5.24 and 5.70.
He has potential but it will be hard to imagine him seeing it this season with their bullpen depth. It is likely that he starts in Triple-A and works his way to the Major’s later in the season.