Phillies: 3 Important takeaways from the Nationals series
After the four-game series against the Washington Nationals, the Philadelphia Phillies sit above the .500 mark with a 56-53 record and are currently half a game back from the first-place New York Mets.
The Phillies were able to sweep a Nationals team who recently traded key players like Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, and Daniel Hudson. Now, they shift focus to the Mets, who are 3-7 in their last 10 games (the Phillies are 6-4) and have a losing record on the road.
But before the Mets series opens, these are some of the most interesting takeaways from the Nats series to keep in mind…
The Phillies used Matt Moore in the bullpen
The Phillies’ latest experiment is to figure out how to get creative with their struggling pitching staff, so they decided to convert Matt Moore into a bullpen arm again. Over 81% of his 197 career games have been starts, but he has also pitched in relief and even closed games, including four this season.
Moore gave up two earned runs in his four innings of work, but that’s not the biggest takeaway from this outing. He’s not exactly known as a flamethrower, but on Wednesday, he looked like one reaching, 95 mph or higher six times. His average fastball has sat at 92.2 mph, but in this appearance, his average was 94.0.
In fact, all of his pitches were thrown harder; his knuckle curve was up 1.8 mph on average, his changeup up 1.1, and his cutter 1.2. Maybe Moore has finally figured out a role on this team. With Ranger Suárez being moved to the rotation, the bullpen needs all the help it can get.
Moore also finally got his first win as a Phillie last night, bringing his record to 1-3 on the season.
Phillies move Ranger Suárez to the rotation
Ranger Suárez has bailed the Phillies out a few different times this season. From his high-leverage stints to becoming the team’s full-time closer for a bit, this team has needed Suárez all over the place this season, and he has delivered.
Last weekend, it was announced that Suárez would be shifting to the starting rotation, despite not having started a game since 2018. They planned to start him out slow and continue to build his arm strength up.
The Phillies are starting their closer, Ranger Suárez, on Monday. They have made the decision to put him back in the rotation. He’ll begin at 3 innings and they’ll build him from there. Matt Moore is moved to the bullpen. Ian Kennedy closes.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) July 31, 2021
Despite acquiring Kyle Gibson at the deadline, the Phillies needed more in the rotation, with Zach Eflin injured and Vince Velasquez being totally ineffective. Re-enter Chase Anderson and enter, Suárez.
Of course, Phillies fans were not thrilled:
This is so dumb. They finally have a chance to have some depth in the bullpen and they screw it up.
— #1 Jalen The System Hurts Fan (@Anthony60957284) July 31, 2021
https://twitter.com/PonySoldier69/status/1421582982729682951?s=20
In Suárez’s first start, he went three innings as planned and only threw 33 pitches. It’s worth noting that several of the “regular” Phillies starters have struggled to exceed three innings, while Suárez no-hit the Nationals and only walked one batter, so even his short start was a vast improvement over the norm.
In his next start, the Phillies plan to have Suárez almost double his pitch count to hover around 60-65 pitches.
Joe Girardi said they’ll push Ranger Suarez to around 60-65 pitches in his next outing.
— Destiny Lugardo (@destiny_lugardo) August 3, 2021
The key issue with Suárez in the rotation going forward is his ability to mix pitches. He’s thrown fastballs 67% of the time, changeups 27% of the time, and his slider just 6% of the time. This will have to change if he wants to be an effective starter.
It is hard to imagine Suárez working out in the rotation being only a two-pitch pitcher, but even having to increase his slider usage, he might be the best, or rather only, option right now. Moore should be in the bullpen, Bailey Falter is on the COVID IL, and Velasquez is on the IL, but really should be off the team.
The bullpen was already struggling before Suárez shifted to the rotation, but the Phillies don’t really have any other options right now.
Chase Anderson doesn’t work for the Phillies
While the Phillies got the win Wednesday night, it came in spite of Chase Anderson‘s performance. In his first start since mid-May, Anderson gave up three earned runs – all home runs – in four innings and threw 55 pitches. He also gave up five hard hits and walked a batter.
We’ve been having the same conversation about Anderson pretty much all season; he has a 5.85 FIP, a 6.75 ERA, and his strikeout rate is the worst since 2015 with Arizona.
In 48 innings this season, Anderson has only struck out 35 batters. In 2020, he pitched 33 2/3 innings and struck out 38. His SO9 is down to 6.6 from 10.2 last season.
Another troubling development is his drop in velocity on all of his pitches, and it is very noticeable. His 91.5 mph fastball average for the season wasn’t amazing, but against the Nationals, it was down to 89.5. His changeup is also down 2 mph, his cutter is down 1.1, his curveball is down 1.8, and his sinker is down nearly 2.5 mph.
Luckily for the Phillies, he is not scheduled to pitch against the Mets, but if this team wants to make a playoff push, Anderson will only hurt their chances. Will that pressure them to keep Suárez in the rotation when Eflin is back?
Overall, the Phillies played a very good four-game series against the Nationals, and are now getting ready for the biggest series of the season, at home against the New York Mets.