Philadelphia Phillies: Velocity is the key to an improved bullpen in 2021

It’s no secret that the Philadelphia Phillies had a bad bullpen last season. In fact, if we’re judging things in terms of ERA, the collective ‘pen that Matt Klentak fielded in 2020 was the second worst in MLB history. Not great!

With Klentak no longer in charge of the Phillies day-to-day operations, and future Hall of Famer Dave Dombrowski now running the show, a very clear plan has emerged in regards to *fixing* the team’s reliever room.

Dombrowski is hunting velocity, and he’s doing so aggressively.

Outside of just an overall lack of talent, the main issue that plagued Philly’s bullpen last season was a lack of inherent velocity. Even the team’s “best” relievers (I put this in quotations because every reliever on the Phillies last season was below average to some extent) weren’t exactly hard-throwers. Guys like Blake Parker and Tommy Hunter pretty much topped out at the 91-92 MPH range. In a league that’s increasingly prioritizing flamethrowers coming out of the bullpen, this was obviously concerning.

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While teams like the Rays and the Dodgers were loading up on as many 100 MPH arms as humanly possible, Klentak and the Phillies were pretty much doing the opposite. It wasn’t until the end of the regular season when the team finally started utilizing JoJo Romero and Connor Brogdon (who can both pitch into the high 90s), but by that point it was far too late. The damage had already been done by soft-tossers like Deolis Guerra, Reggie McClain, Trevor Kelley, Heath Hembree, Brandon Workman, etc.

Fast forwarding to when Dombrowski accepted the Phillies’ president gig, he was well aware of the work that had to be done in regards to fixing the team’s reliever situation. He quickly snapped up Jose Alvarado and Sam Coonrod via trade, who both possess average fastball velocities of 98+.

Dombrowski acquired veteran reliever Archie Bradley via free agency to fix the team’s closer situation, but then continued to hone in on low-risk velocity arms for the rest of the offseason. Connor Brogdon and JoJo Romero are expected to play bigger roles in 2021, Spencer Howard appears to be converting into a reliever for the short term, Vince Velasquez is still hanging around, and non-roster invitee Bryan Mitchell was oddly pumping 95+ in his first spring appearance.

Alvarado, who has dealt with some injuries in the past, was still comfortably sitting at 99 MPH for the entirety of his 1.0 inning spring debut. Coonrod, who needs to look more like his 2019 self moving forward as opposed to his 2020 self, was also blowing fastballs past hitters with ease.

For a team that’s so routinely relied on low-velocity pitchers over the last couple of years, it’s been a welcome change thus far.

The Philadelphia Phillies have majorly improved their velocity this offseason.

Now obviously it’s still only Spring Training, and good velocity doesn’t always equal good results. However, in 2021 the Philadelphia Phillies will at least have the option of powering pitches past batters late in games. Gone are the days of Tommy Hunter lobbing in 91 MPH “fastballs”, while fans sit with their fingers crossed, hoping that it doesn’t get launched 450+ feet into the air.

With Bradley, Brandon Kintzler, and hopefully Tony Watson filling the role of “experienced veteran”, guys like Alvarado, Coonrod, Romero, Brogdon, and Howard can come in and do what they do best – throw absolute gas.