Phillies may have lost the series to San Fran, but they won the Sam Coonrod trade

17 games into the 2021 MLB season, and things haven’t necessarily gone according to plan for the Philadelphia Phillies. They’re sat one game under .500 at 7-8, they’ve lost three of their last eleven, and a handful of their key roster members haven’t been producing up to par.

Currently, the team is in the midst of a losing effort against the Gabe Kapler led San Francisco Giants. They’ve already dropped two of three, losing Tuesday night’s affair in rather spectacular fashion as reliever Connor Brogdon allowed six runs in the 8th inning.

Even if Zach Eflin is able to grind out a win later this afternoon, losing a home series to San Francisco is very much a “red flag” when it comes to assessing the current state of the team.

With that said, it hasn’t been all bad news. Bryce Harper’s OPS is over 1.000, Aaron Nola threw the first complete game shutout of his career over the weekend, Jean Segura is hitting over .300 (granted he left Tuesday’s game with a quad injury), and offseason addition Sam Coonrod has been a rather pleasant surprise in the team’s bullpen.

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Actually acquired via a trade with the San Francisco Giants, the decision to pursue someone like Coonrod has proven to be a worthwhile investment for Dave Dombrowski and company.

Targeted as a potential bullpen upgrade due to his elite level velocity, Coonrod was coming off a pretty miserable 2020 season. Despite possessing a fastball that had an average velocity of 98.5 MPH, Coonrod posted a 9.82 ERA and a 1.636 WHIP last season with the Giants. Granted his FIP was a 4.76, but he was very much a “gamble” addition, as opposed to more established options like Archie Bradley, Brandon Kintzler, and even Jose Alvarado.

However, despite his poor outings the year prior, Coonrod has shown up to Philadelphia pitching far better than everyone initially expected. After back to back scoreless outings against his former team the past two nights, Coonrod’s ERA on the season is down to an eye-popping 1.13, and his WHIP is down at 0.38. He’s recorded nine strikeouts through 8.0 innings pitched, and his average fastball velocity has climbed all the way up to 99.7 MPH – over a full MPH higher than what it was in 2020.

RHP Sam Coonrod has looked impressive for the Phillies thus far.

While it’s still quite early in the season, and all it takes is one bad showing for the narrative surrounding a reliever to change (as we just witnessed with Brogdon), Coonrod has looked pretty darn impressive through his first couple of outings with the Phillies. His velocity is right up there with Jose Alvarado’s, and he’s proven capable of taking down key innings for Joe Girardi.

Throw in the fact that Coonrod is under team control through 2025, and the acquisition of the right-handed reliever is looking like quite the steal for Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies.

All Dombrowski gave up in return was RHP Carson Ragsdale, a 2020 draft pick who’s yet to debut in the Giants’ minor league system. Even if you like Ragsdale as a prospect, it’s impossible to not feel like Philly got the better end of this specific deal.

While the Phillies have a whole list of on-field problems that they’re currently sorting through (including Joe Girardi’s management of the bullpen), Sam Coonrod and his ability to get key outs has not been one of them. He’s been extremely productive this season, and his uptick in velocity compared to previous seasons has me confident he’ll be able to keep up a semblance of this form moving forward.

It’s pretty hard for guys to make solid contact when Coonrod is pumping 101 MPH fastballs by them late in ballgames.