On Monday, the Phillies completed a trade with the Giants to acquire Yunior Marte. The addition of Marte to the Phillies bullpen brought yet another fireballer to the team.
Marte averages 97.7 MPH on his 4-seamer and peaked at 99 MPH in 2022. He joins a laundry list of hard-throwing relievers on the Phillies.
Between the Phillies’ 10 top relieving candidates, they average a fastball velocity of 96.7 MPH according to their 2022 averages. The hardest-throwing bullpen in 2022 was the Yankees with an average fastball velocity of 95.6 MPH.
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Jose Alvarado leads the way with his 99.6 MPH sinker. Alvarado recorded a 3.18 ERA in the 2022 season and was almost unhittable as of June 16th. From that date, Alvarado had a 1.22 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 37 IP.
Newly acquired Gregory Soto follows up with a fastball that averaged 98.7 MPH in 2022. The fellow lefty is a 2X All-Star closer with the Tigers and has a 3.34 ERA in his past 2 seasons.
With those 2 alone, the Phillies have almost cornered the market on lefty 100+ MPH pitches, now owning 81% of shares.
Probable closer, Seranthony Dominguez, averages 98.2 MPH on his fastball which makes him the Phillies’ hardest-throwing righty. Finally healthy for a full season, Seranthony thrived with a 3 ERA but was even better in the postseason. When the lights shined brightest, Seranthony had a 1.69 ERA in 10.2 IP.
The Phillies’ newest acquisition, Yunior Marte, comes in 2nd for the righty race as his fastball averages 97.7 MPH. While his major league debut was lackluster, Marte had a great year in Triple-A. He posted a 3.16 ERA with a 12.3 K/9 in the noted hitter’s league of the Pacific Coast League. He has some potential but might not crack the roster right away.
Sam Coonrod sits exactly at a 97 MPH average. Coonrod had a rough 2022 coming off of an injury but showed some potential in 2021 when he posted a 3.71 FIP.
Nick Nelson is next at 96.3 MPH. While Nelson isn’t a back end of the bullpen piece, he did serve an important role on the 2022 Phillies. Nelson had 18 appearances last season in which he went 2+ IP. Whether on mop-up duty or saving the bullpen, Nelson did his job.
Craig Kimbrel is another new face in the bullpen but should be a mystery to no one. He averaged 95.8 MPH on his fastball last season but should be noted as one of the best relievers of the past decade. It’s hard to say how he’ll contribute in 2023. The best bet is he’ll be a set-up man. He needs just 6 more saves to get to reach the 400 mark.
Connor Brogdon is the last Phillie to average 95+ MPH on their fastball (95.1 to be exact). Brogdon had a 3.27 ERA, the lowest of his career. He also had a 2.08 postseason ERA, including 7.1 IP scoreless IP between the NLCS and World Series.
Now, we get to the sea turtles of the Phillies bullpen. While slow on land, sea turtles can swim upwards of 20 MPH. These last 2 relievers might not sit in the mid 90’s but neither average below 94 MPH.
Andrew Bellatti averages 94.4 MPH on his fastball. He became an import back-end of the bullpen for Rob Thomson especially later in the season. He had a 3.31 ERA and opponents only hit .203 against his slider. So, it wasn’t his fastball that made him effective.
Last, but not least is another new addition. Matt Strahm averages 94.2 MPH on his fastball. While it’s the slowest of the Phillies’ relievers, opposing batters hit just .145 against Strahm’s 4-seamer in 2022.
This could be the best Phillies bullpen of all time by their sheer stuff. The Phillies bullpen was 9th in fWAR last season and could move up again. They were 22nd in bullpen ERA and will easily be better in 2023.
Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
