Aug 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker (99) throws a pitch against the Miami Marlins during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
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Once again, the Philadelphia Phillies have the best record in baseball.
Their strong pitching has carried them most of the season. This week, they have seen several changes to that pitching staff after making some enhancement moves at the trade deadline. Let’s break down the recent changes and give some insight into their upcoming plans. You’ll hear from Taijuan Walker about his feelings about his first start back from the injured list.
Phillips down, Gilbert up
In a swapping of Tyler’s, the Phillies announced they were calling up left-hander Tyler Gilbert from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In a corresponding move, right-hander Tyler Phillips was optioned to Triple-A.
After an exciting start to his major league career after a July 5 call-up, Phillips – the Phillies fan turned Phillies starter – started to falter after the calendar turned to August. He had two very memorable starts at Citizens Bank Park in July – his first major league start, a win against Oakland on July 7, and a complete game shutout that he twirled on July 27 versus a strong Cleveland lineup. From there, it was downhill. Phillips was torched in Seattle for eight runs over 1.2 innings, kept things close enough in Los Angeles where he surrendered four runs over five innings, then gave up five runs in without completing the fifth frame on Wednesday at home vs. Miami.
There were talks of the Phillies going to a six-man rotation once Walker and Ranger Suárez both returned from the injured list, but the plan is less clear with Phillips in Triple-A as the club has noted Gilbert may be used in a long relief role. Phillies manager Rob Thomson was asked about the plans for the rotation and Phillips’s recent struggles on Thursday, prior to the moves on Saturday:
“I think there’s a residual effect from the complete game that’s still going on and you, you’re seeing the ball up in the zone a little bit more, you don’t see quite as much sink and that’s, that’s really his game. So hopefully we can get that back.“
Tyler Phillips Monthly Stats
July: 25.0 IP | 17 H | 5 ER | 2 BB | 19 K | 1.80 ERA | 0.76 WHIP
Thomson also noted that the plan, at that time, was for Phillips to make his next start on Tuesday in Atlanta. After the move was made, Thomson said it was “due to fatigue. It’s nothing he’s done wrong…I think it will just give him a little bit of a reset.” He provided clarity around the pitching plans before Sunday’s series finale against Washington. Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola will pitch on regular rest Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, with Thursday likely to be a bullpen game where Gilbert will pitch in a bulk role.
Gilbert, originally a Phillies draft pick in 2015, has been up and down between the minors and majors with Arizona during his career. In his first major league start back in 2021, he threw a no-hitter. In three years with the Diamondbacks, he pitched in 28 games, making 13 starts. In that time he had a 4.32 ERA and a 1.200 WHIP, but his numbers fell off after his rookie season, and Arizona granted him free agency last November. He signed a deal with Cincinnati in January, and had a rough start to the season with Triple-A Louisville, posting a horrid 13.11 ERA in 11.2 IP (7 games, 3 starts).
Things have been much different for the 30-year-old since he was acquired by Philadelphia, however. In 35 innings of relief, Gilbert has a 2.06 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and an impressive 48:6 K:BB ratio. Thomson told reporters, including Anthony SanFilippo from Crossing Broad on Saturday that the organization has helped him improve his slider. “It’s a bigger slider, a slurvy type of slider.”
Philadelphia hopes his success since coming to their organization will lead to a spark for the pitching staff while they wait to get healthy.
Phillies Injury Updates
In order to add Gilbert to the 40-man roster, Philadelphia moved Spencer Turnbull to the 60-day injured list. Turnbull last pitched on June 26, a three-inning outing in Detroit where he would leave the game after suffering a lat strain. Turnbull’s shift to the 60-day doesn’t change much as it’s been 52 days since he was added to the list originally.
On Thursday, Thomson noted that they had to pull back a bit on Turnbull’s throwing program after the lat flared up again. Saturday provided a better outlook. Thomson said that the plan for Turnbull is to continue his throwing program at some point this upcoming week, adding that he’s “feeling a lot better” per reporters, including Tim Kelly of Phillies Nation.
Suárez, who is on the 15-day IL with lower back soreness, is expected to return within the week. He pitched a sim game on Saturday, tossing 57 pitched over four innings at Citizens Bank Park. There was piped-in crowd noise to help him get acclimated to pitching in front of a crowd. His manager told reporters his “stuff looked good” and he looked stronger as the game went on. The plan is for the left-hander to rejoin the rotation during their road trip to Kansas City.
Aug 16, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Taijuan Walker’s return
Walker is starting today, the final game of the homestand, but returned from the injured list this past Tuesday against the Marlins. The club had placed him on the IL retroactive to June 22 with right index finger inflammation.
He went just four innings, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks on 76 pitches. The plan was for him to be capped at about 80 pitches. After the game, Thomson said outside of the first inning – he liked what he saw from the right-hander:
“That was the problem in the first inning, is the two walks. They didn’t really hit a ball hard in the first inning. I thought he was really good in the second, gives up a home run to Burger in the third…and I thought he was better in the fourth again. Velocity was up, touched 93. I thought the Split had a lot of bottom to it, not a whole lot of hard contact.”
I had the chance to speak with Walker in an exclusive prior to Thursday’s game about what it felt like to be back on the mound for his club. He said he felt really good and missed being on the field:
“Really good. I missed being out there competing with the guys. Obviously the first time I was fully amped up, can’t locate the ball very well. But after that first inning I settled down and got back into a groove…the biggest thing was getting my Splitter back. I thought it was really, really good, you know. I had to re-calibrate after the first because I was throwing everything down, which is good, which we want to do, but it was moving a lot more than I thought it would, so I had to adjust my sights on that.”
Sunday’s performance was similar to his last. Walker allowed three runs on four hits and three walks. He threw 99 pitches, 61 for strikes, over 4.2 innings. All the runs he surrendered came on two home runs – both hit on pitches well out of the strike zone.
Philadelphia may be on the other side of their midsummer stumble, but the health of their pitching is of the utmost importance. As they get healthy, they should continue to get back to their winning ways and remain in the mix for the best record in all of baseball.
