Oct 6, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering (50) and catcher J.T. Realmuto (10) have a meeting at the mound in the seventh inning against the New York Mets during game two of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
In the first two games of the NLDS, the Phillies bullpen has pitched six innings. They've allowed 10 runs. That's not a good ratio.
Oddly enough, when bullpens go south, it's usually the result of wildness. Walks kill, and often the root of a bullpen's problems stem from that.
But here's the irony. In those six innings, the Phillies relievers have thrown 130 pitches. 91 for strikes. That's 70% strikes. In Game 1, Matt Strahm threw 100% strikes - 17-for-17.
By comparison, Zack Wheeler's epic performance in Game 1 saw him throw 111 pitches, with just 68 for strikes. That's a 61.3% strike rate. After the game, Wheeler talked about how you have to pitch differently in the playoffs than in the regular season to avoid getting hurt by opposing hitters.
"I trust myself, so I know if I walk a guy, hopefully I can get that next guy out." pic.twitter.com/UqVxVtwSUW
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) October 6, 2024
"I was able to command a lot of my stuff for the most part," he said. "I did have four walks, but that was me being very careful with a 1-0 lead. You can't make mistakes in the playoffs. If the pitch was up and in, I was going to make sure it was up and in. I didn't want anything nibbling back. It's a lot different than the regular season. You just have to be careful. I trust myself, so if I walk a guy, I know I got to go get that next guy."
And yet, the bullpen didn't take the same approach. Part of what made guys like Strahm and Jeff Hoffman and Orion Kerkering successful in the regular season was their ability to attack the strike zone, get ahead of hitters, and then rely on the percentages being in their favor once they got two strikes.
In the playoffs, it's a different animal.
"Their hitters are fighting hard," manager Rob Thomson said of the Mets lineup. "They're putting good at bats against us and they're waiting for a miss on our part and unfortunately we haven't executed on some pitches and they've taken advantage."
Part of that lack of execution is throwing too many pitches in the strike zone - especially in two strike counts. In Game 1, five straight Mets hitters did damage in that fateful eighth inning after being down 0-2 in the count.
In Game 2, Pete Alonso's homer came on a 1-2 pitch. Mark Vientos' second homer off Strahm was on a full count.
MARK TIES THIS GAME!!! pic.twitter.com/saXeu9LuAw
The Phillies bullpen needs to make an adjustment with their pitches when there are two strikes on these Mets.
"Especially 0-2 or 1-2 you want to get chase," Thomson said. "You give the illusion that the pitch is in the zone and then it leaves it. That's what you want to have. They're fighting hard and fouling off some of those pitches until we make a mistake and a pitch that starts out of the zone ends up in the zone and they do some damage on it. We have some corrections to make, but we will. We'll adjust."
It'll be worth monitoring during a pivotal Game 3 how much the bullpen starts avoiding the strike zone, especially when they have two strikes and are ahead in the count.
