Why Soto instead of Strahm? What happened to Alvarado? Thomson on bullpen moves originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
LONDON — Sometimes it’s possible to be too rested.
At least that’s why Rob Thomson thinks some of his relievers were erratic on Sunday afternoon in the series-ending 6-5 loss to the Mets at London Stadium.
Gregory Soto, who gave up the game-tying hits in the sixth inning with the Phillies up three, hadn’t pitched in six days. Matt Strahm hadn’t pitched in five days. José Alvarado hadn’t pitched in four days.
None of them had his best command. Soto allowed two inherited runners to score and one of his own. Strahm got out of trouble, but Alvarado was unable to escape in the ninth. Alvarado walked two batters, struck out one, gave up two singles and drew a pass with JT Realmuto on a cutter that moved in a way he normally doesn’t.
The long layoffs are a byproduct of having the best rotation in baseball, but also having two days off on Thursday and Friday, something that never happens during a regular season.
“I thought some of these guys were a little rusty, but not Alvarado,” Thomson said. “I thought his stuff was really good, he was lacking. But you have games like that. I still trust him a lot. His stuff is great.”
Alvarado has pitched to a 1.40 ERA in his last 28 appearances and has struck out multiple batters just once in that span. David Dahl gave the Phillies a one-run lead with a home run in the bottom of the seventh, and after a scoreless eighth by Jeff Hoffman, the Phillies were three outs away from sweeping the London Mets.
The bullpen has been so good for so long, with a 1.76 ERA since May 1 that has been by far the best in all of baseball.
One of those days.
“I felt good today. We don’t need to think about these things,” said Alvarado, referring to the rust factor. “I look at it like it’s not my day today. Something with my command.
“Throw a good pitch and that’s it. Today, the Mets, they got me. That’s baseball.”
The game might have turned out differently if Thomson had gone a different route in the top of the sixth. Taijuan Walker pitched five brilliant innings to start the day and with one out in the sixth put just one man on base. Then nine-hole hitter Luis Torrens singled and Pete Alonso walked on four pitches with two strikeouts.
Thomson left to get Walker.
“I thought it was time to go,” he said. “I wanted to end his day without giving up any races. I wanted him to have a good day, to feel good because he threw really well.”
The other option would be to go with Strahm instead of Soto. Strahm has been much more effective with 26 consecutive starts without an earned run. Thomson’s reasoning was wanting to give Strahm a full inning, along with the previous success Soto had against Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Martinez, who went 1-for-7 in a small sample size. Nimmo hit an RBI double and Martinez hit a two-run single.
“He’s been pitching really well to this day. He’s had some really good starts over the last five, six starts,” Thomson said of Soto, who has a 4.81 ERA in 93 starts as a Phillie.
“They really simplified his delivery. Instead of lifting the high leg and then taking a sliding step, it’s all a sliding step and your arm is able to catch up. I consider this one just rust.”
The Phillies have four relievers – Alvarado, Hoffman, Strahm and Orion Kerkering – who inspired supreme confidence with their performance last year. Seranthony Dominguez also stood out with eight consecutive goalless matches. Most teams don’t have three relievers they can trust, let alone four or five.
They need more from Soto, though.
“This team here can turn the page very easily,” Thomsons said. “Tomorrow is a new day, it’s a bad day. They’re going to need it and we’ll be back on Tuesday. Get some rest. Stay healthy.”
The Phillies had a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth. They entered trailing by two, but Cristian Pache singled, Realmuto was hit by a pitch, Bryce Harper singled to load the bases and Alec Bohm walked to force in a run. There was still only one out.
Nick Castellanos dribbled a ball with one foot in front of the plate and Torrens fielded it, took a step back to score and sprinted to first base for a game-ending 2-3 double play. You rarely see a game end like this.
Castellanos said he actually considered shooting the ball for a split second.
“I think if I did that, I would get called out and everything would stay the same,” he said. “So in hindsight, I probably should have kicked. But I didn’t, I just decided to run first.”
What an ending that could have provided.
The 45-20 Phillies went straight from London Stadium to the airport for a flight to Boston. Not to sleep too much on the plane was the training team’s advice because it would be around 10:30 pm when they would land.
They’ve been on a few long trips over the past two weeks. Philadelphia to Denver to San Francisco back to Philadelphia to London to Boston. They have just one more truly grueling trip the rest of the season, to Seattle, Los Angeles and Arizona in early August.
“It was a great experience to be able to come to Europe and play two games of baseball,” Castellanos said. “Ideally you want to win both. Come out with a split. Now we go back and get ready for the Red Sox.”
