Phillies Add Matt Strahm as Caleb Cotham’s Next Project

In Sport 1 of the World Collection, Phillies supervisor Rob Thomson made a moderately unorthodox pitching change, bringing in Ranger Suárez, his possible Sport 3 starter, for the seventh inning. He did so as a result of he wished a lefty to face the guts of Houston’s lineup, and he had already used his finest southpaw reliever just a few innings prior. Philadelphia did have a second left-hander ready within the bullpen – Brad Hand – however in that second, it was clear Thomson didn’t belief him with the sport on the road. Quick ahead a few months: Hand is a free agent, and the Phillies have a brand new lefty in his place. On Tuesday on the Winter Conferences, the crew signed Matt Strahm for a two-year, $15 million contract, per Jeff Passan of ESPN. By giving him the sixth-largest assure for a free-agent reliever this offseason, the Phillies are betting that he’ll pitch nicely sufficient that they don’t need to put Suárez again within the bullpen anytime quickly.

Strahm acquired an analogous deal as Chris Martin (two years, $17.5 million), however he’s far much less confirmed of a participant. A 31-year-old left-hander, he spent final season with the Purple Sox, throwing 44.2 innings with 52 strikeouts and a 3.72 FIP. It was a strong bounce-back season after he missed most of 2021 recovering from patellar tendon surgical procedure on his proper knee. Certainly, the southpaw has had a profession filled with setbacks and breakthroughs. He was a Twenty first-round draft decide who pitched simply 30 innings of rookie ball earlier than Tommy John surgical procedure shut him down. But when he lastly started his skilled profession in earnest, he was completely dominant, rapidly rising by means of the ranks of the Royals’ farm system. In 2017, 5 years after being drafted 643rd general, he was named a top-100 prospect by this very web site.

72. Matt Strahm

Scouting Abstract: I’m on Strahm as a starter not simply because I believe his changeup will progress to common as he continues to make up for misplaced growth time on account of damage, but additionally as a result of he has wonderful command of a vicious curveball that he repeatedly works inside to right-handed hitters. He’ll additionally run his fastball as much as 96.

-Eric Longenhagen

Strahm’s prospect pedigree hinged on his mid-rotation potential, a ceiling he by no means reached. He was terrific pitching out of the pen in 2018, his first full season, but the Padres (who had acquired him in a deadline deal in ’17) tried transferring him into the beginning rotation the next season, and he failed miserably. He wound up again within the bullpen by the All-Star break. He was nice once more within the second half, and it appeared like he had lastly discovered his calling as a reliable reliever. Sadly, that stability didn’t final lengthy, as he had a wildly inconsistent 2020 season and finally wanted knee surgical procedure in October. He was non-tendered after the 2021 season, and the Purple Sox picked him up for affordable.

That’s Strahm in a nutshell: from unheralded draft decide to high prospect to failed starter to strong reliever to injured listing to eight-figure free-agent deal. Because of all these ups and downs, he’s nonetheless figuring issues out at 31 years outdated. Evidently, the Phillies suppose they’ll help in his self-discovery and switch Strahm right into a constant aid choice over the following two years.

Strahm doesn’t have overpowering stuff. He averages round 94 mph on each his four-seam and his sinker, which is league-average velocity for a reliever. His supply doesn’t do him any favors both; he elevated his extension in 2022, however it was nonetheless solely within the forty eighth percentile on Baseball Savant. With out excessive velocity (or perceived excessive velocity), he succeeds by preserving hitters on their toes utilizing all kinds of pitches. Along with his fastballs, he throws a slider, a curveball, and a changeup, and in 2022 he used every pitch at the very least 9% of the time. Such a various pitch combine is uncommon for a aid pitcher; of 203 relievers with at the very least 40 innings final season, solely 39 threw 5 separate pitches even 1% of the time, and solely 16 threw that many pitches 5% of the time. Strahm is considered one of solely 4 to make use of 5 totally different choices at the very least 9% of the time:

To make issues extra attention-grabbing, Strahm is the one left-hander on this unique membership. Thus, he’s a little bit of a unicorn, and due to this fact a pitching coach’s dream. His ground is that of a serviceable center reliever, however his multifarious arsenal provides him the instruments to work towards a better ceiling. The extra instruments in his belt, the extra methods his coaches can change issues up.

Caleb Cotham, the Phillies’ pitching guru, had quite a lot of success working with relievers to revise their repertoires final season. José Alvarado remodeled right into a backend fireman following an adjustment to his pitch combine, and Andrew Bellatti and Nick Nelson turned competent big-league arms after altering their very own approaches. Cotham will hope to attain comparable outcomes with Strahm.

As a spot to start out, he ought to give attention to Strahm’s method towards left-handed batters. The Phillies want one other reliable choice towards the Sotos and Freemans of the world, and presumably, that’s what they signed him to be. Considerably surprisingly, nevertheless, the 31-year-old ended up with reverse platoon splits final season:

In such a small pattern measurement, platoon splits imply little. However because it seems, Strahm hasn’t ever dealt with left-handed batters notably nicely:

Partly, we will chalk this as much as the competitors he’s confronted; as a southpaw reliever, Strahm is extra more likely to see robust left-handed hitters and weaker right-handed hitters. Even so, you’d count on his stats to look a bit higher when he has the platoon benefit. His profession numbers towards right-handed batters are completely respectable. His efficiency towards same-handed hitters, nevertheless, leaves a lot to be desired if the Phillies are going to belief him to face their most difficult left-handed opponents. So the place is there room for enchancment?

The most important distinction between Strahm’s method to righties and lefties is that he makes use of his four-seam fastball as his main pitch towards the previous and his sinker as his go-to providing towards the latter. He launched the sinker just a few years in the past, after lefties annihilated his four-seam fastball in 2018 and ’19. However whereas the sinker has been a greater choice, it’s nonetheless a mediocre pitch; left-handers had a .341 wOBA and .299 xwOBA towards it final season, with a minuscule 9.1% whiff charge. It didn’t assist that the pitch had a much less motion than it used to, nor that Strahm threw it within the strike zone 69% of the time. It wasn’t unhealthy, per se, however a pitch with common pace and unexceptional motion that leads to the strike zone nearly 70% of the time goes to be fairly hittable. For that motive, if he’s going to evolve into a real asset towards harmful left-handed hitters, all of it begins together with his sinker. He should both change it with a greater providing, complement it with a stronger secondary pitch, or enhance the sinker itself.

As luck would have it, Cotham has helped Phillies left-handers to do all three. Bailey Falter discovered success final yr utilizing fewer sinkerballs towards left-handed batters. Alvarado turned his cutter into the proper sidekick for his 100-mph sinker. Suárez broke out largely as a result of he improved his sinker in 2021 and began utilizing it extra ceaselessly. If Cotham will help Strahm get extra out of his sinker, the southpaw will likely be a lot better off. Clearly, the Phillies suppose he can just do that.

Philadelphia wanted relievers this winter. Three pitchers who performed a task within the postseason bullpen — Hand, David Robertson, Zach Eflin — are all gone, as are Corey Knebel and Jeurys Familia. The bullpen depth chart was skinny heading into the offseason. In that regard, Strahm clearly addresses an space of want. But when he’s going to fill a extra significant position for the Phillies as a formidable choice towards left-handed batters, he nonetheless has work to do.