David Robertson Should Play a Major Role for Phillies in World Series

David Robertson's pitch repertoire should give him a leg up against the Houston Astros lineup, and the Philadelphia Phillies will need every advantage they can get.

Author:
Leo Morgenstern
Oct 25, 2022 1:00 PM EDT

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Philadelphia Phillies

When the Philadelphia Phillies added David Robertson at the trade deadline, they thought they were getting a back-of-the-bullpen stud. That’s exactly what he was at first, pairing with Seranthony Domínguez to form one of the best closing duos in baseball.

Unfortunately, Robertson began showing signs of fatigue as the season wore on. His fastball lost some life, and his control was shaky. He remained a key contributor to the Phillies’ bullpen, but it was clear he no longer had all of his manager’s trust. Robertson became Rob Thomson’s fourth choice for the late innings after Domínguez, José Alvarado, and Zach Eflin.

On Sunday afternoon, Robertson was unable to close out the final game of the NLCS, with Thomson eventually turning to Ranger Suárez for the final two outs. It wasn’t an ideal showing for the 37-year-old right-hander.

In the World Series, however, Robertson could play a bigger role than he has in weeks. Philadelphia will need all hands (and arms) on deck, and his could prove particularly helpful.

Robertson throws three pitches: a cutter, a slider, and a knuckle curve. The cutter is his primary weapon, and he uses his two breaking balls to generate swings and misses down in the zone. This particular pitch repertoire makes Robertson a great match for the Houston Astros lineup.

Almost every player in Houston’s starting lineup struggles against one of those three pitches, according to pitch value data from Pitch Info and Sports Info Solutions.

Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, and Alex Bregman have all had trouble against cutters this year. Indeed, the cut fastball is really the only pitch that’s given Alvarez any difficulty at all, and any pitch that can neutralize Alvarez, Tucker, and Bregman is a highly valuable weapon. Yuli Gurriel, Aledmys Díaz and Trey Mancini also have below average numbers against cutters.

Meanwhile, catcher Martín Maldonado and center fielder Chad McCormick have been utterly helpless against sliders. Shortstop Jeremy Peña hasn’t looked sharp against that pitch either. Finally, Maldonado, McCormick, and Díaz all have trouble with curveballs, too.

The only Astros hitter who hasn’t shown a serious weakness against any pitch this season is José Altuve, but even so, the two pitches he did the least damage against were the cutter and the slider. Thus, David Robertson’s cutter/curveball/slider combo is the ideal pitch mix against Houston. He has the pitches necessary to shut down all nine hitters in their lineup, so Thomson can use him to get big outs in any spot.

This isn’t to say that the other backend relievers won’t have big roles to play too. The Phillies will continue to rely on Alvarado and Domínguez in the biggest innings. But those two have worked incredibly hard this postseason, and they could use some help from another dominant, high-leverage arm. Ideally, Robertson will be that guy.