The Philadelphia Phillies' Dominant Rotation is Helping Their Bullpen Thrive

The Phillies' bullpen has been tremendous as of late, but they wouldn't be quite so successful without the help of a potent starting rotation.

Leo Morgenstern | Aug 15, 2022

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Philadelphia Phillies

We've all heard the old saying, "the best defense is a good offense." Heading into the 2022 season, that was practically the Philadelphia Phillies' motto.

At the point in the year, however, with the Phillies defense starting to look significantly better, I'd like to throw out a new tagline: the best bullpen is a good starting rotation.

After a rocky start to the season, Philadelphia's bullpen has turned from a weakness into a strength. Since June 1, they rank first in the National League in FanGraphs WAR and second in saves. They are tied for the fewest home runs allowed and for the second-fewest blown saves, too.

Yet as good as the bullpen has been, Rob Thomson has actually deployed his relievers quite sparingly. The Phillies' bullpen has thrown the second-fewest innings in baseball since the start of June, behind only the Houston Astros.

Part of that is because Philadelphia has played fewer games in that time than most other teams. They have played just 64 games, while some teams, like the Marlins and Rockies, have played as many as 69 contests.

Nevertheless, the point remains that Thomson has not had to call upon his bullpen as often as most managers.

Corey Knebel, who has thrown the most innings out of the Phillies bullpen since June 1, is tied for just 118th in baseball in innings pitched over that time. Philadelphia the only team that has yet to have a single reliever throw 25 innings since the start of June.

The reason why is simple: Thomson has been able to rely on a hardworking and consistent starting rotation.

Phillies starters have pitched an average of 5.79 innings per start since June began. If you remove the three bullpen games in that span, that number jumps up to 5.99 IP per start.

That is especially valuable in this day and age, when the average starting pitcher goes fewer than 5 1/3 IP per start. Indeed, over the first two months of the season, that's exactly how many innings per game Philadelphia was getting from their starters.

Now, Thomson is getting an extra two outs from his starters every day (on average). That makes a huge difference.

Since June 1, Thomson has had to use a reliever on back-to-back days 26 times. Only the Dodgers and the Mets – two other teams with excellent starting rotations – have done so fewer times. The Phillies manager has not had to call upon a reliever on back-to-back-to-back days since the end of May.

It doesn't take a genius to tell you pitchers perform better when they're properly rested. In Philadelphia's case, the extra rest is especially beneficial. Their relievers have struggled more than most when pitching on back-to-back days.

On zero days rest, the Phillies bullpen has a 4.29 ERA this season, which ranks 18th in baseball. In all other appearances, they have a much more respectable 3.84 ERA.

Corey Knebel leads Phillies relievers in innings pitched since June 1. — Corey Knebel leads Phillies relievers in innings pitched since June 1 / © Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

With less work and more rest, Philadelphia's relief corps is in a better position to succeed. And they have the starting rotation to thank.

This is not to take away from the hard work the relievers have put in. Seranthony Domínguez has been a revelation. José Alvarado looks like he has finally figured things out. David Robertson was a terrific addition to an already strong group. Connor Brogdon found his footing after a slow start, and he looks better than ever.

Andrew Bellatti has turned out to be a brilliant minor league signing. Brad Hand has been great in the right spots. Knebel struggled as the closer, but he is an asset for pitching in lower leverage spots (as long as he's healthy). And when Nick Nelson is the worst reliever you've got? That's a sign of a pretty good bullpen.

Every single one of those pitchers deserves recognition for how good the bullpen has been lately. All the work they've done, however, has been made possible by the starting staff.

By pitching deep into games – and pitching well – Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez, Kyle Gibson, and now Noah Syndergaard have done a tremendous amount to reduce the bullpen's workload.

The best bullpen is a good starting rotation, and the Phillies have been proving exactly that this summer.

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Published Aug 15, 2022

LEO MORGENSTERN

Leo Morgenstern is a writer and editor for Inside the Phillies. He also writes for FanGraphs and Just Baseball, and his work has appeared on Pitcher List and Baseball Prospectus. He previously covered the Phillies for SB Nation's The Good Phight. You can follow him on Twitter @morgensternmlb.