Only 1 MLB team used the minimum 13 pitchers in April. Now, the Phillies have a starter incoming

New York Times

01-05-2025

PHILADELPHIA — Tanner Banks threw 131 pitches at 94 mph or harder in 2024, but in the first month of 2025, he could hardly top 93 mph. He is a middle reliever with minor-league options who was not eliciting much swing-and-miss earlier in April. The Philadelphia Phillies could have cited diminished velocity and swapped him with another arm from Triple A. Teams churn through their bullpens, especially in April. That is how the game works now.
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But the Phillies kept pitching Banks. He entered to protect a seventh-inning lead in Wednesday's 7-2 win over the Washington Nationals and struck out three of the first four batters he faced. The final one, Josh Bell, fouled off a first-pitch slider. Banks fired a fastball next for a called strike. It was 94 mph — the first one all season. Bell struck out on a changeup. Banks had his best outing yet.
Afterward, as the Phillies slapped hands in the hallway leading into the clubhouse to celebrate a win, the same 13 pitchers who began the season with the Phillies were all there. The group has not changed. The season is more than a month old.
'No, I haven't even noticed it,' Banks said. 'But it's good.'
The Phillies will have a roster move to make this weekend, but they have traversed an April of pitching attrition across the sport without needing a single pitching transaction.
'Does nobody else do that?' Banks said.
Well, no.
The Phillies are an anomaly. They are the only club to use the minimum 13 pitchers in 2025. That will change Sunday when Ranger Suárez (back soreness) returns from the injured list. The Phillies are highly unlikely to go to a six-man rotation, which will prompt a tough decision but one that qualifies as a first-world problem.
Half the teams in the league entered Wednesday having used at least 18 pitchers. The Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles were tied for the most with 22 apiece. The Miami Marlins made a roster move for a new pitcher on the fourth day of the season. The Dodgers have used almost as many starting pitchers (11) as the Phillies have used pitchers, period.
'You want me to tell you a secret?' Banks said. 'We have a phenomenal training staff. Top to bottom. They're on the ball. They're really good at monitoring workload and making sure we don't get overused — for the most part. It's kind of a 'feel something, say something, and we'll be smart about how we use you.''
The medical team was tested last week when Cristopher Sánchez exited a start in New York with what the team termed as 'left forearm soreness.' It was ominous. Then it was weird when the Phillies never ordered an MRI for Sánchez. They were steadfast in the examinations and feedback Sánchez provided. They rested him for a few days, then put him through a throwing progression. They shuffled around the rotation thanks to some convenient off days. They reinserted Sánchez on seven days' rest, and he looked fine in five innings against the Nationals.
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Sánchez's hardest pitch of the night, a 97.3 mph fastball, came on his 80th pitch. His 82nd was 97.1 mph.
'I mean, exactly what I was looking for today — just feeling like my best self, as I always do,' Sánchez said through a team interpreter. 'Just go out and compete.'
Kept 'em quiet pic.twitter.com/rNQJkIVAgb
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 1, 2025
Sánchez walked three and hit a batter. It wasn't his best. 'I felt a little rusty,' he said, 'but I think that I can fix that easily.' It also served as confirmation for how the Phillies handled Sánchez.
'It's been a week since he's pitched,' Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. 'Command was off a little bit, but the stuff was really good. Changeup looked normal. The slider looked normal. Fastball velocity was good. So I'm pleased with it.'
The Phillies entered this week with a blank rotation slate. They have a plan now, confirmed after Suárez passed one final test Wednesday afternoon with a bullpen session. Taijuan Walker will start Thursday. Over the weekend, Jesús Luzardo and Aaron Nola will pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks before Suárez's season debut.
The lefty has been sidelined by back soreness since the end of spring training. At this time last season, he had already thrown 41 innings of a 1.32 ERA. The Phillies do not expect that again from Suárez. But he is a potential difference-maker in the rotation. Suárez has motivation as a pending free agent; the Phillies just need him to be a competent back-of-the-rotation pitcher.
There are trickle-down effects. Walker has pitched better in 2025 and would not be anything but a long man in the bullpen. Could the Phillies ride a six-man rotation? 'Possibly,' Thomson said earlier this week. 'We're kind of walking through that a little bit right now.' Maybe it's a consideration, but all indications are the Phillies will not go that route.
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Their rotation is a strength, and though they like the idea of an extra day of rest for their starters every so often, that does not outweigh taking everyone off routine. Running a six-man rotation means a seven-man bullpen, which is trickier than it sounds. The only relievers with minor-league options are Banks and Orion Kerkering. The Phillies do not have robust bullpen depth at Triple A to churn through.
A seven-man bullpen would require one of those spots to be a revolving door based on the previous night's usage.
'Those are things we're always talking about,' Thomson said. 'All the things that can influence the decision whether to go to a six-man or not.'
The path of least resistance is bumping Walker to the bullpen and casting aside either Carlos Hernández or José Ruiz, who are making $1.2 million each and are out of minor-league options. Ruiz probably pitched the best he has all season in Wednesday's win. Asked to enter the sixth with a three-run lead, he struck out two batters in a 12-pitch scoreless inning, then recorded an out on one pitch in the seventh.
The Phillies know they will face pitching adversity at some point this season. It's impossible to avoid. They will have to manage Luzardo's innings. Suárez's too. They are excited about Andrew Painter somehow factoring into the mix this summer. The April pitching was not perfect — far from it — but there was something to surviving the first month without long-term damage.
'It's just a testament to what they have going on behind the scenes,' Banks said. 'The guys that should get more credit than they do, and they don't get mentioned.'
Sometimes, all it takes is a little patience. Or a boring (finally) win when all of the pitching is tidy. The Phillies have secrets they won't share about how they oversee pitchers' health — integrated departments, daily meetings, specific metrics, etc. They do not have all of the answers because no one does. Maybe it's luck.
They seem to have something.