J.T. Realmuto takes a swing at figuring out how Phillies’ bullpen can improve in 2021

For three weeks in October, J.T. Realmuto still felt tightness in his left hip flexor from the Grade 1 strain that caused him to miss 11 games and flared up again when he played through discomfort in the season’s final week.

But something else pained the Phillies catcher, too, long after he got back to his Oklahoma home.

“To be there and go through that with our bullpen last year, that was definitely tough on me,” Realmuto said Monday. “I’ve thought about it all offseason long.”

Everybody remembers what happened. The Phillies’ bullpen — a wicked brew of veteran holdovers, overmatched rookies, and trade-deadline flops — posted a 7.06 ERA, one of the worst 60-game marks in baseball history. Manager Joe Girardi was only barely exaggerating recently when he said opposing hitters couldn’t have hit Phillies relievers any harder if they knew what pitches were coming.

Considering he called many of those pitches, Realmuto replayed the worst of them in his mind. After another season ended without a Phillies playoff appearance, even after he filed for free agency in November and couldn’t say for sure where he would be playing this year, Realmuto tried to figure out what went so wrong and if there was something he could’ve done to prevent it.

Now that he’s back — with a five-year, $115.5 million contract, a record for a free-agent catcher, in tow, and no more issues with his hip — has Realmuto come to any conclusions?

“There were a lot of reasons,” he said. “We didn’t strike a ton of guys out, and late in games guys were putting balls in play more than they should have been. With that being said, we gave up a lot more soft-contact hits than anybody in the league, especially late in games. We had some really bad luck. So, a lot of things didn’t go in our favor.”

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Indeed, Phillies relievers tied for 21st (out of 30 teams) last season in strikeout rate (22.9%) despite being tied for 12th in swing-and-miss rate (12.1%), an indication that they struggled to put hitters away. Part of the problem: As a group, they ranked 24th in average fastball velocity (93 mph). Of the 105 relievers who averaged at least 95.5 mph last season, none were Phillies.

In recasting the bullpen since he got hired in December, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has sought to address the need for speed.

The Phillies traded for lefty Jose Alvarado and right-hander Sam Coonrod, whose heaters averaged 97.9 and 97.1 mph over the last two seasons. They signed 32-year-old reliever Hector Rondon to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training for him and his 96.4-mph heater.

Archie Bradley, the club’s biggest bullpen addition, is a notch below at 95.3 mph but still tied with Connor Brogdon, the hardest-throwing Phillies reliever last year.

Realmuto endorsed the Phillies’ signing of Bradley to a one-year, $6 million contract — and not only because they’re both sons of Oklahoma.

“I know from facing him: The guy’s a competitor,” Realmuto said. “He has a lot of confidence in himself and in his stuff, and that’s what you need back there. When he’s coming into the game, you know that he’s going to be prepared and he’s going to be as confident as he needs to be to get those outs. He’s been one of the more effective relievers for a few years in a row now.”

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Bradley will join Hector Neris as late-inning options with closing experience. In addition to the uptick in velocity, the Phillies believe they have more diversity in secondary pitches, from Neris’ splitter and Bradley’s curveball to Brogdon’s change-up and JoJo Romero’s slider.

As improvements go, it’s a start. And there was an element of bad luck to what happened last year. Opponents had a .376 batting average on balls in play against the Phillies’ bullpen. The league average is typically about .300.

But the Phillies must do more than merely count on better fortune — and better defense — and Dombrowski said they probably aren’t finished stocking the bullpen. They had interest in veteran right-hander Darren O’Day, a source confirmed last week. The sidearmer would have added another look to the bullpen had he not signed a one-year, $2.45 million deal with the New York Yankees.

But the free-agent market remains flooded with unsigned relievers, several of whom will end up agreeing to one-year contracts in the $2 million to $3 million range. Others, like Rondon, will agree to minor-league deals. Rondon had a 7.65 ERA in 23 games last year for Arizona, but his 3.46 mark in previous two seasons with Houston was worth a flier.

Two weeks before spring training is scheduled to begin, the Phillies will have opportunities to keep bolstering the bullpen. And Realmuto can continue to ponder ways to spark improvement from the relievers who are already here.

“As a catcher, that’s part of your job,” he said. “You take it personal when any of your pitchers struggle. Obviously, there are a lot of adjustments that need to be made on the mound. We have to pound the zone better. We can’t put guys on base for free. We had too many free passes last year. We have to put guys away when we get them to two strikes and not make that mistake pitch and give them a chance to put it in play.”

Those mistakes ruined the Phillies in 2020. Four months after the season ended, Realmuto still thinks about them.