Phillies pitchers posting quality starts despite trying conditions
Sutter Health Park, temporary home of the Athletics, is the second minor league stadium the Phillies have played in this month. Despite making needed adjustments, the starters are on a run.
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Before Zack Wheeler threw his first pitch against the Athletics on Friday, he knew there was something off about the mound at Sutter Health Park.
Before each start, he kicks out a place for his right cleat in order to have more purchase when pushing off. He noticed right away that the mound was too hard.
“It was like cement right in front of the rubber,” he said. “So I just tried to break it up. And once you kind of did break it up, it was just like little bumps in it. It probably doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you’re used to pitching kind of on similar mounds throughout the league, just that little difference kind of messes with you.”
After departing from Oakland at the end of the 2024 season, the Athletics are sharing a stadium with the triple-A Sacramento River Cats until the opening of their new stadium in Las Vegas, scheduled for the 2028 season.
“I was kind of just throwing all arm tonight,” Wheeler said. “It was a little different. So I just had to make it little adjustments out there as I went and just try to make it work.”
» READ MORE: Dave Dombrowski’s moves and Rob Thomson’s strategies have the Phillies on top of the NL
Wheeler did just that. Despite the conditions, he turned in 6⅔ scoreless frames to help the Phillies win their eighth game in a row. He gave up just three hits.
Sutter Health Park is the second minor league stadium the Phillies have played in this month, after sweeping the Rays at George Steinbrenner Field, the home of the Yankees’ low-Class A affiliate in Tampa, Fla. The mound at Tampa Bay’s temporary home had its own issues, too. After Cristopher Sánchez’s six scoreless innings on May 7, he said the height of the bullpen mound had been different than the one on the field, forcing him to adjust early.
During the Phillies’ current run of success, their rotation has been their foundation. Their starters have posted a quality start (at least six innings, no more than three earned runs) in seven of their last eight wins entering Saturday. The only exception was Taijuan Walker’s start on Wednesday in Denver, since he was on a five-inning limit after returning to the rotation. Walker still earned the win, though.
“I’m really pleased with it,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “I want to knock on wood every time I say our rotation is going good because you got to keep them healthy.”
Their consistent ability to go deep into games has helped out a bullpen that is down a high-leverage arm following José Alvarado’s 80-game PED suspension. As the Phillies try to fill the hole he left, the rotation is giving them some room to breathe.
And they’re doing it in less-than-ideal conditions. In addition to the mound at Sutter Health Park, the Phillies completed a sweep of the Colorado Rockies in what is known as one of the most unpleasant places to pitch. The starting staff overcame the high altitude and thinner air of Coors Field to allow just seven runs in 23⅔ total innings of the four-game series.
And with Aaron Nola currently sidelined with a right ankle sprain, Walker returned to the starting rotation after being moved to the bullpen early in May. Thomson said it can be taxing on a pitcher to switch back and forth due to the differing routines and workload of a starter and reliever. But Walker has stepped up.
» READ MORE: The A’s moved over 70 years ago, but these Philadelphians are still fans: ‘We’re gonna stick by them’
“I feel confident,” Walker said on Wednesday. “I think that’s the biggest thing, just being confident in my stuff and knowing that my stuff is playing well and I can get outs in whatever role I do.”
The expectations for the Phillies’ starting rotation had been sky-high entering this season, and they’ve been as good as advertised. Wheeler’s start on Friday lowered his ERA to 2.42, which ranks him fourth out of qualified pitchers in the National League. Sitting in second place is Jesús Luzardo, with a 1.95 ERA.
And the Phillies think they can take it to an even higher level.
“I think they might tell you the same thing, like some of the guys, I think could be throwing even a little bit better than they are,” said Trea Turner. “Obviously it’s really good, and we’ll take this all year and every year.
“I think we just got some good competitors out there, some guys that have done it a long time and have high expectations. I would say they’re pretty on par with what we all thought they would do.”