Phillies’ Connor Brogdon struggling to regain velocity: ‘I feel like now I’m just treading water’

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Connor Brogdon wants answers as badly as everyone else. No one seems to know what is off with the right-handed reliever, who has not looked himself this spring. He says his body feels fine. The fastball is coming out of his hand the way it normally does, but when he looks up at the radar gun, it’s flashing 90, or 91, or 92 mph — not 95 or 96 mph as it did last season.

Brogdon struggled again on Wednesday, allowing two runs on three hits in a 7-1 Phillies loss to the Tigers. His ERA over his three spring appearances is now 15.43. Hitters are batting .455 against him. This, of course, is a very small sample size, but with the regular season rapidly approaching, it is cause for some concern.

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Brogdon didn’t face live hitters during the lockout, in fear that he’d end up throwing two months worth of live BPs. But he said he still felt ready by the time he’d reported to camp, and even saw his velocity hit a couple of ticks higher — to 94 mph — in his first bullpen session of the spring.

“Not knowing when we were going to start kind of threw me off a little bit,” he said. “But I still feel like I came in good enough shape to be performing a little better than I am.

“I feel like now I’m just treading water. I’ve got to get back to where I was at last year.”

There are seven spring training games remaining before opening day. Brogdon hopes that over that span he will return to form, or at the very least, get some certainty as to why that isn’t happening.

While hitters took batting practice on Wednesday morning, the Phillies announced a trade with the Padres: right-handed pitcher James Norwood for infielder Kervin Pichardo and cash considerations. Norwood, 28, has 27 innings worth of big-league experience over parts of four seasons with the Cubs and the Padres. He spent the bulk of last season at triple-A El Paso, where he posted a 4.43 ERA in 44⅔ innings, striking out 71 hitters and walking 21.

“He has major-league experience, he’s a hard thrower with a split,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. “We have some relievers nicked up, so he’s going to get every effort to make the team.”

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Bryson Stott recorded his ninth hit in eight spring training games on Wednesday, a single off of Tigers starter Tarik Skubal that came off his bat at 94.5 mph. Girardi said he would like to see Stott make a start at second base at some point this spring, if time allows.

Hard-throwing reliever José Alvarado, who has been dealing with a neck issue this spring, said he felt good in a bullpen session on Wednesday morning. He feels like he’s ready to compete, but will accept a potential move to the injured list if that’s what the Phillies decide. Girardi said the tentative plan is for Alvarado to pitch in a minor-league game on Saturday.

Alvarado’s main goal for this season is to stay healthy, but beyond that, he’d like to reduce his walk rate — which, at 18.7%, ranked in the bottom 1% of the league last season. He spent his offseason developing his four-seamer and his curveball to add to his arsenal, which he believes will help keep his walks down.

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“Last year was pure sinker and cutter,” he said in Spanish. “I was using two pitches. Now I’m using four. I’ve tried out the curveball and the four-seamer against hitters here, and they’ve looked great. I should be able to use them in a regular-season game this season.”

The Phillies are going to see how Alvarado fares in his outing Saturday before making a decision on whether to send him to the injured list.

Kyle Gibson allowed four earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts, but was happy overall with his execution in the loss to the Tigers. He got through four innings and would like to pitch into the sixth in his next start. ... Outfielder Mickey Moniak continued his hot streak, pinch-hitting in the bottom of the eighth with a hard-hit single to center field (it was the hardest hit of the day, at 109.6 mph). Closer Corey Knebel looked dominant (and healthy) again, striking out two and allowing one hit in one inning. ... The Phillies face the Yankees at 1:05 p.m. Thursday in Clearwater (NBC Sports Philadelphia).