How ‘decision-making practice’ in bullpen sessions has helped the Phillies’ starters

Before Ranger Suárez stepped onto the mound Friday night against the Dodgers, he threw a bullpen session. In it, the Phillies southpaw simulated some of the batters he would face, with an emphasis on tough righties. During the last 10 pitches of Suárez’s bullpen, pitching coach Caleb Cotham had a coach stand in the box and asked Suárez to think about facing Will Smith.

He offered his pitcher different counts and situations. What if Smith doesn’t swing at balls? What if he fouls off your first two pitches? They worked through the entire at-bat. Then, he asked Suárez to think about facing J.D. Martinez. Martinez swings more than Smith does. He also swings at more pitches outside of the zone and makes less contact on those pitches than Smith does.

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They worked through the Martinez at-bat. Cotham gave him different counts, and different situations. This is something the Phillies have been doing for a few weeks now. It’s not revolutionary — other teams do it — but it has been helpful to the starters, especially in the age of the pitch clock.

“I’d say it’s something we’ve done a lot,” Cotham said. “Lately, it’s been kind of an answer to the pitch clock. Because I think we’ve always had a little more time to think, pay attention, have that awareness — that 10 seconds of awareness of what happened, what did I see, what I do want to throw? Basically thinking about pitching.

“Now, that time is as important as it has ever been, and more important, in my opinion, to be able to think quick and have an instant framework for reactions of the hitter.”

Cotham calls it “decision-making practice.” Taijuan Walker has been doing it for most of his career.

“One, it gives you a feel for what we’re going to do to the hitter and two it gives you the intensity,” Walker said. “It’s hard to get that intensity in a bullpen, so if you can simulate a hitter it makes it a little bit easier.

“Before we faced Detroit, I simulated facing [Spencer] Torkelson. Righty — we attacked with two-seams in and splitters. So we just do counts. If we left something that was up, maybe he fouls that off. If we left it down the middle, maybe he hits a home run. OK, that’s a home run; start over again.”

Every pitcher is different, and some prefer to tailor their bullpens differently. A few weeks ago, Zack Wheeler came to Cotham with an idea to work on his pitch execution. Rather than focusing on simulation, he wanted to practice pitching in lines, triangles, and diamonds — hitting specific spots with his three fastball options, to lefties and righties. He’d use the count to determine whether to pitch in or out of the zone.

He started doing it in his bullpen session before his start on May 27 in Atlanta and has been doing it ever since. It’s worked well for him.

“Right now, what I’m doing is nailing the four corners,” Wheeler said. “I started off doing triangles, and now I’m trying to hit the four corners, the waste pitch high middle and the waste pitch down middle, so kind of a diamond. Just trying to execute pitches so you feel comfortable doing it in games and you’re not just doing a normal motion bullpen out there.

“It helps me get behind the ball a little bit better, let that four seam ride a little bit more, some more true spin, stuff like that. As a group, we’re trying to execute our chase pitches more effectively in bullpens so we can do it better in games.”

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It may seem like a small thing, but it has had a big impact. And now it’s starting to show in games. The Phillies have gotten five straight quality starts from their rotation.

“That, to me, is pitching,” Cotham said. “Pitching isn’t a perfect delivery. It isn’t repeating my delivery every time. Pitching is thinking well. Making good decisions. Noticing things. Feeling what I feel. And attacking hitters.

“If you’re really good at the simple stuff — if you’re elite at the basics — you’ve got a shot to let your pitching genius take off.”

Alec Bohm (left hamstring strain) came in feeling “really good” on Saturday morning and worked out on the field that afternoon. Manager Rob Thomson said he could be activated off the injured list as soon as Sunday.

Rule 5 pick Noah Song (low back strain) will play simulated games next week in Clearwater, Fla. Andrew Painter (right proximal ulnar collateral ligament strain) will throw a 20-pitch bullpen on Saturday. It will be his first full bullpen session since his injury. There is still no clear timeline for his return.