How the Phillies’ Seranthony Domínguez has gotten back to attacking hitters — at just the right time

A subtle tweak in his approach has paid off for Domínguez just when the bullpen is looking as volatile as ever.

Seranthony Domínguez has a 1.23 ERA and trimmed his walk rate from 10.6% to 9.7% since Aug. 15.Read moreHeather Khalifa / Staff Photographer / Heather Khalifa / Staff Photogra

Published Sept. 7, 2023, 4:30 p.m. ET

Phillies reliever Seranthony Domínguez is a perfectionist. He’s been known to curse when he misses his spots in flat-ground sessions. You can imagine how he reacts when he misses his spots in a game. It’s a quality that has made him great, but also has made the last few weeks difficult. Domínguez could tell something was off. It felt like he was rushing.

Everything came to a head Aug. 15 in Toronto. Domínguez took the mound in the eighth, tasked with keeping the game tied, 1-1. He walked his first batter. Then he allowed a line-drive single to left field that Kyle Schwarber had in the webbing of his glove and dropped. That put runners on first and second with no outs.

He struck out Brandon Belt, then walked Vlad Guerrero Jr. to load the bases. George Springer hit a ground ball that Alec Bohm, with his momentum shifting toward second base, managed to throw home. J.T. Realmuto kept his foot on the plate. Nathan Lukes, the runner coming from third, was called out.

It was an athletic play, one that should have taken some pressure off Domínguez. But instead of capitalizing on that momentum to get out the third out, Domínguez yanked a slider toward Cavan Biggio, hitting him in the foot. It forced in the go-ahead run. Biggio grinned as he jogged to first base. Domínguez walked off the mound with his head hung low as he was lifted for Jeff Hoffman.

After the game, he pulled up some video of his previous appearances, when he felt he was pitching at his best, and put them side-by-side with his Toronto outing. He studied both videos closely, in search of any difference, no matter how minute.

He and pitching coach Caleb Cotham found a change in Domínguez’s setup. He was a little wider in Toronto. They decided to try a more narrow setup, with his feet underneath his hips so he could lift straight up.

It has helped. Domínguez hasn’t fully looked like his dominant self, but he’s been better. Since that outing on Aug. 15, he has a 1.23 ERA. He’s trimmed his walk rate from 10.6% to 9.7%. He isn’t allowing as much hard contact. Opponents are hitting .185 against him. Leading into the Toronto series, they were batting .274.

“I feel more confident,” Domínguez said. “I have more control of my pitches. My secondary pitches, too. Control was something that was affecting me at the beginning of the season and a bit through the middle of the season. As a pitcher, as a reliever, the last thing you want to do is walk guys.”

Domínguez tries to practice his new setup daily. He steps on the mound in the bullpen even if he’s not throwing, just to go through his motions.

“It’s definitely made his delivery cleaner,” Cotham said. “He’s throwing the ball with really, really consistent shapes in his pitches. Slider is really consistent. Throwing a lot more strikes. And it all starts with how he sets up.

“How you start has a lot to say with how you’re going to move down the mound. When he’s more narrow, he gets to set his hips and move down the mound a bit. And when he’s wider, he’s got to kind of move back to move forward, if that makes sense.”

This is all happening at a time when the bullpen is looking as volatile as ever. Over the past two weeks, Phillies relievers have walked hitters at a clip of 11.2%, the fifth-highest in baseball. Their strikeout rate is still high (28%), but that doesn’t make those free passes any less of a problem.

José Alvarado, who was activated off the injured list on Aug. 21, is still getting his control in check. Gregory Soto has been largely unpredictable. Craig Kimbrel has started to look like a 35-year-old who is rapidly approaching his career-high innings mark (77 in 2011) this season (59 innings going into Friday).

But Domínguez can help alleviate all of that. He has the stuff. It’s just a matter of throwing more strikes.

“He’s in the zone when he needs to be, and he’s out of the zone when he needs to be,” Cotham said. “He’s finishing guys. It’s easier for him. He’s not fighting himself, he’s battling the hitter. He can get over the plate and battle the hitter, instead of battling his mechanics or battling his delivery. He’s freed up.”