Zack Wheeler’s new splitter looks sharp in Phillies’ loss to the Yankees
Wheeler threw five splitters among his 47 pitches and said he “got the results I wanted.”
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Zack Wheeler said early in camp that he was working on a splitter, but on Monday, the pitch looked as sharp as it has all spring. Of the 47 pitches Wheeler threw in the Phillies’ 2-1 loss to the Yankees, five were splitters.
One of them induced a popup from infielder Gleyber Torres in the first. Another splitter — which clocked in at 86 mph — led to a strikeout of outfielder Greg Allen in the third. It was a promising sign.
“It’s good,” said manager Rob Thomson. “[The splitter] is coming. A lot of depth to it.”
Wheeler said the pitch felt more natural for him on Monday. One of his goals this spring is to use it as much as he can, so he can make it more consistent.
“I got the results I wanted,” said Wheeler, who had three strikeouts and two walks in three scoreless innings. “Hopefully will continue to carry that and have that feel for it.”
Pitching was the story of the day. The Phillies’ lineup combined for five hits and one run with 13 strikeouts. But the rotation and bullpen held its own by keeping walks to a minimum (three) and tallying 11 strikeouts.
Prospect Mick Abel was a big part of that. The young right-hander hadn’t pitched since Feb. 25 because of an illness going around the clubhouse, but he retired all five hitters he faced and had two strikeouts, including Juan Soto.
“It’s obviously cool facing a guy like him, somebody I’ve watched the last five to seven years,” Abel said. “It was cool.”
Abel added that his velocity was down a bit — he was in the 93-95 mph range — but was proud of his ability to pitch through it.
“It reenforces the confidence I have in my stuff,” he said. “Change-up was working really well today. Curveball didn’t really land as much I wanted it to, but it was still getting the action I wanted. I think it was one slider. But other than that the fastball was coming out good; it was just the velocity.
“If I have my C stuff one day, I’ve got to be able to execute, still. If I have my A stuff one day, and can’t execute … each time it’s going to be different.”
On the mound: Tyler McKay, Connor Brogdon, and Andrew Bellatti combined for 2⅓ scoreless innings after Abel. Luis Ortiz allowed a home run in the eighth inning. He allowed two earned runs on three hits with one strikeout, and was charged with the loss.
At the plate: Aramis Garcia helped put the Phillies on the board in the ninth inning, hitting a double to center field to put Weston Wilson on third base. David Dahl hit a sacrifice fly to score Wilson in the next at-bat.
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Quotable: “I was really happy with him,” Thomson said of Abel. “He threw strikes. What was the velo, he was 95, 96? That’s pretty good. But I thought he spun the ball really well. Spun it in the dirt when he needed to. Change-up was good, slider was good. He really pitched well.”
On deck: The Phillies have an off day on Tuesday. They will play the Detroit Tigers at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater on Wednesday at 1:05 p.m. The game will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia+.