When the Phillies face the Mets, there’s always an added layer of strategy at play—and Monday’s 13-3 loss for Rob Thomson’s team was no exception. After the game, Bryce Harper hinted that the Mets might have been studying Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez to see if he was tipping pitches.
“He’s great. That’s going to happen,” Harper said of Sánchez, who had his roughest outing of the season, allowing eight hits, five earned runs, and three walks over 5⅓ innings. “They clearly made some good contact. He might have been tipping a bit. We’ll see what we can do about it.”
The Mets have long looked for clues in the Phillies’ pitching since last season’s playoffs. Whether they found anything is unclear, as it took them until the fourth inning to break through Sánchez, who had been strong until then.
“I don’t think so,” Thomson said. “Like I mentioned last night, once he caught his cleat, it threw him off. We didn’t see anything.”
Sánchez had a balk when he mishandled his delivery and then threw a wild pitch on the next pitch, after which things quickly unraveled for the lefty. Whether it was due to his struggles or the Mets picking up a hint, we may never know.
Bullpen moves
The Phillies also made roster changes, releasing reliever Joe Ross and placing Jordan Romano on the injured list with inflammation in his right middle finger. To replace them, Daniel Robert and Lou Trivino have been added to the bullpen.
“Not sure, really. I heard about it recently,” Thomson said regarding Romano. “Inflammation in the right middle finger affects his grip.”
Romano’s velocity has fluctuated for some time, and in his last outing he allowed four earned runs in just one inning. Ross, who signed a $4 million deal, was let go largely due to performance. “He’s a good man, good teammate. He’ll take the ball whenever,” Thomson said, noting Ross compiled a 5.12 ERA in 51 innings over 37 games.
Robert has appeared in 12 games this season with a 5.79 ERA over 9⅓ innings, while Trivino, signed on August 4, recently threw seven scoreless innings with Lehigh Valley.
David Robertson: ageless asset
Since being called up on August 10, 40-year-old David Robertson has been a key piece of Thomson’s bullpen. In seven appearances, he’s posted a 1.42 ERA over 6⅓ innings.
“The shape he’s in really helps,” Thomson said. “We saw him when he was younger, and he looks even better now. He’s had so much success, he doesn’t get stressed. He’s been around a long time. There’s no carryover—he’ll come up the next night and go three up, three down.”
Robertson’s consistency is a valuable asset for Thomson as the season heads into its final stretch.
