There was a two-week period in March when it looked like Matt Strahm might not be ready for Opening Day. He was dealing with an impingement and bone bruise in his left shoulder which explained why his fastball velocity was down from a 93.6 mph average last season to just above 91 early in the spring.
The Phillies backed off Strahm and he didn’t pitch in Grapefruit League games after March 5. Surprisingly, though, he was ready for the March 27 opener in Washington D.C. and pitched that evening, closing out a win with a scoreless 10th inning.
Strahm wasn’t charged with a run until his eighth appearance of the season but hasn’t pitched well over the last month, allowing six earned runs (eight total) in 9⅓ innings with a .341 opponents’ batting average. That is not the Matt Strahm the Phillies have come to know since 2023. He excelled in multiple roles his first year with the Phils then was one of the best late-inning relievers in baseball last season, earning an All-Star nod along the way.
The Phillies turned to Strahm in the seventh inning of a tie game Monday night in their series opener against the surging Cardinals. Strahm retired the first two hitters he faced with a strikeout and lineout but missed a spot belt-high and over the middle to Masyn Winn, who homered on an 0-1 count for the game’s deciding run. The pitch was a 91 mph fastball. Strahm pounded his glove immediately, knowing it was gone.
The Phillies lost, 3-2, to a Cardinals team that has won nine in a row.
Strahm was behind the eight-ball to start the year and acknowledged last week in Tampa that he hasn’t felt quite like himself.
“Still working through things,” he said Thursday night. “It was obviously a weird spring for me but it’s getting too late to make excuses.”
It’s not like the overall performance has been poor — Strahm has a 3.24 ERA on the year and has allowed two of five inherited runners to score. He’s been able to record outs even without his best stuff. But the difference in reliability has stood out when combined with the early-season shakiness of Orion Kerkering (seven runs in his last nine innings) and Jordan Romano, who has ripped off five straight scoreless appearances after having four blow-up outings in his first nine.
“Velocity’s down a little bit and he left that pitch Winn hit out up and over the plate so he missed a spot,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Velocity’s down a little bit but I thought overall, his stuff and his execution was better other than that one pitch.”
The Phillies are 24-17 and brought five straight series wins into a homestand against the Cardinals and Pirates, but there have been times this season when they’ve been too dependent on their starting pitchers and Jose Alvarado. They need the other relievers to be effective for more than a few games in a row, especially if they want to keep their most important arms as fresh as possible for October.
Long-term, the Phillies need to get the bullpen right, though Monday’s loss was more about the offense. The Phils had nine hits and scored only twice, going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Their only extra-base hit was a one-out double in the fourth inning from J.T. Realmuto, who scored the Phils’ first run and drove in their second with a groundout with runners on the corners in the sixth.
Former Phillies reliever JoJo Romero picked up one of the game’s most important outs, popping up Bryson Stott on two pitches to end the eighth inning with the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Romero was traded to the Cardinals for Edmundo Sosa at the 2022 deadline. Ryan Helsley closed it out. He’s been a popular trade candidate connected to the Phillies but St. Louis might be playing too well to deal him this summer.
The Phils are 1-3 against the Cardinals this season. They’ve hit .177, scored six runs total, haven’t homered and averaged under two walks per game. They face St. Louis’ top arm, Sonny Gray, on Tuesday night. Asked postgame if the Cards are attacking the Phillies any differently than other teams have, Kyle Schwarber referenced the depth of their pitchers’ arsenals and penchant for being around the zone. Thomson agreed.
“They’ve pitched well,” Thomson said. “They have a group of guys that keep you off balance, they’ve got good secondary pitches and that’s what they do, they throw strikes. They’re not going to give you free passes, so we have to make the adjustment.”
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