With some fan uproar about the Philadelphia Phillies recent signing, is he really the best option for the bullpen?
Here’s a shocker: Some Philadelphia Phillies fans are not immediately happy with the David Robertson deal. Indeed, the size of the contract signed by Robertson was a little off-putting, but a least one inhabitant of the Twitterverse reacted quite negatively to my observation that the Phillies had sent a “truckload” of money ($23 million for two years) to a 33-year-old reliever. I had allowed, however, that Robertson’s WHIP figures were pretty impressive.
WHIP figures are very important. Period. Especially in the American League.
In any event, the reply to my tweet was: “Exactly why the Yankees couldn’t outbid the Phillies for him. It’s all BS.”
Presumably, the “BS” part had to do with Robertson’s age, not that the Yankees didn’t outbid the Phillies, but the second part of the reply seemed more a reflection of general dissatisfaction among Phillies fans – You-Know-Who hasn’t yet been signed yet, and no, You-Know-Who isn’t even a pitcher, let alone a reliever.
A deeper dive into the player who might pitch in 40 percent of the Phillies games this year seemed in order because Robertson’s 162-game career appearance average has been a sturdy 68 “games.” Interestingly, his average innings pitched has also been 68, so Phillies fans should not expect him to eat innings. He doesn’t do that. Last season he went longer than an inning only nine times.
Maybe, for his fine contract, the Phillies are considering Robertson a closer? My Twitter correspondent replied, with some accuracy, “Under Kapler there is no closer.” True, true, although the sample size is only 162 games.
For people of a certain age seeing relievers at this price is shocking, but the emergence of such one-inning shut-down artists as Josh Hader firmly says that MLB’s view of relievers is somewhat rapidly evolving. Still, Robertson will turn 34 just after the 2019 season starts, so there’s also that.
What makes the Phillies believe he is worth $10 million this year and a similar figure in 2020? No doubt the team has all the data anyone could ever want, but a couple of facts stand out – first, Robertson is that somewhat rare right-handed creature who does better against left-handed hitters than against right-handers.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
Second, Robertson has somewhat reinvented himself since his debut in 2008. While he has always been reliant on his cutter and curve, he has cut down on the cutter in recent years, increased his use of the curve, and introduced a slider. The slider, in particular, once a rare pitch for him, rose to represent nearly 20 percent of his offerings in 2018.
These changes began in earnest in 2014, particularly the drop in cutter use and the upswing in curveballs. The slider was added in the last two years.
The result? Robertson’s WHIP figures, always quite decent except in his first three seasons, have remained steady and excellent (with one outlier campaign) despite his aging. Between 2014 and 2018, the sequence is 1.057, 0.932, 1.364, 0.849, and 1.033.
If you do that for one inning a game, two out of five games, five years in a row, you get $10 million the following year even if you’re arguably in the “twilight” of your baseball career. That eight-digit figure actually represents a drop from Robertson’s Yankees salary last season, but hey, Philadelphia is a little less expensive.
Nobody is taking anybody to the cleaners here. This is major league baseball, and it’s 2019.