Greg Hall
Since his first day as a Major League manager, Gabe Kapler has been noncommittal when it comes to his relief corps having specific, designated roles. He manages his bullpen based on a combination of gut feel and analytics.
Even proven veteran David Robertson, who the Phillies brought in on a two-year agreement worth $23 million, was not given a role. He was told he would be pitching in high-leverage situations; still, Kapler refused to name a full-time closer.
As the Phillies closer in 2017, Héctor Neris displayed a combination of mid-90’s fastball, sinker and wipeout splitter on route to 26 saves and 86 strikeouts across his 74.2 innings. That was Pete Mackanin’s final season as manager before Kapler entered in 2018.
Nine different relievers picked up saves last season, with Seranthony Dominguez leading the way with 16. Neris was not far behind with 11, albeit with a 5.10 ERA.
This season, while five relievers have already collected at least one save, Neris has stood out as the monster at the back end of the bullpen. A popular opinion in Philadelphia is the future closer for this team is either Dominguez or is currently not on the roster, whether he is in the minors or will be acquired from another team.
However, at 29 years old and not eligible for free agency until 2022, Neris and that nasty splitter should be the Phillies’ full-time closer. Yes, we have seen some very high ups and some extremely low downs from Neris, but he is finally putting it all together in 2019. Kapler is beginning to see that, too.
With Pat Neshek and Robertson on the shelf for the foreseeable future and Vince Velasquez just recently relegated to the bullpen, the only true options to currently close out games for the skipper are Neris and Dominguez. The latter has mostly struggled this season, to the tune of a 4.43 ERA while only pitching in the ninth inning a small handful of times. Dominguez still has 27 strikeouts in 22.1 innings and is a valuable piece in the seventh or eighth to keep games close or be the bridge to Neris.
Since May 17th, Neris has collected five of his 10 saves while only giving up a single earned run across 7.1 innings, lowering his ERA to 1.90. In fact, he has only allowed four hits in the month of May. You read that right – four hits, not runs.
Opposing batters are only hitting .190 against Neris in his 23 appearances this season. He is also helped by a 36.2 percent strikeout rate (up almost six percent from his career average), while cutting down his free passes to the tune of a 7.5 percent walk rate. He is throwing his splitter 65 percent of the time, according to Brooks Baseball, with an average velocity 87 mph.
This is the Neris that the Phillies envisioned when they signed him in 2010 as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. The Phillies international scouting department found a gem in Neris; it is now in Kapler’s hands to break course and give him the full-time closer role.
You can follow Greg Hall on Twitter (@WePodAndWeKnow) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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