Phillies reliever Matt Strahm may run out of time in his bid to be ready by opening day
Strahm has not pitched since March 5 because of shoulder inflammation. The Phillies won’t risk another injury by skipping steps in Strahm’s return.
SARASOTA, Fla. — If the Phillies defer to Matt Strahm, he will be sitting in the bullpen March 27 in Washington, ready and waiting for the call to make an opening-day appearance against the Nationals.
But it won’t be up to Strahm.
Never mind that the veteran reliever didn’t feel pain in his left shoulder Saturday when he played catch for the first time in 10 days. Or that he threw again Sunday at Carpenter Complex, moving to 90 feet from 75. Or that the inflammation, caused by a pinching in the joint, appears to be gone.
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The Phillies put Strahm on a standard throwing progression, a precursor to clearing him to pitch in a game, and well, the calendar isn’t his friend. The team will break camp next Monday and head north to Philadelphia; opening day is less than two weeks away.
And because MLB rules permit teams to backdate a stint on the injured list by a maximum of three days — in this case, to March 24, three days before the season begins — Strahm could miss as few as nine games if he opens on the 15-day IL.
“I’ll be ready, but it’s up to them,” Strahm said Sunday before picking up a ball in Clearwater. “I think I’m ready now, and I’ve only thrown 75 feet. I’ll probably have a better feel of it in three, four days. Got to get to that mound.”
If the Phillies play it safe with Strahm — and assuming they hold on to extra starter Taijuan Walker, who has had an encouraging spring — they would have one vacancy in the bullpen behind Jordan Romano, José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, José Ruiz, Joe Ross, Tanner Banks, and Walker.
Here are the other relievers left in camp: Michael Mercado, Devin Sweet, and Nabil Crismatt. (Kyle Tyler, earmarked to start in triple A, also remains and could be a bullpen option, manager Rob Thomson said.) Mercado, Sweet, and Tyler are on the 40-man roster.
But Crismatt has outpitched all of them, lowering his spring ERA to 2.35 with a scoreless inning Sunday in which he faced Orioles regulars Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle. Crismatt also has 114 games of major league experience; Sweet has seven and Mercado five.
As short-term fill-ins at the end of the bullpen, any would suffice. And the Phillies are scouting other camps for intriguing depth relievers who might be squeezed out of another team’s roster.
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Or maybe Strahm can talk his way into the opening-day mix.
“I’ve voiced this throughout my career that I was raised a competitor,” Strahm said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re going to send me to triple A for an outing or the big leagues, you’re going to get Matt Strahm. Doesn’t matter where I’m at. Back fields against [top prospect] Aidan Miller, he’s going to get it, just like I’m going to give it to [Braves star] Matt Olson.”
Strahm, 33, dealt with knee injuries earlier in his career but has kept his arm healthy. He has been durable and effective with the Phillies, posting a 2.69 ERA and 187 strikeouts in 150⅓ innings over 122 appearances, including 10 spot starts in 2023. Last season, he had a 1.87 ERA in 66 games and made the All-Star team.
But something has been off with Strahm this spring. He didn’t initially report discomfort in his shoulder, although he said later that it bothered him during his initial bullpen sessions. Then, in a March 5 appearance against the Tigers in Lakeland, Fla., his velocity topped out at 92.5 mph. He averaged 93.4 mph last season.
Surely, it was an indication that something was wrong.
“That’s hard to tell just with how early it was in the spring,” Strahm said. “Yeah, I guess. It’s more so, this is my 10th spring training in big league camp. I kind of have an idea of how I’m supposed to feel, and I really don’t need to look at the numbers for that. I think I was down one and a half miles an hour. If what I was feeling only caused that, I’ll take it.”
An MRI confirmed the inflammation and a bone bruise but didn’t reveal structural damage. He was treated with medication but never required an injection and was cleared to throw after being examined in Clearwater last Thursday and again Saturday by team doctor Steven Cohen.
”This is way past my junior college education, but the biggest thing is the positioning that my arm falls into when I get it back,” Strahm said. “With inflammation, swelling shuts off muscles, and then, as I was coming back, it wasn’t stabilizing my shoulder and then my shoulder was banging around. Basically, getting the inflammation out of there allows the muscles to work how they’re supposed to.”
And the Phillies won’t risk another injury by skipping steps in Strahm’s return, especially if it means missing only nine games at the beginning of the season.
“I think that there’s a chance, OK,” Thomson said of Strahm being ready. “But we still have to lengthen him out, bullpen [session]. He’ll throw a [live batting practice] in there in between. So, those things take some time.”
Extra bases
Center fielder Johan Rojas (shoulder) is scheduled to throw to bases Monday and Tuesday, the final step before he’s cleared to play defense. ... The Phillies reassigned catcher Payton Henry and infielder Rafael Lantigua to minor league camp. There are 39 players left in big league camp.