Phils hurlers tinkering with new pitches early in camp

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki¡¯s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- It¡¯s always fun in the spring to learn about the new things pitchers are working on.

It might be a new pitch, like Zack Wheeler¡¯s sweeper in 2023 and splitter in 2024. It might be fine-tuning a pitch, like Cristopher Sánchez's slider this spring. It might be re-introducing an abandoned one, like José Alvarado¡¯s curveball.

Here are a few that have jumped out in Clearwater:

Jos¨¦ Alvarado

Alvarado¡¯s fastball not only touched 100.7 mph in his Grapefruit League debut on Thursday, but he threw two curveballs.

He threw three last year. He threw none in 2023.

¡°Why more curveballs?¡± Alvarado said Sunday, laughing. ¡°I want the hitter to think, ¡®OK, Alvy¡¯s coming into the game.¡¯ I don¡¯t want him to think, 'He's only got the sinker and cutter.' Now, I¡¯ve got a four-seam and a curveball. I worked on the curveball every day in the offseason. All my pitches together, I just need to keep them in the strike zone. I think I can throw it for strikes.¡±

Alvarado came to camp in better shape, looking noticeably slimmer. He said he not only worked hard in the winter, but he improved his diet.

¡°You know Latin people,¡± he said, smiling. ¡°Rice, beans. I switched out carbohydrates for protein. A lot of meat, veggies. Good protein, like avocados.¡±

Alvarado sounds like somebody on a mission, entering the final season of a three-year, $22 million contract. The Phillies have a $9 million club option for 2026 that includes a $500,000 buyout. A good season would make that decision a no-brainer. Alvarado went 2-5 with a 4.09 ERA in 66 appearances last season. He struck out 63 and walked 28 in 61 2/3 innings. It was his lowest strikeout rate (24.4 percent) since his rookie season in 2017 (23.6 percent). It was his slowest average sinker (97.8 mph) since 2020 (96.9 mph).

¡°I don¡¯t really want to talk about last year,¡± Alvarado said. ¡°Last year is over. It¡¯s a new year. That¡¯s it.¡±

The early results are encouraging.

¡°That¡¯s what happens when you¡¯re working hard,¡± he said. ¡°Every time I have the ball, I want to see that result.¡±

Jesús Luzardo

Luzardo impressed in Friday¡¯s debut. His fastball touched 97.7 mph, but he also introduced a new slider. He calls his regular slider a gyro-slider. His new one has more horizontal break. It¡¯s sweeper-ish.

He threw three old-school sliders on Friday. He threw two sweepers.

Here is how they compared:

• Gyro-slider: They averaged 2.1 inches of glove-side movement. They averaged 0.0 inches of glove-side movement last season. He didn¡¯t throw one last season with more than 4.0 inches of glove-side movement.
• Sweeper: The two averaged 5.6 inches of glove-side movement with the max at 6.7 inches.

Luzardo said the sweeper remains a work in progress, but it¡¯s a big difference.

¡°It¡¯s something he can mix in to righties, maybe for a backdoor strike,¡± Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto said. ¡°I think it can be a real weapon against lefties because it¡¯s a little bigger, maybe a little more swing-and-miss to those guys with two strikes. It¡¯s a really solid pitch.¡±

Cristopher S¨¢nchez

S¨¢nchez is trying to make his slider more consistent. It would have different shapes with different results last year. Still, he threw the pitch 16.9 percent of the time, and opponents batted only .219 with a .368 slugging percentage against it.

He threw a few good ones last week.

¡°I threw it a little more like a curveball before,¡± S¨¢nchez said through an interpreter. ¡°It had a little more vertical break, and now it's a little more horizontal. I think it can help me. My sinker going in, and I think that's a good combo with my changeup as well. That breaks a little and goes away on left-handed hitters. That way I can go in on hitters as well with the slider.¡±