Categories: Phillies Nuggets with Tim Kelly

Gregory Soto is having a bizarre first season with the Phillies

Gregory Soto is in his first season with the Phillies. (Cheryl Pursell)

ERA often isn’t the best metric to gauge the success of a relief pitcher, because unlike a starter, you don’t throw enough total innings to overcome a few rough appearances.

That’s been especially true for Gregory Soto in his first season with the Philadelphia Phillies. On the surface, Soto’s 4.95 ERA would lead you to believe that he’s having a disastrous first season with the Phillies. But that’s not the case.

It’s true that Soto has three appearances where he’s allowed three or more runs, including Wednesday in San Francisco. One or two is an outlier, three is quite a bit of blowups to have had before Memorial Day.

But in his other 19 appearances, Soto has pitched like one of the best relievers in the sport. Over the 18 1/3 innings that Soto has thrown outside of the aforementioned three blowups, he’s allowed just one earned run. Even more remarkable is that the offseason acquisition has surrendered just two total hits over that span.

“I don’t even know what to tell you, but yes, I am trying to focus on the positives,” Soto said Friday afternoon — via interpreter Diego Ettedgui — when asked about the trials and tribulations he’s faced so far in 2023.

“Like you mentioned, it’s been a lot of appearances where I have not given up hits. But there have been a couple bad ones. But again, I’m just trying to focus on the positive here. I really want to attack the strike zone. I feel that I’ve been doing that, so I’m happy about that. But, of course, it’s still a work in progress.”

For what it’s worth, Soto wasn’t hit especially hard Wednesday when the Phillies were swept by the Giants. And there are quite a few metrics — his 2.64 expected ERA, a 3.20 FIP — that suggest he’s been better than his back-of-the-baseball-card stats indicate.

That the overwhelming majority of his outings have been dominant so far isn’t lost on manager Rob Thomson.

“It’s kind of crazy, because he’s pitched so well,” Thomson said. “I think Wednesday was just kind of a blip. That’s happened a couple times, and when that happens, it happens. But other than that, he’s been fantastic.”

The good news for Soto is that he’s pitched in a team-high 22 games this season, so a chance to get over his latest blip could come as soon as Friday evening against the Chicago Cubs.

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The Nuggets

Bryce Harper continues to build up in his arm, as he threw at 75 feet Friday. Thomson said that Harper is “at least” a month away from being able to throw in game action, as he returns from Tommy John surgery.

The Cubs made a series of roster moves before Friday’s series opener against the Phillies, the most notable of which included activating second baseman Nico Hoerner from the 10-day injured list, placing Cody Bellinger (left knee) on the 10-day IL and designating veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer for assignment.
In 2022, the Phillies went 0-6 against the Cubs. A big part of that was rookie Christopher Morel, who had a .429 batting average with two home runs and seven RBIs across those six games. Morel will hit eighth and play in center field for the Cubs this evening.