Philadelphia Phillies Hoping New Weapon Can Turn Reliever Into Elite Arm

The Philadelphia Phillies worked with one of their star youngsters this offseason in hopes that this new pitch could turn him into an elite reliever.

Apr 19, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering (50) / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Pitchers at the Major League level are always tinkering with different things that they can do to improve, something Philadelphia Phillies' ace Zack Wheeler did this offseason in hopes that he could finally win his first Cy Young award.

The point is to create more weapons which can be called upon so hitters aren't able to lock in on certain pitches.

Young players always have to deal with going away from some of the strengths that got them to the MLB after the best hitters in the world have figured out their tendencies.

That's currently what Orion Kerkering is dealing with.

After a rapid ascension through the Phillies' farm system last year, he was a major part of their bullpen during the playoffs, appearing in more games (7) than he did during the regular season (3).

Philadelphia views him as someone who could become their future closer, but in order to get there, they wanted him to add a different pitch to his arsenal so that he could amplify the effects of his best pitch.

According to Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, they wanted Kerkering to develop a two-seam fastball to go with his dominant sweeper and four-seam fastball. This was to give hitters a different thing to worry about instead of just relying on his elite sweeper.

So far, it's hard to argue with the results.

The 23-year-old has a 1.04 ERA across his eight games, allowing just five hits while holding opponents to a .179 batting average.

That has come even with Kerkering not quite trusting his new pitch yet after only throwing it three times out of 133 pitches prior to his appearance on May 6.

"When you're at the big-league level, closer games, you don't want to experiment. So I think it's learning to trust it. I've been throwing it a lot more in the bullpens and catch play and all of that stuff, so I think I keep building it up a little bit," he told Coffey.

The youngster shared that he's been overthinking the two-seamer at times since it's new to him, but pitching coach Caleb Cotham keeps encouraging him to use it and to allow the pitch to have the movement that it's naturally supposed to have.

He thinks once Kerkering is able to trust it, his stuff will become that much better.

"I think [the two-seamer] also just makes his sweeper harder to sit on. Especially if he shows the ability to throw it for a strike. Not necessarily even command a specific spot, but make hitters account for a side of the plate," Cotham said.

Whether that trust can be developed in Kerkering's first full professional season will be seen, but he's already shown the ability to get Major League hitters out at a high level.

With this new pitch, he could become a star for the Phillies.