USATSI_6374402 — © Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Childhood Philadelphia Phillies Fan Billy Sullivan Living Out Dream Pitching in Reading

Philadelphia Phillies minor leaguer Billy Sullivan is having an electric season with the Reading Fightin' Phils.

Author:
Ben Silver
Jul 18, 2022 12:52 PM EDT

In this story:

Billy Sullivan is walking through the BayCare Ballpark parking lot to the Carpenter Complex, where the minor leaguers train. A silver Mercedes comes from outside his vision and very nearly hits Sullivan before he jumps out of the way.

"It's Placido Polanco," he recounts. Sullivan recognizes him clearly. Polanco rolls the window down and offers the young Sullivan an autograph. Sullivan is with his family in Clearwater that spring, enjoying the warm air and watching his favorite team the Philadelphia Phillies.

But the Polanco incident is a moment he'll remember forever. It's small moments like these that can change the course of someone's life, and over a decade after nearly being run over by Philadelphia's starting third baseman, Sullivan is pitching in the Phillies system.

Living out his dream in Reading with the Fightin' Phils, Sullivan is having one of the best seasons of his career.

Through 32.2 IP innings as a newly transitioned reliever, Sullivan has an ERA of 2.76 with 46 strikeouts. Like every minor league fireballer he's been plagued somewhat by command issues.

Despite his electric stuff, Sullivan sports a walk-rake of 6.9 BB/9. It's something every young pitcher has to figure out. For Sullivan, he's still adjusting to his new role.

"When you're a starter you have your set day... now in the bullpen you gotta make sure you're ready every night, take care of your arm, doing everything you can to be ready every night."

But at the end of the day, it's still the same game when you're on the mound.

"Gotta go out and there and compete, throw strikes and do everything I can to help my team win," Sullivan said.

Lowering his walk-rate is something that should Sullivan figure out, he could be in the big leagues sooner rather than later. Something Sullivan figured out from his dad though, was his breaking ball.

"He's always been my number one pitching coach, I've had a lot of pitching coaches in my career, but my dad has seen me since I was five years old throwing the baseball."

Family is still a big part of Sullivan's life. It's even reflected in his name, William Sullivan IV. Billy has a legacy to hold up and his family are making sure they're with him every step of the way.

Playing so close to home in Reading, his family still maintains a tight relationship. "Actually my parents come up almost every game they think I'm gonna pitch," Sullivan said.

And even though his family are "close" in the American sense of the word, it's still a drive that takes almost an hour and half both ways from Delaware.

Though his family were nearby, the decision to pitch in the Phillies system wasn't always straightforward.

Sullivan entered the MLB draft in perhaps the most unfortunate year possible, 2020. That season MLB teams had only five picks in the entire draft, thus Sullivan was left unsigned after the Phillies five picks concluded.

He had offers from the Dodgers and Phillies to sign as a UDFA. Undecided until the very last moment, he got a FaceTime call on his phone from an unknown number. It was Joe Girardi.

After a 20-minute conversation he was sold, Sullivan was going to take the Phillies offer.

Of course, when Girardi was fired by the club two years later it was an emotionally conflicting moment for the young pitcher.

"I enjoyed my conversations with Joe, but unfortunately baseball is a game of business and stuff happens, it's just part of the game."

Sullivan never got to play for the man that made him a part of the organization, but someday he hopes to play for the organization for which he watched with admiration for the last 23 years.

"I'm pretty sure I can name every starting player," Sullivan says about the 2008 Phillies in 2022. He begins to list the starting lineup without prompt and does it flawlessly. It's safe to say that even as a professional, Sullivan is still a Phillies fan.

Who wouldn't be?