Why the Phillies have prioritized the cutter for pitchers throughout the organization

As a kid, Billy Sullivan loved the Phillies. He grew up in Delaware and family trips to Florida for spring training were always a thing. He wasn’t drafted out of the University of Delaware in 2020, but the Phillies offered him the maximum $20,000 bonus. He signed.

The 23-year-old righty would have followed the Phillies’ run through the postseason regardless, but he paid closer attention last October because this was more than fandom. He studied José Alvarado’s transformation into a dominant pitcher. Alvarado is left-handed and few in the sport possess the stuff he does. But Sullivan, who reached Double A in 2022, was inspired.

“Watching him develop a cutter, changed his season,” Sullivan said. “That gave me the idea, ‘Hey, maybe I should start throwing a cutter.'”

The Phillies had already thought of it because, last summer, they decided the cutter was something they wanted to suggest to many of their pitchers. Brian Kaplan, the club’s director of pitching development, had an offseason call with Sullivan. The reliever throws a fastball in the upper 90s with a mid-80s slider. A cutter would slot between those pitches — both in velocity and movement. “I think it’s going to be a big pitch for me,” he said. He started throwing it this spring. It’s a work in progress.

At least a dozen Phillies pitchers who were invited to big-league camp — and more on the minor-league side — have adopted a cutter in the past year. It’s become an organizational philosophy. If you’re a hard-throwing righty for the Phillies, you are going to be asked about a cutter. This is notable, simply because it’s been years since the Phillies identified a thing they felt they were effective at developing with pitchers.

Whether the cutter works as intended for more Phillies pitchers than not remains to be seen. But pitching coach Caleb Cotham, in conjunction with Kaplan, has thought a lot about it.

“Let’s just talk a little more about building options to compete in the zone,” Cotham said, “rather than competing at 15 different spots with two pitches.”

Cotham has a hunch that the days of the two-pitch reliever are fading. It’s why most of the pitchers the Phillies have tinkering with cutters are relievers. There are exceptions: Ranger Suárez picked up a cutter last season; Aaron Nola has implemented his more than before; Griff McGarry began to throw one last summer and Andrew Painter added his in the offseason.

Sullivan resided this spring in a corner of the clubhouse that has become cutter central. Francisco Morales, whose prospect stock has fallen, is throwing one now. James McArthur, a pitcher on the 40-man roster, adopted a cutter. Andrew Baker, a promising bullpen prospect with a fastball that touches 100 mph and a slider in the mid-80s, is throwing a cutter too.

“It’s a more horizontal cut than the slider,” Baker said. “It’s harder, obviously. It’s just that one little tiny bit of different movement from the slider that will make a hitter question what it is. It just bridges that gap between the fastball and the slider.”

Morales, who was removed from the 40-man roster in January and passed over by 29 other teams because his four-seam fastball did not profile well against big-league hitters, has since overhauled his arsenal. He’s throwing sinkers and cutters off his above-average slider. He beamed earlier this spring when asked about his new cutter. “I think it’s going to be a good weapon for me,” Morales said.

Baker overheard the conversation.

“When did you start throwing your cutter?” Baker said.

“Yesterday,” Morales said.

Baker high-fived him.

James McArthur is one of the many Phillies pitchers who have adopted a cutter. (Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today)

This is not an idea exclusive to the Phillies. They have just leaned into it. They could be ahead on a new trend. Cutters fell out of favor in the Rapsodo age because pitchers chased the perfect slider. “Everyone’s trying to hit zero spin efficiency,” Cotham said. The rise of the slider had some unintended consequences.

“Now, more than we ever have, we know what pitches work and how to complete an arsenal,” Cotham said. “The tight slider, for me, the best hitters have the biggest catalog of that pitch. I think hitters will start adjusting to that pitch. So that’s where having options on balls that go to your glove side feels more important than ever. It’s the ability to have different lines and different shapes.”

Glove side, for a right-handed pitcher, is a pitch that is up and in on lefty hitters and down and away on righties. A cutter has the opposite break than a sinker does, creating a criss-cross effect. It can act like a slider, but with more velocity. A cutter is a fastball, just with an altered grip on the seams, and often the Phillies have instructed their pitchers to spot it middle-middle and let the pitch do its thing.

Last summer, McGarry was having trouble spotting his slider for a strike. He could generate whiffs on it out of the zone. But when he needed a strike, the slider wasn’t reliable enough. He said his cutter became a “go-to” weapon with its late life.

“The cutter can be a really, really helpful pitch, especially if you’re looking for something other than a fastball to throw for a strike,” said McGarry, who went from High A to Triple A last season. “It’s great. Obviously, the movement will get outs. It’s a good pitch to learn for a lot of guys.”

“It’s mainly just a strike pitch that’s not super difficult to throw,” said McArthur, a righty who pitched at Double A in 2022. “Maybe just something to get (hitters) off of your traditional fastball movement. So, that’s probably why it’s pushed a little more. It’s definitely grown in the last couple of years.”

Zack Wheeler has basically thrown a cutter only to lefties for the past three seasons. He may play with it more in 2023. (He said the only cutter he’s thrown in his entire career to a righty was against Trea Turner. “I struck him out with it,” Wheeler said. “It was actually a ball, but they called it a strike. It was nice.”) Wheeler has intent with his cutters to lefties.

“You might miss a barrel,” Wheeler said. “That’s the key. They see fastball up and in, they’re going to be swinging for it, and it just rides in on them. Weak contact.”

This is why Cotham and Kaplan have favored the cutter. It can serve different purposes, depending on the pitcher. “Is it a cutter to protect heaters?” Cotham said. “Does it protect a bigger breaking ball? You’re kind of working through each guy individually.” A pitcher has to have a certain trust to throw a cutter down the middle. There is a risk to this — the evidence that hitters will adapt and handle sliders better is limited, even if Cotham foresees it. Some pitchers have required convincing.

“It’s probably just a little bit of politicking,” Cotham said. “Breaking balls with less movement are, in theory, easier to throw for a strike. It’s an easier conversation to have about maybe limiting some guys on fastball usage. You can think of the cutter in the slider bucket. You can think of the cutter in the fastball bucket. So you can play with that, at least in their mind and how we think about the pitch.”

Alvarado’s advice is straightforward.

“If you want to throw cutters, don’t be afraid,” he said. “Look at the target and throw it. Throw it.”

Last season, José Alvarado’s cutter had a 55.7 Whiff% and a .119 batting average against. (Bill Streicher / USA Today)

The Phillies aren’t mandating that any of their pitchers use the cutter. They have just introduced and explained it in ways that have intrigued many of the organization’s pitchers.

Cotham sat with Mark Appel before camp started. They analyzed data and video of his slider. It projected, Cotham told Appel, as an average pitch in the majors. “But if you get that same movement and add 2 (mph) or 3 mph, it’s an elite pitch, right?” Cotham said. He gave Appel, who made six appearances in the majors last season, two options: Either try to throw the slider harder, which could lead to worse command and might not be physically possible, or try the cutter. He could keep the old slider if he incorporated the cutter. They hypothetically improve each other.

“I mean, I see a lot of value in that,” Appel said. “And I think it could really help me out.”

Phillies pitchers last season threw a cutter at the ninth-highest rate among all teams. They held opponents to a .369 slugging percentage against the cutter, third-best in the league, trailing only the Astros and Dodgers.

There will be more cutters in 2023. But it’s not the only tactic the Phillies have preached this spring. Cotham is more and more convinced that a fastball-slider attack plan is vulnerable. “If I’m a good hitter and I have a good plan,” he said, “I can attempt to eliminate one based on the start line (of the pitch).” The cutter isn’t for everyone, and Cotham has suggested a sweeper — a slider with more horizontal movement — to some advanced pitchers because it’s harder to tame. Mick Abel went to a sweeper last summer. So did McKinley Moore, a minor-league reliever the Phillies like. Wheeler is fooling around with a sweeper this spring.

Zack Wheeler may use his cutter more this season. (Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today)

Cotham is curious to see what it does for the two-pitch relievers. The results this spring have been scattered; the Phillies are asking younger pitchers to try a new pitch while on a bigger stage than a typical minor-league game.

“I would rather, from a broad stance, own two pitches than rent three,” Cotham said. “But, now, if I had to rent a third — that would make my other two a lot better. If you rent one, let’s work on it to make my pretty good two be really good. Or, I just need to master two. Mastery is tough, though. It takes time.”

No pitcher had a higher strikeout rate and lower slugging percentage against his cutter than Alvarado did a season ago. It was a career-changing adjustment to throw it more. But, by the end of the season, hitters began to sit on the cutter. Alvarado was a two-pitch pitcher. The cutter was still effective. But Cotham saw enough hints to bring another idea to Alvarado this spring.

It was time to show his curveball again — just a little, to keep it in the hitters’ minds. The cutter will always be there, but it can’t exist alone.

“We’ve seen the buy-in,” Cotham said, “on the idea of, like, ‘The only real rule is that there are no rules.’ You have to get guys out. Let’s just have a conversation about doing what works the best right now.”

(Top photo of José Alvarado: Cliff Welch / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)