{"id":666207,"date":"2026-04-06T10:23:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/666207\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T10:23:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T10:23:19","slug":"phillies-takeaways-stotts-new-approach-walkers-review-durans-splitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/666207\/","title":{"rendered":"Phillies takeaways: Stott\u2019s new approach, Walker\u2019s review, Duran\u2019s splitter"},"content":{"rendered":"

DENVER \u2014 Bryson Stott saw 17 pitches in Sunday\u2019s loss to the Colorado Rockies, and he swung at eight of them. This is notable because Stott has swung at almost half of the pitches he\u2019s seen this season, a very un-Stott-like approach at the plate. He\u2019s developed a reputation as one of the league\u2019s more passive hitters, someone who\u2019s willing to take pitches early in the count, then hit with two strikes.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s batted fifth in Rob Thomson\u2019s lineup for seven of the Phillies\u2019 nine games. After an 0-for-4 Sunday, Stott has a .535 OPS with only one extra-base hit. He spent all of two games in 2025 as the No. 5 hitter. So is Stott swinging more to do more damage because he\u2019s batting fifth?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I think it\u2019s just not been ready to hit more, I guess,\u201d Stott said. \u201cObviously, it\u2019s out that I don\u2019t swing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only 12 qualified hitters in MLB swung at a lower percentage of pitches than Stott did in 2025. It\u2019s a conscious change, and so far, it is a work in progress. Stott is carrying the highest chase rate among all Phillies hitters; the newfound aggressiveness has not resulted in much this season.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been 10 days. Stott will stick with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get into hitter\u2019s counts and, in the past, I would either slow down to hit it or something of that nature,\u201d Stott said. \u201cNow, more just taking my \u2018A\u2019 swing and if I miss it, I miss it. Instead of getting myself out by check swinging or a soft swinging just to touch it. It\u2019s more of being ultra aggressive on hitter\u2019s counts and going from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Phillies have a paltry .583 OPS from the No. 5 spot \u2014 which, somehow, ranks 20th among 30 teams. Nine games into the season, one of the more obvious potential lineup tweaks for Thomson is to swap Stott with Brandon Marsh, who is hitting .303\/.343\/.485. He doubled again Sunday in the Phillies\u2019 4-1 defeat.<\/p>\n

The manager won\u2019t consider a change.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot yet,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cBut, at some point, probably.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marsh has hit .303 since May 1, 2025. That ranks fifth among all MLB batters with 400 plate appearances during that span.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a great athlete,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cBig and strong and fast. He\u2019s got bat speed. I mean, he\u2019s got all the ingredients in there to be a good hitter. And it\u2019s showing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taijuan Walker\u2019s \u2018rough\u2019 beginning\"Starting<\/p>\n

\n Taijuan Walker allowed four runs on three homers, including two to former Phillie Mickey Moniak, in Sunday\u2019s loss. (Justin Edmonds \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Phillies took four of six from expected bottom-dwellers Washington and Colorado. The two losses came in games started by Taijuan Walker. He didn\u2019t miss bats in his first outing and was hurt by weak-contact hits. He missed more bats in his second outing and surrendered three no-doubt home runs.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s looked very much like a fifth starter.<\/p>\n

\u201cRough,\u201d Walker said. \u201cI feel like the stuff is good. It\u2019s playing up. But when I\u2019m making mistakes, it\u2019s getting hit right now. So I\u2019m just going to keep building off it and keep going and keep getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Phillies need Walker for at least two more turns through the rotation while Zack Wheeler continues his minor-league rehab assignment<\/a>. Those Walker starts would come against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves, two teams with far better offenses than the Nationals and Rockies.<\/p>\n

Then again, four runs in five innings at Coors Field by your fifth starter should qualify as a success. The Phillies could not support Walker, who had a noticeable uptick in velocity Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of intent to all of his pitches,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cHe missed a couple of spots in the first inning and paid for it. And then he was really good. He really mixed well until the fifth, when he left a curveball up to (Mickey) Moniak. That\u2019s what happens. But I thought he was fine. He kept us in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is all the Phillies will ask from Walker. He\u2019ll continue to start, then could slide into a long reliever role once Wheeler returns later this month. The Phillies will make their first roster move Monday or Tuesday when Orion Kerkering is activated from the injured list. They could demote Kyle Backhus, who has pitched better since Opening Day, to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make room for Kerkering.<\/p>\n

Where Walker fits in the larger picture remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Jhoan Duran\u2019s new pitch\"Philadelphia<\/p>\n

\n Jhoan Duran and J.T. Realmuto celebrate after a 2-1 win over the Rockies on Saturday. (Christopher Hanewinckel \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

With two strikes and two outs in the ninth inning of Saturday night\u2019s game, J.T. Realmuto punched buttons on his PitchCom, and Jhoan Duran heard the instructions from the receiver in his cap.<\/p>\n

Splitter.<\/p>\n

This is a new pitch, not to be confused with the \u201csplinker\u201d that has made Duran one of the sport\u2019s best closers. Duran has told Realmuto he wants the splinker to be called on PitchCom as a two-seam fastball because it creates a mentality of getting it down in the zone.<\/p>\n

The splitter is designed to work like the splinker. Just slower. Duran has thrown five of them, and the hardest one was the last pitch of Saturday\u2019s game. Willi Castro thought it was the splinker. But it was 90.8 mph, and by the time Castro realized, it was too late. He could not check his swing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat one, oof, gross,\u201d Duran said. \u201cThat one was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

He laughed. This is fun for Duran because this pitch, which is essentially a split-changeup, is something he learned when he was 13 years old. It was his first breaking pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cSame grip now,\u201d Duran said.<\/p>\n

Why add a pitch? Duran already has four \u2014 the splinker, his traditional four-seam fastball that reaches triple digits, a curveball and a sweeping slider.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say if you feel good with five pitches, do it,\u201d Duran said. \u201cBecause the hitter, they need to think about everything you throw. You see some outings, sometimes my curveball is not good. Well, I\u2019ve got the sweeper. If the splinker is not good that day, I throw the splitter. You know? I can mix up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duran had toyed with the idea of using the splitter last season, but the Minnesota Twins told him to hang onto it. He still played catch with it. Just to keep it alive. He came to spring training and decided to throw it in a live batting practice session to Alec Bohm.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, that pitch is nasty,\u201d Bohm told Duran afterward. \u201cThrow it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duran liked it in spring games. So, he\u2019ll go with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI throw so many pitches right now,\u201d Duran said. \u201cAnd almost everything looks the same, but closer to the batter, they move in different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DENVER \u2014 Bryson Stott saw 17 pitches in Sunday\u2019s loss to the Colorado Rockies, and he swung at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2397],"tags":[5,4,144,25,4216,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-666207","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-phillies","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-philadelphia","11":"tag-philadelphia-phillies","12":"tag-philadelphiaphillies","13":"tag-phillies"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116357274582918603","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}