Phillips Relishing New TitlePerhaps the biggest difference for Curt Phillips this year is the number 23—which happens to be his age. The young pitcher says that nothing else feels different. “The motion’s still the same, you know? And I got the stuff I came up here with. But there’s a feeling now that wasn’t there last couple years, you know? The mound feels more like home.”
Kyle Beard, his pitching coach, backs Phillips up. “I’ve coached pretty much everyone, and from the raw mechanics, Curt’s the same guy now as he was earlier.” Beard went on to describe a more mature kid, though, discussing how Phillips is taking in information about hitters in ways he maybe didn’t do so much before. “There’s a lot to pay attention to,” Beard said. “Sometimes it just takes time to learn how to learn.”
Whatever’s happening, it’s showing up on the field in ways Phillips is happier with. As a 21 year old, Phillips was handed the closer role and proceeded to lose it, posting 9 blown saves in 48 opportunities and along the way gathering the nickname as King BS among less kindhearted fans. As a 22 year-old, it wasn’t much better, as Phillips blew 8 saves in only 31 chances across the season—most so early that he was sent back and forth to Indianapolis a couple times before settling in later in the year.
Phillips blames some of his improvement to a desire to stay out of Indianapolis. “No offense to the city. It’s a great place, but I decided last winter that I just didn’t want to see that city again.”
Entering 2038, Phillips understood that he was in kind of a “three strikes and you’re out” kind of situation. But so far, Nine fans are seeing the guy they were told Phillips might always be. He’s appeared in 25 games (including on brief start), and in 17 of those has been asked to close the game out. Only once has he failed—a 94% success rate that the team has benefited from to no end. Take his start out of the equation and his ERA sits at a chill 1.42, and to his 16 saves, add 2 victories, neither of which was vulture by giving up a run first.
His 16 saves lists him at the top of the Frick League, tied with three other pitchers. Fellow Nine reliever Rodrigo Lugo, recently acquired from Montreal, is behind him with 13. The acquisition is spurring his teammates to play another game, this time making office pool bets on which other relievers the team will acquire to keep Phillips at the top of the list—a suggestion that the team will go to almost any lengths to get him the Saves crown.
“I’m good with that,” Phillips says, “King Save sounds a lot better than King BS.”