“Baseball is 90-percent mental. The other half if physical,” said the great Yogi Berra, and he was definitely right. For IronPigs pitcher Tyler Phillips, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery went well physically, but he forgot about the mental rehab that he needed to go through. Phillips had joined the Phillies organization in 2021 and near the end of the season wound up on the injured list with a sore elbow that turned out to be a torn UCL, requiring surgery.

When Phillips returned in 2023, there was a lot going on for him as he struggled to get back to where he was prior to the injury. The right-hander looked good early on before hitting a rough patch and watching his ERA balloon higher and higher while with Double-A Reading. Even with the weak numbers at Double-A, the Phillies decided to move him up to Lehigh Valley for a bit of a challenge late last season. Again, the problem was consistency as he failed to put together a string of solid outings and he finished the season with a 4.69 ERA as a member of the IronPigs.

Ironically, it was not a pitching coach or even another player that put their finger on the problem. It was the Phillies minor league defensive coordinator, Andy Abad, who saw a problem. Abad didn’t focus on velocity or the movement on the pitches Phillips was throwing. Instead, it was an issue that might be considered mechanics; it was his body language.

Abad talked to Phillips about his mental approach to pitching, which had manifested itself in the body language that the 26-year-old was showing on the mound. The two had a conversation where Abad talked about needing to think of the hitters as wanting to take money away from him by beating him. As it turned out, Phillips’ problem was not any lingering effect from the injury, it all came from his mental approach.

In 2024, that mental approach is fully intact and along with revamping the pitches he throws has turned Phillips into a different pitcher and the change is still ongoing. Phillips has dropped throwing his four-seam fastball and his changeup and instead now throws a sinker and a splitter to replace those pitches and he also added a sweeper to give him more weapons. He continues to work on making those pitches better and has combined that with his new mental approach to post a 3.57 ERA through his first four starts.

The only start this season came in the first full week of games that had the IronPigs freezing their buns off in Rochester. Weather postponed four of the games in that series, pushing back Phillips and the other pitchers in the rotation and resulted in Phillips allowing seven earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. His three other starts have resulted in just three earned runs in 19 innings for a 1.42 ERA through those games.

The downside for Phillips is that at least for now, there is no road to the majors with the Phillies. The starting rotation in the majors has been the best in baseball and on Sunday, Phillips watched as Taijuan Walker made a rehab start with the IronPigs in anticipation of his return to the big league club. With Walker gone, the Phillies have used Spencer Turnbull in the fifth spot of the rotation, and he has responded well enough that there is a genuine debate about whether Walker or Turnbull should be the number-five starter. Whichever one loses out, will go to the Phillies bullpen, and lay in wait for another chance at working as a starter. That pushes Phillips down the depth chart.

HOT IN MOOSIC… Esteban Quiroz and Darick Hall both proved to be thorns in the side of the RailRiders during last week’s series against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate. Both played in all six games and Quiroz posted a .545 on-base percentage while Hall hit his second home run of the season and drove in four runs for the IronPigs. David Dahl (.375), Matt Kroon (.357), Kody Clemens (.333), and Jordan Luplow (.318) also had strong weeks, while Scott Kingery was the only IronPigs player with multiple home runs, hitting two against Scranton pitchers.

THE FASHION SHOW CONTINUES… Lehigh Valley announced yet another new uniform style recently. They team will wear Hometown Heroes theme uniforms in three games on May 23 and 26th, and in game two of a July 3 doubleheader. The uniforms feature the color of U.S. Armed Forces fatigues with IronPigs in black on the front with a camouflage style background behind the name. The left sleeve features a sergeant’s insignia used throughout the U.S. military and the right sleeve has an American flag. The right chest area will feature a nameplate reading Lehigh Valley. The games will also feature specially designed hats. The jerseys will be auctioned off following the July 3 game to raise money for IronPigs charities and BattleBorne, a Lehigh Valley organization that benefits veterans requiring mental, emotional, and physical assistance.

WALLY PIPPING BRYCE HARPER?... Wally Pipp was famously replaced by Lou Gehrig at first base on June 2, 1925 when Pipp had a headache. Gehrig went on to play in 2,130 straight games and Pipp was later traded to Cincinnati and was out of baseball by 1929. Monday, Kody Clemens played first base for the Phillies after being recalled when Bryce Harper went on paternity leave. Clemens went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in the Phillies 7-0 win in Cincinnati.