Bellatti to Make First Career Start in Bullpen Game Against Blue Jays

The Philadelphia Phillies are a little short-staffed right now. 

Two of their starting pitchers are on the injured list. Two more are now on the restricted list — although neither will miss a start. For the next two days, Zack Wheeler will be the only starter on the active roster. 

As such, the Phillies are playing their second bullpen game in the past three days. Right-gander Andrew Bellatti will get the “start” this evening in Toronto.

The last bullpen game did not work out so well for Philadelphia. They lost 4-3 in St. Louis, in part because of a blown save by Bellatti.

The game-tying run was charged to Cristopher Sánchez, but Bellatti gave up the hit that allowed the tying run to advance to third and the RBI that allowed the tying run to score. It was the first blown save of Bellatti’s career.

In Toronto, the 30-year-old righty will get the chance to redeem himself in his first career start.

Blown save aside, Bellatti has been one of Rob Thomson’s most reliable relievers this season. He has earned this opportunity. 

That being so, he’ll still have his work cut out for him. The Blue Jays have been one of the best offensive teams in the sport this season. Their team wRC+ of 110 is fourth-best in the American League and sixth-best in baseball.

Thankfully for Bellatti, most of Toronto’s lineup bats right-handed, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk, George Springer, Bo Bichette, Teoscar Hernández, and Santiago Espinal.

Bellatti has been fantastic against right-handers this season, holding them to a .161 batting average and .235 wOBA in 71 plate appearances. He has struck out nearly 40% of the righties he has faced.

His Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) against right-handers is an excellent 2.72, while against lefties that number is a ghastly 5.55. As such, Bellatti is a good choice to open a bullpen game against a very right-handed team.

Hopefully for the Phillies, Bellatti can continue his strong season while facing one of the toughest lineups in baseball. After a couple tough losses in St. Louis, Philadelphia needs to win some more ballgames to keep their hold on a postseason spot.

If Bellatti can go two — or even three — solid innings before turning things over to the rest of the bullpen, he can count his first big league start as a major success.

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