Neris’ unhittable splitter boosting Phillies bullpen

Most of the important names on Philadelphia’s shockingly effective early-season pitching staff came from big-time origins. Aaron Nola was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2014 Draft. Jerad Eickhoff came from Texas in the Cole Hamels trade, and Vince Velasquez came from Houston in the Ken Giles trade. That’s exactly how a rebuild is supposed to work: You draft well, and you collect young talent by trading away Major League pieces.

Of course, it also helps when a relatively unheralded internal option makes an unexpected big step forward, too. Philadelphia, meet Hector Neris, and his splitter of doom.

We say “meet” as though Neris didn’t already appear in 33 games with the Phillies in 2014-15, but there’s a big difference between the one who had a 3.70 ERA entering this season and the one who has allowed just two earned runs in 15 1/3 innings (1.17 ERA) with 24 strikeouts this year. Sometimes, these things can be very complicated. In Neris’ case, it couldn’t be simpler: He’s taken his best pitch, and he’s throwing it more.

That’s essentially what Phillies manager Pete Mackanin asked Neris to do, anyway, saying, “We told him late in the spring to start throwing that split more than he has been.” That’s exactly what’s happened. Last year, Neris threw the split 27 percent of the time, primarily focusing on his four-seam and sinker (approximately 30 percent apiece) and a slider (14 percent). This year, the slider is all but gone, having appeared just seven times, and the splitter usage has doubled, up to more than 50 percent.

The new Neris has been so effective that of the 266 pitchers with 10 innings in 2016, only one has been more difficult to make contact …

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