Caleb Cotham: The Phillies’ Secret Weapon

At just 37 years old, Caleb Cotham is one of the most accomplished pitching coaches in all of baseball.

Cotham has led the Phillies’ pitching staff to the 9th-best team ERA in all of baseball at 3.73. The pitching staff is on track to have its lowest ERA since 2011, and it’s not a coincidence. Cotham has quietly been one of the, if not the best, pitching coaches in all of baseball, and he is directly responsible for the Phillies’ quick rise into being contenders in these last 5 seasons.

Before Cotham became a coach, he pitched for Mt Juliet High School in Tennessee. Cotham was a lesser-known right-handed pitcher, ranked 594th nationally in his recruiting class. As a high schooler, he’d get to participate in both the 17U and 18U championship tournaments as a member of the Twitty City Knights. While they fell short both times, his efforts earned him a scholarship to play baseball at Vanderbilt.

As a freshman for the Commodores, Cotham appeared in only 3 games and pitched a total of 2.2 innings. His sophomore year saw Cotham become a key piece in Vanderbilt’s rotation. He started 14 games and appeared in 16. Cotham pitched 86.0 innings to a 4.50 ERA and a 7-6 record. Vanderbilt finished 41-22 that season, 6th in the SEC.

Cotham’s game improved in 2009 as he appeared in 17 games while starting 13 of them and pitched 79.0 innings with an improved 4.10 ERA. Cotham declared for the MLB draft that same year. He was far from a top prospect but had played well enough for the Yankees to select him 165th overall.

Funnily enough, Zack Wheeler was selected in the same draft class. He went 6th overall to the San Francisco Giants.

As a 21-year-old in the Yankees system, Cotham had his work cut out for him. He’d start his journey in low-A with the Staten Island Yankees. His path to his major league debut was anything but easy. He’d be stuck in the Yankees’ single-A teams and rookie ball for years, not even making it to AA until his 4th year in the system.

It’d take Cotham 6 full years to finally make his Yankees debut in 2015, where he did not disappoint. On July 29th, 2015, Cotham was called up to pitch in his first major league game, where he pitched 1.2 scoreless innings and recorded 4 strikeouts in a 5-2 loss. He was just the 11th pitcher in Yankee history with 4 or more strikeouts in a major league debut and the 6th Yankee to ever have 4 strikeouts or more without allowing a run.

He made 12 more appearances in the 2015 season and struggled heavily, ending his rookie season with a 6.52 ERA.

That offseason, Cotham was traded to the Reds as a piece in the Aroldis Chapman trade to New York. In a new environment, Cotham began 2016 as arguably the best reliever in the Reds bullpen. In 12 appearances in the month of April, he had a 2.84 ERA. However, things would collapse for Cotham in May with an ERA above 12.

After 2016, Cotham would never make it back to the major league level. He’d sign a minor league deal with the Mariners in 2017 but later announced his retirement.

Cotham didn’t wait long to jumpstart his coaching career. In 2019, he was hired by his former team, the Reds, as an assistant pitching coach. He worked with his former pitching coach at Vanderbilt, Derek Johnson. In 2019, the Reds had a combined ERA of 4.18, their best in 5 years. Sonny Gray had his best season since 2015, where he ended his season with a 2.87 ERA in 31 starts and totaled 175.1 innings.

2019 also saw a 26-year-old Luis Castillo have his best season in his then-young career. In 32 starts, Castillo had a 3.40 ERA while pitching 192.2 innings. Even future Phillie Michael Lorenzen had the best year of his career as a relief pitcher in 2019, making 75 appearances with a 2.92 ERA.

Cotham’s efforts were rewarded as the Reds made him their “director of pitching” heading into the 2020 season.

In a COVID-shortened 2020 season, Cotham worked miracles on the Reds pitching staff.

The headliner was Trevor Bauer. Bauer had by far the best season of his career in his first year working with Caleb Cotham. Bauer had career bests in ERA (1.73), WHIP (0.79), H/9 (5.1), complete games (2), complete game shutouts (2), and topped it off by winning his first and only Cy Young award. Bauer even finished 10th in NL MVP voting.

Castillo improved off his 2019 season with an ERA of 3.21, and Tyler Mahle had the best year of his career with a 3.59 ERA in 9 starts.

In large part thanks to one of the best rotations in MLB, the Reds made the playoffs for the first time since 2013. While the Reds were swept in the NL Wildcard series by the Braves, it was by no means the fault of their pitching. Red’s pitchers allowed just 5 ER across the 2 games, but the Reds’ offense was shut out both times.

The Phillies hired Cotham to be their pitching coach on November 20, 2020. Cotham had his work cut out with the Phillies’ pitching staff. They were coming off a season where they combined for a 5.18 ERA, the worst in 21 years.

2021 saw immense strides towards improvement. The team ERA lowered by .75 from 5.14 to 4.39. The .75 decrease was the largest single-season improvement since the 2007-2008 seasons.

Cotham quickly helped turn Wheeler into one of the best pitchers in baseball. In his first year working with Cotham, Wheeler pitched to career bests in WAR (7.5), ERA (2.78), complete games (3), complete game shutouts (2), innings pitched (213.1), strikeouts (247), and finished second in NL Cy Young award voting.

Cotham also made progress in the bullpen with Hector Neris. Neris, who had a 4.57 ERA in 2020, noticeably improved with Cotham. In 75 appearances, his ERA dropped to 3.63. 2021 saw the Phillies finish 82-80, their first winning record in 10 years.

As we all already know, 2022 was a special season in Phillies history, and Cotham is one of the biggest reasons for the success. Wheeler had another excellent season with a 2.82 ERA in 153 innings of work. Aaron Nola had a bounce-back year with a 3.25 ERA, his lowest since 2018. In Ranger Suarez‘s first season as a full-time starter, he flashed potential with a 3.65 ERA.

Cotham finally broke through in the bullpen as well with Andrew Bellatti, Seranthony Dominguez, Jose Alvarado, and Connor Brogdon all having sub-3.5 ERA seasons. The Phillies’ magical run to the 2022 World Series does not happen without Cotham’s influence. The Phillies as a team had the 4th-lowest postseason ERA on their run at 3.24. 3.24 was also good enough to be the best pitching staff in the NL in the playoffs.

In 2023, Cotham helped lead multiple pitchers to breakout seasons with the Phillies. The rotation had another good year, even if it took a slight step back.

However, it was aided by a breakout season from Cristopher Sanchez. Sanchez was in his third season with the Phillies in 2023 and hadn’t done much. He made just 4 starts between 2021-2022 while appearing in just 22 games. Sanchez cemented himself as a cornerstone of the Phillies rotation in 2023. In 18 starts, he had a career best 3.44 ERA.

Craig Kimbrel came on as the Phillies’ closer and, in the regular season, did well collecting 23 saves. Some more new faces also became keystones in the bullpen. Matt Strahm had the best year of his career in his first season in Philly, appearing in 56 games with a 3.29 ERA. Jeff Hoffman, who went from a nobody to a somebody under Cotham, also had the best season of his career, appearing in 54 games with a 2.41 ERA.

As a team, the Phillies had the lowest postseason ERA at just 2.20, before falling to Arizona in the NLCS in 7 games.

In 2024, Cotham put forward his best work yet. The Phillies pitching staff combined for an ERA of 3.85, their best in 12 years. Wheeler again had a career year. He had his lowest career ERA (2.57), 200 innings pitched, a WHIP of 0.95, and again finished 2nd in NL Cy Young award voting. Nola rebounded from his 4.46 ERA in 2023 to a 3.57 ERA in 2024. Sanchez built off his breakout 2023 and had an even better 2024. He had a 3.32 ERA in 31 starts along with 181 innings pitched. Suarez was one of the best pitchers in baseball in the first half of the season until injury struggles slowed him down in the second half.

The bullpen was anchored by career years from Hoffman, Orion Kerkering, and Strahm. 5 of Caleb Cotham’s pitchers were sent to the All-Star Game as a result. While things would fall apart for the Phillies as the season ended, it was still one of the best pitching staffs in recent team history.

So far this year, the Phillies have the 9th-best pitching staff in baseball by ERA at 3.73. Cotham has continued to unlock Wheeler’s full potential as Wheeler is in the midst of the best season of his career with a 2.36 ERA. Sanchez and Suarez have each continued to take steps forward as they have sub-3 ERAs.

While this pitching staff isn’t perfect and the bullpen could definitely use some work, Cotham’s impact on the team in the last 5 seasons is undeniable. In the last 3 years alone, the Phillies are top 10 in team ERA. Cotham has played an instrumental role in the Phillies’ sudden rise to power, and they’ll continue to need Cotham’s best if they want to bring the World Series to Philadelphia.

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