The Rook tossed Russo out this offseason as his Philly arm for 2025, (episode 42) noting his kitchen sink approach and ability to attack hitters in multiple ways. A potentially budding “sum of all parts/high pitchability” prospect whose tools alone aren’t outstanding, but rather the way he uses them and they work off each other.
His line this day feels very Russo. There were some offerings located poorly that led to hard contact. There were some walks, as he couldn’t complete a difficult sequence of pitches. Russo might be the poster child for the anti-sum-of-all-parts crowd. It’s a higher standard of difficulty. When he executes, well, you can see the results above.
The changeup may be his best offering, but it’s hard to say. Russo’s offerings tend to take turns as headliner from outing to outing, inning to inning, at bat to at bat. Nonetheless, Russo has my attention. The Phillies have had a killer recent pipeline running previously unheralded arms from Jersey Shore to Reading and onward…Ben Brown, Samuel Aldegheri, Eiberson Castillano, just to name a few. Looking forward to keeping an eye here. Russo is the kind of arm I gravitate toward, keeping in mind a possibility of stuff jumping and things taking off, a la a Zebby Matthews of late. Don’t bet on it, but don’t rule it out, especially with the Phillies.
Note: Don’t quote me, but I was wondering if I caught a different change grip the last one in our video there…a “kick” change.” Hard to say with complete certainty.