The Atlantic League will have a pair of representatives on the Philadelphia Phillies pitching staff as the 2022 World Series opens on Friday night (Oct. 28) with an 8:03 p.m. EDT first pitch from Houston’s Minute Maid Park.

Phillies relievers David Robertston and Andrew Bellatti each spent time in the Atlantic League during their careers. Robertson, a long-time Yankee reliever, pitched for the High Point Rockers in 2021 as he was preparing to represent the United States in last summer’s Olympic baseball games. Bellatti began his career in the Tampa Bay system and was with the Atlantic League’s Sugar Land Skeeters for a time in 2019 before having his contract purchased by the New York Yankees.

Bellatti has appeared in five postseason games this year with the Phillies, logging four innings and allowing just two hits while walking one and striking out six. Robertson is 1-0 this postseason with a 2.45 ERA and six strikeouts in 3.2 innings. He earned the win with one inning of relief work in the Phillies’ 6-3 win over St. Louis on Oct. 7.

An ESPN.com article by Kiley McDaniel comparing all 52 players in the World Series, noted that Robertson “only throws a cutter, slider and curveball. And he’s 37! But it’s still working.”

Of Bellatti, McDaniel described him a “slider-heavy middle reliever also has a mid-90’s fastball and has been good in five playoff appearances.”

Robertson came to the Rockers as a 12-year Major League veteran who had not pitched in MLB in nearly two years following an injury.

“Spring training had come and passed and I ended up not signing on with a few teams,” said Robertson during his stint with the Rockers. “I had been picking up innings locally in Rhode Island and once we finished with the [Olympic] qualifier and we went home, we had a little bit of a lull and so I’ve been picking up innings wherever I can.”