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Did Dave Dombrowski Scrap Together the Best Bullpen of this Phillies Era?
By Sean Barnard
Published:
Flashback to the start of the MLB season. There were plenty of questions and concerns surrounding the Phillies bullpen. Jordan Romano was the expected closer, Joe Ross was the other notable offseason addition, while Matt Strahm, Jose Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, Tanner Banks, Jose Ruiz, and Carlos Hernandez rounded out the rest of the unit.
It was a swing-and-miss effort in building out the bullpen, much unlike the results of a hanging Romano slider.
But President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski did not throw the towel in and accept failure in what was the clearest pathway to adding talent. He got creative, made moves, and quietly assembled one of the best bullpens in the sport piece-by-piece. This even comes with roster issues worsening beyond his control, such as the suspension of Jose Alvarado.
Jhoan Duran was the headline addition, coming in at the trade deadline. He and his entrance have provided the Phillies with the clear ninth inning guy for the first time in years and the rest of the bullpen has benefitted from the trickle down in roles. Across his 20 appearances in red pinstripes, he’s posted a 1.53 ERA, allowed just 13 hits, and struck out 20 while going 15 for 17 in save opportunities. The pathway to a victory goes through Duran in the postseason with the clear goal to get to the ninth inning with a lead feeling a lot more reassuring than moving around the bullpen arms based on matchups.
Dombrowski deserves even more credit for his unorthodox moves. David Robertson was signed off the scrap heat without needing to give anything up outside of a contract offer. At 40 years old, Robertson still looks to have something left in the tank. Across his 17 appearances with the Phillies, he’s allowed 14 hits and struck out 20 while being thrown into some tough spots. The eye test of his appearances has been better than his 4.20 ERA indicates. Phillies owner John Middleton also deserves credit for constantly being willing to dig into his deep pockets in a way that plenty of baseball owners simply aren’t.
In addition, the Phillies added Tim Mayza off waivers from the Pirates, signed Walker Buehler when he was released by the Red Sox, added Lou Trivino on a minor league deal in August and elevated him shortly after, and gave Max Lazar the call-up to the Major Leagues. Sure, none of these could end up being good enough when push comes to shove. But the practice of searching for ways to improve the bullpen and exploring all options when the unit did not look to be good enough deserves praise.
With Duran as the closer, Kerkering and Strahm are the likely eighth inning guys, while Tanner Banks and David Robertson also look capable of taking on high leverage opportunities. With Other legitimate options, such as Buehler, this has the makings of the best bullpen the Phillies have had in this era.
Past Bullpen Results
The results of the Phillies bullpen in the postseason have been a bit strange to this point.
During the 2022 World Series run, the bullpen unit was a collection of mismatched pieces. Alvarado led the bullpen unit with 12 postseason appearances, followed by Zach Eflin, Seranthony Dominguez, Robertson, Andrew Bellatti, Conor Brogdon, and Brad Hand. The Phillies bullpen posted a collective 2.62 ERA in the playoffs, the fourth-best in MLB, and struck out 85 hitters while allowing just 54 total hits across the playoff run. For what it’s worth, Robertson posted a 1.17 ERA across his 7.2 innings pitched.
Alvarado once again headlined the bullpen production in the 2023 postseason, which eventually resulted in the Phillies collapsing against the Diamondbacks in the NLCS. Jeff Hoffman and Kerkering had their breakouts and this was the Craig Kimbrel season. Strahm, Gregory Soto, Dominguez, and Michael Lorenzen rounded out a bullpen unit that posted a collective 2.23 ERA, which ranked second in the MLB playoffs. They struck out 42 while allowing 41 hits and gave up only 11 earned runs across the postseason run.
There was plenty of optimism surrounding the bullpen last season. Kerkering continued developing on the expected pathway and Strahm had an All-Star season. Jeff Hoffman joined him on this All-Star roster and posted a 2.17 ERA on the year and recorded double digit saves for the season. The Phillies also took a deadline swing to add Carlos Estevez, who had a 2.57 ERA with the Phillies despite not being remembered particularly fondly. But this bullpen imploded in the postseason, posting a collective 11.37 ERA, which was more than double the next worst playoff team, the Brewers, at 5.65. Hoffman individually posted a 40.50 ERA. Of their three losses to the Mets, the Phillies turned the game over to their bullpen twice with a lead.
Optimism for this Bullpen
So far this season, the Phillies bullpen has posted a collective 4.32 ERA, which ranks 21st in MLB. After producing an ERA below 4.0 the past two regular seasons, this is roughly on par with the output in 2022. Before the World Series run, the team posted a collective 4.27 ERA in the regular season, which ranked 23rd in the league.
But it feels unfair to just look at the raw numbers without factoring in the roster turnover. 28 different pitchers have thrown at least one inning for the Phillies this season. Every Michael Mercado, Seth Johnson, Mick Abel, and Daniel Robert helped the team get through the 162-game grind and evaluate their best options heading into the postseason.
With about two weeks until the playoffs officially begin, the true test of the bullpen is set to take place. But Dombrowski has done as well as he possible could to build up the unit. The Phillies have a legitimate closer, several options in high-leverage situations, and experience on their side. Even a guy like Buehler has his concerns, but the fact remains that he secured the last out in last year’s World Series victory with the Dodgers. Robertson has been pitching in the majors since before some of the Phillies’ top prospects were born.
The bullpen group that will be asked to go to battle has been established and it is now up to Rob Thomson to pull the right strings and for each player to be up for the moment.
Sean Barnard has covered the Philadelphia 76ers and general Philly Sports for over six years in a variety of roles and for multiple outlets. Currently works as a Content Writer for DraftKings Network, Sixers/NBA Insider for Philadelphia's Fox Sports the Gambler, and co-host of Sixers & Phillies Digest on Youtube. Forever Trusting the Process.