Can the Phillies Overcome Their Bullpen Struggles in Series Against the Mets?
The 2025 season for the Philadelphia Phillies has been full of highs and lows, with the performance from each position group. However, with championship aspirations for the Phillies this season, one group has been lacking in performance behind the rest: the bullpen. Outside of the bullpen, the team has looked very good. The starting rotation is one of the best in baseball, with Zack Wheeler leading the way, and has gotten even better due to the emergence of Jesus Luzardo and Cristopher Sanchez. While the offense has its moments of going cold, overall, the lineup has batted well. With the addition of Bryson Stott in the leadoff spot, the Phillies’ offense has turned the corner. As for the bullpen, they currently lead the majors with six blown saves out of the team’s 22 games. Heading into a crucial series against the Mets, the team will need to be firing on all cylinders to get the series win, but can they get it done with the struggles of the bullpen?
The Positives
With a group that has so many things going wrong right now, there are still some bright spots in the group. Pitcher Matt Strahm has led the pack and has been one of the few positives this season for the bullpen. Strahm appeared in 10.1 innings this season and recorded a save and a win during that time. The right-handed pitcher is the only Phillies reliever with under a 2.00 ERA, with his 1.74 ERA, with the next closest being Jose Alvarado, who has also been solid this season for the Phillies. Alvarado is a reliever who throws heat; however, he can struggle with command at times during his appearances. Like Strahm, Alvardo has appeared in 10.2 innings, which is the most for all of the Phillies’ relievers. With this, Alvarado has been used as the Phillies’ closer for most of the season and has worked well. In his new role, he has provided great appearances which resulted in five saves, tied for the eighth most in the MLB. The duo of Alvardo and Strahm has worked at times for the Phillies, however, there might need to be moves within the position group to get the two some help.
The Negatives
As mentioned earlier, this unit is one of the worst in the MLB, with six blown saves in only 22 games this season. Inside those blown saves come a lot of bad performances, starting with Jordan Romano. Romano came to the Phillies this offseason from the Toronto Blue Jays and has struggled mightily, with a 15.26 ERA in 7.2 innings of work. In game two of the Phillies series against the Marlins, Romano gave up six runs in the ninth inning to push the score to 11-10. Thankfully for the Phillies, Alvardo came into the game and closed out the final out and collected the win for the team. Romano is not the only one who has struggled for the Phillies, as three other relievers have over a 6.00 ERA on the year. Those relievers are Carlos Hernandez, Joe Ross, and Jose Ruiz. All three players combined for 23.3 innings with the Phillies and caused the Phillies to struggle late in games. Outside of the duo, the Phillies have struggled to put good innings together. Even as good as the Phillies are, the bullpen is the one that can win or lose you the game.
Outlook on the Group
The Phillies obviously have an issue with the bullpen position, but there are things to do to help the group. Looking back, the Phillies put problems on themselves this offseason because they chose not to re-sign Jeff Hoffman. Last year, Hoffman was an All-Star for the Phillies with a 2.17 ERA on the year. Hoffman instead decided to sign with the Blue Jays, where he has succeeded so far, having a 2-0 record with five saves to go along with a 1.59 ERA on the year. For the Phillies’ current group, they will look to get reinforcement when Ranger Suarez returns from injury, which results in one of the starting pitchers to possibly be moved to the bullpen. Look for potential Suarez to be moved to the bullpen or veteran Taijuan Walker to be moved to the bullpen as well. Outside of their internal options, the Phillies will need to make a move or shake things up if they want to compete for a championship.
