Philadelphia Philles Should Panic About Ineffectiveness From Key Bullpen Members

The Philadelphia Phillies have been performing quite well of late, but there are still some concerns about the team moving forward.

After a tough stretch a couple of weeks ago, the Phillies have won their last three series against some talented teams.

Philadelphia is still one of the best teams in the league despite some obvious issues, but the franchise is once again proving to be a World Series contender.

However, one area that still is a major concern, especially come October, is the bullpen.

This has been the area of the team that has cost them in the past, and despite trying to address it over the winter, it’s an issue once again.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report wrote about Phillies reliever Jordan Romano and the bullpen being the biggest weakness, and that there is reason to panic about the situation.

“From 2020-23, Romano had a 2.29 ERA, saving 97 games en route to two All-Star Games. He was injured and ineffective last year, but the Phillies bet on him bouncing back.”

This winter, Philadelphia had some tough choices to make in regards to their bullpen.

Two key members of the unit from last year, Carlos Estevez and Jeff Hoffman, were both free agents, leaving a considerable void. However, rather than trying to bring one or both of them back, the Phillies decided to sign Romano.

The two-time All-Star was coming off a poor campaign in 2024, in which he was injured and ineffective on the mound.

However, the hope was that the struggles on the mound were just injury related and that he would have a bounce back season. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case.

Romano has totaled a 10.22 ERA in 12.1 innings pitched, and has since lost his spot as the closer.

While the right-hander has been the main culprit for the struggles of the bullpen, Orion Kerkering also hasn’t been nearly as good as the franchise would have hoped coming off a strong year in 2024.

The 24-year-old has totaled a 4.85 ERA with three blown saves already this year. In 2024, he looked like he was going to be a major contributor going forward, but it’s been a step backward so far.

Now, with multiple key members of the bullpen struggling after one month, the Phillies once again will likely have to be aggressive at the trade deadline in order to help this unit out.

Hopefully, Romano and Kerkering can turn it around soon. However, this is a team built to win now and must be aggressive to improve areas of need, like their bullpen.

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