Phillies Must Spend Smarter on Bullpen this Offseason

The Philadelphia Phillies spent poorly in regards to their bullpen last offseason. It is imperative they do the opposite this winter.

Author:
Alex Carr
Nov 10, 2022 11:00 AM EST

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Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies have managed a litany of shrewd pickups over the past year.

Kyle Schwarber, whom they signed to a four-year, $79 million deal emerged as the team's biggest voice in the clubhouse, and led the National League in home runs this past season.

Andrew Bellatti, who inked a minor league pact with the team, emerged as one of the Phillies' most reliable relievers, and developed into one of Major League Baseball's forefront relievers in strikeout rate.

Catcher Garrett Stubbs quickly became a clubhouse favorite after he was acquired prior to last winter's Rule 5 Draft (which never happened.) He played some spectacular, hustle-filled baseball in limited playing time this past season.

Edmundo Sosa and Brandon Marsh also played major parts in the Phillies' stretch run that led them to a World Series berth, and will have a lot of room for growth during the 2023 season.

In fact, outside of Nick Castellanos, who will look to bounce back next year, most of the position players that the Phillies signed or traded for this past season seemed to provide a positive impact to the club.

Unfortunately, the exact opposite can be said for all of the Phillies major purchases for the bullpen.

The Phillies exited the 2022 offseason having signed right-handed pitchers Corey Knebel and Jeurys Familia, alongside left-handed pitcher Brad Hand to one-year deals. They were banking on these pitchers bouncing back from dismal 2021 campaigns.

The majority of the group failed to do so.

Corey Knebel, whom the Phillies looked upon as a possible solution to their closer role, had a dreadful 2022 campaign. He lost feel for his go-to out-pitch, his curveball, throughout the season, and struggled to maintain his fastball command a majority of the year.

His time with Philadelphia ended prematurely due to injury, but things were only trending downward for the veteran righty. His surface 3.43 ERA masked a treacherous 4.85 xFIP iceberg, and Knebel exited the season accumulating a grand total of 0 fWAR.

Jeurys Familia was a flat-out disaster in 2022. He was the in-game equivalent of batting practice for each and every hitter he faced, and it displayed for all to see in his 6.09 ERA with the club. He was the least-valuable pitcher on the team by fWAR, superseded even by Garrett Stubbs, owner of a 17.18 ERA.

After a poor stint with the Phillies, Jeurys Familia signed with the Boston Red Sox, posting a 6.10 ERA across 10 games.
© Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

Brad Hand had a decent year for the Phillies by the naked eye. His 2.80 ERA was the best of any Philadelphia reliever that pitched a minimum of 25 games, which deserves some recognition.

However, Hand's success came primarily thanks to the Phillies defense, which played surprisingly well behind him, showcased by a 4.90 xFIP. The southpaw was also carefully instituted in scenarios that behooved his skillset, setting him up for success a majority of the time.

The Phillies paid a whopping $22 million to these three arms in the winter of 2022. In return, they were met with a minuscule 0.1 fWAR return.

Luckily, a multitude of arms stepped up in their stead. Seranthony Domínguez and José Alvarado emerged into elite-level back-end bullpen options, while the aforementioned Andrew Bellatti, alongside Connor Brogdon, Zach Eflin and the addition of David Robertson solidified what evolved into a relatively strong bullpen.

However, in order to further their success in 2023, the Phillies must be smarter shoppers from here on out.

Having comfortably exceeded the dreaded luxury tax in 2022, the Phillies have as much room as they're willing to spend on short-term pacts this offseason. In a free agent market flush with strong relief candidates, they should have their pick of the litter.

The team's closer role is far from solidified, perhaps a name like Kenley Jansen, who had a spectacular season peripherally, could make sense?

They'll need a strong left-handed option to pair with Alvarado. Perhaps they could look at Taylor Rogers as a bounceback candidate? Or Andrew Chafin?

Electric, high-velocity arms like Robert Suarez, Rafael Montero, and Miguel Castro have also hit the market, so there's no shortage of strong options, but the Phillies will have to choose wisely if they want to avoid last year's catastrophe.