The Phillies Need to Crack the Padres Bullpen

The Philadelphia Phillies have scored off of all three San Diego Padres starters thus far, but they have failed to get much going against San Diego's bullpen.

Author:
Leo Morgenstern
Oct 22, 2022 1:00 PM EDT

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Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies have performed admirably against the three-headed monster atop the San Diego Padres rotation, scoring 10 runs in 17.2 innings against Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove. It has been enough for them to win two of three contests, entering Game 4 of the NLCS with a 2-1 series lead.

However, once the starting pitchers have come out of the ballgame, the Phillies' bats have gone silent. In 8.1 innings pitched, the Padres bullpen has held them to only one run – a solo shot by Rhys Hoskins in Game 2. Besides that single home run, Philadelphia has managed just three hits against San Diego's relief corps, and they have yet to draw a walk, striking out 11 times.

Nick Martinez has been especially challenging for the Phillies. He has pitched three innings, striking out five and allowing only one hit, which he promptly erased with a double play. Josh Hader also proved difficult, striking out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning of Game 2.

While Philadelphia has made it this far without doing much damage against San Diego's relievers, that's not exactly a sustainable model for success in the postseason. Eventually, they are going to need some offense against the Padres bullpen.

With Mike Clevinger set to take the hill, Game 4 will be a good time for them to start. Clevinger lasted just 2.2 innings in his first postseason outing, and he will likely have a short leash once again.