Phillies Must Make Right Decision Regarding Closer Role

The Philadelphia Phillies have plenty of good options out of the bullpen, but there's only one logical choice for who their closer should be during the MLB Playoffs.

When the regular season started, the Philadelphia Phillies appeared to boast one of the strongest bullpens in all of Major League Baseball.

It’s still solid.

But questions remain, especially at the back end, as the playoffs are about to begin.

To be more specific, who’s the closer?

Before the season opener, the Phillies looked to have four relievers capable of closing – Craig Kimbrel, Jose Alvarado, Gregory Soto and Seranthony Dominguez.

As Philadelphia prepares to face the Miami Marlins in the Wild Card round, there doesn’t seem to be a clear-cut favorite.

Kimbrel has struggled through the final month of the regular season, Soto has been dominant at times and shaky at others, while Dominguez has never truly found a rhythm all season.

Their veteran closer racked up 23 saves and has a 3.26 ERA, but between location and the pitch clock, Kimbrel just looked out of sync down the stretch.

The adrenaline of the postseason could be an advantage for the righty, who has 417 career regular season saves.

Alvarado should be the choice.

Even if there’s a key lefty-righty matchup. The hard-throwing left-hander has rebounded nicely from an elbow injury. His command and velocity are both intact.

In such a short series, the Phillies can’t take anything for granted.

Manager Rob Thomson must make the best decision for the ballclub.

In terms of a closer, the answer is Alvarado.

“Like I said last year, strike one and strike two and good luck,” Alvarado said recently.

That’s a confident pitcher.

That’s also the logical choice now to secure the final three outs.