Realigned Phillies bullpen finds its footing in 5 days following José Alvarado suspension

New York Times

23-05-2025

DENVER — Now the longest-tenured man in the Phillies bullpen, Matt Strahm did not have a speech to make. There wasn't much to utter in the wake of José Alvarado's 80-game suspension that both weakened the bullpen and elevated it to the unit that will face the highest scrutiny as spring becomes summer.
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There is so much baseball left; all anyone can be certain of is that the Phillies' bullpen mix will likely not be the same come July or October. But this is who they have right now. It has to work.
'That's kind of always been the mindset of this bullpen since I've been in it,' Strahm said. 'You look back to the '23 bullpen. I mean, we had seven closers down there. So a lot of the conversation was: Quit worrying about when you're throwing, or how you're throwing. And just throw. So, now, it just kind of shifted to: It is what it is. We got what we got. We're good enough to do the job.'
If anything, five days of solid bullpen work since the Alvarado suspension were timely. Things feel a little more settled. No one will read too much into five days because greater tests than the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies will challenge this depleted bullpen. But it was some validation for a group that needs confidence as the quality of their relievers is questioned.
Phillies relievers have a 2.93 ERA with 15 strikeouts and two walks in 15 1/3 innings since they lost Alvarado. They have not surrendered a homer.
The bullpen rose to the task Thursday in a 2-0 win when the Phillies could not bludgeon this historically bad Rockies team. Orion Kerkering recorded the biggest out of the game when he inherited runners on the corners with two outs in the seventh inning of a two-run game. He threw one pitch: a slider in on the hands to Colorado's best hitter, Hunter Goodman. Bryce Harper caught it over the dugout railing.
Excuse me, can I just reach over here real quick, gotta grab something pic.twitter.com/OAC3FZ5leR
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 22, 2025
Matt Strahm pitched around a single and a steal with the help of a fine running catch in center field by Brandon Marsh to end the eighth. Jordan Romano struck out two in a 10-pitch ninth.
The Phillies used all eight of their relievers during the four-game sweep. Most of the chances were lower-leverage situations, against a team that's now 8-42. There was not much drama at a ballpark known for terrorizing bullpens.
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All of the caveats apply, and that is fine. The soft schedule represented a chance for the Phillies to realign their bullpen. Romano, Strahm and Kerkering have not been needed as much. The others have thrown strikes.
'This is what we've got right now,' lefty Tanner Banks said. 'Kind of almost a nudge of, like, 'It's time to go lock it in.' You can either rise to the occasion or fall to the shortcoming. You know?'
This is a dynamic that was best left unsaid out in the bullpen.
'We all expect the next guy up to go out and do their job,' Banks said. 'When we're hitting the ball around the yard, it makes it easier. Every guy out there in the dugout and in the bullpen knows the next guy's got their back. It is unsaid, but it's expected. Excellence is expected, especially, in a city like Philadelphia. You have to want it. You have to work for it. It's not going to come easy, regardless of who you're playing. But it's expected, top to bottom in the clubhouse. Everywhere we go. And, especially, in our home city.'
The whole formula will be easier if the Phillies start from the end. So no development over the past three weeks might be as significant as Romano's return to dominance. He has not allowed a run in nine straight outings. He has faced 30 batters in that time. Only four have reached base. He's struck out 13 of them.
He has ripped through opposing hitters for the past three weeks.
'Romano was fantastic,' Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after the righty's latest scoreless appearance.
'You're not accidentally a two-time All Star as a closer and third all time in a franchise's history in saves,' Strahm said. 'That's not an accident. I mean, yeah. Rough start to the year. That's baseball. His little hiccup in the beginning of the year, we joke about it. You couldn't do it again if you tried.'
No one is pretending the Phillies have everything they need in the bullpen. They will make fortifications come July. They could dip into their rotation surplus at some point to help the bullpen. They will not pull those levers until they must.
For now, inside the clubhouse, the best way to overcome Alvarado's preventable absence is to treat it like something they could not control. Strahm said he reached out to Alvarado. He hasn't heard back. He understands.
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'I can only imagine the place he's in right now,' Strahm said. 'Give him his time. Text messages are meant to be responded to when ready. So, I just shot one off.'
No answer will be satisfactory following a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. That's just how it is.
The Phillies could string together weeks of good relief work and the bullpen would still need to be addressed in July. It would still be a lingering doubt.
A good five days are only five days. But it's better than perpetual panic.
'No doubt,' Banks said. 'The only thing is workloads are going to change a little bit. But it's an opportunity. You might find that there's people out there that are more capable of doing greater things than you may expect.'
(Top photo of Matt Strahm: Justin Edmonds / Getty Images)