Latest news with #OrionKerkering
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Phillies Bullpen Sends Strong Message to Orion Kerkering Amid Early Struggles
Phillies Bullpen Sends Strong Message to Orion Kerkering Amid Early Struggles originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Philadelphia Phillies have had a bullpen issue all season long. It's mainly been apparent with the departure of Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Esteves, leaving Orion Kerkering and Jordan Romano as the only high-leverage right-handed relievers. Advertisement Through the beginning of the year, Kerkering hasn't had his best stuff. He flashed in 2024 but has struggled to begin the 2025 season. Despite that, his past and present teammates in the bullpen express their belief in Kerkering's stuff. In an article on The Athletic from Charlotte Varnes, which detailed Kerkering's early-season struggles and growth, multiple Phillies relievers came forward with praise for the 24-year-old reliever. "Everybody in here," Tanner Banks said, "top to bottom, trusts you. Your stuff's unbelievable. Anybody in here would kill to have your stuff. ... Chin up." Banks, amid his own 2025 resurgence, had simple and high praise for Kerkering. Saying that the bullpen would all love to have Kerkering's stuff is one of the best compliments a pitcher can get. Banks wasn't the only one with high praise for Kerkering. Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering (50) throws a pitch during the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Hartline-Imagn Images "Orion is doing what Orion does," said Hoffman. "He's going to be good for a long time." Advertisement Part of Kerkering's early-season struggles stemmed from his signature pitch, his sweeper, getting hit more often. Fellow reliever Matt Strahm explained why the sweeper wasn't working as well. "Strahm said Kerkering has one of the best pitches in baseball," Varnes wrote. "Hitters are just adjusting to him after two-plus years in the big leagues." As with many players, once there is ample tape available, they tend to regress. Baseball is especially susceptible to such instances, mainly for pitchers. Kerkering's sweeper, which lost almost two inches of run at the start of the season, wasn't as effective. Combined with more tape on his stuff, it's no surprise he was hit more often. But, after a 6.52 ERA April, Kerkering has turned things around, lowering his season ERA to 3.09. Since the beginning of May, Kerkering has had a 0.79 ERA. He hasn't allowed an earned run since May 6th. Advertisement Despite his early-season struggles, Kerkering's teammates believed in him and his stuff. With a tightly contested National League East, the Phillies will need Kerkering to continue to thrive. After a dominant May, his teammates' belief in him has come to fruition, and Kerkering has found his groove again. Related: Phillies' Jesus Luzardo Makes Unfortunate MLB History Related: Phillies Get Major Mets News After New York's Horrible Francisco Lindor Injury Update This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
Forbes
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Aaron Nola Injury, Jose Alvarado Suspension Test Phils Pitching Depth
Philadelphia Phillies' Aaron Nola plays during the second baseball game of a doubleheader Wednesday, ... More May 14, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum) On the surface, things appear to be going swimmingly for the Philadelphia Phillies. After a weekend sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates, they stand at 28-18, on the heels of the New York Mets in the NL East. A couple of recent events add unexpected stress to the club's pitching staff, however. The starting rotation, the team's clear primary strength, will be hampered in the short term by the loss of Aaron Nola with a sprained right ankle. Perhaps even more importantly, their bullpen - clearly not an area of comparable depth - will be without their closer, Jose Alvarado for 80 games due to a suspension for use of external testosterone, a banned PED. Upon completion of his suspension, Alvarado will not be eligible for the 2025 playoffs, should the Phils qualify. Let's deal with Alvarado first. He's saved their bacon early, as the newly acquired Jordan Romano got off to a dreadful start. While Romano has now gathered himself, at least temporarily, he is one of only three Philly relievers (along with Matt Strahm an Orion Kerkering) who can currently be trusted anywhere near the end of anything resembling a close game. Joe Ross isn't bad himself, but is more a middle/long guy/spot starter candidate, and I'm already being charitable including Kerkering, who has a big arm but struggles to pitch with a downhill plane. As good as the Phils' rotation is, they simply must have more reliable arms in their pen, and find themselves in a bit of a bind regarding how to address this shortfall. Do they cycle through their existing group and some of their more experienced Triple-A guys to find a hot hand, or trade from their starting pitching surplus or the top of their stacked deck of prospects to land an impact reliever type like the Orioles' Felix Bautista via trade? While they may eventually be forced to go the latter route, I wouldn't rush into it. Mick Abel looked great in his MLB debut on Sunday, perhaps raising his trade value to a level justifying a deal. With even better prospect Andrew Painter on the way, Abel could be the guy eventually moved. Honestly, that might be preferable to dealing one of their elite position player prospects, like SS/3B Aidan Miller, OF Justin Crawford or C Eduardo Tait. Perhaps moving down a tier to the likes of OF Gabriel Rincones might make a little more sense. But back to Abel for a second. There's no way he's going anywhere at this very moment due to the loss of Nola. As bad as he's been this season, Nola has arguably been the majors' most consistent provider of innings bulk in recent memory. With his velocity down about one mph on all of his pitches this season, the club is hoping that a brief stint on the shelf will rejuvenate him and restore him to peak effectiveness. I'm not necessarily buying that. Nola supposedly first felt the pain in his ankle warming up for his next to last start against the Guardians. While that outing and the subsequent one versus the Cardinals were admittedly poor, he was no great shakes before then, either. Looking at Nola's performance thus far in 2025 compared to 2024, there are stark areas of similarity and difference. His K rate has barely moved, ticking downward from 24.0% to 23.6%, both within the league average range. His BB rate has nudged upward from 6.1% to 7.3%, moving up into the league average range. Notable, but still not a huge deal. It's on the contact management front where things have fallen apart. One of Nola's issues in 2024 was a tendency to yield line drives, and that has intensified a but in 2025. He's up from 21.7% to 22.3%, over a half standard deviation above league average. Line drive authority has become an issue as well this season, as his average liner exit speed is 94.7 mph, also well above league average. This has pushed his overall average exit speed allowed to 89.3 mph - only four 2024 NL ERA qualifiers fared worse. His Adjusted Contact Score was almost exactly league average at 98 in 2024; it sits at an abysmal 136 thus far in 2025. When you break it down on a pitch-by-pitch basis it gets much more acute. Each season I issue pitch grades to the arsenals of every pitcher with 135 or more innings, based on bat-missing and contact management relative to the league. In 2024, Nola had a subpar changeup ("D+"), but three average or better pitches, including a pair of 'A' offerings in his four-seamer and knuckle-curve. (His sinker earned a 'B'.) I don't worry about starting pitchers until their fastball(s) go south. Nola's four-seamer has utterly fallen apart this season. Last year, I didn't issue an 'F' grade to a single qualifying pitch - thus far in 2025, Nola's four-seamer would earn an 'F-', if that's even possible. A 209 Adjusted Contact Score and 4.5% pitch-specific whiff rate is no way to go through life. Even his signature knuckle-curve hasn't been very good - he gets an interim 'C' grade for it, again due to poor contact management (153 Adjusted Contact Score). His sinker again gets a 'B', eerily possessing the same 4.5% repeating-decimal whiff rate as the four-seamer. One positive - Nola's changeup has improved and become a viable pitch this season, improving to a 'B' grade. Its whiff rate has exploded from 4.9% in 2024 to 18.0% this season. He has taken notice and begun to throw it more, with its usage rate increasing from 9.6% in 2024 to 14.8%. This increase has come at the expense of the knuckle-curve. If Nola sheds his skin and morphs into a different form, the changeup will be at the forefront of his efforts. Is it possible that everything just clicks into place once Nola comes off of the injured list? I guess, but I wouldn't bank on it. Nola was already becoming more a quantity rather than a quality guy entering this season, and such a decline in fastball effectiveness can be a bit scary. Once Felix Hernandez lost his fastball, things got hairy in a hurry. A reliable Nola could be the key to the remainder of the Phils' season. If they can count on him to take the ball and give them six competent innings every time out once he returns, they can better justify giving up a key piece or two to fill their bullpen needs. If they can't, then there's another hole in the dike that must be plugged. You don't appreciate 200-inning workhorses until they're gone.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Will Phillies Orion Kerkering Keep Up Dominant Start to Career?
It's almost impossible for a rookie to feel like an All-Star snub, but Orion Kerkering found a way to do it for the Philadelphia Phillies. While his club sent an MLB high seven representatives (eight with a substitute) to Arlington last summer, he and his pre-break 1.26 ERA were not one of them. Other than hitting a short rough patch with the rest of the team, Kerkering was phenomenal out of the Philly bullpen. He finished the season with their third-lowest ERA, behind Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman, and racked up 74 strikeouts in 63 innings. Add on the six he had as a late 2023 callup and Kerkering is well within striking distance of 100 early this season. Advertisement He would be the fastest Phillie to that mark since Seranthony Domínguez did it in 78.2 innings between 2018-19. Aug 29, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering (50) throws a pitch during the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Streicher-Imagn Images Philly is putting a lot of faith in Kerkering, who only turns 24 next week. The club let the aforementioned Hoffman leave in free agency, and while they brought in former Toronto Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano, there's a wide-open setup spot to fill. A small sample size says Kerkering is the perfect man for the job. He allowed only one earned run and struck out 14 while pitching in the eighth inning last season. His 14 holds were right behind Hoffman (21) and Strahm (18). Then while most of the bullpen faltered against the New York Mets in last year's NLDS, Kerkering again gave up just one run and picked up five Ks in 3.2 innings. Advertisement If that level of pitching continues, Philly will have gotten tremendous value out of their former 5th round pick... perhaps even enough to help them finish the fight for a World Series Championship. Related: Phillies Milestones To Watch for in 2025
