The Philadelphia Phillies dropped a winnable game against the Kansas City Royals, 5-2. Following the game, former Phillies All-Star closer turned analyst Ricky Bottalico highlighted what may be the team’s biggest problem.
“I know a lot of people want to say the fifth starter,” said Bottalico on NBC Sports Philadelphia’s postgame coverage. “I’m stuck on the bullpen right now.”
The fifth starter issue concerns the struggles of Andrew Painter. Painter has since been optioned to the
This comes after a game in which the Phillies wasted a quality start from Aaron Nola. Nola turned in the first seven-inning start of the season, per Phillies on SI’s Jeff Kerr.
Philadelphia trailed by one run after Nola left, but Seth Johnson and Kyle Backhus allowed the Royals to score two key insurance runs in the eighth. Johnson walked two hitters, who came around to score on a Salvador Perez double off Backhus.
Phillies Bullpen Situation ‘Messy’ Entering the All-Star Break
Bottalico describes the Phillies’ current bullpen situation as “a little bit messy”.
“This was the reason you thought this team was going to be much better. They bring in (Brad) Keller, they bring in Backhus, and you’re thinking to yourself, okay, this should be really good. If Orion Kerkering takes a step forward and (Jose) Alvarado is as good as he can be. Well, a lot of that hasn’t come to fruition.”
The Phillies signed Keller to a two-year, $20 million deal to form the bridge to All-Star closer Jhoan Duran. He hasn’t been as sharp as last season, pitching to a 4.15 ERA before being sidelined with a forearm injury.
“I know it was going a little crooked when Keller was still here,” said Bottalico. “But the one hope that you do have is that Brad Keller comes back and he’s what he was last year. Not the inconsistency this year.”
Keller pitched to a 2.07 ERA with a 27.2% strikeout rate with the Chicago Cubs in 2025.
Orion Kerkering’s role in the bullpen has also been scrutinized. Kerkering has been elevated into Keller’s former role. Since June 17, the right-hander has a 4.15 ERA with 11 strikeouts and six walks.
It’s worth noting that three of those walks came in a scoreless appearance against the New York Mets on June 28.
Alvarado’s struggles have been noted. The left-hander carries a 6.10 ERA, mostly inflated by a .437 BABIP. More advanced run-prevention metrics consider him unlucky, with a 3.24 FIP and 3.60 xFIP.
The Phillies will need to get more consistency out of Alvarado and Kerkering moving forward.
How the Phillies Can Address Their Bullpen
Brad Keller’s return is one part of improving the Phillies bullpen. But with the unit that’s currently constructed, it might not be enough for the club to make a deep postseason run.
That puts the onus on Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and general manager Preston Mattingly to address the bullpen. They’ll need to look for at least one more leverage arm to pair up with Jhoan Duran and Keller.
Alvarado’s struggles give the Phillies not much recourse for a left-handed leverage arm. Some of the arms they could theoretically turn to include the Padres‘ Adrian Morejon or Red Sox’s Aroldis Chapman, if they really wanted to make a splash.
The Diamondbacks‘ A.J. Puk is an interesting situation, depending on how healthy his shoulder and elbow are near the deadline.
If a left-hander isn’t available, then getting another right-handed leverage arm doesn’t hurt either.
Should the Phillies fail to appropriately address this growing concern with the bullpen, then they could be looking at a short postseason, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia postgame host Michael Barkann.
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