There is an argument that Orion Kerkering was considered a pillar of the team’s future when he arrived in the major leagues. His electric stuff and how it messed with hitters had a deserved reputation that preceded that arrival. You probably remember his debut with the team, how emotional his father was, how feeble he made some Mets hitters look.
Amazing how one play can lead to a meltdown that can lead to open questions about the player and his future with the organization.
2026 stats
62 G, 58 IP,
23.5 K%, 12.5 BB%, 0.78 HR/9, 35.6 GB%, 4.97 ERA (4.17 FIP), 0.3 fWAR
What went right
The crazy thing about Kerkering? It’s all still there for him to be a really good reliever in the major leagues. He’s still got some peripherals stuff that is great – he doesn’t allow much hard contact, teams don’t really barrel him up often, his fastball still has some giddy-up on it.
The building blocks are still there for him to be more effective.
What went wrong
He just completely fell apart.
There was hope that he had put away his colossal error in the 2025 NLDS behind him and for the start of the season, it looked like he did. On July 28, he had an ERA below three (2.61) and was still striking out more batters than walking them. He had only given up three home runs in 41 1/3 innings to that point, so he was still counted on as a reliable bullpen arm for the Phillies. Then he gave up four runs in 2/3 of an inning on July 31 and the bottom dropped out. Over the next 16 2/3 innings, Kerkering allowed 23 runs, two home runs and saw his walk rate jump.
He just stopped throwing strikes.
Final grade: F
It’s kind of hard to comprehend how much Kerkering dropped off in 2026. The best way to look at it is through the situations he was used in. As you can see from above, Kerkering appeared in 62 games. In the first 58, the average leverage index for his appearances (aLI) was 1.31. The team had enough trust in him that they were putting him into fairly substantial parts of the game. In his final four appearances in the big leagues (granted, a HUGE difference in sample size), the same number was 0.38. They simply did not think he was trustworthy enough to put him into spots where they needed outs. That’s due to the ineffectiveness he showed when actually on the mound.
That gives him a failing grade for the year. When the team had bullpen issues and needed someone to step up and take a critical role behind Jhoan Duran, Kerkering crumbled. They didn’t even think enough of him to keep him in low leverage spots. He simply had to go.
It’s a continuation from the end of 2025 where he probably never should have been with the Phillies in the first place. Instead, the team lingered with him far too long and it cost them games.
They cannot make that same mistake again.
