During this brutal start to the season, the Phillies have also seen a rash of injuries hit their bullpen. First it was Jonathan Bowlan (who had been one of the few players off to an encouraging start), then Zach Pop, and finally over the weekend, Jhoan Duran was added to the injured list with an oblique injury.
Duran hasn’t pitched a whole lot lately thanks to the Phillies inability to either be competitive in games or to have a late inning lead to task him with protecting. In fact, his last appearance
was on April 11th, a full week before he landed on the injured list on April 18th.
With Duran being on the injured list, Brad Keller becomes the top leverage arm in the Phillies bullpen. Keller has been up and down so far in his first season in Philadelphia, as he’s allowed 4 runs in 8.2 IP across 9 appearances while striking out 9 and walking three entering Monday. He pitched the ninth inning of a 3-1 game on Saturday, strongly hinting that he will be the one that will be given closing opportunities in Duran’s absence.
José Alvarado becomes the second strongest leverage arm, at least in theory, because the lefty has had a brutal start to the season. Alvarado has looked better recently, but he’s still allowed 8 runs in just 7 innings pitched entering Monday night’s game. Other left handed options include Tim Mayza who has been impressive outside of one blowup against the Cubs, Tanner Banks who has allowed 4 runs in 8.2 IP, and Kyle Backhus who has recently returned from Lehigh Valley.
The injuries have also left Orion Kerkering now as the second-best right-handed option out of the bullpen, again, at least in theory. He appeared to be behind all three of Duran, Keller, and Bowlan to begin the season thanks to his injury that cost him most of the spring, but now he has found himself back near the top of the leverage chart almost by default. He’s had an ok start to his season, allowing 3 runs in 6.1 IP with two of those runs coming in his first appearance of the year. Behind Kerkering, the other right-handed options are Seth Johnson and Chase Shugart.
The thinness of the Phillies bullpen was on display in Sunday night’s loss to the Braves. Andrew Painter only completed four innings, and the Phillies had to use their tenuous shorthanded bullpen for 5 innings. Granted they were only charged with one run, and the loss was mostly on the offense, but the Phillies are about to embark on a seven-game road trip and won’t have another off day until Monday, April 27th. This bullpen is shorthanded and already on the verge of being overworked.
So, how would you arrange the Phillies bullpen in Jhoan Duran’s absence? Who should get the most closing opportunities? Who should be the set up men?
