For a team with a 51-42 record that is just three games out of first place in the NL East, the Phillies have a number of worrisome holes.
Despite an improved offense and the surprising emergence of Derek Hill as a stabilizing force in the outfield, they still lack at least one more productive right-handed bat.
Their defense is among the worst in baseball, -39 Defensive Runs Saved, dead last in baseball.
They have not won a game started by a No. 5 starter since the second Bush Administration. Alan Rangel
isn’t a solution and Andrew Painter isn’t coming back anytime soon.
Even given those issues, they fail to rise to the level of the team’s most pressing concern.
Left-handed relief pitching.
The two southpaw relievers they had been counting on most to secure high leverage outs this season have been a disaster. In the Phils’ 11-5 loss to the Reds Wednesday night, Tanner Banks gave up three consecutive home runs and allowed four earned runs while securing just one out in the 4th inning. Just recalled from AAA Lehigh Valley, Banks’ ERA stands at 7.14.
Jose Alvarado, who missed half of last season due to a PED suspension, has lacked command and been hit around. He gave up four runs and walked three batters in his inning of work, ballooning his ERA to 7.03.
Kyle Backhus, the side-winding lefty who had a terrific spring in Clearwater, was sent down to AAA prior to Wednesday’s game. He sported a 5.65 ERA in 14.1 innings. All three relievers have allowed opponents to hit over .300 against them (Banks .341, Backhus .317, Alvarado, .312).
Only Tim Mayza has been effective from the left side, sporting a 2.89 ERA and 3.17 FIP in 28.0 innings of work.
Alvarado’s numbers this year are puzzling. His xERA (3.84) is almost the same as last year (3.64) and better than in 2024 (3.95). His K/9 (12.66) is the highest its been since 2023 (13.94), and despite the three walks allowed Wednesday night, his BB/9 (3.94) is right where it usually is. He’s allowed an unsustainable .444 BABIP.
Perhaps the weirdest number is his 32.2% ground ball rate, far below his career 50.1%. Many of those grounders have turned into line drives this season, with a jump from 22.2% a year ago to 28.9% this season, a career high. He’s also seen a 7-point jump in his fly ball rate.
His Baseball Savant page shows a pitcher whose stuff is still elite, despite the results.
Banks’ 3.96 xERA is also much lower than his actual ERA, and just a tad higher than last season’s 3.79 xERA. His 9.93 K/9 is better than last year’s 8.15. The issue is an uptick in his walk rate, from 4.5% last season to 8.9% this year. He’s walking 4.03 batters per nine. Last year it was 1.60. He’s also given up way too many home runs, allowing seven already this year. He allowed nine in all of 2025.
His Baseball Savant page is not as impressive, but to be fair, he’s never been a peripherals darling.
Aroldis Chapman would be a glorious addition to the ‘pen, but at what cost? Baseball America this week ranked the Phils’ farm system as the second-worst in the sport, so there’s not a lot of premium prospects from which to headline trade deadline deals.
For now, the Phillies have no recourse but to hope things turn around. Improvements to the starting rotation and/or the lineup are just as needed, and it’s unlikely they have the prospects to swing a deal for impact players there as well as in the bullpen.
