The Phillies saw themselves facing what you could call a major problem late Sunday afternoon.
In the eighth inning, José Alvarado had started the frame attempting to hold a 3-0 lead. The Phillies were without Jhoan Duran, so they had to piece together the final two innings without the luxury of their star closer. Alvarado was making his third appearance since returning from an 80 game PED suspension and had allowed only one baserunner in the previous two. But it was evident from the first pitch he threw
that Alvarado was not sharp in this outing. He was quickly removed from the game after allowing a single and two walks, throwing just five strikes in thirteen pitches.
Tanner Banks was then tasked with entering a 3-0 game in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and no outs to face the top of the Nationals lineup. And in what could be a metaphor for his season, Banks deftly cleaned up Alvarado’s mess by inducing a double play and a fly out to center to preserve the lead.
Banks has vasty exceeded any reasonable preseason projection, as he owns a career-best 2.88 ERA and 0.94 WHIP across 56 games entering play this week. When news of Alvarado’s suspension came down in May, the Phillies were looking for someone to step up in the bullpen. Banks has done that and then some, as he’s climbed the reliever ranks to become one of the most dependable and trustworthy arms in Rob Thomson’s arsenal.
The lefty has inherited 23 runners this season but has allowed only nine to cross the plate, good for an inherited runners scored percentage of 39%. That is despite Banks being on pace to receive the most high leverage opportunities of his career according to Fangraphs’ Leverage Index. He’s already made 11 such appearances in 2025, rapidly approaching the 13 such games he appeared in last season with the White Sox and Phillies. In those 11 appearances in 2025, Banks has been charged with one run on four hits with three strikeouts.
In June and July when the Phillies bullpen was sputtering while searching for depth, Banks was a steady presence. He provided that much needed depth, appearing in a team-high 21 games and pitching to a 2.79 ERA. He allowed the Phillies to weather the storm in the time from Alvarado’s suspension to the acquisitions of David Robertson and Jhoan Duran in late July by taking stress off of the backs of the Phillies top relievers. Banks’ ability to keep games close and pitch multiple innings or to take on leverage when needed was a godsend for a team that wanted to avoid the overworking of its top relief arms that played a part in its downfall last season.
So, what’s changed from last season to result in this level of success? The most obvious things to point to are the decline in Banks’ fastball usage and a sharp increase in his sweeper usage coupled with a modest increase in his slider usage.
Banks’ fastball isn’t particularly impressive, as it averages just under 93 MPH with well below average movement. It would appear the adjustment that Banks and the Phillies have made was to simply throw the below average pitch less, and rather to pair Banks’ slider with his sweeper instead of the fastball. His heater is at a career low 20.8% usage while his slider and sweeper have increased to career highs of 35.6% and 23.8% respectively.
The new pitch mix that is more breaking ball heavy has in turn helped Banks’ fastball be more efficient, putting him in the 87th percentile in fastball run value despite being in the 22nd percentile in average velocity. In short, the Phillies are having Banks throw his pedestrian fastball less to make it more effective, instead relying on his slider and sweeper to keep hitters off balance and off timed on said fastball.
With Alvarado’s return, it’s likely that Banks will slide back into the third left hander’s role at least for the time being. He’s earned more leverage opportunities like the one he had Sunday, but the majority of those will go to Matt Strahm and Alvarado first. But, as we all know, Alvarado will once again be unavailable in the postseason, as terms of his suspension ban him from postseason play this year. Banks will be tasked with getting big outs in October. If his 2025 season so far is any evidence, Banks is up to the challenge.
