It’s no secret that the Phillies bullpen needs help. That was true even before they lost Brad Keller for the season, as every reliever not named Jhoan Duran has been at best inconsistent or at worst downright brutal. They’ve already churned through many of their options on the 40-man roster, hoping to find some stability somewhere before looking to address the issue at the trade deadline.
Curiously however, one name they haven’t really tried is Alex McFarlane. The 25-year-old has been called up to
the Majors twice this season but has only appeared in one game, pitching the ninth of a 9-5 game lass night. In the minors, he has yet to even pitch above Double-A despite logging a 2.06 ERA in 32 appearances this season with 47 strikeouts in 35 innings for Reading. However, those gaudy strikeout numbers also come with an extremely high walk rate, as McFarlane has issued 18 free passes in his 35 innings of work. For his minor league career, McFarlane has posted a walk rate of at least 12% every year since his first full season in professional ball in 2023. That walk rate is at least part of the reason why the team still hasn’t promoted him to Triple-A or used him more in the majors.
Yet they’ve elected to carry him on the major league roster twice, thus starting his service clock. The team is running out of viable internal options to try in their bullpen to see if they can alleviate some of the pressure before the trade deadline arrives. The time may be approaching where the Phillies will have to give McFarlane a bigger role either with a promotion to Triple-A or by actually seeing what he has with extended use in the Majors.
So, should the Phillies give Alex McFarlane a real chance in the bullpen? Should they send him to Triple-A first or see what he does against MLB hitters right now?
