Dave Dombrowski Has Plan for Phillies' Shaky Bullpen During Playoffs

While the stunning lack of the Philadelphia Phillies offense against the Houston Astros became the talking point of everything surrounding this team for a day prior to their explosion at the plate versus the Atlanta Braves, bullpen upgrades are still a hot topic of discussion.

That's because there doesn't seem to be many difference makers on the relief staff, evident by them ranking 25th in Major League Baseball with a 4.51 ERA entering Saturday.

The Phillies are expected to be active trying to add relievers, something that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski openly stated.

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However, he doesn't foresee the bullpen being a major issue in the playoffs.

Why?

Philadelphia has a surplus of starting pitchers, and just like he when he was in charge of the Boston Red Sox during their World Series-winning run in 2018, there's a chance some of those players get converted into relievers this October.

That was hinted at during a conversation on the "Starkville with Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville" podcast, with Jayson Stark noting some of the interesting things that came out of that discussion.

The future Hall of Fame executive discussed how, despite having fellow future Hall of Fame closer Craig Kimbrel on the Red Sox roster, it was Chris Sale who recorded the final outs of the World Series, while starting pitchers David Price and Nathan Eovaldi pitched massive innings for them out of the bullpen in the playoffs.

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It wouldn't be surprising to see that happen for the Phillies, especially when Andrew Painter comes up later this summer and if they don't decide to move Mick Abel ahead of the trade deadline.

"... I won't speculate on names," Dombrowski said when asked about which of Philadelphia's starters could be tabbed to make that transition.

It's not difficult to put together a prospective list, though.

The aforementioned duo of Painter and Abel could be options. Same with Ranger Suarez, who began his career as a reliever. It's hard to imagine Aaron Nola would move into the bullpen, but the same could have been said for Price and Eovaldi in 2018.

Zack Wheeler, Jesus Luzardo and Cristopher Sanchez would likely be the three top starting pitchers in a series right now, leaving the Phillies with plenty of internal options to boost their relief staff.

Dombrowski also mentioned the Aug. 19 return of the suspended Jose Alvarado as something that will help their bullpen for the rest of the year, giving them a high-leverage arm who can throw innings for them down the stretch despite him not being eligible for the postseason.

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It's hard to predict how this strategy will go for Philadelphia if they do take that route.

However, it's a blueprint that has worked to secure a championship in the past, and it's also not a given that trading for multiple relievers is going to fix their problems, either.

At the very least, the Phillies seem to have a plan regarding improving their bullpen when the games matter the most, so perhaps the situation isn't as dire as previously thought.

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