Phillies Answer to Bullpen Woes Could Already Be on Pitching Staff

The Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets are not only battling it out in the National League East standings, they will be going head-to-head on the trade market ahead of the deadline as well.

Both teams are in the market for a high-leverage relief pitcher and could be vying for the same trade targets in the coming weeks.

The biggest edge the Mets have in this regard is they already have a lights out closer on the roster with Edwin Diaz.

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Adding some help in front of him to make the path to him for manager Carlos Mendoza makes a lot of sense. Injuries have piled up as well, but as long as Diaz is available to pitch at the end of games, New York is in good hands.

Philadelphia doesn’t have the same luxury with closer Jose Alvarado being suspended 80 games and ineligible for the postseason.

Their offseason additions of Jordan Romano, Carlos Hernandez and Joe Ross havent’ exactly panned out either.

Romano has struggled to regain the form he showed from 2020-2023 with a 6.28 ERA in 2025. Hernandez was designated for assignment recently and Ross has a 5.35 ERA entering play on June 27.

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The team needs bullpen help, specifically someone who can get out left-handed hitters.

Matt Strahm, Tanner Banks and Taijuan Walker are the only players who have consistently shown an ability to do so.

If such a relief pitcher can be acquired on the trade market that can fill a high-leverage role and geet out lefties, Dave Dombrowski will not be shy to pull the trigger.

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However, Greg Jewett of The Athletic (subscription required) brought up an interesting idea the team could explore.

“However, when prospect Andrew Painter arrives, Ranger Suárez or another starter could move back into the bullpen,” he wrote.

Moving Suarez into a relief role would provide the team with another left-handed option out of the bullpen and address their biggest need. The same could be said about Jesus Luzardo and Cristopher Sanchez, who are both left-handed pitchers as well.

But, those two don’t have extensive experience coming out of the bullpen like Suarez does.

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The veteran has made 68 relief apperances in the Major Leauges, but hasn’t done so since the 2021 campaign.

Set to hit free agency after the season, it would be an incredibly hard sell for the team to convince Suarez to make a move to the bullpen. His current pace of production as a starter is setting himself up for quite a payday.

Instead, maybe their top prospect, Andrew Painter, could be deployed in a multi-inning relief role. A way to limit his workload in the first year back from Tommy John surgery while still being able to make an impact down the stretch.

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