Phillies Front Office Must Upgrade This Roster Hole Before Season Derails

It has been a solid start to the season for the Philadelphia Phillies, but a major issue could end up being a problem come October.

The Phillies have been playing some good baseball of late as they try to chase down the New York Mets in the National League East.

Philadelphia has been built on its excellent rotation, which, when healthy, might be the best in baseball. With multiple early Cy Young contenders, the unit is living up to the hype so far.

In their lineup, they have some stars in the batting order, but the overall depth of the unit has been questioned.

However, the real concern for the team as it has been in years past comes back to the bullpen. This has been a unit that has let the Phillies down in recent years, and despite trying to make upgrades, nothing seems to work.

Just How Bad is it for the Philadelphia Phillies?

Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report recently wrote about one potential issue that could end up being the undoing of the Phillies this season.

“But the lack of reliability in the bullpen outside of José Alvarado and Matt Strahm looks like it could be a fatal flaw for the NL East champions.”

This winter, Philadelphia once again saw some changes to the unit with the addition of two-time All-Star Jordan Romano. The right-hander was coming off an ineffective campaign in 2024, but that was largely believed to be because of injuries after a couple of strong seasons prior.

However, with the Phillies so far, the results haven’t been good at all. The right-hander has totaled a 10.22 ERA in 12.1 innings pitched, resulting in him losing his job as the closer.

With the player they had hope to be the closer struggling, it has been Jose Alvarado and Matt Strahm doing a lot of the heavy lifting late in games. Alvarado currently leads the team in saves with six, while Strahm has four holds.

Furthermore, the talented young right-hander Orion Kerkering is also struggling with a 5.14 ERA, leaving the unit overall a bit worrisome.

As the season progresses, Philadelphia almost certainly is going to look to add some help in the bullpen.

Even though Alvarado has been closing out games, it feels like adding a lockdown closer is going to be the biggest need.

The cost to acquire such a player is going to be steep, but for a team that is in a win-now mode, it’s a must.

If the Phillies neglect the bullpen, it will likely result in them not achieving what they are set out to accomplish this year.