Phillies to promote Alex McFarlane

The Phillies are recalling right-handed relief prospect Alex McFarlane for what would be his major league debut if he gets into a game, as first reported by Minor League News on Instagram. Matt Gelb of The Athletic adds that it could be a short stay on the major league roster for McFarlane. Righty Alan Rangel lasted only four innings yesterday and was followed by four relievers. The quintet of Phils hurlers combined for 208 pitches in a 6-1 loss to the Mets, so the team felt it necessary to plug a fresh arm into the staff.

This is the second recall of the season for McFarlane. He didn’t get into a game last time before being optioned back down. He’ll be a consideration for manager Don Mattingly tonight after Cristopher Sánchez, although Sánchez is averaging better than 6 2/3 innings per start over his past 14 trips to the hill, so the Phillies are probably hoping for a long outing to give the bullpen a breather.

McFarlane, 25, has been dominant in 35 innings at the Double-A level this season. He’s tossed 35 innings and logged a 2.06 ERA with a 32.9% strikeout rate and 50% grounder rate. His 12.6% walk rate could use some improvement, but he’s generally looked the part of a potential impact reliever. Gelb reported last week that a promotion to Triple-A was being planned in the near future, but it seems yesterday’s heavy workload for the staff will get him a more substantial promotion.

McFarlane has been a starter for much of his career since being selected by the Phils with their fourth-round pick in 2022. They moved him to the bullpen late last season, however, and have used him exclusively as a reliever this year. Beyond an enormous jump in strikeout rate (23.7% last year compared to this year’s 32.9%), he’s also seen his mid-90s sinker jump considerably, sitting better than 97 mph and reaching triple digits at times. Outlets like Baseball America, MLB.com and FanGraphs all peg him between 14th and 19th in Philadelphia’s system.

The Phillies’ bullpen took a major hit last week when Brad Keller was diagnosed with a torn UCL that’ll cost him the remainder of the current season and likely a significant portion of the 2027 season, too. Philadelphia still has one of the game’s best closers (Jhoan Duran) and a pair of solid righty setup options (Jonathan Bowlan, Orion Kerkering), but Keller had been one of the steadier arms in a top-heavy relief corps for which president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was already likely to seek upgrades. McFarlane and top prospect Gage Wood could both get genuine bullpen auditions later this summer — assuming neither is traded in the next two weeks.