Phillies Unheralded Reliever is Now Rising Star with Jose Alvarado Suspended

The Philadelphia Phillies bullpen has had its ups and downs throughout the 2025 MLB regular season.

That is made made the news of Jose Alvarado being suspended for 80 games such a massive blow. Not only is he out for that amount of regular season games, but he is ineligible to pitch in the postseason as well.

That could lead to the front office looking outside of the organization for some help in the bullpen.

He was one of the players who had earned the trust of manager Rob Thomson as a late-inning reliever. His absence would be felt, especially because the team doesn’t have many left-handed options to turn to as a replacement.

The Phillies aren’t without some talent from the left side, with 2024 All-Star Matt Strahm still being in the mix.

The pressure has been on him and his teammates to step up with Alvarado not in the mix.

But, he might be too important to be held back for save situations, which has led to Tanner Banks being thrust into more high-leverage and late-game situations.

Tanner Banks Is Making Most of Opportunity in Phillies Bullpen

Acquired from the Chicago White Sox ahead of the 2024 MLB trade deadline, the lefty recorded a 3.70 ERA in 24.1 innings with 23 strikeouts.

This season, he has been a steady performer once again for Thomson, already having his number called 26 times.

Banks has thrown 27 innings with 31 strikeouts, on pace to produce a K/9 ratio in double digits for the first time in his career, while also owning an impressive 30.1% strikeout rate. That too would be a career high, with 25.1% last year being his previous best.

Despite the increase in strikeouts, he has not sacrificed any control. His walk rate of 4.9% remains elite and he has done an excellent job of inducing soft contact.

Since Alvarado’s last appearance on May 16, Banks has been called upon later in games and is performing well despite the increase in leverage.

He has made eight appearances, throwing 7.1 innings. The long ball has hurt Banks during that stretch, with two of his five hits allowed being long balls.

Banks has struck out 10 batters over that span compared to only one walk, with six of his outings being scoreless affairs. He has generated 21 swings and misses out of 134 pitches as well.

Philadelphia has to be pleased with his performance to this point and happy to see him settling into a new role.

There is some pressure on him to help replace the production lost by Alvarado being sidelined, with five of his eight appearances coming in the eighth inning or later of the game.

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