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Rob Thomson Expresses Confidence in Young Phillies Reliever After Shutdown Moment

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Mike Ostrowski | Last updated May 24, 2025 12:25 PM ET

With one less reliable reliever in the Phillies bullpen after José Alvarado's suspension, the pressure is back on last season's breakout arm.

Orion Kerkering had some rough outings in April, but lately, the 24-year-old has been back to his rookie form. He was counted on again Friday night in Sacramento in relief of Philly ace Zack Wheeler.

With two men on and two away in the seventh, Kerkering came in and struck out Luis Urías on four pitches, preserving the Phillies' one-run lead over the Athletics.

It was just what Topper ordered.

"I envision him being that guy," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said postgame. "That was a big spot there, and he got it done."

Last year, Kerkering pitched to a 2.29 ERA over 63 innings while striking out 74. Though his punchouts aren't quite as high recently, the overall results are returning to that level.

Kerkering has allowed only two earned runs in his last ten innings of work dating back to April 25th. In the two appearances prior to that, he had given up five in an inning and a third.

Consequently, his ERA has fallen from 6.48 to a much more reasonable 3.93.

Command was the biggest issue during Orion's rough start. He has 10 walks on the season after only allowing 17 all of last year. His chase rate was among the worst in all of baseball.

But what he does still have working for him is an electric fastball/sinker combination that hitters still can't get good contact on in the zone. It's been enough to start righting his ship.

He'll need to keep up the pace as Philly still has very questionable bullpen depth. That was again apparent when Jordan Romano almost gave up a four-run lead in the ninth before Tanner Banks got the final outfield.

"They're picking each other up right now," Thomson said.

But will that be enough to hold their lead in the NL East until close to the trade deadline?

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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