Phils 'pen built on different looks — why the relief mix works originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Phillies bullpen has long lacked identity. And commitment.
It starts with the ninth inning. The last Phillie to post multiple 30-save seasons with the club was Jonathan Papelbon in 2012 and 2014. The last 30-save season, period, came from Jeanmar Gómez in 2016.
The Phillies tried to change that narrative two seasons ago when they acquired closer Carlos Estévez from the Angels at the trade deadline. At the time, he had 20 saves paired with a 2.38 ERA. Pairing him with a group that included Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman gave Philadelphia its deepest relief unit in years.
Estévez was solid across 20 regular-season appearances, but his season ended with a series-clinching grand slam allowed to Francisco Lindor in the NLDS. The right-hander then left for Kansas City that offseason, and the late-inning picture quickly returned to feeling fluid.
Until now.
Dombrowski and the front office made another deadline move last season, this time targeting a lockdown reliever with years of team control. The Phillies sent two of their top five prospects — catcher Eduardo Tait and pitcher Mick Abel — to Minnesota for Jhoan Duran.
Duran’s routine triple-digit fastball and closer entrance immediately played at Citizens Bank Park. The production matched the buzz: a 2.18 ERA in 23 appearances and 16 saves — the same total he recorded in 49 games with the Twins.
Bolstering the back end remained a priority into the winter. The Phillies signed Brad Keller to a two-year, $22 million deal, a move that reads as a setup-man investment. It also stood out historically as the first multi-year, double-digit annual value deal the Phillies handed out since the 2011–12 offseason, when they landed Papelbon.
The organization still views pitching as a strength. The difference now is how much of that responsibility sits in the bullpen.
Over the past two seasons, Phillies relievers have posted a 4.06 ERA, ranking 19th in baseball.
What makes this group more compelling, however, is how the pieces fit together. This unit can win matchups without being locked into a single lane because the looks are genuinely different.
Two lefties, two different profiles
The bullpen still begins with two southpaws, but the approach has shifted. With Strahm traded, the Phillies are leaning further into matchup usage — and the two left-handers who remain offer entirely different problems.
José Alvarado is coming off a turbulent 2025, but the raw traits remain intact. His sinker averaged 99.1 mph and ranked in the 99th percentile in fastball velocity. It wasn’t even his most effective pitch.
Alvarado leaned heavily on his cutter, which has long been a foundation of his success. Excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season, opponents have hit .181 or lower against the pitch. It’s not a finesse approach — it’s built on tunneling the two kinds of fastballs.
Tanner Banks offers the contrast. The softer thrower of the pair, Banks made his biggest leap in 2025 by limiting free passes. He leaned into his strengths, mixing a slider/sweeper and four-seamer as part of his five-pitch mix, with the sweeper continuing to improve year over year.
Among left-handers who faced at least 110 left-handed hitters last season, Banks allowed the fewest earned runs in the majors (five) and posted a 1.47 ERA. There may be another layer coming. His changeup averaged 36.6 inches of vertical drop, giving it the shape to develop into a late-count swing-and-miss option if he leans on it more in 2026.
Why Keller’s 2025 relief jump sticks out
Part of what fueled the 30-year-old’s breakout in relief in 2025 — a 2.07 ERA across 68 appearances — was nearly a four-mph jump in his average four-seam fastball, which sat at 97.2 mph. Keller also used the pitch the most since 2018. He became a Statcast standout for a reason.
That fastball success (opponents slugged .295 against it) allowed the rest of his arsenal to play up. His sweeper–sinker–changeup combination produced significant soft contact, contributing to a 30.6 percent hard-hit rate (99th percentile) and a groundball rate that ranked in the top five percent of the league.
Strahm’s calling card in Philadelphia was neutralizing right-handed hitters. Keller did that even better last season, which helps explain why the Phillies felt comfortable dealing Strahm to Kansas City.
Against righties, Keller held opponents to a .466 OPS. The usage tells the story: despite the fastball’s overall effectiveness, he primarily threw it to left-handers (57 percent usage). Against righties, his sinker–sweeper combination accounted for 50 percent of his pitches and allowed just two extra-base hits combined.
If the Phillies are serious about building a bullpen that thrives in multi-dimensional matchups, Keller is central to that vision. He can absorb leverage innings without needing a narrowly defined pocket of hitters.
Kerkering’s look still plays
The end of Orion Kerkering’s season is easy to remember — for the wrong reasons. But he’s 24 years old and has just over two years of major league service time. Across three seasons with the Phillies, he owns a 2.79 ERA.
In 2025, Kerkering leaned less on his most trusted pitch, the sweeper. The result was a groundball rate that dipped by roughly 10 percent, but the quality of contact held steady. His look continues to disrupt swings, largely because of his arm slot.
Kerkering’s arm angle sits at 31 degrees. Paired with the arm-side run on his sinker and four-seam fastball, it creates a shape no other right-hander in the bullpen offers.
Assuming the NLDS ending is behind him, Kerkering should remain a key matchup piece, particularly in right-on-right situations alongside Keller.
Duran ties it together
Duran is the connective piece. His 100.6 mph average fastball — in the 100th percentile leaguewide — grabs attention, but it isn’t even his most-used pitch. He leaned more heavily on his split-finger last season, and that pitch led all of baseball in run value (12).
While it’s tempting to credit his swing-and-miss profile solely to velocity, the curveball is where most of the empty swings come from. Among pitchers who threw at least 200 curveballs, Duran’s 41.8 percent whiff rate ranked seventh among relievers.
Even then, there’s more ceiling. His 2025 swing-and-miss rate on the curveball was a career low, underscoring how effective he remains regardless of usage patterns.
A 30-save season for the “Durantula” is well within reach in 2026. More importantly, his presence finally gives the bullpen a defined end point — and the rest of the roles stop feeling like monthly experiments.
Under-the-radar names
A quieter but important part of the Phillies’ bullpen construction has been how they’ve filled out the 40-man roster, setting the stage for real competition in Spring Training.
That group includes optional arms and veterans with big-league experience, such as right-hander Zach Pop. Two trade acquisitions, however, add real intrigue.
Jonathan Bowlan, acquired in the Strahm deal, features a five-pitch mix highlighted by a four-seam fastball that is exceptionally difficult to square up. In 2025, among 357 pitchers who threw at least 200 four-seamers, Bowlan generated the highest swing-and-miss rate on the pitch (43.5 percent).
The next closest was Oakland’s Elvis Alvarado at 39.6 percent — nearly four points lower. That rate would have also led all 362 qualified pitchers in 2024 by a similar margin.
Bowlan’s sinker could also take on a larger role in 2026. Among pitchers who threw at least 100 sinkers last season, he ranked third in opponents’ hard-hit rate (10.7 percent). Keller ranked second, and the two new Phillies produced identical run values on the pitch (five).
Another acquisition, left-hander Kyle Backhus, brings a completely different look. The 6-foot-4 southpaw features a low-velocity, three-pitch mix and delivers from the fourth-lowest arm angle among left-handed pitchers. What separates him from others near that slot is extension.
Backhus releases the ball 7.2 feet from the rubber, ranking in the 96th percentile leaguewide. That extension can make his 91 mph sinker play quicker than the radar gun suggests. Despite a 4.62 ERA with Arizona in 2025, he profiles as a potential matchup left-hander capable of limiting barrels and disrupting timing with his sidearm delivery.
The identity isn’t tied to one arm or one role. It’s built on contrast and different looks. For the first time in a while, the pieces connect without having to force matchups.
