Phillies 2016 Grades: Bullpen
The Philadelphia Phillies bullpen was yet another area of the team that produced a mixed bag of results in 2016, though a few arms emerged for the future.
The Phillies bullpen exited spring training with no clearly established closer, had one emerge and received strong early work from the relievers, but have seen that bullpen group collapse as the season draws to a close.
After the latest collapse on Tuesday night, when the pen surrendered all of a 6-1 lead following a rain delay and handed the host Atlanta Braves a 7-6 victory, manager Pete Mackanin spoke in frustrating tone per Jim Salisbury at CSN.com.
“…at some point, somebody else has to do a (bleeping) job. Somebody else has to (bleeping) step up. In two games now, every reliever I brought in has given up a (bleeping) run. That’s unheard of.”
The Phillies are 10-14 in September, but could probably be at least a half-dozen games better than that if the bullpen simply did their jobs, holding leads and getting the opposition out late in games.
During the 2016 season the club has used 19 different pitchers in a relief role at one time or another. That includes Adam Morgan, who has made 20 starts but also has two relief appearances, and Phil Klein, who has made two relief appearances and one start.
David Hernandez was supposed to be the closer, but was unable to hold the role. Jeanmar Gomez was given a shot early on, took the ball, and ran with it. But as he appears to have hit a late-season wall, Hector Neris has emerged as the team’s best reliever, and possibly its closer of the future.
Gomez, Neris, and Hernandez will all receive grades here, as will regular contributors Edubray Ramos and Elvis Araujo, and Andrew Bailey, who was a regular contributor until his late summer release.
There are four other arms who each have appeared in more than 20 but fewer than 30 games this season. Those are Severino Gonzalez (27), Brett Oberholtzer (26), and Colton Murray and Michael Mariot (22 each), while another handful appeared in between 10-19 games.
Suffice it to say that every single one of those arms has produced disappointing results. In a couple of the cases, that description is being generous.
So let’s take a look at the grades for the six primary relievers to see action with the Fightin’ Phils out of the bullpen in the 2016 season.
ELVIS ARAUJO
A 24-year old lefty who was signed by the club as a free agent in November 2014, Araujo has appeared in 32 games in his second big league season after appearing in 40 a year ago for the Fightin’ Phils.
In that 2015 freshman performance, Araujo was a reliable left-handed option out of the Phils bullpen, but suffered a groin injury that knocked him out for the season in late August.
He was with the club almost from the beginning of the year this season right through June. At that point he was optioned to AAA Lehigh Valley when Vincent Velasquez was activated from a DL stint, and the Phils decided to move Adam Morgan into a lefty bullpen role.
Araujo was brought back in August and began the month with four strong appearances. But on August 16th he was completely dismantled by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who scored six runs off him, though just two of those were earned, on a hit and three walks.
After that performance, Araujo was sent back down in favor of Herrmann, and hasn’t been back to Philly since.
His final 2016 numbers aren’t pretty. Over his 32 games he allowed 35 hits in 27.1 innings with a 29/17 K:BB ratio, registering a 5.60 ERA and a 1.902 WHIP. Ouch.
At just 25 years of age, left-handed, with five years of team control, and a place on the 40-man roster, I would normally make him a favorite for a 2017 bullpen role with the team, at least entering spring training.
However, if the team powers-that-be simply don’t like him, he could find himself removed from that 40-man over the off-season as the Phillies will need to protect a handful of highly considered prospects.
GRADE: F
EDUBRAY RAMOS
The youngest member of the Phillies regular bullpen rotation this season, Ramos will turn 24 years of age in mid-December.
The rookie right-hander has generally fared well in his first taste of big league action. Over 42 games he has allowed 36 hits in 40 innings with a 40/11 K:BB ratio. He sports a 3.83 ERA and a 1.175 WHIP, as well as a favorable 109 ERA+ mark.
As the season rolled into its final weeks and the veterans Gomez and Neris appeared to possibly be wearing down a bit, it looked as though Ramos might be lining up for some Save opportunities.
However, Ramos came down with elbow soreness in recent days, and he has not pitched since September 22nd.
The team says that the elbow issue is not serious. But there is no reason to use him again this late in the year, and so he is likely done for 2016.
Assuming he is healthy, Ramos will come to spring training in February as a clear favorite to capture a role in the 2017 Phillies bullpen.
GRADE: B
ANDREW BAILEY
A 32-year old veteran who signed with the Phillies as a free agent last December, Bailey is a local product. He graduated from Paul VI High School in Haddonfield, NJ and was born in Voorhees, New Jersey, growing up as a Phillies fan.
There was a point during spring training and even early in the 2016 season where it appeared that Bailey could emerge as the club’s closer. Instead, he was released in early August, signing a week later with the Los Angeles Angels.
While with the Phils, the right-handed Bailey appeared in 33 games, allowing 32 hits over 32.1 innings. He fashioned a 33/15 K:BB ratio with 6.40 ERA and 1.454 WHIP marks, and had a horrid 65 ERA+ mark.
It was a tale of two seasons for Bailey while in Phillies’ pinstripes. From the start of the season through June 3rd he had allowed just eight hits over 15.2 innings and had a 2.30 ERA.
But after June 3rd, Bailey yielded 24 hits over his final 16.2 innings with the team, his ERA ballooning to 10.26 during that stretch. That poor two months led to his release.
GRADE: D
DAVID HERNANDEZ
The now 31-year old Hernandez signed with the Phillies as a free agent back in December, and it was presumed entering spring training that he was going to serve as the team’s closer in the 2016 season.
However, he was not overly impressive down in Clearwater, and then blew his first opportunity in the 8th inning against Cincinnati on April 3rd with the club holding a 2-1 lead.
On that afternoon, Hernandez surrendered three earned runs when he walked two, hit a batter, and allowed two hits. He never did earn a shot at that closer role.
In the end it was simply a mediocre season for Hernandez. He threw 70.1 innings over 68 games, allowing 76 hits with a 77/32 K:BB ratio. He has a 3.84 ERA and a 1.536 WHIP, and his ERA+ is a favorable 108.
He only signed a one-year contract, so Hernandez will again be a free agent this coming off-season. He didn’t do anything to make re-signing him a priority for the club, so his 2017 status is completely up in the air.
GRADE: C
HECTOR NERIS
The 27-year old Dominican right-hander has delivered a fine overall season for the Phillies, becoming one of two consistently reliable arms out of this year’s bullpen.
Neris has appeared in 77 games, fourth in all of Major League Baseball to this point. He has allowed just 55 hits in 78.1 innings with a strong 100/29 K:BB ratio with a 2.53 ERA, 1.072 WHIP, and an outstanding 164 ERA+ mark.
Neris clearly looks for all the world like the future Phillies closer to this pair of eyes. He has the numbers and the repetoire, and now with a full MLB season (his 3rd season overall) in the books, he appears ready for that shot.
As the Phillies build their bullpen in the off-season, starting with the idea that Neris is the closer and preparing him mentally for that role is a good place for the team to start.
GRADE: A
JEANMAR GOMEZ
The performance of the 28-year old right-hander has to be judged from the perspective of what was expected of him entering the 2016 season.
Gomez has been a reliever who had been counted on in the 6th-8th inning role over the last few seasons since being switched to a full-time bullpen role.
This was this 7th big league campaign. He began with the Cleveland Indians, moved on to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and came to the Phillies as a free agent in January of 2015.
Back at the beginning of this season, Gomez appeared to be on track to again fill this same role. However, when others failed to take advantage of opportunities to close for the Phillies, manager Pete Mackanin game Gomez a shot.
For the bulk of the season, Gomez succeeded in that closer role. He has registered 37 Saves, tied for 7th in all of Major League Baseball.
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Gomez seems to have worn down under the weight of the role and his overall usage this season.
From the beginning of the year through August 13th, when he registered his 30th Save against the Colorado Rockies, Gomez had a 2.52 ERA and had allowed 49 hits in 53.2 innings with a 37/14 K:BB ratio.
Those numbers are not the usual types of overpowering numbers that teams like from their closer. However, while Gomez didn’t dominate the opposition, he was getting the necessary outs at the key moments.
The day after registering his 30th, Gomez earned his 31st Save, but the Rockies scored twice on him in that game. It began a horrendous season-ending stretch.
Beginning on August 14th through now, Gomez has allowed 26 hits over 14.2 innings with a 9/6 K:BB ratio and has allowed multiple runs a half-dozen times.
Gomez has pitched in 69 games this year, many of them high-leverage, game on the line situations. That is four more games than a year ago, which in turn was 24 more than he had ever pitched previously in his career.
The Phillies have milked a lot out of Gomez’ right arm over these last two seasons. He has one more year left before he can become a free agent.
In my opinion, Gomez was always miscast as the closer, and he should return to his 7th inning role in the 2017 season. Use him properly, and keep him to a 60-65 game usage level, and there is no reason that you shouldn’t expect him at age 29 to turn in a solid season again.