That Balls Outta Here
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Phillies need to find stability in their bullpen to win in the future

By John Town

ANAHEIM, CA - AUGUST 03: Luis Garcia #57 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks at the ball after throwing a wild pitch that allowed Andrelton Simmons #2 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to score during the eighth inning of a game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 3, 2017 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - AUGUST 03: Luis Garcia #57 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks at the ball after throwing a wild pitch that allowed Andrelton Simmons #2 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to score during the eighth inning of a game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on August 3, 2017 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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The downside of trading veteran arms in your bullpen is the fact that the Phillies now are relying on rookies and young players, and it isn’t working so far.

The Phillies started off their trade deadline sending their best reliever this season in Pat Neshek to the Rockies. Their last of four moves involved sending the 40-year old Joaquin Benoit who logged more than 40 appearances this season.

Now with both of those relievers gone, the bullpen is extremely young and inexperienced. There are three rookies in Hoby Milner, Mark Leiter, and Jesen Therrien while Edubray Ramos is in his second season. Hector Neris and Luis Garcia are the two with the most experience with Neris in his third full season and Garcia pitching in parts of five major-league seasons.

Drew Anderson just made his debut Tuesday before heading back to Double-A, giving up two runs in the process. Another rookie in Ricardo Pinto could be joining the bullpen Friday as the team optioned Jake Thompson back to Triple-A after Thursday’s loss, leaving room for another pitcher to come up to the bullpen.

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The downside of having these young pitchers in your bullpen is the fact that they can struggle at times. During the Angels series, the bullpen allowed seven runs over three games. In Thursday’s loss, Garcia blew a two-run lead and took the loss.

As a reliever this season, Leiter has a 6.10 ERA and 1.548 WHIP. Ramos’s ERA this season is 5.34 with a 6.2 BB/9, although he did record a shutout inning with two strikeouts Thursday.

Milner has appeared sparingly with a 5.77 fielding-independent pitching in 11 games. Therrien has appeared in three games so far in his short major-league career, pitching two shutout innings but also being charged with three earned runs in just a third of an inning.

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Neris is serving as the team’s closer, but he has struggled mightily in the ninth inning this season. He has a 4.11 ERA, giving up 15 runs in 35 innings. All five of the home runs and four of the five doubles he has surrendered this season have come in the ninth. He is 10-for-13 in save opportunities.

If they still had Neshek or even Benoit around, Neris may be moved out of the ninth because of his struggles there. However, the team really doesn’t have any better options to close out games except maybe Garcia, but it’s hard to trust a guy who has struggled for so long before this season.

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Next season the team really needs to find some help in the bullpen. With so many rookies and young pitchers, guys like Neshek and Benoit provided more value than just being trade chips. They should really try and look for one or two solid relievers this offseason to help stabilize the bullpen rather than relying on guys early in their career.

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