Phillies: Five unique bullpen options for 2021

Phillies Prospect Adonis Medina

Currently ranked the fifth best prospect in the Phillies farm system, Adonis Medina provides an interesting option for the team when it comes to their bullpen in 2021.

Medina was added to the Phillies minor league system at the age of 17 back in 2014. Quickly, he was thought to be one of the organization’s best minor league starters. Through his first 45 starts as a member of the Phillies farm system, he kept his ERA under a 3.00. Even when playing in Williamsport and Lakewood, Medina looked like a future MLB starter.

However, despite the impressive start to his baseball career, Medina has experienced some struggles over the last two years. During his stint with Clearwater in 2018 he posted a 4.21 ERA across 21 starts, and during his first year of AA ball he posted a 4.91 ERA across 21 starts. Not exactly the type of production you want to see from a player you are labeling as a future major league starter.

While the Phillies still would prefer Medina to stay in the minors and work towards developing as a major league starter, he does in fact turn 24 years old this winter. With the Phillies possessing an extremely weak bullpen, the idea of calling up Medina as a reliever may be too good to pass on.

Medina’s best overall pitch is his 96 MPH sinking fastball. It possesses a ton of natural movement and its high velocity would translate great coming out of the bullpen late in games. Medina also throws a changeup and a slider, both showing great ability to force soft groundouts. If he were to succeed as a major league reliever, Medina would likely have to greatly improve his slider into more of a “strikeout pitch”.

Medina’s endurance would also allow him to stretch out as a “long reliever”, a position the Phillies have seriously lacked in recent years.