4 honest Phillies observations heading into Blue Jays series

The Phillies bullpen still isn’t good.

Outside of Hector Neris, Sam Coonrod, and Jose Alvarado, the Phillies don’t have an arm over 100 ERA+. While this is better than the lone such bullpen relievable who accomplished this feat in 2020, Jose Alvarez, it still is not exactly good by any means.

Other arms brought in to be dependable, such as Connor Brogdon and Brandon Kintzler, have FIPs over 5 and ERA+’s at 73 and 67, respectively.

If we go down the list of Phillies arms, David Hale has a FIP at 5.68 and a 70 ERA+. JoJo Romero at a 58 ERA+ and an 8.77 FIP. Matt Moore is now moving to a bullpen role, after Vince Velasquez seems to have won a starter spot; the left-hander’s sample size is too early to tell, but I wouldn’t exactly call him good. The Phillies have tried other guys, such as Enyel De Los Santos, who recently blew a three-run save opportunity. He currently has a 4.10 FIP and a 34 ERA+.

This is going to be a bullpen that will struggle to hold leads, especially if Neris, Coonrod, and Alvarado are not available or just don’t have it for the night. This trio has been known to be shaky at times; Neris even blew a save against the Braves.

One piece of good news for the Phillies bullpen is that Archie Bradley is beginning his rehab assignment finally. He will be someone that will make a huge contribution to the bullpen. He was brought in as the one definitely good arm they could rely on every night that he is available.