Phillies bullpen was surprisingly lights out this past week

There have not been many times when the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen has been described as “lights out” — a phrase used to describe closer Brad Lidge throughout his perfect 2008 season, which culminated into a World Series championship.

Yet, the group led by pitching coach Caleb Cotham was just that this past week between Sunday, May 9, and Saturday, May 15, helping the Phillies to an even 3-3 record.

Combined through 18 appearances and 18 2/3 innings, the group went 2-0 with a 0.48 ERA and 17-8 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. They additionally yielded just 12 hits and two runs (one earned) spanning 75 total batters faced.

The Phillies bullpen’s 0.48 ERA led all of Major Leaguer Baseball, with the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers having the second-best combined ERA at 0.82. The division-rival New York Mets had the worst bullpen ERA over this stretch (7.88), while the Atlanta Braves had the fifth-worst (6.05).

Phillies bullpen statistics between May 9-15:

• Hector Neris: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 G, 1 SV, 3 IP, 13 BF, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO
• Jose Alvarado: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 G, 1 HLD, 2 1/3 IP, 11 BF, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 2 SO
• Connor Brogdon: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 G, 2 2/3 IP, 9 H, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
• Matt Moore: 0-0, 2.08 ERA, 3 G, 4 1/3 IP, 16 BF, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
• Sam Coonrod: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 1 HLD, 2 IP, 7 BF, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
• Ranger Suarez: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 2 2/3 IP, 13 BF, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 SO
• Brandon Kintzler: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 HLD, 2/3 IP, 3 BF, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
• Enyel De Los Santos: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 IP, 3 BF, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO

Making sense of the Phillies only going 3-3 over this excellent bullpen stretch.

Since the Phillies bullpen was so good, the team splitting the six games is a disappointment. Starting pitchers Aaron Nola (0-2, 6.75) and Zach Eflin (0-1, 7.50 ERA) were credited with the three losing decisions, while Chase Anderson (1-0, 3.60 ERA), Zack Wheeler (0-0, 3.00 ERA) and Vince Velasquez (0-0, 1.59 ERA) fared much better.

The Phillies scored one run or fewer in the three defeats — one each against the Braves, Washington Nationals, and Toronto Blue Jays — so that surely did not help the cause, either.