Grading Dave Dombrowski’s First Phillies Offseason: the Bullpen

Jose Alvarado

The Phillies took the approach of adding more upside to the bullpen and acquired flamethrowers Jose Alvarado and Sam Coonrod.

Alvarado has a high difference between his ERA and FIP. His ERA is 2.92 and his FIP is 4.71. Why? Because he has 33 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings, but he’s also walked 22 batters. The 26-year-old lefty has improved his stats in many categories, but his walks/nine is up from 6.0 in 2020 to 8.0 this year.

If the Phillies pitching coaches can figure out how to help Alvarado limit his walks, he’s an absolutely dominant addition.

Sam Coonrod

Coonrod is another high upside arm the Phillies brought in.

Unlike Alvarado, Coonrod has just 7 walks in 27 1/3 innings pitched along with 28 strikeouts. This is a good sign for the future of Coonrod and despite struggling at the end of May, he has a 3.29 ERA and has only allowed one earned run over five appearances in June.

It is concerning to note that the majority of Coonrod’s walks issued have come in the last few weeks. He only walked two batters in 11 appearances in April, but walked five batters in seven appearances between May 25 and June 12.

Brandon Kintzler

The 36-year-old Kintzler was brought in to give the Phillies a little more depth and veteran experience coming out of the pen, but so far, he hasn’t done that.

Kintzler – a career 3.51 ERA man over 12 seasons – has an 8.50 ERA and a 6.06 FIP in 18 innings pitched this season.

It makes sense that Dombrowski would give him a shot; he posted a 2.22 ERA over 24 1/3 innings for the Marlins in 2020, only slightly worse than his 2.68 ERA for the Cubs over 57 innings in 2019. But at this point, Kintzler might just be done. Unless a drastic change happens for him, Kintzler won’t be a Phillie for much longer.

Archie Bradley

Dombrowski’s final offseason addition was Archie Bradley.

Bradley, who was traded by the Diamondbacks to the Reds during the 2020 season, finished the year with a 2.95 ERA over 18 1/3 innings. His time with the Reds was impressive, a 1.17 ERA over six games.

Bradley was going to give them a definite late-inning arm, but things haven’t worked out well.

Due to injury, he did not appear in a game between April 11 and May 17, so he has only pitched 13 1/3 innings over 16 games this season. His ERA is 4.05, but he has had a strong June, only allowing one earned run on four hits dating back to May 29. In that time, his ERA is 1.23 over nine games. It’s encouraging, but overall, it is just too early to evaluate this pickup.

Dombrowski deserves some credit but he also made some moves he will regret. As things stand currently the Phillies are 31-31 after a 28-32 season.