The Philadelphia Phillies have many things to appreciate amid their 7-2 start to the 2025 season. Their starting rotation is dominating as advertised, and their star-studded lineup has come up with timely hits when needed.
Kyle Schwarber has been front and center in the offensive production, and Edmundo Sosa looks like the best utility man in baseball. Offseason additions Jesús Luzardo and Max Kepler have had impressive performances so far, with Luzardo recently dominating the Los Angeles Dodgers with eight strikeouts over seven scoreless innings.
There is, however, one offseason acquisition that has not panned out so far for the defending NL East champs, revealing a hard truth about the team's bullpen.
What Jordan Romano's continued struggles mean for the back end of the Phillies' bullpen
On Sunday, the Phillies extended their streak of season-opening series wins to three, taking two out of three from the defending champion Dodgers. Nick Castellanos hit a grand slam, the Phillies walked eleven times and Jordan Romano predictably squandered the team's two-run lead when he entered in the seventh inning.
In a questionable move by manager Rob Thomson, Romano was handed the ball over the more reliable Orion Kerkering with the Phillies up 6-4, despite Kerkering not pitching since Thursday. Romano faced exactly the three-batter minimum, allowing a single, walk and double before being lifted for Kerkering and leaving the field to boos.
Romano was responsible for all three Los Angeles runs that inning, raising his ERA to 15.75 with seven earned runs in just four innings. Phillies fans all collectively groaned when they saw Romano enter the game to face two MVPs in Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, especially after his near-meltdown on Friday night.
Luzardo's electric performance was almost completely wasted in the series-opener, as Romano nearly blew a 3-0 lead in search for his first Phillies save. He did successfully secure the save, only after J.T. Realmuto bailed him out with his heroic arm.
Strike 'em out, throw 'em out, send 'em home pic.twitter.com/XlDMdNtkzc
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 5, 2025
Romano's continued struggles for the Phillies reveals the hard truth that their bullpen lacks depth. All eight of their relievers are talented, no doubt, but if one gets injured or simply struggles to perform like Romano, then they may be in trouble.
Who can the Phillies trust in late-inning, high-leverage situations?
When Romano was signed to a one-year, $8.5 million contract this past offseason, it was believed that he would get the bulk of the team's save opportunities, at least early in the season. Just nine games in, there are major questions about Romano's ability to even retire batters and throw strikes consistently, and José Alvarado holds the early team lead in saves, with two.
Despite Alvarado's tendency to sometimes make his appearances more nail-biting than they need to be, there's no doubt that Phillies fans would rather see him be the club's closer. Kerkering, Matt Strahm and even José Ruiz are currently far more trusted to hold late leads than Romano, who is experiencing a dip in his fastball velocity, per Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
At the end of 2024, the Phillies had two more reliable arms who were trusted to lock down games, in Jeff Hoffman and trade deadline acquisition Carlos Estévez. Hoffman, a fan favorite, signed a large three-year, $33 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, with Estévez heading to the Kansas City Royals on a two-year deal worth $22 million.
The Phillies elected to let both walk in free agency and instead signed Romano for a bargain. Those decisions put a lot more pressure on their current bullpen to perform when it matters after they were responsible for sending the Phillies home early in last year's postseason.