Projected Phillies bullpen depth chart after Carlos Estévez, Tanner Banks trades

Adding Carlos Estévez and Tanner Banks at the trade deadline has bolstered the Phillies bullpen, but what does the new late-inning pecking order look like?

New Philadelphia Phillies reliever Carlos Estevez
New Philadelphia Phillies reliever Carlos Estevez | Jayne Kamin-Oncea/GettyImages

The Philadelphia Phillies acquired a much-needed piece for the bullpen on Saturday in trading for Los Angeles Angels closer Carlos Estévez. He fills in after the departure of Seranthony Domínguez in a package trade to the Orioles.

The reports that the Phillies were on the lookout for more bullpen help before Tuesday's trade deadline turned out to be true. They waited until right before the deadline to trade for Chicago White Sox left-handed reliever Tanner Banks. In a subsequent trade, they sent left-hander Gregory Soto to the Baltimore Orioles.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies were seen as buyers early on knowing that their fast start to the season had to be capitalized on. With their disappointing play for over a month now, it was even more apparent that reinforcements needed to be brought in to give the club a shot in the arm.

It isn't a given that Estévez will be the closer going forward, as reported by MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. Manager Rob Thomson has a way of feeling players out and trusting guys in certain leverage situations. Estévez could receive the same treatment.

A lot has already been said about Estévez. One thing in particular was how he would fit in Philadelphia. Here's what Dombrowski had to say about the reliever being brought in (subscription required), according to The Philadelphia Inquirer's Scott Lauber.

"We've got a lot of information on him as far as the type of makeup and bulldog type of approach he has out there," Dombrowski said, per Lauber. "We've got some people who told us he'll definitely fit into the Philadelphia mentality. He will not be afraid of this."

"However Topper determines he's going to use him, we'll see," Dombrowski said. "But it wouldn't surprise me if he gets a lot of ninth innings and slots people behind him."

Projected Phillies bullpen depth chart after Carlos Estévez, Tanner Banks trades

Let's take a look at the updated bullpen depth chart, including the newest Phillies relievers. This projection is in no way concrete, but it will give an idea of how the Phillies might deploy the bullpen down the stretch.

Role

Player

Closer

RHP Carlos Estévez

Setup

RHP Jeff Hoffman

Setup

LHP José Alvarado

Middle Relief

LHP Matt Strahm

Middle Relief

LHP Tanner Banks

Middle Relief

RHP Orion Kerkering

Relief

RHP Yunior Marte

Relief

RHP José Ruiz

Estévez could end up being the favorite to take the closer role from the combination of José Alvarado and Jeff Hoffman. Thomson has hinted at other possibilities, but it could be a perfect fit at the back end of the bullpen.

Hoffman has truly been a blessing for the bullpen. He has been nails in situations when the Phillies desperately need to escape with runners on base. Side note, he's good friends with Estévez from their time in Colorado.

Alvarado has been an exciting flame thrower out of the bullpen. He has struggled at times after a nice start to the year. The Phillies will hopefully try to regain his confidence and get him back into the high-leverage situations he has grown accustomed to.

Matt Strahm had a 20-plus outing scoreless streak earlier this season and just flat-out refused to allow runners on base. He has stayed consistent and hasn't given much reason to doubt him otherwise.

Banks will likely be used as a lefty specialist. He has a 4.13 ERA on the season, but left-handed batters are hitting just .184 against him and striking out 33.7 percent of the time.

Orion Kerkering was looking to have his breakout rookie campaign after just three regular season games in 2023. He has shown some shakiness lately, but has put together a solid campaign and will look to climb the ladder as his career progresses.

Yunior Marte has had flashes of being a solid reliever and has had some trips to and from Lehigh Valley. At times, he has had control issues, but he has been good.

José Ruiz has acted as the Phillies' clean-up man when the leverage tends to be at its lowest. His ERA has climbed in a chunk of his last starts, and he will look to get back on track.

It will be exciting to see how the Phillies use Estévez and Banks going forward. Hopefully, the new arms will help this team settle back in and get back to their winning ways soon.

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