The Philadelphia Phillies’ bullpen is in rough shape; at least from the left side. José Alvarado has been completely useless, Tanner Banks was bad enough to warrant a demotion, and Tim Mayza can’t be expected to bear the load of every high-leverage inning. However, one potential solution appeared when Kyle Backhus was activated from the injured list on Monday.
28-year-old Kyle Backhus came to Philadelphia this past winter as part of a larger bullpen overhaul by president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. After trading former All-Star lefty Matt Strahm to the Kansas City Royals for Jonathan Bowlan, Dombrowski reeled in Backhus from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league outfielder Avery Owusu-Asiedu. The theory was that the club could absorb losing Strahm by leaning on a trio of Alvarado, Banks and Backhus to retire left-handed hitters. So far, that theory has aged like milk.
Alvarado’s 6.33 ERA has the fanbase ready to fire him into the sun, while Banks and his 5.86 mark were relegated to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Backhus hasn’t gotten much of a chance this year, only making his way into 10 contests before landing on the shelf with left elbow inflammation, posting a 4.66 ERA along the way. One silver lining in the Phillies’ southpaw relief corps has been Mayza, the veteran who’s worked to an excellent 3.15 ERA across 34 ⅓ innings after being picked up off the scrap heap just before the start of the season.
Can Kyle Backhus be the lefty the Phillies need?
The return of Kyle Backhus couldn’t get here fast enough, considering the sorry state of affairs he’s walking into. If he can just be a serviceable option against same-handed hitters, it will be a huge upgrade. The Texan primarily relies on a sinker/slider combination, mixing in a changeup less often to right-handed sluggers and using his funky delivery keeps hitters off balance.
Backhus doesn’t need to be the second coming of Billy Wagner to bail the Phillies out, given how many holes Dombrowski will need to fill at this summer’s trade deadline. A quality right-handed bat should be at the top of the wishlist to augment a feast-or-famine offense, while Andrew Painter’s brutal first taste of the big leagues has opened up an acute need for another reliable starting pitcher to eat up innings. The struggles of Alvarado and fellow setup man Brad Keller have made high-leverage relief help another avenue of improvement to consider.
Unfortunately, the Phillies’ farm system is hardly brimming with young talent and they probably don’t have enough capital to pull off trades to address each one of their issues. It would be wonderful to add another solid lefty to the back end of the pen, but that may not be in the cards. If Kyle Backhus can help solidify that trouble spot, it’ll allow Dombrowski to save his prospect ammunition for more dire areas of need - and on the 2026 Phillies, there’s no shortage of those.
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