After years of having their bullpen get called a liability to their team, the Philadelphia Phillies proved that it is no longer a liability at all. They were the sole reason that they found a way to beat the Atlanta Braves. Advancing further into the MLB playoffs. During a critical, series clinching Game 4, a group of Andrew Bellatti, Jose Alvarado, Zach Eflin, Brad Hand and Seranthony Dominquez pitched a combined six innings. In that span, they were able to strike out 15 batters and walk none on their way to a crucial victory. Plus, we can’t forget that Noah Syndergaard started for the first time in two weeks. Allowing just one run in three innings of action.
The momentum and the swagger are really starting to show out for the Phillies bullpen. They’ve deserved it after all. Alvarado described their pitching as, “strike one, strike two and good luck.” This group didn’t care those other starters such as Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez already pitched in the series. They were ready to get called into action and didn’t want to lose with this opportunity sitting in front of them.
Pitching Has Killed The Phillies Lately
Over the past 11 years that the Phillies missed the playoffs, the bullpen was the major issue. Back in the shortened 2020 campaign, the Phillies bullpen had a combined 7.06 ERA. This is the second highest bullpen ERA that the league has seen over the past 90 years that baseball has been around. They even had an MLB record tied with 34 blown saves the following season in 2021. Even earlier in this season, the bullpen was letting them down in big moments. They blew a six-run leading the ninth inning against the New York Mets back in May. The first time that this has ever happened to them since 1994. It was the second time since 1937 as well.
All of this became too common for the Phillies and they wanted to change that right here and now. The job isn’t finished just yet though as they march into NLCS against the San Diego Padres. A red-hot Padres team that is coming off of victories against both the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers in their previous series. Luckily, Dominguez is starting to pitch his best ball. He returned from the injured list back on September 11th, but has since found his rhythm again. During Game 4, he was averaging a velocity of 99.5 miles p er hour in the ninth inning. He had three strikeouts as well and saw him pitch the 12 hardest balls that he has all season long. When asked about it after the game, he said, “I’m back. I’m definitely back.”
There is a near guarantee that the group of pitchers that hit the mound in this pivotal series winning game is going to see some more action against the Padres.
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