Hitting against the Phillies bullpen turns you into a better player than Mike Trout

The Phillies bullpen has been a complete disaster

Considering how well stars like Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, and Aaron Nola have performed in 2020, you’d think that the Philadelphia Phillies would be vying for a playoff spot. Unfortunately, Joe Girardi and company are in last place, and the blame falls almost squarely on their bullpen, which is the worst in the league by a country mile.

Opponents who hit against that laughable bullpen are putting up a robust .354 average. Batters against the Phillies bullpen, which is led by such standouts as Hector Neris and Tommy Hunter, have a higher batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS than Mike Trout and Mookie Betts. If you had to face off against nine Mike Trouts, you’d struggle too.

The Phillies made some trades to improve their historically awful bullpen.

To give the Phillies some credit, they did take steps to fix their dilapidated bullpen after Neris’ continued struggles in the closer role and Jose Alvarez’s extremely painful groin injury. Matt Klentak added former Yankees long reliever David Hale while trading away starter Nick Pivetta to the Boston Red Sox to bring in Heath Hembree and closer Brandon Workman.

Workman might’ve won 10 games, posted a 1.88 ERA, and only given up 29 hits while striking out 104 in 71.2 innings for the Red Sox in 2019, but even he can’t escape that bad funk that Phillies relief pitchers remain mired in. In his first game with the Phillies, Workman blew a save and was tagged with a loss against the Atlanta Braves.

Girardi had better hope that Workman rediscovers the form he showed off in Boston last year, as he and Hembree are now the marquee members of the Philadelphia bullpen. If they continue to serve up meatballs, no amount of Harper home runs or Nola shutouts can propel them to a playoff spot.