What a dream Phillies pitching staff for the 2023 season looks like
By Tim Boyle
2) 4 Phillies relievers for the middle of the bullpen
Between the starters and the back of the bullpen, our dream Phillies pitching staff includes four arms. Returning from last year’s team is Sam Coonrod and Nick Nelson. Nelson will have a long reliever role with Coonrod fighting for a bullpen promotion in the future. Nelson’s roster spot could be swapped with Bailey Falter, the latter who showed he can find success as a starter in an emergency situation.
The other two relievers are already with the organization. Lefty Matt Strahm should be the second lefty in the bullpen, not the first. There is another better option out there the Phillies can turn to in higher leverage situations. It’s not Jose Alvarado. In the dream Phillies pitching staff, they’ve traded him. The Yordan Alvarez home run was the final straw.
The other reliever in the dream bullpen is Noah Song. A Rule 5 Draft pick by the club this offseason, his story is too awesome to ignore. He is a Navy pilot who has been out of action for a couple of seasons while training. Everyone should be rooting for him to make the Opening Day roster.
These four are all pretty good options to have ahead of the final four. These guys can handle any frames before the seventh. Those final innings should get turned over to these other four relief pitchers.