At 53-39, Philadelphia Phillies are tied with the New York Mets atop the NL East standings. That division is quickly becoming a two-horse race, with the Miami Marlins a distant third. There's a lot to feel good about if you're a Phillies fan. This offense hasn't even performed up to its potential, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better starting rotation in MLB. And yet ... that's what so frustrating.
The Phillies are a good team. But are they a great team? A team built to go the distance in October, when the pressure ratchets up? Not really. Dave Dombrowski is one of the most accomplished executives in baseball, but it's starting to feel like he has lost his fastball. Known for big swings and an aggressive, win-now mentality, Dombrowski has spent the last few years abnormally gun-shy. It's costing the Phillies wins.
We can go in depth about the outfield, but that's another problem for another day. What is really bugging Phillies fans right now is the bullpen. Once again, Philadelphia fell apart in the late innings on Tuesday, wasting a perfectly solid start from Taijuan Walker.
With Orion Kerkering spent from recent outings, Rob Thomson turned to Jordan Romano for the save with Philadelphia up 3-1 over the San Francisco Giants. He promptly gave up three hits and three runs — punctuated by a remarkable walk-off, inside-the-park home run from Giants catcher Patrick Bailey.
Have you ever seen a walk-off inside-the-park home run? NOW YOU HAVE. pic.twitter.com/aNsbdFFH2c
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 9, 2025
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Phillies cannot afford to let bullpen woes fester
Philadelphia's bullpen has been a problem all season — especially since José Alvarado was suspended for PEDs. Alvarado won't be eligible once the playoffs roll around as a result, so there is considerable pressure on the Phillies front office to unearth a solution. Kerkering and Matt Strahm feel like viable postseason arms, but Max Lazar, Walker (when the rotation is fully healthy) and Romano are Philly's top relievers otherwise. None feel especially suited to October baseball.
Romano is the glaring failure of last offseason for Dombrowski and the Phillies brass. Rather than ponying up to re-sign Jeff Hoffman or adding another star, high-leverage arm in free agency, the Phillies settled for Romano on a discounted one-year contract, hoping he would bounce back from an injury-plagued and mostly disastrous 2024 campaign. He has not. We have seen brief flashes of the old Romano, but with a 7.44 ERA and three blown saves in 11 attempts, it's getting hard to find the silver lining.
In addition to axing Hoffman, the Phillies also let Carlos Estévez, their prized addition at the 2024 trade deadline, leave for Kansas City. That left Philadelphia down two signature bullpen arms, hoping to replace them with a declining Romano and ... Joe Ross? The Phillies bullpen was bad enough to necessitate a major trade last offseason, and yet Dombrowski effectively cut corners in his attempts to rebuild it for 2025. These struggles are not a surprise.
The MLB trade deadline is a little more than three weeks away on July 31. Now is the time for Philadelphia to get in the mix and trade for an impact reliever. There are several compelling options out there — David Bednar, Dennis Santana, Jake Bird, Kyle Finnegan, just to name a few — and there's no reason to wait until the final buzzer. Every win counts, so the sooner Dombrowski can fix what he left broken, the better.