The Philadelphia Phillies might have a decent record thus far, but much of what has plagued them in recent years has held them back to begin the 2025 campaign as well. Their starting rotation, for the most part, has been excellent, but their lineup is maddeningly inconsistent and their bullpen is downright bad.
These issues presented themselves in Sunday's game against the Miami Marlins. Philadelphia scored three runs in the first inning, and Jesus Luzardo pitched extremely well for seven innings, but the offense managed to score two runs over the next nine frames, and both Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm struggled in relief. What looked like a win ended up being an extra-inning loss.
Manager Rob Thomson spoke after the game, and when asked if his team had a bullpen issue, his answer was very underwhelming.
"I don't," Thomson said. "Because it's still a small sample size. I know we have really good arms, really good stuff out there. We've just got to keep working at it, keep grinding through it."
This is typical Thomson. He just wants to stick with what he thinks is the right course of action and hope it works in his favor. Sure, it's April, but we've seen almost a month of this. Ultimately, his plan of just staying the course isn't going to work.
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Rob Thomson is part of the Phillies bullpen problem
Given the team's struggles in the bullpen, it might be time for the Phillies to consider using a guy like Tanner Banks who has a 2.70 ERA in nine appearances this season in higher-leverage spots. It might be time to remove Jordan Romano and his 15.26 ERA this season out of high-leverage spots for the time being.
To be fair, Thomson has not been dealt good cards. The bullpen was a point of weakness for part of last season, and got substantially worse by replacing Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez with Jordan Romano and Joe Ross. That falls entirely on Dave Dombrowski. How Thomson uses the relievers, though, is on him, and so far, it hasn't been pretty.
Philadelphia's bullpen has a 5.80 ERA, the second-worst mark in the majors. Again, a lot of that has to do with the lackluster unit that Dombrowski has put together, but this group, on paper, should be a lot better than it has been. Thomson is not getting the most out of these guys and is not always putting them in the best spots to succeed.
A shake-up is needed, but that isn't exactly how Thomson operates. His managerial style could prove to be a detriment to the team in a season that has World Series aspirations.