Dave Dombrowski is on quite the hit streak as the Phillies President of Baseball Operations.
Not that long ago, one of the Philadelphia Phillies‘ biggest issues was finding under-the-radar players in trades and free agency. They had signed big-name players but couldn’t hit on their other signings, especially on the pitching side.
We all remember the cobbled-together bullpens of 2020 and 2021. Players like Matt Moore and Chase Anderson were flops on the starting side.
Since Dave Dombrowski got himself comfortable as president of baseball ops, the swings and misses have lowered significantly in acquiring new players.
His first move that sent Garrett Cleavenger to the Dodgers brought in Jose Alvarado from the Rays (3-team trade).
Since that time there’s been a laundry list of solid additions on the low. Andrew Bellatti, Nick Nelson, Garrett Stubbs, Edmundo Sosa, Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman, Christian Pache, and Brandon Marsh have all contributed to the Phillies and their playoff runs in the past 2 seasons.
After Friday night’s game against the White Sox, you can add another name to that list.
Enter Spencer
Spencer Turnbull was somewhat of an afterthought when he was signed. He inked a deal for just $2 million and the expectations were he’d be the Phillies’ long man.
When Taijuan Walker went down in Spring Training with a right shoulder impingement, Turnbull was the next man up for the rotation. Turnbull had success as a starter before. Heck, he threw a no-hitter in 2021 against the Mariners. That was a major injury ago, so expectations were low.
On Friday night, he almost threw a 2nd no-no. Through 6 innings, he was at 79 pitches and had allowed just a single walk. In the 7th, he got the first out but would give up a single to end the no-hit bid.
The superb outing lowered Turnbull’s ERA to 1.23. In his first 4 starts as a Phillie, he’s allowed just 10 hits. That’s the fewest in franchise history through a pitcher’s 1st 4 games. Sid Fernandez is now 2nd with 13 hits. Steve Carlton is now 3rd with 14.
In Dave we trust
Since 2022, Dave Dombrowski has barely missed on signings, trades, and hirings.
He’s taken a general pessimism from fans and molded it into hope. In Philadelphia, that’s a tall task for anyone. He’s made it so that even if the Phillies lose their best player there still lies Phaith that things will be alight.
It happened with Bryce Harper…twice!.
We’ve entered a new era of Phillies baseball. An era in which fans can rest easy not thinking about how a bullpen is putting up historically bad numbers, an era in which fans can truly be fans.
We’re in good times and hopefully, under Dombrowski, they’ll continue.
