The Phillies entered the 2024 postseason with the best bullpen in Major League Baseball. Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estevez, and Orion Kerkering all had excellent years. Jose Alvarado had an up-and-down year but was still crucial in the Phillies winning the NL East.
With all of them having such great seasons, one would expect them to go into the postseason shoving and closing out games easily. Well, unfortunately, it’s not that simple. The bullpen that was so reliable during the season has had some woes to start the postseason, with Strahm struggling the most to start the postseason. Before we discuss it, no, you can’t blame the week off for the underperformance.
Matt Strahm
Matt Strahm has been the backbone of this Phillies bullpen all season. When they needed to get out of a jam, he was usually the guy they’d call upon to get them out of it. That immense trust earned him a spot on the NL All-Star roster.
He was put in for Game One following a surprisingly disastrous outing by Jeff Hoffman. The Phils were now down 3-1 and looked to Strahm to keep it at three. He allowed two more runs to cross the plate for the Mets and the Phillies lost 6-2.
He came into Sunday’s game following a subpar performance in the hopes that he could close out the game and send Phillies fans home relieved. In an unexpected turn of events, last night turned out to be worse than game one for the all-star. The Phillies battled back to be up 6-4 in the top of the ninth inning where Matt Strahm, the best reliever on the Phillies this season, was put in. He gave up a game-tying two-run home run and forced the Phillies to walk it off.
Strahm’s start to the postseason hasn’t started the way he, the Phillies, or the fans had hoped, but I expect him to turn it around soon. The home run he allowed to Mark Vientos was a good pitch, it was high above the strike zone. Vientos just got to it that time.
Options for the Phillies?
The remainder of the Phillies’ bullpen has been serviceable to start the postseason. Excluding Strahm’s outings and Hoffman’s blowup in Game One, the bullpen has allowed three runs in 4.2 innings of work. This would be enough to be up 2-0 if the offense was awake for game one. They let the Phillies down in Game One but made up for it by keeping the offense in it the following night.
Fellow 2024 all-star Jeff Hoffman had the blowup in Game One but shut the door in Game Two to allow the Phillies to walk it off. With Strahm’s early struggles, the Phillies will look to him for help getting out of jams. Carlos Estevez did not pitch in Game One, but he went one shutout inning in Game Two.
With him not pitching in Game One and the off-day today, I expect Rob Thomson to have him go the next two games. While Orion Kerkering gave up the home run last night, he didn’t allow a run in game one. He is a young and very talented pitcher that the Phillies are relying on to get crucial outs in the postseason.
It is a small sample size – only two games, and the offense only scoring two runs in game one didn’t help, but the bullpen has to be on their game if the Phillies have any hope of advancing to the NLCS.
Mandatory Photo Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
