Following Tuesday’s victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Phillies return to the greater Clearwater area to face off against the Toronto Blue Jays in nearby Dunedin on Wednesday. Starting for the Phillies and making his first appearance in a Phillies uniform is new long reliever candidate Joe Ross.
Ross, 31, signed on with the Phillies on a one-year, $4 million contract this offseason after pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024. Drafted in the first round by the San Diego Padres in 2011, Ross found himself part of a three-team trade, sending both himself and Trea Turner to the Washington Nationals. That’s right, Ross is already well acquainted with Turner and their more boisterous counterpart in Bryce Harper.
Ross is Expected to Play a Key Role in the Phillies’ Bullpen
Joe Ross has spent much of his career as a starter, with his ERA varying from 3.40 all the way up to 5.40. When he reached the Brewers last season, however, that began to change. Ross began the season in the starting rotation, pitching for a 4.98 ERA over 47 innings across 10 starts. Towards the end of May, Ross was sidelined due to a low back strain, putting him on the Injured List until the end of July. Following his first start back, the Brewers opted to move Ross into the bullpen.
Moving into the bullpen revitalized Ross’s value as he pitched for a strong 1.67 ERA over 27.0 innings in the final two months of action, even increasing his SO/9 from 7.5 as a starter to 9.0 as a reliever. Over his 15 outings as a reliever, he pitched at least two innings in nine of them.
The Phillies will look to continue that success from Ross in 2025 as he lines up to be one of the Phillies’ potential multi-inning threats out of the bullpen. Ross and Taijuan Walker currently lineup well for that role, allowing much of the rest of the bullpen to be utilized inning-by-inning in a matchup-focused mentality.
Additional Utility in a Former Starter
Ross, as well as Walker, will also likely be the first two names called upon should any of the starting rotation go down to injury or if a sixth starter is needed in the case of a doubleheader. Phillies fans will likely prefer Ross be the first to get the call in that case, given recency bias with Walker’s poor, injury-ridden 2024 season. To Walker’s credit, however, Walker has come into camp ready to prove that he deserves a slot in the starting rotation now. Manager Rob Thomson has even said that Walker looks better than he did in 2023.
Regardless of where he lines up compared to Walker, having Ross on the team is an indication of how deep the Phillies’ starting pitching talent goes. Sure, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, and Jesus Luzardo are likely one of the best starting rotations in the League as is. But if you add in two veterans like Ross and Walker with young talent such as Tyler Philips and Seth Johnson, not to mention the inevitable promotion of Andrew Painter, the Phillies likely have the second-deepest rotation in all of Major League Baseball. And no, there is no way that rotation catches the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation, but that is the deepest rotation deferred money can buy.
Signing Joe Ross may not have been the flashiest move the Phillies could have made to bolster their pitching core, but whether as a reliever or as a starter, he just might be the perfect fit for the Phillies this season.
Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
