How Orion Kerkering is cementing himself as top arm in Phillies bullpen

Orion Kerkering, despite being only 24 years old, has long been thought of as the closer of the future in Philadelphia. I mean, of course he has – triple-digits on the radar gun paired with one of the nastiest sweepers in the game, you might think he’s un-hittable before you ever see him throw the baseball.

The rise of Orion Kerkering

While he’s been a part of the mix of arms that Rob Thomson has turned to in high leverage these past few seasons, he has risen to the top of his manager’s options. That doesn’t happen overnight. Despite great stretches last season that saw him finish with a 2.29 ERA, he had rough stretches in the summer that he let compound, especially in July. One rough outing would turn into a few, and the young flamethrower couldn’t seem to shake those performances easily.

That trend seemed like it may continue as Kerkering saw his ERA in April balloon to an unsightly 5.56. However, through maturity and experience, he’s learned how to deal with the bad – as well as the good.

“I think much of that first month (was) realizing I was doing too much,” the Phillies right-hander told me prior to Sunday’s contest against the Reds. “So I just kind of take a step back and kind of see why I did so good last year, or the stretches where I did good and just kind of go back in that mindset a little bit. Just kind of keep rolling it every day, and every day is a new day – doesn’t matter what you did the day before or who we were playing that day. You just get up and go.”

“Go”-ing is all he’s done as of late. Remember that 5.56 ERA a month in? Well it’s down to 2.83. Prior to last night’s two-run outing, negatively impacted by a few hit batsmen and a few pitches that caught all of the plate but were not called strikes, he had been on an other-worldly stretch.

From May 1 through July 5, Orion allowed just two earned runs in 23.1 innings across 26 appearances – that’s a 0.77 ERA, and he averaged a strikeout an inning over that stretch. With other players in the Phillies bullpen struggling, Kerkering has become the guiding light for the right-handed pitchers – the man Thomson turns to when he needs big outs and the opposition has their most dangerous right-handed hitters due up. Matt Strahm is the go-to from the left side, and he’s noticed how well Orion has handled the added pressure:

“(There’s been) the expectations, and then him just kind of realizing – the outside noise is just noise and once you step on the mound, your sweeper’s still 18 inches and your fastball’s still 100, so just use it,” the veteran left-hander told me prior to Sunday’s game. “We all go through it in this game and I think we’re seeing him mature… I think our clubhouse helps those guys do it quicker just because of how veteran driven we are and how many of us have been here for as long as we have, so just to see him just shake it quick and be like, ‘you know what, I do have one of the best pitches in baseball and throw upper 90’s, attack the zone and good things happen.'”

The nature of growth

It’s tough for any 24 year old to mature. Odds are, if you are reading this, you went through growing pains at that time in your life. To do it in front of 40,000+ crowds across the country is an experience that very few of us can relate to – especially when those crowds are filled with fans from Philadelphia. He’s always been a quiet, mild mannered guy, and while a lot of players get themselves in a different “zone,” Orion stays even all the time:

“Yeah, I mean, he’s still a kid,” Strahm told me when I asked about his calm demeanor. “I was just joking with KG [Kevin Gregg, Phillies Vice President, Baseball Communications] yesterday, and I said ‘Kirk and I have gotten to a point in our relationship where I just say his name in a certain tone and he knows whether I’m telling him to stop, look at me, or move on.’ He’s always the same. He’s the same kid all day, every day – except we’re still working on after he gives up a run.  It doesn’t matter what happens to Kerkering. He’s learning it’s all about Philly wins, so it’s good to see.” 

Learning from mistakes, but not letting the highs or lows impact you is important. Orion knows there’s another day – it’s a long season. He’s worked on having the right mindset and not allowing the bad days to pile on. His coaches, catchers, and bullpen mates all have seen the work he puts in.

Luke Arcaini from Crossing Broad spoke with Tanner Banks on Sunday, and Banks mentioned how they pick each other’s brains as they both now find themselves in more high leverage spots than either expected. “I’ve had opportunities to talk to (Kerkering) too, like what his thought process is in big moments,” Banks explained. “We’re in Sacramento, and he’s got bases loaded, and it’s a 3-0 count, bottom of the 10th inning, and I’m like ‘crap, what’s going to happen?’ He throws his hardest pitch of the night. I’m like – ‘in that moment what are you thinking?’”

Kerk was thinking of throwing it hard in that situation – something Strahm likes to remind him he always has at his disposal, in that veteran tone. While he has the velocity, and his sweeper is “one-of-one” as Strahm calls it, avoiding becoming predictable is something you need to survive in the majors. It doesn’t matter how hard you throw or how many inches of run you have, if you can’t mix and match – your career will be short.

Finding the sweet spot

One way Kerkering and the Phillies have tried to keep him fresh is upping the rate at which he throws his sinker. Yes, he has used the pitch in the past – and to pretty good results last season, but they didn’t truly rely on it until now.

“I think last year was more like a play pitch just because I didn’t use it much like in the minor leagues. It was just kind of like getting used to it and kind of throwing it more since I never really threw it,” the California native explained. “I think this year, especially kind of seeing how hitters swing, especially the righties lately – like Machado the other day, taking away kind of where even on the sheet it looks middle-middle or middle down, but it runs back all the way. Playing with a little bit more”…

Orion Kerkering, 99mph ⛽️⛽️ pic.twitter.com/sPweLFfmLg

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 3, 2025

It seemed like he may have been playing with fire early in the season when it came to that pitch. In the first month of the season, he only threw it 13 percent of the time and batters were teeing off on it – hitters had a .500 batting average and a .667 slugging percentage on the sinker that felt more like a failed experiment than a playful addition. But he stuck with it, now throwing it with more purpose.

Orion is using the sinker at a tick above 20 percent since May 1, and the results speak for themselves – batters have a .222 average with just a .278 slug over that time. It used to be to that a dominant reliever, could mostly rely on two pitches, but the game has changed. If Kerkering can become a three-pitch pitcher, he can separate himself from the flash-in-the-pan types, and evolve his game. I asked him why, when he never really tried it in the minors, the sinker was the pitch for him:

“I think it just helps protect both the heater and the sweeper, just because the sweeper goes left and away from a righty, then towards you for a lefty. Then the sinker’s kind of vice versa where it comes towards you as the righty so it’s like it’s that same pocket area,” Kerkering explained. As the conversation continued, he perked up – clearly passionate about the theory behind his attack, like a kid talking about his newest toy:

“(As the hitter) you’ve got to cheat a certain way, or if you think it’s going to be straight from the four seam, then it runs 17 inches more (one way), 10 inches more (the other), like ‘oh that’s on my hands and it’s really hard to protect’… I think that’s what helped a lot is just be able to put all those bits together (into what) I call the triangle effect…it’s heater up, sinker and sweeper in the same tunneling area, and then try to blow the heater (by them). I think that’s why Steer was the heater, first pitch. He took it and it was just like, ‘well that was my one pitch’… you see what (the hitter) was maybe sitting on what he wasn’t sitting on – and the extra third pitch helps a lot.” 

That overall attack has resulted in weaker contact, even if some falls for base hits. Per Statcast, his weak-contact percentage is currently 7.8 percent – the highest of his career. His hard-hit rate is 31.1 percent, putting him in the top four percent in Major League Baseball. The average exit velocity on his pitches is 85.2 MPH – that’s top one percent in all of MLB. It particularly has helped with players who might be trying to cheat on one of the two primary options in his arsenal. His catchers have really used it to their advantage, and he trusts them to make the right call.

“Just using it on those certain guys, where they might be cheating on a heater or they might be cheating on a sweeper. So just be able to trust it more and just throw it for a strike. J.T. (Realmuto) and (Rafael) Marchán have been really good at calling it more – ‘Let’s throw this in, execute it.’ I think that’s what helps a lot.”

The sky is the limit for Orion Kerkering

Confidence from your teammates goes a long way in your success, in your execution, and in your resilience. Knowing that tomorrow there’s another game – there’s almost always another chance during the baseball season. Surviving is important – adaptability even more so. Besides the new pitch, that might be Kerkering’s primary focus.

“(I just) try to pace myself a bit more – kind of let go of the past, learn from your mistakes. You can still come to the ballpark and see what you did the day before and kind of understand, but I think I’ve gotten a lot better of like, once the National Anthem goes on, once we walk out to the bullpen, it’s a new fresh day. I forget what happened yesterday… Just keep pushing forward and (telling myself) ‘how can I get better today than what I did yesterday or the day before?'”

Last night wasn’t his best results, but Kerkering has matured to where he knows to treat that like a lesson, instead of tucking his tail between his legs. A blip on the radar, a chance to “keep pushing forward.” He knows he can rely on his own experience, as well as his teammates, to keep getting better each day. As Orion told me – tomorrow is a new day.

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images