Considering the caliber of prospect the Philadelphia Phillies gave up to acquire Tanner Banks, it would be fair to expect dominance out of the left-handed reliever. When club president Dave Dombrowski traded $2.05 million signee William Bergolla to the Chicago White Sox in July 2024, the Phillies were not as desperately in need of bullpen help as they are now. Jose Alvarado’s suspension, though, has upped the stakes.
Since losing the Venezuelan lefty on May 18, the Phillies’ floundering bullpen has been the club’s biggest source of concern. Matt Strahm is not the pitcher he was last year, and though Orion Kerkering has been good, he has been shaky at times. Jordan Romano, we need not discuss.
Tanner Banks
That has left Banks and, to a lesser extent, Max Lazar, to pick up some of the slack. As the Phillies have struggled to find left-handed relievers to fill Alvarado’s rather massive hole, Banks has stepped up as the team’s most reliable reliever since his suspension.
Dating back to Alvarado’s suspension, Banks has not walked a single batter, striking out 18 in 20.1 innings, and pitching to a 2.21 ERA. In that time, no Phillies reliever, save Kerkering (albeit with 10 walks in 19 innings), has had a lower ERA.
It was never supposed to be this easy for Banks, who went to community college out of high school, who was drafted in the 18th round, who made his debut as a 30-year-old rookie in 2022, and has continued to defy the odds.
As a reliever for the 2024 41-win White Sox, Banks never changed his attitude in the clubhouse, nor his demeanor on the mound.
“There were whispers I was going to get traded, but I was going to play every game the same way,” he told Deseret News in March.
Now a shutdown reliever for the first-place Philadelphia in what is a far more tense environment than the White Sox’s cellar-dwelling bullpen, Banks is pitching better than he ever has in his career.
His 7.80 K/BB is second among all major league relievers (min. 30 IP). He’s also striking out batters, stranding runners, and allowing soft contact at a higher rate than ever before in his career, all at age 33.
Bullpen help will come for the Phillies at the deadline. You can bet your house on it. In the eventual shuffle, Banks’ high-leverage outings will likely get lost in the mix. As the ballclub moves to acquire relievers with better track records and more devastating stuff, Banks’ soft-contact, steady approach will not do him many favors in the bullpen pecking order.
Nevertheless, the club is indebted to Banks for getting them this far and helping keep them atop the NL East through the All-Star break. And if the Phillies’ mustachioed lefty can continue his excellence through September, he’ll likely be asked to take down some big outs for them in the postseason too.
Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images
