Phillies bullpen trust ranking: Installment No. 1

Phillies relievers have found a new way to keep spirits up in the lower half of Citizens Bank Park’s double-decker bullpen the past few days. As one of them put it, the first month of the season didn’t go the group’s way. They needed to inject some extra fun.

They’ve improved. It ebbs and flows. Far from perfect. But it’s better.

We saw six of the Phillies’ eight active relievers in action on Sunday against the Diamondbacks, which makes now — a bit more than 20% through the regular season — an appropriate time to take stock of what they’ve got, who you might feel the most confident in on any given day and who’s got some ground to make up in the pecking order. Here’s a subjective stab.

What’s today’s attendance? Phillies relievers are playing new game in bullpen

8. Carlos Hernández

Hernández was claimed a few days before Opening Day as a flier, nothing more. The fastball — averaging 97.5 mph, in the league’s 93rd percentile — plays. The slider, knuckle curve and command need work. Caleb Cotham and co. knew all along Hernández was a project. He still is.

7. Joe Ross

Ross is part of the group that’s pitched better lately; he’s held opponents scoreless in his last 10 2/3 innings. It hasn’t been super high leverage, though, and the strikeout numbers aren’t eye-popping (nine in that span). If he finds himself in higher-leverage opportunities, his walk rate — just 1.5 per nine innings — will help him.

6. Taijuan Walker

It’s no knock on Walker, who pitched excellently in a rotation stint that only ended due to circumstance. His brief bullpen cameo last year didn’t go great, but Walker has seemed like a totally different pitcher this year, in only good ways. Relief work is a completely different challenge, so we’ll see how he adjusts. A 2.54 ERA offers some cause for optimism.

5. Orion Kerkering

Before the season, I certainly wouldn’t have anticipated ever seeing Kerkering down here, and I don’t expect him to finish anywhere near here, either. But it’s been a struggle for the Phillies’ righty, who danced around a couple more walks on Sunday, giving him eight in 13 innings. His ERA is 4.85, with three more unearned runs to boot.

4. Tanner Banks

Does the stuff pop? No. Chase? Minimal. Staying power? TBD. At some point, the overall numbers don’t lie:

Tanner Banks has a sub-3 ERA and a sub-1 WHIP. He's allowed zero runs in 10 of his 14 appearances this year. Did you have that on your bingo card?

— Nathan Ackerman (@NathanAckerman_) May 4, 2025

The answer, I’d guess, is no.

3. Jordan Romano

Well, well, well. Yes, at No. 3, the Phillies’ Jeff Hoffman replacement and his 10.22 ERA. Before, or as, you laugh: Since April 9, seven of Romano’s nine outings have been scoreless, and one of the other two came in an uncharacteristically low-leverage (until it wasn’t, sure) appearance that might’ve included some pitch-tipping. The fastball velocity’s returning; the walks are down. It’s getting there. Stop laughing.

2. Matt Strahm

Right above Strahm is probably where the trust-meter swings away from “reluctant,” and there’s an argument we’re still not quite there yet. Strahm’s given up nine hits in his last 5 1/3 innings, but he also has a 99th-percentile chase rate and good strikeout-to-walk numbers. Is he ideally the second-best option in a championship bullpen? Probably not. Is he the second-best option in this one, right now? Probably.

1. José Alvarado

Alvarado didn’t have it on Sunday in the ninth, nor in the 10th after sitting on 16 pitches for 18 minutes in the dugout. Let’s see that kind of showing every day for a week — maybe two — and we can have a debate. Until then, it’s Alvarado, then everyone else.