The Phillies are 13-9 and have won four of six ahead of an important, early-season road series against the Mets. They took two of three from the Marlins this past weekend, exploding for 23 runs at Citizens Bank Park.

The bullpen, however, was an adventure on Saturday and Sunday. Jordan Romano and Carlos Hernandez imploded for nine runs on nine hits while Orion Kerkering shipped three after Jesus Luzardo went seven strong innings on Easter.

As it stands, the Phillies’ 5.81 ERA is the second worst among all MLB bullpens.

Here are some other relevant numbers from our Sportradar data:

  • six blown saves (worst in MLB)
  • 58.3 save percentage (tied for 23rd)
  • 47 runs allowed (23rd)
  • 80 hits allowed (tied for 22nd)
  • 1.55 WHIP (25th)
  • .290 opponent batting average (30th)
  • .355 opponent on-base percentage (25th)
  • .496 opponent slugging percentage (30th)
  • .850 opponent OPS (29th)
  • 18 inherited runners (tied for second fewest)
  • 33.3 inherited runner scoring percentage (tied 14th)

You see the Phillies bullpen isn’t inheriting a lot of runners, so it’s not like the starting group is putting them in bad situations. They’re getting pummeled and allowing runs regardless. Most of those categories are bottom five, bottom eight, with a few entries in “dead last” territory.


Individually, certainly Romano’s numbers bring the group down. Among all relievers who have thrown at least five innings, his 15.26 ERA is tied for 6th worst. Batters are hitting .382 against him and getting on base at a .462 clip. He’s not walking a ton of guys, just four over 7.2 innings, but they’re putting the ball in play and and sometimes out of play, over the fence three times so far.

Hernandez has a 9.0 ERA over seven innings. Similar story to Romano, just giving up a lot of hits and letting runners on, though he’s walked six and his on-base percentage is almost as bad as Romano’s. From there, it’s a whole lot of meh from Joe Ross and Jose Ruiz while Kerkering is fourth-best with a 4.50 ERA. Tanner Banks, Jose Alvarado, and Matt Strahm are the only guys with an ERA of 3.0 or lower. If you use the same innings filter, five or more thrown, Strahm’s 1.74 ERA would be 69th-best in Major League Baseball through Easter Sunday.

Not that this should come as a surprise to anyone. The bullpen was a question mark coming into the season. A lot of it hinged on Romano’s form, which has not been good. With Jeff Hoffman’s departure, there aren’t a lot of guys you feel comfortable with in high-leverage situations. The starting pitching and the red-hot hitting has been carrying the Phils for now.