The Phillies bullpen got some more help this past weekend as David Robertson was added to the active roster Sunday. I don’t have the highest expectations for the 40 year old, as his velo is down about 3 MPH and we are already in mid-August, so the clock is ticking for him to get back to his normal self and make an impact before the season ends. His presence mostly provides competition to Jordan Romano for secondary hold chances, which could be fewer and farther between once José Alvarado returns next week. The addition of Jhoan Duran has helped Orion Kerkering finally settle into a set role now and it’s showing. Over his past four games, Kerkering has six strikeouts and no walks, allowing just two hits over those four innings. Small sample size and all, those are the kind of ratio’s we were expecting from Kerkering leading up to this year.
Notes
- I talked about the Yankees bullpen situation a little bit earlier this week, but figuring out the hierarchy behind David Bednar is another task. Luke Weaver has looked great lately, and is definitely benefiting from the bullpen additions at the deadline. I’m still not ready to completely give up on Devin Williams, who hasn’t allowed a baserunner over his last two outings while striking out four, but what his role will be over the next month and a half is totally up in the air. The stuff is still there, and if you take away that terrible stretch from late July through early August, he’s been a top 5-10 reliever since late April.
- Griffin Jax now has a 4.76 ERA and 1.29 WHIP on the season, so I understand being frustrated and not wanting to roster this roller coaster moving forward…BUT…the stuff is still there and all the underlying metrics show he’s been severely unlucky. Jax holds 35.7% strikeout (ranks 10th), 19.2% swinging-strike (6th), and 36.5% CSW (3rd) rates on the year, and his 5.47 PLV mark is first amongst all relievers. His 1.84 xFIP and 2.09 SIERA are also first amongst relievers on the season. I still have hope he can finish the year strong and he’s setting up to be a prime sleeper target in 2026 drafts.
- Gabe Speier continues to just dominant from the left side for the Mariners, but that bullpen could get an even bigger boost in Matt Brash becoming his normal self again, as the talented righty is starting to miss bats again just like he used to. In Brash’s first 16.1 innings this season, he was sitting 95-96 MPH with his fastball and held just 26% strikeout and 9.5% swinging-strike rates overall (3.24 xFIP). Over his past 15.1 innings though, Brash has been closer to 96-97 MPH and it’s led to 29% strikeout and 14.2% swinging-strike rates (and a 2.99 xFIP). Even more recently, Brash has racked up eight strikeouts over his past 4.2 innings as he continues trending in the right direction.
- Yariel Rodríguez is not trending in the right direction, as the Jays reliever has allowed six earned runs over his past three innings of work, and just hasn’t been the same guy since the All-Star break. Over his past 7.2 innings, Rodríguez holds an 8.22 ERA (7.58 SIERA), 1.83 WHIP, and a -13.5% K-BB rate (5.4% strikeout rate). Even with Seranthony Domínguez also struggling in this bullpen, there are just too many other options here to justify hanging on to Rodríguez at this point. Louis Varland and Braydon Fisher are much better options at this point.
