The Philadelphia Phillies have the third worst bullpen in MLB history

Following yet another two games of poor play, the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen now ranks as the third worst in MLB history.

This is not an exaggeration or a hyperbole, as of Monday morning August 10th, the 2020 Philadelphia Phillies have the third worst performing bullpen in MLB history.

Thanks to a stat pulled from baseball analyst Ryan M. Spaeder via Twitter, it was revealed that the Phillies bullpen is currently sitting at an ERA of 7.48. When looking at the entirety of baseball history, there are just two teams whose bullpen recorded a worse ERA. The 1930 Phillies (8.01 ERA), and the 2020 Cincinnati Reds currently (7.77 ERA).

To anyone who has watched a Phillies game this year, this statistic should really come as no surprise. The team’s bullpen has been shelled left and right, repeatedly blowing games and repeatedly ruining quality starts from the Phillies starting pitchers.

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As of right now, this is what the Phillies relief staff is looking like numbers wise:

Deolis Guerra: 11.25 ERA

Tommy Hunter: 5.40 ERA

Trevor Kelley: 10.13 ERA

Austin Davis: 16.88 ERA

Nick Pivetta: 6.75 ERA

Ramon Rosso: 5.40 ERA

Adam Morgan: 10.80 ERA

Jose Alvarez: 0.00 ERA

Hector Neris: 0.00 ERA

Cole Irvin also recorded an ERA of 18.00 before being relegated back to the minor leagues this past weekend, and Reggie McClain had a 4.50 ERA prior to being put on paternity leave.

Obviously, outside of Alvarez and Neris, those are some truly horrendous numbers. From top to bottom, this Phillies bullpen has massively struggled. They ruined a six inning gem from Aaron Nola against the Yankees last week, and almost blew an eight run lead that Zack Wheeler set up the night prior. The ‘pen was responsible for the loss in Vince Velasquez‘ start against the Braves on Sunday, and Trevor Kelley and Austin Davis came on and allowed an additional four runs to cross the plate following Spencer Howard’s major league debut.

While I hate to dump a pile of negativity on your desk on Monday morning, there’s genuinely very little to be be excited about moving forward with this group of relievers. Guys like Pivetta and Kelley have really struggled for the majority of their MLB careers, Davis, Morgan, Hunter, and Guerra are throwing batting practice level fastballs out there, and someone like Rosso could really use another year or two in the minor leagues. Alvarez and Neris have looked solid in brief stints thus far, but that was pretty much a given coming into the season. Those two were always going to have to carry the Phillies bullpen, but they simply can’t pitch every single day. Joe Girardi needs to see a few more names step up as reliable options.

With Howard now up in the majors, we could see a guy like Velasquez move to the pen, which might help. Outside of that, the Philadelphia Phillies could turn to their farm system or even take a few stabs in the free agent market. At this point in time, pretty much anyone with a functioning shoulder would be better than the current jumble of guys the Phillies are trotting out there.