Philadelphia Phillies: Why on earth is Deolis Geurra still on the roster?

Philadelphia Phillies reliever Deolis Geurra needs to be released.

This time last year, Philadelphia Phillies fans likely had absolutely no idea who “Deolis Guerra” was. Now, a third of the way through the 2020 MLB season, and the veteran reliever has already lost the team three separate games.

Matt Klentak and the Phillies weren’t shy when it came to announcing their bullpen strategy this past offseason. They brought in a ton of fringe level veterans and “bounce-back” candidates for Spring Training. The thought process was essentially: throw enough *stuff* at the wall, and hope at least a few guys stick.

When it came to long shots to make the Phillies ‘pen this summer, Guerra had to be at the top of the list. He was completely out of the league for the duration of the 2018 season, and was cut by the Brewers just one outing into his 2019 campaign. Considering Guerra’s fastball barely hits 93 MPH on a good day, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why he wasn’t a hot name on the open market.

However, for whatever reason Klentak decided this was a guy worth keeping around. Combined with a handful of other soft-toss relief pitchers, the Phillies GM created one of the worst bullpens in MLB history, and handed it over to Joe Giardi to figure out.

The Phillies have already bailed on a few of said relievers, with a good chunk being either sent back down to the minors or outright released. Trevor Kelley was axed after a handful of embarrassingly bad outings, and guys like Austin Davis, Ramon Rosso, and Nick PIvetta are all currently down in AAA.

What truly escapes me, however, is the fact that Guerra hasn’t been included on that list.

Through just 6.2 innings of work, Guerra boasts a record of 1-3. His ERA sits at an outstanding 9.45, and his WHIP is a 1.80. Even with the Phillies bullpen being one of the worst in all of baseball history at the moment, Guerra has gone above and beyond in establishing himself as the single worst of the bunch.

Whereas guys like Irvin and Rosso at least have some value to the team due to their age, Guerra is 31 years old. He’s an aging veteran who’s “better” days are behind him, so it’s truly unfathomable that he’s still being allowed to take up a roster spot.

If you’re going to punt the season by chucking out horrible relievers, fine, but at least have them be young relievers so they can get some sort of experience out of it. Outside of pure stubbornness and ego from Klentak, what is the point in having a career minor leaguer like Guerra out there?

There are still a handful of available free agents on the market who would undoubtedly help this team, and they could always turn back to a younger arm like Pivetta or Rosso. While they aren’t good by any stretch of the imagination either, there’s at least some level of upside/potential trade value. Regardless, the longer Guerra is on this roster, the more games the Philadelphia Phillies are going to ultimately lose.