Philadelphia Phillies: 5 free agent relievers the team should pursue
After a historically bad bullpen in 2020, the Philadelphia Phillies will need to add several relievers this offseason.
Considering it has been said so much at this point in time, I feel it is unnecessary to harp on just how bad the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen was during the 2020 baseball season. Okay, for ol’ times sake, we can touch on it again. It. Was. Bad. How bad? Well, how does an ERA north of 7.00 sound? How about the second worst bullpen in baseball history?
Not bad enough? How about this, the Philadelphia Phillies had the worst bullpen in Major League Baseball, in the last 90 years of play. Yes, it was that bad.
With all this being said, it is clearly obvious the front office needs to add multiple relievers just to make the 2021 version of the Phils’ bullpen serviceable. Here are five bullpen arms the Philadelphia Phillies front office would be wise to pursue:
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5. RHP Steve Cishek
2020 Team: Chicago White Sox
2020 Salary: $5.25 Million
We begin our list with a guy the Philadelphia Phillies saw a decent amount of back during the first couple years of the 2010’s. Steve Cishek is a right-handed reliever who is known for inducing ground balls. He has bounced around the Major Leagues the last couple years, all the while still being a rather productive bullpen arm.
Cishek began the decade with the Miami Marlins, and has subsequently pitched for the Cardinals, Mariners, Rays, Cubs, and most recently the White Sox. As already mentioned, he has always done an excellent job of keeping the ball on the ground, which of course would play really well in the hitters haven that is Citizens Bank Park.
2020 was a rather down year for Steve Cishek, as he pitched to the tune of a 5.40 ERA across 22 appearances and 20 total innings pitched on the South Side of Chicago. This is actually a big reason he will be available, as the White Sox have already declined the $6 million dollar club option Cishek had for the 2021 season. However, this past season is a bit of an anomaly, as the right-hander holds a career ERA of 2.78 and also comes with a wealth of experience closing out games as he has 132 career saves.
With this being said, it will be interesting to see how this past season carries into 2021, as the veteran held the highest H/9 of his career as well as the lowest ground ball rate of his career.
Cishek turns 35 years old next season, so a long term deal would not be necessary. Throw in the fact that he is coming off a career worst season, there is no reason this type of move would handicap the Philadelphia Phillies in anyway financially. One year at about a $3 million dollar salary? Yeah, that’d work.