As Phillies Wait for Jose Alvarado to Return, Orion Kerkering Will be the Bullpen “Lefty” to Take his Place

The Phillies still did not provide an update on Jose Alvarado, who was placed on the restricted list late Monday afternoon for personal reasons.

Except for one little nugget.

Asked if he expected Alvarado back this season, Phillies manager Rob Thomson said yes, he does.

That’s got to be a glimmer of good news, that whatever reason Alvarado had to leave the team does not seem to be something that is career-threatening.

Jose Alvarado’s Instagram story from this morning, including translation. pic.twitter.com/LsymeuqdNm

— Benjamin Goldstein (@BGoldsteinPSR) August 27, 2024

But in the short term, the Phillies are down to two left-handed relievers in the bullpen, and only one who is used to taking down higher leverage innings – Matt Strahm.

Conventional wisdom would tell you that Tanner Banks, the lefty acquired from the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline, would slide into Alvarado’s role while he is gone. And while he will get some more opportunity in that spot, the Phillies have another “lefty” that they feel like can tackle high-leverage situations against tough lefty batters.

“I look at it like (Orion) Kerkering is kind of a lefty, too, because he’s got good splits against lefties,” Thomson said. “So, really, we still have three lefties in the ‘pen in my mind.”

Ehhh….

So far this season, Kerkering has faced 95 lefties. They are slashing .266/.372/.392 against him for a .765 OPS. The only two home runs Kerkering has allowed in his major league career have come this season – against lefties. He does have a good strikeout ratio against them – 29 whiffs in 79 at bats, but he has also walked 10 lefties compared to just three righties in 112 plate appearances.

It’s not exactly dominant, but part of those numbers did occur during a rough nine-game stretch coming out of the All-Star break through August 8th where lefties hit .500 against him. Since then, Kerkering has been much better against lefties.

In the past few weeks, lefties are only slashing .207/.233/.345 for a .578 OPS.

He also had success against lefties for a good stretch earlier this season. Before the All-Star break, lefties slashed .232/.317/.268 against him for a .585 OPS.

Phillies Relievers since May 1st:

Matt Strahm: 0.00 ERA
Jeff Hoffman: 0.66 ERA
Seranthony Dominguez: 0.80 ERA
Orion Kerkering: 1.58 ERA
Jose Alvarado: 1.72 ERA
Jose Ruiz: 1.93 ERA
Gregory Soto: 2.79 ERApic.twitter.com/cAB6sDXfJy

— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) June 8, 2024

As for his recent appearances, the latest high leverage spot against a lefty for Kerkering came Monday against Houston. With a runner on first and two outs in a tie game, Thomson left Kerkering in to face the always-dangerous lefty Yordan Alvarez.

He threw Alvarez four straight sweepers and got him to ground out to first base to end the threat.

On Saturday, he faced Kansas City’s Vinnie Pasquantino. He threw him a sweeper to start, but then followed with two 99 MPH fastballs, the latter of which resulted in a ground out to second.

And then there was last Wednesday, the lone win the Phillies got in Atlanta. He faced two lefties in the bottom of the eighth while protecting a one-run lead.

He struck out Matt Olson with a 97 MPH fastball at the bottom of the strike zone and got Jarred Kelenic to fly out to center field on a sweeper up in the zone.

He’s had some success.

Thing is, he’s going to have to have some more going forward until Alvarado gets back and Kerkering can slot back into his normal role of taking down a pocket of right-handed hitters.

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