A strong bullpen is crucial for teams with championship ambitions, and the Philadelphia Phillies are working to address this area as they head into the 2026 season. The team’s starting rotation performed well in 2025, but issues in relief pitching became apparent, especially during an early postseason exit. Last year, the Phillies’ bullpen ranked 20th in Major League Baseball (MLB) for both ERA (4.27) and FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement (2.9), a drop from their performance in previous seasons.
The offseason saw several changes for the Phillies. Left-handed starter Ranger Suárez left for the Boston Red Sox through free agency, while ace Zack Wheeler is recovering from thoracic outlet surgery and may not be at full strength at the start of the season. Additionally, key reliever Matt Strahm was traded to the Kansas City Royals.
Despite these challenges, projections from FanGraphs suggest improvement is on the horizon. The analytics site ranks Philadelphia’s bullpen as third-best in MLB for 2026, trailing only the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.
One factor expected to boost performance is having a full season from top relievers José Alvarado and Jhoan Duran. Alvarado missed much of last year due to an 80-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance and was not eligible for postseason play upon his return in August. Duran joined the team just before last year’s trade deadline and made only 26 appearances between regular and postseason games but posted a strong 2.18 ERA.
“Injuries are always a risk — Alvarado missed time in September with a forearm strain — but if the pair can remain healthy, the Phillies can enjoy full seasons from their two most talented bullpen arms,” according to team sources.
Projections show Duran could deliver a 2.1 fWAR, second among all MLB relievers behind San Diego’s Mason Miller, while Alvarado is forecasted at 1.2 fWAR.
Returning pitchers Orion Kerkering and Tanner Banks also had solid seasons last year with ERAs under 3.50 in high-leverage situations.
The Phillies are looking to build on Brad Keller’s breakout season with Chicago; he signed a two-year contract worth $22 million with Philadelphia this winter after posting a 2.07 ERA out of the Cubs’ bullpen in 2025.
“Keller was excellent out of the bullpen for the Cubs last year, striking out 75 hitters in 69 2/3 innings with a 2.07 ERA,” according to club officials.
Jonathan Bowlan was acquired from Kansas City following Strahm’s departure and recorded a respectable 3.86 ERA over more than forty innings pitched last season.
Several other pitchers will compete for spots on Opening Day: Chase Shugart, Kyle Backhus, veteran Zach Pop, and Rule 5 Draft pick Zach McCambley are among those hoping to contribute meaningful innings this year.
Addressing home run prevention is another priority after Phillies relievers allowed one of MLB’s highest rates of homers per nine innings (1.30) last season—despite pitching fewer total innings than any other club’s bullpen—and struggled with generating ground balls for outs or double plays.
“Duran… had the single highest ground-ball rate (65.4%) out of the 119 relievers with at least 150 batted balls,” team analysts noted regarding his ability to keep hitters off base via groundouts rather than fly balls or home runs.
Keller also ranked highly at inducing grounders (57%), while Bowlan (49.6%) and Alvarado (47.3%) were above league average as well—contrasting sharply with Strahm’s low rate before his trade away from Philadelphia.
With these adjustments and new additions leading their relief corps throughout an entire season, expectations are that Philadelphia’s bullpen will see significant improvements both during regular games and critical playoff moments as they pursue their first World Series title since 2008.
