After a sluggish start, Dave Dombrowski’s off-season additions are improving

Dave’s four biggest off-season moves are all helping the team win… for the moment.

I had the same criticisms you did.

Dave Dombrowski didn’t do enough this off-season. The Phillies are running back a team whose offense hit the skids when it mattered most once again, lost more effective bullpen arms than they acquired, and didn’t change the makeup of the roster in any significant way.

Big name stars like Juan Soto, Kyle Tucker, and others all changed uniforms and the Phils weren’t even in the conversation.

So yeah, I hear ya. I was disappointed and, dare I say, dissatisfied with Dombrowski’s off-season acquisitions. On the whole, I didn’t think they made the team any better than they were the season before or in 2023.

Dombrowski didn’t add a big bat to the lineup. He couldn’t find an everyday outfielder to punch up one of the weakest-hitting groups in baseball last season. Instead, he signed left fielder Max Kepler to a one-year, $10 million deal. In the bullpen, he allowed Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez to leave in free agency and replaced them with journeyman Joe Ross and Jordan Romano, one of the AL’s best closers from 2021-23 who suffered from injury and ineffectiveness in 2024.

The one move Dombrowski was lauded for was the trade for Miami starter Jesus Luzardo. While it did not come without risk, Luzardo’s upside was obvious and, at a far cheaper prospect cost than it would have taken to land now-Boston starter Garret Crochet.

Three of the four — Kepler, Romano and Ross — got off to sluggish starts. Luzardo shined.

But now, all four are producing positive results for the suddenly red-hot Phils.

Jesus Luzardo

Luzardo is a leading contender for NL Cy Young with a little more than 20% of the season in the books. In the Phillies’ comeback, 7-6, 10-inning win Thursday night, Luzardo was effective once again in 6.1 innings, allowing just two runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Even after a stellar performance like that, his ERA went up, to a sparkling 2.11 on the season. He’s struck out 51 in 47.0 innings this year while walking just 13 and has proven to be the left-handed running buddy to ace Zack Wheeler.

He’s pitched into the sixth inning in every start but one (his first of the season), has allowed more than two runs in a start just once (a three-run, six-inning effort in Chicago). As the Phillies waited for Ranger Suarez to return from the Injured List and dealt with a slow start from Aaron Nola, Luzardo took upon himself the mantle of No. 2 starter, and doesn’t appear ready to relinquish it anytime soon.

Max Kepler

Kepler has been a bit streaky in his first season in Philadelphia.

• March 27 thru April 20: 78 PAs, .217/.308/.333, wRC+ 80, 1 HR, 4 RBIs
• April 21 thru May 4: 43 PAs, .342/.395/.711, wRC+ 198, 4 HRs, 7 RBIs

He wasn’t able to carry his hot streak into Tampa this week. Facing three right-handed starters, Kepler went 1-for-11 with two walks and one RBI. On the season, he’s batting .246/.333/.432 with five homers and seven doubles.

Kepler has also provided value with his glove.

It’s not star material and he is undoubtedly sharing the position in a straight platoon with Weston Wilson, but Kepler has proven to be much improved from a year ago.

Jordan Romano

Romano’s early season struggles have been well documented. An overly high leg kick sapped him of velocity to start the season, then there were reports he may have been tipping his pitches, leading to a ghastly 15.26 ERA after allowing six runs in ²⁄₃ of an inning against the Marlins on April 19.

But Romano has rebounded. Over his last six appearances, Romano has only allowed one run, with a 1.59 ERA and a .227 batting average allowed. He’s struck out five and walked two, and, after watching Bryson Stott bring the Phillies to within 5-4 in the 8th, Romano held down the fort in the bottom of the frame, giving the Phils one last shot to tie it up in the 9th, which they did.

Confidence is slowly returning for Romano, and it’s clear manager Rob Thomson is beginning to trust him again, too. Romano certainly isn’t out of the woods yet, but for the moment, he’s looked more like the 2021-23 version of himself over the last two weeks.

Joe Ross

On April 16, Ross gave up four runs to the Giants in a lone inning of work, ballooning his ERA up to 9.39. Since then, Ross has been much stingier.

In his last six games, Ross has hurled 10.2 innings without giving up a run, lowering his ERA to 3.93 on the season. He has struck out nine and walked just one over that stretch, and he’s gone multiple innings in four of those six outings.

Anyone expecting Ross to be a late inning answer out of the ‘pen is miscasting him. His current role as a middle reliever who can go multiple innings fits him best and, for the last two weeks, he’s filled that role marvelously.

Outside of Luzardo, are any of these guys going to the All Star Game? Almost certainly not. But after a rough start, all three are providing solid contributions to a team that is playing the best ball of any in the National League.