All of the big bullpen news over the past week.
The Phillies are finally done playing the Colorado Rockies—no more of that franchise.
Their next series is against a team that should still be in Oakland. A stadium should be built in Oakland, but John Fisher had to mess things up over and over again. Good job, Major League Baseball!
José Alvarado’s Suspension
Regardless of how you shake it, losing José Alvarado has massive implications for the bullpen. Their season is not over, but how they navigate the rest of the regular season is already and will continue to be different. Of course, there are implications for the postseason as well.
For right now, the Phillies left side of the bullpen is actually in solid shape at the major league level. Matt Strahm carries a FIP under 2 and is striking out plenty of hitters. Tanner Banks has been mostly a solid middle relief option in Rob Thomson’s bullpen.
The right side of the bullpen still lacks strikeouts. They only rank 19th in strikeout rate and only carry one right-handed reliever with an above-average strikeout rate.
While Alvarado was left-handed, he could be trusted in high-leverage situations against whoever came to the plate. Outside of Jordan Romano and Matt Strahm, the bullpen lacks swing-and-miss, so there is going to be more high-leverage variance on most nights. That’s not ideal.
Taijuan Walker to the Bullpen
Matt Gelb of The Athletic wrote today that Taijuan Walker is joining the bullpen as a full-time reliever when Aaron Nola returns from the injured list. Even if they need a starter, they will keep Walker in the bullpen and call someone else up.
Part of this is because Andrew Painter is ramping up in AAA and has looked the part of a major league pitcher. Mick Abel has pitched great in AAA and struck out 9 hitters in his only Major League start.
However, part of this is because Walker might be an interesting weapon out of the bullpen. He is not a traditional swing-and-miss pitcher but the “kitchen-sink” approach has worked wonders to resurrect his career.
Walker has drastically cut his four-seam fastball and sinker usage from 2024. He threw them a combined 39.9% of the time last season and is only at 28.1% in 2025. He is throwing a lot more cutters and splitters this season and has also adopted a new slider to right-handed hitters.
His strikeout rate is only 19.2%, which is not good for right-handed relievers. He is also walking batters at a 9.3% clip, also not good. However, he has become a much better pitcher will managing contact.
Last season, Walker allowed a 91.4 mph average exit velocity, a barrel rate of 13.4%, and a hard-hit rate of 46.3%. All of them were near the bottom among qualified pitchers. Almost everyone reading this will remember how often teams pummeled him every fifth day.
In 2025, Walker is sitting above average in all three categories. His average exit velocity allowed is only 88.4 mph, his barrel rate allowed is only 5.0%, and his hard-hit rate is 37.2%.
Since he wouldn’t have to face an opposing lineup more than once, Walker can continue to adopt a “kitchen-sink” approach without needing to throw more fastballs, which give up harder contact. He might not be a traditional reliever but the plan could work.
The Phillies have tried Max Lazar already but he struggled in a low-leverage situation against the Rockies. Seth Johnson was pitching well as a reliever in AAA, but allowed three runs in his last outing against Buffalo.
There will need to be more options as the season goes on but Walker is probably the most inspiring plan they have at this moment. This could always change with relievers, however.