The Phillies enter deadline season as clear buyers, sitting atop the NL East with a 47-32 record the third-best record of any club in the game. Its a familiar refrain, but president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made clear this week in interviews with and that his focus will be on adding to the bullpen. Our starting pitchings so good, Dombrowski told Alvarez Montes. When comes back, our lineup is in pretty good shape at that time. Its probably bullpen is our biggest focus. Dombrowski offered similar sentiments in his chat with Stark and podcast co-host Doug Glanville, though he expanded a bit deeper. While the Phils clearly have a need for some relief help, The longtime baseball ops leader reminded that lefty will be back for the end of the regular season, which will be a boost to the teams bullpen. Because Alvarado is , hes ineligible for this years postseason, but Dombrowski noted that his club will likely shift multiple members of its Cody Morris Jersey vaunted rotation into the pen for the postseason, just as one of his former teams the 2018 Red Sox did to great effect when plugging and into the playoff bullpen. Thats not to say the Phillies wont go out and add a bullpen arm (or perhaps even two). Dombrowski is nothing if not aggre sive and straightforward when his team has a need. He emphasized to Stark and Glanville that winning opportunities only come around so often and should not be taken for granted, even if it means you may give up a little more than you would want to in other circumstances. [Related: ] Dombrowski pointed back to his 2022 trade of righty to Chicago in exchange for as one such example, noting that it was a painful decision that was made out of what he believed to be strong pitching depth in the system and a major league roster that was capable of making a deep postseason run. Brown, 22 at the time, was ranked as the Phillies No. 7 prospect at Baseball America and was ready for a bump from High-A to Double-A. Robertson was a pure rental but in the midst of a terrific rebound season for the Cubs. He went on to pitch well for the Phils down the stretch and into the postseason. Brown was in the majors le s than two years after the trade. Hes struggled in 2025 (and ) but pitched quite well for Chicago last year and is still viewed as a viable long-term member of the pitching staff. Phillies relievers currently rank 25th in the majors with a 4.63 ERA. Theyre slightly better when it comes to FIP (4.24, 22nd) and SIERA (3.78, 15th). The Philadelphia bullpen has a 22.2% strikeout rate thats right in line with the 22.4% league-average for relievers, and their 8.8% walk rate is a bit shy of the 9.4% league-average mark. However, the group has been far too homer-prone overall, sitting with a 1.29 HR/9 mark that is tied for the second-worst mark in the majors. The Phillies have gotten generally good work from , , and (before he was suspended) Alvarado. Offseason signee struggled considerably in the seasons first month but has posted a 2.95 ERA with a huge 35.6% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate over the past two months. , moved from the rotation to the bullpen, has shown flashes of excellence he to sed three scorele s innings of one-hit ball and fanned seven Rays in a relief outing back in May, for instance but has been inconsistent and stumbled as of late. Stark did touch on other topics with Dombrowski, notably wondering whether the Phillies might be open to moving Harper back to the outfield if the opportunity to acquire a right-handed-hitting first baseman presented itself. The Phillies president declined to speak in absolutes but said he would strongly prefer not to do so, citing Harpers defensive acumen at first base. In more general terms, Dombrowski downplayed the po sibility of adding a bat in any capacity, pointing to previous trade deadlines where hes promoted players from the farm rather than make an outside acquisition. Twenty-five-year-old , who hit .313/.416/.594 in Triple-A before a recent promotion to the majors, is currently getting a look and was mentioned specifically by Dombrowski. Dombrowski also spoke in broad terms about hoping to re-sign and after the season, as both are up for free agency this winter. Phillies fans, in particular, will want to check out both interviews, which clock in around six minutes (Alvarez Montes) and 30 minutes (Stark/Glanville) in length. Yoendrys Gomez Jersey
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