Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson plans to deploy his bullpen in a familiar fashion this season. Without a set closer heading into the 2025 season, it’s another year of closer-by-committee, according to the skipper.
There are a few relievers who could potentially be in line to see ninth-inning action. Matt Strahm, José Alvarado, newcomer Jordan Romano and even youngster Orion Kerkering. Until one of them stands out and grabs the closer job, Thomson’s bullpen will be used in a mix-and-match manner.
The 23-year-old Kerkering will get his chance to collect some saves this season, presumably, and fans are hoping that he isn’t far away from becoming the Phillies’ full-time closer. The stars seem to be aligning for that to eventually happen. Veteran catcher J.T. Realmuto agrees.
J.T. Realmuto says Orion Kerkering can be Phillies’ closer of the future
Realmuto shared his thoughts on Kerkering during a recent appearance on The Phillies Show podcast, saying that he has no doubt that the young right-hander will be a MLB closer one day.
“Yeah, absolutely, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be a closer in this game for sure,” Realmuto said when asked about Kerkering. “He just has that mentality that nothing, I mean, I don’t even know how old he is, he’s probably 23, maybe, like he’s so young, 22. The way that he stepped in last year, his first year pitching in the playoffs, nothing bothering him.
“He has that ‘it’ factor where when he steps on the mound, it seems like there’s no crowd, there’s no nothing going on, it’s just him and the hitter. He’s trying to execute and no moment really seems too big for him, so I definitely think he has that mentality.”
Kerkering will turn 24 a week after Opening Day, but as Realmuto says, he has already shown the mound presence and demeanor of a closer. After bursting on the scene with his brief cameo at the end of 2023, his first full MLB season in 2024 was a smashing success by any measure.
The former fifth-round pick who rocketed through the Phillies farm system two years ago posted a 5-3 record with a 2.29 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP and 74 strikeouts in 63 major league innings last season. The surface stats lead one to believe he’s got the stuff to be a closer. His underlying numbers back it up.
His 28.8 percent strikeout rate and 6.6 percent walk rate were better than the league averages of 23.4 percent and 9.0 percent, respectively, for relief pitchers. His 22.2 percent strikeout-minus-walk rate was well clear of the 14.4 percent MLB relievers averaged. Pair that with a 53.5 percent groundball rate, and you have a recipe for success, especially at home run-friendly Citizens Bank Park.
For his part, Kerkering is ready to handle whatever this season holds for him.
“I think it’ll be super fun,” Kerkering said about his role earlier this offseason, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. “No pressure at all. It’s the same three outs every time I go out there, or however many outs Topper [Rob Thomson] wants me to get. No matter what inning it is, I think they’re all super important. I don’t think it really matters too much.”
After Thomson trusted Kerkering to collect 14 holds in 2024, hopefully this season we will see Kerkering get his chance in the ninth inning on a regular basis.
