It seems as though Rob Thomson has been waiting for a closer like Jhoan Duran his whole career. He and the coaching staff had settled on some sort of “closer by committee” approach to the bullpen over the past few years, a noble effort considering the personnel they had to work with. Sure, some have gotten a shot at closing regularly, but it always seemed as though matchups were the preferred usage pattern for the bullpen as a whole.

Since the acquisition of Duran has happened, it looks like Thomson has begun to settle into something a little more regular. Duran, of course, has the ninth inning wrapped up, but we’ve seen a lot of Orion Kerkering in the eighth inning, Matt Strahm in the seventh inning and Tanner Banks as the first one called upon if trouble arises prior to those three innings. Thomson is fortunate in that he has a starting rotation that can regularly make those troublesome middle innings for a bullpen something close to obsolete, but we’re also getting less qualified pitchers in lower leverage situations.

That’s not a bad thing.

Which brings us to our question: are you on board with Thomson giving relievers something resembling regular roles as opposed to the matchups he had been relying on not only this year, but in years prior? If/When the Phillies make the playoffs, maybe those roles get changed a bit more, but for now at least, it seems to be working.