The Phillies’ bullpen picture took a hit this week, and that could change the way they attack the trade market over the next two-plus weeks.
Brad Keller’s season-ending elbow injury may have pushed relief help to the very top of Philadelphia’s deadline shopping list. Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported that Keller, who signed a two-year, $22MM deal after a strong rebound with the Cubs in 2025, is now dealing with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He’ll likely need some form of UCL repair - either an internal brace or Tommy John surgery - and that would keep him out for the rest of this season and at least half of 2027.
Before the injury, Keller had given the Phillies a useful lift in a bullpen that needed it. His 4.02 ERA over 31 1/3 innings looks a little rougher than the underlying run of work, especially after a three-run outing in what will now stand as his penultimate appearance of the year. He had carried a 3.38 ERA through his first 30 outings, and the June 13 game against Milwaukee was only the second time all season he allowed more than one earned run in an appearance.
That matters because the group behind Jhoan Duran, Philadelphia’s All-Star closer, is starting to look thin. Jonathan Bowlan has been one of the offseason’s more important additions, coming over from the Royals in the Matt Strahm deal and posting a 2.84 ERA across 31 2/3 innings with strong rate numbers.
Orion Kerkering has been even better on the surface with a 2.43 ERA, though his 12.7% walk rate and a .220 BABIP suggest some regression could be coming. Tim Mayza has been steady, if not overpowering.
The rest of the relief corps has more questions than answers. Duran, Bowlan, Kerkering and Mayza are the only Phillies relievers with more than six innings and an ERA under 4.00.
Jose Alvarado has an ERA above 6.00 despite strong strikeout and walk numbers, mostly because of a .440 BABIP, so Philadelphia can hope for better results there. But hope alone doesn’t solve the depth issue.
That’s why the market matters. Even in a seller’s market, there should be plenty of bullpen arms available.
Among the clubs expected to move pieces are the Mets, Rockies, Reds, Royals, Giants, A’s and Angels, with names such as Luke Weaver, A.J. Minter, Brooks Raley, Antonio Senzatela, Pierce Johnson, Caleb Ferguson, Brocke Burke, John Schreiber, Daniel Lynch IV, Sam Hentges, Keaton Winn, Mark Leiter Jr., Luis Medina and Kirby Yates all mentioned as possibilities.
More teams could slide into selling mode in the final stretch before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, and the Phillies will be watching the Tigers, Blue Jays, Orioles, Padres, Red Sox and Cardinals among others.
The problem, of course, is that Philadelphia doesn’t have a deep farm system to work with. Baseball America ranked the Phillies 29th in the sport in its midseason update, and while they do have two players on BA’s top 100, the system lacks the kind of volume many deadline competitors can offer. That makes any aggressive move harder to pull off.
Still, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki floated one path that could give the Phillies more flexibility: Gage Wood. Philadelphia’s first-round pick in 2025, Wood is a 22-year-old right-hander from Arkansas who has already reached Double-A.
He’s thrown 55 innings across three minor league levels this season and has a 3.44 ERA, a 35.4% strikeout rate and a 9.4% walk rate. Baseball America lists him as the game’s No. 71 prospect.
Whether the Phillies would actually move Wood isn’t clear. But if president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski decides to chase a major bullpen upgrade, Wood is the kind of name rival clubs will ask about. Dombrowski has never been shy about dealing premium talent, and the Phillies’ only other prospect close to Wood’s standing is infielder Aidan Miller, BA’s No. 81 prospect, though Miller has yet to play this season because of a back injury.
There’s also a possibility that Wood becomes part of the solution without being traded at all. He’s viewed as a starter long term, but his college background in the bullpen means his workload is going to be pushed well beyond what he’s handled before. Philadelphia has been careful with him from start to start, and he went five innings on June 30 against Toronto’s Double-A affiliate for the first and only time this season that the Phillies let him get that deep into a start.
Wood doesn’t need to be added to the 40-man roster for Rule 5 purposes until the 2028-29 offseason, but he’ll be in the majors before then. If the market breaks the right way, he could be a candidate to help replace Keller in the big league bullpen.
Another arm worth watching is Alex McFarlane. Gelb reported that the 25-year-old right-hander is expected to move up to Triple-A soon.
McFarlane, a fourth-round pick in 2022, has posted a 2.12 ERA in 34 Double-A innings this year with a 32.6% strikeout rate and a 50.7% ground-ball rate. Control remains the issue, as he has walked 13% of the hitters he’s faced.
The Phillies already protected him on the 40-man roster last November, so adding him to the active roster would be a simpler move if they decide he’s ready.
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