Phillies Bullpen Situation: 5 Reasons To Be Optimistic

Eight games into the 2019 season, the Phillies sit at 6-2, in first place in the National League East, the most competitive division in baseball.

Perhaps the only real cause for any concern thus far into the season has been the bullpen, which has seen a pair of prominent arms expected to be leaders falling short.

The direness of the situation has, most likely, been overstated.

Of the Phillies two losses, only one is partially to blame on relief pitching. After all the Phillies loss to the Nationals might not have been a loss at all, without a Rhys Hoskins error in the eighth inning and an anomalously poor start from ace Aaron Nola.

Here's a glimpse at a few reasons to get in a Gabe Kapler-esque optimistic mindset regarding the bullpen heading into this week's series against the Nationals.

1. The problem is a back end one, strictly

The "struggles" are restricted to two pitchers: last year's breakout closer Seranthony Dominguez, and offseason acquisition and All Star David Robertson. The rest of the bullpen has performed admirably, with 4.2 shutout innings from Pat Neshek, four shutout from Adam Morgan, and three shutout from Juan Nicasio, 2.2 shutout from Edubray Ramos.

2. There's more depth than you may realize

Before Opening Day, the Phillies sent down several quality MLB arms to begin the year at AAA Lehigh Valley: Victor Arano, James Pazos, and Yacksel Rios. That's not to mention spring training star Drew Anderson, who could function as a long reliever.

3. Craig Kimbrel remains on the market

It's not too late for the Phillies to strike on this one, but it's hard to imagine that the sport's best reliever since Mariano Rivera will be available for much longer. Then again, it would've been hard to imagine he wouldn't be signed by Opening Day, either.

Kimbrel, 30, would make sense for just about any contending team, though the latest rumors indicate no deal is close.

4. Relievers are notoriously streaky

If the name Mitch Williams means anything to you, you'll know this to be true. The "Wild Thing" that closed out games for the Phillies during the legendary 1993 World Series run helped bring the franchise to the brink of another championship. Of course, they also lost that championship when the Toronto Blue Jays' Joe Carter hit the first walk off home run in World Series history...off of Williams.

Williams is emblematic of high powered relievers not named Rivera: great at times, but unreliable, and the success of the team often relies upon the day in question. This is nothing new; individuals may shine, but it's unrealistic to expect the Phillies 2019 pen to buck a historical trend outright.

5. The bullpen struggle is baseball-wide

This is perhaps the most important point of all, and it's closely related to number four: the best bullpens across baseball are floundering right now. The Yankees and Aroldis Chapman have blown a few late leads. The Nationals and former elite reliever Trevor Rosenthal are off to a historically bad start in the late innings. The Phillies knocked around the Braves bullpen pretty badly in the first three games of the season. The Cardinals and their expensive offseason addition, Andrew Miller, have had experienced mighty bullpen struggles.

The point is that pitchers get going slower than hitters in the early spring, and relief pitchers perhaps even more so. The Phillies have had some late inning problems, but it hasn't really cost them yet, and there are plenty of reasons to think positively moving forward.

The Phillies host the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park at 7:05 p.m. Monday. Vince Velasquez will get his first start of the year against Washington's Anibal Sanchez.