The Philadelphia Phillies have extended their win streak to three following an extra-innings affair against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.
And the team is closing in on the first-place New York Mets in the National League East division as one of their biggest concerns to open this season seems to be righting itself.
After losing Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez to new teams this past winter, the Phillies’ bullpen struggled out of the gate and recently held the second-highest ERA of any team in Major League Baseball. But after making some changes, the relief corps has slid down to the seventh-highest ERA slot and more improvement could be on the way.
Most notably, the Phillies moved veteran starter Taijuan Walker to the bullpen and he responded by recording his first career save during the Rays series. They’ve also seen a marked turnaround from Jordan Romano, who got off to a rough start after signing with the team to replace Hoffman and Estevez.
Since giving up six earned runs in less than an inning against the Miami Marlins on April 19, Romano has given up just one earned run in his last six outings combined. And that turnaround could come just in time for the Phillies to leverage him for a trade, according to Anthony SanFilippo of On Pattison.
“Does another bullpen-starved team take a chance on him in a higher leverage spot?” SanFilippo asked. “Before you say no, remember, Baltimore took swings on both Seranthony Dominguez and Gregory Soto last summer when they were scuffling for the Phillies. Maybe someone takes a smaller swing (Romano is a free agent after the season) as the Phillies try to reshape their bullpen at the deadline just as they did a season ago."
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As the Phillies work to right the bullpen in the first half of the season, it could be time to flip Romano and reset around some new players.
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