Phillies Bullpen

Taijuan Walker didn’t just close out the Phillies’ win Wednesday, he dominated with seven strikeouts over three scoreless innings. He has a chance to pitch his way into more responsibility.

He was a secret weapon in 2023, a rising reliever in 2024 and will be one of the Phillies’ most important players in 2025. “It’ll be a fun task to handle,” Orion Kerkering thinks.

Spencer Turnbull has been out since June 26 with a lat strain but has been ramping back up for over a month and is scheduled to throw live batting practice Friday in Allentown.

Starting pitching has set the tone all season, but the Phillies are 27-1 when leading after six innings because of a deep and talented bullpen that has excelled in May.

The Matt Strahm signing has turned out exactly as the Phillies would have hoped so far, and now he finds himself back in a more conventional role after riding a revamped breaking ball to new heights in 2023.

Connor Brogdon had a bounce-back outing Thursday after a wild first spring appearance. He’s hoping to put last season behind him as he fights for one of the Phillies’ final bullpen jobs.