The Philadelphia Phillies have a glaring need that has to be addressed ahead of the MLB trade deadline to remain atop the National League East and be World Series contenders: their bullpen.
But not just any relief pitcher will do.
The Phillies could use someone with high-leverage experience to help replace Jose Alvarado at the backend of their bullpen. They also need to find someone who can get left-handed hitters out to help Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks in that department.
Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report recently shared four players Philadelphia could target to address that weakness, and they are ranked below based on the fit and potential impact.
4. Kyle Finnegan – Washington Nationals
Out of all the relief pitchers on the list, Finnegan has the longest track record of late-inning success. He has converted 11-plus saves in five consecutive campaigns.
On an expiring contract, he would likely cost the least of the pitchers who were linked to the Phillies, but the Nationals could always charge a little extra to help out a divisional rival.
However, the reason Finnegan lands at No. 4 in these rankings is because he wouldn’t help Philadelphia much on their quest for someone who can neutralize left-handed hitters. Lefties have a .782 OPS against him this year and above-average OPS+ numbers.
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Unless Finnegan was inserted as the closer, he wouldn’t be the best fit for the Phillies with his lack of success against lefties.
3. Jake Bird – Colorado Rockies
There isn’t a team as clear-cut of a seller as the Rockies in baseball this year, on pace to break the single-season losses record.
They don’t have many tradeable assets with value, but Bird could be in high demand after what has been a breakout campaign.
Coming into 2025, he hadn’t registered an ERA under 4.33 in a single season. This year, he has a stellar 2.06 ERA through 43.2 innings with 56 strikeouts. Walks have been a bit of an issue for him in his career, but he his 3.3 BB/9 ratio is below his career mark of 3.7.
Under team control through 2028, he won’t be cheap. The breakout seems sustainable based on his underlying metrics, but he lands at No. 3 because he has one save in his career and zero this year.
However, his splits against right-handed and left-handed pitching do make him an ideal late-game reliever, even if he isn’t in a position to rack up saves.
2. Dennis Santana – Pittsburgh Pirates
Since being acquired from the New York Yankees off waivers in 2024, Santana has taken his performance to another level.
With the Pirates, he has compiled a 2.9 bWAR in 73 appearances and 77.2 innings with 76 strikeouts and a 2.09 ERA. His FIP of 2.40 is also great and he does a wonderful job keeping the basepaths clear with a 0.863 WHIP.
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He has some late-game experience in his career with nine saves, five of which have come this season.
The lack of strikeouts may be seen as a concern by some, but he generates whiffs and doesn’t walk many batters. Most importantly, he shuts down left-handed hitters with a dominant .252 OPS against with zero extra-base hits allowed in 46 plate appearances.
1. Felix Bautista – Baltimore Orioles
If Philadelphia is going to go all-in on finding a bullpen upgrade, they should go to the top of the market and make as competitive of an offer as possible for Bautista.
In his return from Tommy John surgery this year, the rust is being knocked off and he is starting to look like the version of himself that was an All-Star in 2023, winning the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award along with finishing 11th in the AL Cy Young voting.
Under team control through 2027, he will be expensive as the Orioles’ most valuable trade chip.
Lefties have a .510 OPS against him and he has vast late-game experience.
Would the Phillies be willing to dip into their starting pitching depth, maybe offering Mick Abel in exchange for Bautista?
That would at least get Baltimore’s attention, given their need for starting pitching help.
