A 7-year-old Orion Kerkering watched the Phillies in the 2008 World Series. Now he’s making an unlikely bid for their playoff roster.

Kerkering’s father, who was weeping during Orion’s electric Phillies debut, is enjoying the “surreal” experience of his son’s rapid ascent.

Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering is all smiles after his major league debut against the Mets on Sunday.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

by Alex Coffey

Published Sept. 25, 2023, 4:51 p.m. ET

Todd Kerkering spent 20 years in the Marines. He’d parachute out of planes from 25,000 feet in the air. He’d cross enemy lines during the Gulf War to gather information for his country.

But none of those experiences, as life-threatening as they were, prepared him for Sunday night.

“I’ve been on countless military operations, all over the world, and I still get nervous watching my kid pitch,” he said.

Normally, Kerkering paces when his son, Orion, is pitching. But on Sunday, when Orion Kerkering made his big league debut for the Phillies, his father stayed put. He didn’t want to miss a moment. The camera caught him weeping during the eighth inning, when Orion retired three Mets hitters on just 12 pitches with two strikeouts.

Todd was emotional for a reason. The past year has been a whirlwind. Kerkering, a 22-year-old right-handed reliever who was a fifth-round pick of the Phillies in 2022, has jumped five professional levels in one season. Todd, 59, has seen the work behind that journey. He has seen his son throwing slider after slider into a net on a Little League field in their hometown of Sarasota, Fla., because he had no one to catch him.

But on Sunday night, while he was watching his son pitch, he also thought about the serendipity of this whole thing. When Kerkering was 7, he and his father went to Game 1 of the 2008 Phillies-Rays World Series in St. Petersburg, Fla. Todd had entered a raffle through the United Way and won two tickets.

Orion saw Cole Hamels pitch seven innings. He saw Ryan Madson hold that lead, and Brad Lidge get the save. He saw Chase Utley hit a two-run home run in the first to give his team a 2-0 lead in an eventual 3-2 win. A game later, he watched on TV as a 22-year-old rookie named David Price pitched 2⅓ innings of one-run relief in the Rays’ lone win in the five-game series, after jumping from high A to the big leagues in one year.

The path Price took in 2008 is one that Kerkering could follow. Over the next few days, he’ll audition for a spot on the postseason roster, and if he keeps doing what he did on Sunday night, he very well could get one. His father described it as “surreal,” but he is not surprised.

Kerkering has always had a quiet confidence to him. Part of this might be because he grew up in a military community, but it is also how he is wired. When he was 7 and playing Little League, one of the coaches asked who could play first base.

“I can,” Orion said.

Who can play catcher?

“I can,” Orion said.

Who can pitch?

“I can,” Orion said.

Todd pulled his son to the side.

“You’ve never played any of those positions,” he said.

“I know, Dad,” Orion said. “But I can do it.”

And he did. Kerkering backed it up with his work ethic. That has a been constant in his career. Long before he reached professional baseball, Kerkering researched hitters ahead of games. He lifted weights with players who were stronger than him. He kept throwing slider after slider against that net in Sarasota.

And when the big moment came, it didn’t seem so big. Todd remembers a Perfect Game tournament when every hitter Orion faced was committed to a Division I school. He was “lights out,” in his father’s words. In 2021, Kerkering took the University of South Florida to its first NCAA Super Regional in the 56-year history of its program, after striking out five South Alabama hitters in 4⅓ innings.

Of course, a postseason appearance would be the biggest moment of them all. But his dad isn’t concerned.

“I always tell him, be the quiet professional,” Todd said. “Act like you’ve been here before. And that’s what he’s done.”

Last October, 14 years after his father surprised him with World Series tickets, Orion decided to pay the favor back. He got a few tickets to Game 3 of the 2022 World Series at Citizens Bank Park and took his father.

“It’s my turn to treat you,” he told him.

This fall, the elder Kerkering could find himself back in Philadelphia, watching his son help the Phillies try to win their first World Series title since 2008. A lot has changed since then. Orion isn’t 7 years old. This organization has endured a 10-year postseason drought that only recently ended with last year’s trip to the Fall Classic.

But no matter how it all plays out, one thing is for certain: If his son is pitching, Todd will be pacing.

“It’s been less than a year since we went to that World Series game, and he’s already out on this field,” Todd said. “It’s pretty wild.”