Orion Kerkering, Seranthony Domínguez impress as Phillies win, postseason bullpen roles emerge

The Phillies rallied from a 5-0 deficit without several regulars thanks to some good relief work and homers from Garrett Stubbs and Bryce Harper.

In his second MLB appearance, Orion Kerkering struck out two and earned his first career win.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

by Scott Lauber

Published Sept. 27, 2023, 10:10 p.m. ET

Rob Thomson awoke Wednesday before the sun came up, maybe even before the carpet outside his office in the Phillies’ clubhouse got cleansed of the stench of beer and cigars.

Because there are postseason plans to make, and no time to waste.

Actually, unlike last season, when they took 160 games to lock up a wild card, the Phillies have nearly a week to get things in order. So, with the outcome of the last five games — beginning with a 7-6 victory over the Pirates on Bryce Harper’s go-ahead solo homer in the seventh inning — mattering “not one bit” to Thomson, it’s worth focusing on other things.

Foremost on Thomson’s mind: Bullpen roles.

Last year, the Phillies entered the playoffs with José Alvarado and starter-turned-reliever Zach Eflin as the best late-inning options. David Robertson brought veteran experience but was flagging. Seranthony Domínguez wasn’t sharp after returning from a late-season triceps injury.

A year later, they still lean on Alvarado. But they also have Craig Kimbrel, Domínguez, and Matt Strahm. Then there’s tough-on-lefties Gregory Soto, and scrapheap-to-setup-man Jeff Hoffman.

Oh, and don’t forget flame-throwing rookie Orion Kerkering, who stood at the center of a playoff-clinching celebration on his fifth day in the majors.

“I feel really good about our bullpen,” pitching coach Caleb Cotham said before the Phillies stretched their winning streak to seven consecutive games, a season-high. “I think we can play the quote-unquote matchup game. We’ve got guys that can get both-handed hitters out really well. You’ve got guys that can be dynamic, getting outs really quick, turning over, going back out.

“And we’ve exposed them to a bunch of different spots in the game. All of them have kind of touched big spots. We have a lot of trust in really anyone out there. I like their chances.”

Maybe so. But the last few regular-season games represent more opportunities for Thomson and Cotham to review their options and decide how best to deploy them amid October’s high stakes.

So, there was Domínguez, entering with two out and a runner on third in the fifth inning. He has lacked his usual swing-and-miss stuff, his slider coming and going. But he struck out Liover Peguero on a low-and-away slider to end the inning, then overcame a two-out walk in a scoreless sixth.

“He dialed it up from pitch one,” Thomson said. “Hopefully we’re on an upward trend here.”

And there was Kerkering, who rocketed through four levels of the farm system in 5½ months on the strength of a wipeout slider and a high-90s fastball. The Phillies called him up last Friday, and after one appearance, Thomson said it was “pretty much enough” to merit a spot in the postseason bullpen.

Kerkering’s command wasn’t as precise in the seventh inning of a tie game Wednesday against the Pirates. With one out, he gave up a hit and a walk but struck out Jack Suwinski and Peguero on nasty sinkers to preserve the stalemate.

Garrett Stubbs’ assessment from behind the plate: “Disgusting.”

“That slider could be thrown every single time,” Stubbs said. “He shook to the second heater when he punched [Peguero] out, and I laughed to him. I said, ‘Hey, if your first shake in the big leagues is a strikeout, that’s pretty good.’”

There are few comparisons for the Kerkering experiment. Cotham paid special attention to one of them. In 2008, his former Vanderbilt teammate David Price opened the season at high-A, got called up by the Rays in late September, and closed out Tampa Bay’s pennant-clinching victory.

Cotham conceded that he has thought about Price’s rise — also, Joba Chamberlain with the Yankees in 2007 — in relation to Kerkering but was careful not to equate the situations.

“David was a starter, Kerk’s not, so there’s already maybe a little difference,” Cotham said. “But what I do know about David Price is he likes to pitch, he competes. And I feel that way about Kerk. We’ll see.”

Indeed, that’s part of what the rest of the week will be about.

Stubbs slugs, Suárez struggles

After supplying the playlist for the sudsy clinching party, Stubbs banged his first homer since Aug. 16, 2022, a three-run shot that helped the Phillies come back from a 5-0 deficit.

“All it took was a bunch of champagne-drinking all night,” Stubbs said.

Asked how he felt when he woke up, Stubbs laughed.

“I felt great, actually,” he said. “Probably still a little hammered from the night before.”

For a second year in a row, Ranger Suárez had the misfortune of starting the game after the Phillies clinched a playoff spot — the hangover game, as it’s playfully called. And for a second year in a row, he got roughed up.

Suárez gave up three first-inning runs — six in all in 4⅔ innings — in his final start before the postseason.

The Phillies rested five regulars: Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, and J.T. Realmuto.

On deck

Zack Wheeler (13-6, 3.64 ERA) will start Thursday’s regular-season home finale, a tune-up before Game 1 of the wild-card series. The Pirates will counter with righty Luis Ortiz (4-5, 4.96).