Orion Kerkering welcomes a bigger role in the Phillies' bullpen: ‘No pressure at all’

After Jeff Hoffman signed a three-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this month, he shot a text to Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering.

Hoffman said “he’s still going to check up with me and make sure that I’m listening to [Matt] Strahm,” Kerkering said Tuesday.

Hoffman, 32, had taken a mentorship role for Kerkering ever since he made his MLB debut in September 2023. Kerkering, now 23, posted a 2.29 ERA last year in his first full major-league season and was called from the bullpen in various situations, including seven appearances in the ninth inning and two in extras.

Following the departures of fellow right-handers Hoffman and Carlos Estèvez, who remains a free agent, Kerkering figures to take on even more high-leverage spots in 2025.

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“[I feel] no pressure at all,” Kerkering said. “It’s the same three outs every time we go out there, or how many outs that [Phillies manager Rob Thomson] wants me to get. I think no matter what inning it is, I think they’re all super important.”

Kerkering was back in Philadelphia this week, joining Cristopher Sánchez, Weston Wilson, Kody Clemens, and Buddy Kennedy at various community and charitable events as part of the Phillies’ winter tour. With spring training around the corner — pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater, Fla., on Feb. 12 — their sights are already set on the 2025 season.

Sánchez expressed excitement about the Phillies’ rotation addition of Jésus Luzardo, whom the Phillies acquired in a trade with the Marlins in December. Although Luzardo had been affected by a stress reaction in his lower back in 2024, the left-hander put up a 3.58 ERA across 178⅔ innings in a healthy 2023.

“He’s a great player, great person, and I feel like he adds a lot to our team,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter. “ … Just being honest, this is one of the best rotations, if not the best. As long as we all stay healthy, we’ll be one of the best.”

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Sánchez entered 2024 with the goal of becoming an All-Star, which he achieved after establishing himself as a key member of the Phillies rotation. Sánchez’s 3.32 ERA and 153 strikeouts across a career-high 181⅔ innings last season even garnered a few Cy Young votes. The lefty finished in 10th place for the National League award.

“The main goal is to stay healthy throughout the season,” Sánchez said. “Go to the All-Star Game again is one of my goals, and just try to help the team win, try to get us to our ultimate goal.”

While Sánchez said he took some extra time off this winter because of his higher workload last season, he’s not intending to rest on his laurels. Although he declined to get into specifics, Sánchez has been working on a new pitch to add to his arsenal.

Sánchez debuted a cutter at last year’s camp as an additional tool against righties, though he ultimately threw only three cutters in the 2024 season.

“Every time you have to get better, you have to keep adjusting,” he said. “I am working on a few new things.”

For utility players Wilson, Clemens, and Kennedy, the spring is an opportunity to win a spot on the team. Although Wilson was a mainstay in the Phillies lineup during the second half of the year — and even became the first Phillies rookie to hit for the cycle — he started off 2024 in triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Wilson said he’d been playing through an injury early on after taking a pitch to his hand at the end of camp, but he thought he hit his stride following the London Series in June. To prepare for 2025, Wilson has been working out at Vanderbilt’s facilities in Nashville, where he has focused on hitting high velocity off the pitching machine.

“Same as every year for me,” Wilson said. “Come into camp, play my hardest, try to win a job, not looking too much into it. Things can change, but just going to go out there and play hard. Obviously making the opening-day roster is the goal, but whatever I can do to help this team win.”