Phillies rookie Orion Kerkering ‘responded great’ in his postseason debut
“He looked like he was in his backyard playing Wiffle Ball,” Rob Thomson said of Kerkering, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning in Game 2.
Orion Kerkering remembers sitting in the 308 section with his dad, Todd, at Citizens Bank Park for Game 3 of the Phillies-Houston Astros World Series last year. He could feel the energy from the crowd — it was a moment he wouldn’t forget.
On Wednesday night, Kerkering recognized that atmosphere, except this time he wasn’t a fan. The 22-year-old pitcher, a fifth-round draft pick by the Phillies in 2022 with just three regular season appearances, made his postseason debut in Game 2 of the Phillies’ wild-card series sweep of the Miami Marlins.
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“I was just letting all the emotions sink in,” Kerkering said when he stepped on the mound to start the eighth inning of the Phillies’ 7-1 victory. “Just being here in Philly has been awesome. It’s awesome how much the fans care. Even last year sitting on the upper deck and seeing everything was so cool — being a player now I can’t compare it to anything else.”
Kerkering came on in relief of Aaron Nola, who pitched seven scoreless innings. Kerkering threw just nine pitches — eight for strikes with one strikeout — in a scoreless inning of work.
When Kerkering made his major debut on Sept. 24 against the Mets, manager Rob Thomson noted that the rookie looked unfazed and didn’t break a sweat while showing off his slider. He believed Kerkering, who was ranked as the organization’s No. 7 prospect, could help the Phillies in the postseason as a reliever.
So when the opportunity presented itself in the wild-card series, Thomson wanted to see how Kerkering would hold up on a bigger stage.
“He looked like he was in his backyard playing Wiffle Ball,” Thomson said. “He was just normal, we tried to get him in a spot like that to see how he would respond to it, and he responded great. I think we just keep moving forward with him. So far so good; the poise, the calmness is there.”
Kerkering, who played at South Florida, made the jump across five levels of baseball this season. He has been talking to veteran relievers such as Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm, and Craig Kimbrel about their preparation.
“Started out in A-ball this year and now he’s in the postseason pitching in the wild card,” Nola said. “He’s stuff is electric; his fastball, his slider, obviously everybody knows. It looks like he’s been here for five years. He doesn’t look like he gets overwhelmed, he has a lot of confidence and you can see that.”
Todd, who was in the crowd Wednesday night, reminded his son after he was named to the wild-card series roster to “have as much fun as you can, enjoy the moment, because it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
And that’s exactly what Kerkering plans to do.
“Whatever opportunity I get in there, no matter what the situation is,” Kerkering said, “Just go out there, have fun, and be the best I can for the team.”