‘Don’t stress about promotions’: How Phillies prospect Orion Kerkering jumped from low A to the big leagues in one year

Orion Kerkering has spanned five levels of pro baseball in one season, which has given him plenty of time to talk to minor leaguers about their career aspirations.

One thing he noticed was how specific their goals were. The players he talked to were often worried about making a certain level by a certain year. He decided to take another approach.

“I call it a [expletive] it mentality,” the right-handed reliever said. “Don’t stress about promotions. If it’s supposed to happen, it’ll happen.”

On Friday morning, after just two seasons of minor league ball, it happened. Kerkering got a call from his triple-A manager, Anthony Contreras, who told him that he’d be going to the big leagues that evening. It was a short stint at triple A. Kerkering was promoted there on Sept. 18, so the Phillies could see how he’d adjust to the major league baseball.

Originally, they were planning on having him throw Saturday at Lehigh Valley, but with rain in the forecast, that didn’t seem possible. And the more they talked about it, the more an extra outing at triple A seemed unnecessary.

The major league ball, which is harder and has tighter seams, didn’t affect his stuff. He was still throwing strikes — tossing a scoreless inning of work on Sept. 20, while allowing just two hits with one strikeout — and he was still healthy. The Phillies have made a point of protecting Kerkering. He hasn’t pitched in back-to-back outings all season.

So, with a playoff run in mind, they decided to give it a try.

“He forced our hand,” a source said. “With his performance all year, it was evident that he was a major league pitcher.”

» READ MORE: Meet Orion Kerkering, a ‘warrior’ with an elite slider who could help the Phillies’ bullpen soon

There was never any question about whether Kerkering had big league stuff. The area scout who saw him at the University of South Florida, Bryce Harman, characterized his slider as a “now big league out pitch.” What has allowed Kerkering to rise from single A to the big leagues in one season is his command of that stuff — and the fact that his stuff has gotten even better over the last few months.

Kerkering posted a 1.51 ERA across 53⅔ minor league innings this season with 79 strikeouts and 12 walks. He averaged 93-94 mph in games in 2022, the year he was drafted by the Phillies in the fifth round. After an offseason of building strength, that fastball velocity ticked up to an average of 97.6 mph across all minor league levels.

Kerkering throws his slider at 87-88 with about 16-18 inches of sweep.

“It’s loud,” general manager Sam Fuld said of Kerkering’s slider. “It’s electric. It’s hard and it has break, and you just don’t see that combination of velocity and break very much. He seems to have really good feel for it. When he wants to throw it for a strike, he does a very good job of that. When he wants to go strike to ball for chase, he has a really good ability to do that too.”

Kerkering wasn’t expecting Contreras’ call on Friday morning. He said he could feel his body shaking. The promotion to triple A, alone, felt like a surprise. He thought he might start his season at double A or triple A next year. Some projections said he’d make a big league debut in 2025.

But four apartments and five promotions later, he is in Philadelphia. There was some buzz about Kerkering in spring training, but as he continued to pitch his way through the Phillies’ farm system, there was a shift in thinking. It became more realistic that he could contribute to the big league club this year. His outing at triple A only solidified that. He was one of the best relievers in the system. He was healthy. So why not?

“We think he has the upside to be a really top end reliever at the highest level,” Fuld said. “We just felt like the timing was right to get him here and challenge him further.”

» READ MORE: Down on the farm: A look at how some of the newest players in the Phillies’ system are faring

Kerkering was added to the 40-man roster on Friday afternoon, after the Phillies designated infielder Drew Ellis for assignment. They optioned Yunior Marte to triple A to make room for Kerkering on the active roster. He is eligible for the postseason as an injury replacement for Rhys Hoskins, who is still on the 60-day injured list, and because he has been in the organization since before Aug. 31.

An ascension this quickly doesn’t happen often. Andrew Miller did it in 2006 with the Tigers, under now-Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Joba Chamberlain jumped three minor league levels en route to a big league debut with the Yankees, in 2007.

But it seems particularly fitting that in 2023, it happens to a player who goes by Orion, a Greek name that translates to “rising in the sky.”

“All year he’s stayed in the moment,” said farm director Preston Mattingly. “Pitch to pitch, out to out, inning to inning, promotion to promotion. Another notch on Orion’s belt.”