The Philadelphia Phillies have shaken things up in the midst of a rough stretch.
The Philadelphia Phillies are in the midst of an awful stretch of baseball right now, and while there is plenty of blame to go around, it's hard to ignore just how horrible relief pitcher Orion Kerkerking has been.
After coughing up four runs in just one inning during a 10-3 loss to the New York Mets on Saturday night, Kerkerking now has an 18.69 ERA in September, and his regular-season ERA has ballooned to 4.97.
Kerkering has surrendered seven runs across his last two outings and nine over his last four, and the Phillies have obviously seen enough.
After Philadelphia's loss to the Mets on Saturday, the Phillies decided to option Kerkering to Triple-A Lehigh Valley while calling up fellow pitcher Max Lazar to replace him.
Kerkerking had developed into a very reliable bullpen arm for Philadelphia. He logged a 2.29 ERA and 10.6 K/9 through 64 relief appearances in 2024, and last season, he posted a 3.30 ERA and 9.8 K/9, although his rising WHIP (1.367) was alarming.
Things have obviously worsened for the 25-year-old this year, and with the Phillies' bullpen being bad enough as it is, they couldn't afford to keep him on the big-league roster any longer.
Lazar is not exactly an enticing option himself, as he owns a 5.63 ERA and 5.6 K/9 in six major-league outings this season. He hasn't lit it up in the minor leagues, either, laying claim to a 4.06 ERA in 31 games.
However, the 27-year-old might comprise a better fit than Kerkering at this point, as the latter may have completely lost his confidence.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia has gone just 6-10 over its last 16 games, including losing three out of five to the Washington Nationals and the Mets heading into Sunday.
The Phillies will have a chance to split their four-game series with New York on Sunday afternoon, but there is no question that this recent stretch has been embarrassing for a Philadelphia squad that still has not locked up a playoff spot just yet.
With the postseason just around the corner, it would strongly behoove the Phillies to start playing better baseball, but they are coming apart at the seams at the wrong time.
