97.5 The Fanatic Phillies Notebook: Shaky Bullpen, Kyle Schwarber Rumors

Rob Thomson spoke about winning roughly 30 of 52 series this season for a ticket to the MLB Playoffs. The Philadelphia Phillies have won three of their first four for a share of the National League East lead with the New York Mets.

A series loss at Truist Park will never inspire optimism, but the Phillies come away with some positives from their plate discipline tendencies and some negatives after shaky bullpen performances. However, chatter around the majors about Kyle Schwarber and Kyle Tucker might impact the franchise's future more drastically.

The offseason critics blasted the Phillies for an overaggressive approach that made their lineup easy to pitch to during Red October. The Phillies retained their manager and hitting coach and nearly the same lineup hoping for the internal improvement of veteran hitters.

Will their new approach make them a small ball team that’s overly concerned with moving runners station to station?

The bigger key is to find the right balance between patient and aggressive. The Phillies are tied for 12th in the majors in runs scored, but they have shown encouraging signs early in the season.

The most obvious example came against Tyler Glasnow in the third inning of a rubber match victory over the Dodgers.

The 6-foot-8 lefty struggled to find his command in rainy conditions at Citizens Bank Park. Rafael Marchan, Kyle Schwarber, and Trea Turner combined for only one swing in three at-bats while Glasnow walked the bases loaded to begin the inning.

Conventional wisdom tells a hitter to take pitches when a pitcher struggles to throw strikes, but when Bryce Harper comes to the plate with the sacks full, he shouldn't necessarily pass up an opportunity to showcase his power.

Harper swung at the first pitch and hit an RBI single. Max Kepler followed with a walk that convinced Dodgers manager Dave Roberts he’d seen enough of Glasnow.  

Notorious free swinger Nick Castellanos stepped to the plate first against reliever Alex Vesia.

Castellanos ripped the first pitch of the at-bat, an 89 mile per hour fastball in the middle of the zone, into the seats in left field for a grand slam. Four walks had put the Dodgers on edge, and two power hitters swinging at the first pitch had broken the game open.

The Phillies have improved plate discipline statistics through the first four series of 2025. They’re second among MLB teams in walks, and they have the seventh best chase rate, or out of zone swing rate (like Rob Thomson now prefers to call it).

The lineup also saw 198 pitches against the Braves staff and worked 14 three-ball counts in the second game of the series.

While early-season statistics might vary throughout the 162-game grind, the Phillies have shown initial signs of developing habits that align with their priorities at the plate with hopes for veteran hitters to improve.

The Phillies must also weigh bullpen concerns into the evaluation of their solid overall start.

Jose Alvarado has emerged as the best option in the back of the bullpen. He’s consistently thrown 100+ miles per hour with his power sinker, and his ability to mix in his cutter and newly-developing curveball can keep hitters off balance.

Alvarado’s capability and willingness to record a four-out save in the second game of the Atlanta series speaks to an excellent rhythm early in the season. However, it also speaks to the lack of options behind him to share the workload with a high-leverage reliever Thomson expects to use in Red October.

Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm, despite strong results, have shown correctable flaws early in the season that have prevented them from fully regaining the dominance they both showed in 2024.

Ricky Bottalico expects to see Kerkering rely less on his sweeper/slider and attack hitters with his fastball more frequently.

Jordan Romano is the bigger concern. The former Blue Jays closer pitched a much-needed 1-2-3 inning after the rain delay in the series finale in Atlanta. Most of Philadelphia had fallen asleep already, and Romano needed a confidence booster without a rabid fan base scrutinizing him.

Opposing hitters had tagged Romano for seven earned runs in five appearances before the clean outing in Atlanta.

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The Phillies don’t have the right-handed reliever depth they had in 2024. If Romano isn’t a reliable high-leverage option, who does Thomson call in to pitch those innings?

Joe Ross and Jose Ruiz have a lot to prove before either earns that trust. Dave Dombrowski took a flyer on Carlos Hernandez and his 99 mph four-seam fastball, but the journeyman has to correct control issues that have dragged down his career.

Bullpen hierarchy plays itself out during a baseball season. It’s also the most realistically fixable unit of a ball club to reshape at the MLB Trade Deadline. However, it’s the biggest concern for the Phillies after four series.

It’s hard to find anyone inside or outside the Phillies organization with a bad thing to say about Kyle Schwarber.

The clubhouse favorite has stormed out the gates this season as the catalyst for the Phillies offense. He’s tied with Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Tyler Soderstrom of the Sacramento Athletics (That's what I'm calling them) for the MLB lead in home runs with six.

Schwarber has driven home 12 with an outrageous 1.150 OPS in 56 plate appearances. Will the Phillies extend the 32-year-old in the final year of his contract? 

Jayson Stark expects an extension, but he pointed out on The Best Show Ever that Schwarber has every incentive to stand pat while other major league hitters sign lucrative contracts that spike market value.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signed a $500 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, taking one of the top impending free agents off the board.

Will the Phillies spend their money elsewhere? Philadelphia’s spokesperson in the national media Paul Hembekides named the Phillies as a potential match for Kyle Tucker, who will be the crown jewel of the free agent market if he doesn’t extend with the Chicago Cubs. 

Hembekides spoke on Baseball Tonight, which airs on 97.5 The Fanatic overnights, about how other large market franchises who can afford a contract in the $400-500 million range have less space for an outfielder to jump immediately into the lineup.

Dombrowski and the Phillies have critical looming decisions to make about their long-term future. While it’s difficult to imagine replacing Schwarber or J.T. Realmuto, the current Phillies core won’t last forever.

The Phillies head to Baseball Heaven to face the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium for a three-game weekend set.

All numbers as of the beginning of play on April 11. All advanced stats courtesy of StatCast, Baseball Reference, and FanGraphs