McFarlane Rises in Phillies Bullpen as Orion Kerkering Struggles
Alex McFarlane’s lights-out relief work is shaking up the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen as Orion Kerkering’s late-inning slump continues.
A Postseason Atmosphere at Citizens Bank Park
The tension inside Citizens Bank Park on Friday night was palpable. It felt like a dress rehearsal for October masquerading as a late-summer matchup. With the Philadelphia Phillies trailing the division-leading Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning, a quiet clapping began to echo through the crowd of over forty thousand. No scoreboard prompts forced the noise. The fans simply knew the gravity of the moment.
The applause swelled into a full-throated cheer as left-hander Cristopher Sánchez battled on the mound. Sánchez walked a batter, struck out the next, and managed to escape further damage. Yet, the energy dissipated almost as quickly as it had built. The Phillies eventually fell 5-2, dropping five games back of Atlanta in the National League East. When asked if the atmosphere mirrored the high-octane pressure of the playoffs, Sánchez demurred through an interpreter, noting that actual postseason games possess an entirely different level of electricity.
While a playoff spot remains practically assured for Philadelphia, games like this are now viewed exclusively through a postseason lens. The Phillies are currently a team defined by their vulnerabilities. They struggle to conquer elite opposing pitching, stumble over minor defensive details, and possess a bullpen that threatens to undermine their elite starting rotation. The rotation remains a superpower, but the final twelve outs of any game remain a harrowing journey.
The Haunting Numbers Behind the Bullpen Collapse
The Phillies like their chances in October because their starting pitchers can match up against any team in the major leagues. It was their chief strength during the previous two postseasons. However, those campaigns ended prematurely in the National League Division Series. A deeper look at the analytical breakdown of those losses reveals a glaring trend that continues to plague the franchise.
Between 2024 and 2025, the Phillies were outscored 31-19 from the sixth inning onward across eight postseason games. Even more alarming, the team allowed a total of 36 runs during those two playoff runs. This means an astonishing 86 percent of all runs surrendered by Philadelphia occurred in the final four innings of play. The vast majority of those runs were charged directly to the relief corps.
This historical pattern of late-game collapse is what makes the current bullpen hierarchy so critical. Interim manager Don Mattingly is forced to make difficult decisions on the fly. The team cannot afford to head into October with a bridge that collapses before reaching the ninth inning. Every relief appearance now carries the weight of past failures.
The Fast Rise and Sharp Decline of Orion Kerkering
No player embodies this cycle of sudden hope and subsequent heartbreak quite like Orion Kerkering. The 25-year-old right-hander was once the shiny new toy of the Philadelphia bullpen. He enjoyed a meteoric rise through the farm system in 2023, climbing all the way from Low-A to the major leagues. Fans and executives fell in love with his sweeping slider, viewing him as the future anchor of the late innings.
That dream met reality in the 2023 National League Championship Series, where Kerkering struggled under the brightest lights. He rebounded to show flashes of reliability in 2024, but remained inconsistent. By 2025, he was on the mound when the Phillies’ season came to an end, committing an indelible late-game mistake against the Los Angeles Dodgers that has lingered over his career.
Despite the setback, the front office stood by Kerkering. They backed him publicly and sought to insulate him by signing veteran setup man Brad Keller to a $22 million contract. But baseball is unpredictable. Keller succumbed to elbow surgery in July, leaving a void in the late innings. The team was forced to turn back to Kerkering and the unproven Jonathan Bowlan for critical eighth-inning assignments.
Kerkering’s recent outings suggest the hangover of past struggles remains. On Friday night, he threw 20 pitches, and Braves hitters swung and missed at exactly one of them. His whiff rate has been on a downward trajectory all season. His velocity, which once topped out at a blazing 98 mph, has settled into the 95 to 96 mph range. When he left a hanging sweeper at the top of the zone to Mauricio Dubón, the Braves outfielder hammered it for a two-run homer. It was a pitch that effectively ended any hope of a trademark Philadelphia comeback.
Alex McFarlane’s Perfect Audition
As Kerkering’s star fades, rookie Alex McFarlane’s is rising. The 25-year-old right-hander delivered a flawless seventh inning against the Braves on Friday night. He needed just eight pitches to retire the side. Every single one of those pitches was a strike. It was an incredibly efficient performance that highlighted his immense potential.
McFarlane entered his first full season as a reliever with significant questions surrounding his control. Critics wondered if his high-velocity arsenal would be neutralized by a high walk rate. Instead, the rookie has silenced skeptics with every appearance. He has shown a remarkable ability to find the strike zone under pressure, earning the trust of his manager and teammates alike.
“He’s been working his way up, for sure,” Mattingly said of McFarlane after the game. “He’s throwing the ball well. There is nothing not to like at this point.” Mattingly’s actions speak louder than words. McFarlane was warming up during the tense sixth inning, ready to enter if Sánchez faltered. Though he didn’t get the call then, his spotless seventh inning proved he belonged in high-leverage situations.
First baseman Alec Bohm was vocal in his praise of the rookie’s development. Bohm noted that McFarlane’s confidence seems to grow with every outing. “Dude, I mean, he’s really good,” Bohm said. “I’m glad he’s on our team. He’s got elite stuff. It’s a very talented arm. The more that kid can get his feet wet for us and just get comfortable out there is going to be really important down the stretch.”
Looking Ahead to October
The contrast between the two young relievers is stark. Kerkering is a pitcher searching for his identity, attempting to recapture the velocity and movement that made him a phenomenon. McFarlane is a pitcher on the rise, playing with the freedom of someone who has nothing to lose and everything to prove. As the Phillies prepare for the crucible of the postseason, the coaching staff must decide who they trust when a trip to the World Series is on the line.
With the NL East crown slipping out of reach, the focus in Philadelphia has shifted entirely to preparation. The Phillies know they have the starting pitching to win any short series. What they need is a bullpen that can slam the door. Right now, Alex McFarlane looks like the man most capable of doing just that, while Orion Kerkering faces an uphill battle to regain his spot in the late-inning hierarchy.
