Philadelphia Phillies Key To Success: The Bullpen

The 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies—it has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?  Last year’s success was mainly the result of the stellar bullpen. And it will be key to the Phillies' attempt to repeat in 2009. 

Here, I’ll take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the bullpen, who Charlie Manuel can count on most, who has the most to prove, and why exactly the bullpen will be so vital to the team’s success.

Strengths

There’s no doubt the Phillies’ strengths in the ‘pen are at the back end. Closer Brad Lidge finished last year a perfect 48-of-48 in save opportunities with a sub-two ERA. 

Setup man Ryan Madson was also impressive, posting a 3.05 ERA in 76 regular season games. His post-season was even more dominant, as a slight mechanical tweak had Madson firing the ball in the high 90s.

Then there’s JC Romero, who mostly handled the seventh inning, unless the opposing team’s best lefties were to be due up in the eighth.

In that case, Romero and Madson would swap innings. Romero and his 2.35 ERA vs. lefties was a major key in shutting teams down.

The Romero-Madson-Lidge trio made Manuel pretty comfortable when leading after six innings.

Reasons for Concern

While Romero was a major strength last year, he’s also a concern this year—JC was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for failing a performance-enhancing drug test. That wonderful Bud Selig fiasco is for another article at another time.

The Phillies will look to Scott Eyre to hold down opposing lefties until June 1, when Romero can return. Eyre pitched very well for the Phillies down the stretch last year, but didn’t pitch in the same type of situations as Romero either. 

With two spots open in the bullpen until Romero’s return, one will ideally be filled by a lefty. However, the only options within the organization are Mike Zagurski, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, and JA Happ, who has had much more success as a starter.

On the bright side, Romero’s return will be like a mid-season trade—and will give the Phils a strong, fresh arm to pitch down the stretch.

Aside from the Romero situation, the only major concern is whether or not Clay Condrey and Chad Durbin can repeat their breakout performances from 2008. 

Durbin’s ability to effectively pitch multiple innings in a game went a long way when Manuel needed to pinch-hit early in a game. Durbin’s 2.87 ERA was his first under 4.00 in a season where he pitched at least 10 innings.

Condrey pitched 69 innings and recorded a 3.26 ERA in his first full MLB season.

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