Philadelphia Phillies: The Rebuilding of the Bullpen Begins
By Jason Burke
The Philadelphia Phillies acquired Pat Neshek from the Houston Astros yesterday, adding a fourth dependable arm to their bullpen.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote up an offseason plan for the Philadelphia Phillies, and one key part of the piece was attempting to rebuild the bullpen with veterans and having a solid stable of relievers to help compensate for presumably another rough offensive year, no matter how much the bats improve.
With a rotation of Aaron Nola, Vince Velasquez and Jerad Eickhoff all slotted at the moment, Jeremy Hellickson a possibility after either accepting a qualifying offer (which he is likely to receive) or signing as a free agent, the Phillies could be set up nicely one through four. They could either live with one of a number of players in the fifth spot, or look to make a trade to acquire another starter and instead use their other starters as depth options while they continue to develop.
However the rotation shakes out, the top three spots are looking pretty darn good if they can all stay healthy. In a relatively weak division, a shutdown bullpen could be the difference between making a run towards the playoffs and chalking up 2017 as another rebuilding season.
With Neshek being added to a bullpen that already consists of Hector Neris, Jeanmar Gomez and Edubray Ramos, that’s four quality arms in tow and the hot stove has barely even been turned on.
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Neshek signed a two year deal (+team option) with the Astros before the start of the 2015 season and the Philadelphia Phillies acquired him so that they could pick up that option, which will only set them back $6.5M–a bargain in today’s market.
At 36 years old, Neshek’s veteran presence should come in handy on a Phillies team that will presumably get even younger in 2017 with the impending additions of J.P. Crawford, Roman Quinn and Nick Williams from the minors into larger roles at the big league level. Neshek posted a 3.06 ERA this season with a 3.68 FIP. He controls the zone well and his funky sidearm delivery has helped him strike out just under a batter an inning on average over the last three seasons.
The one caveat to this addition is this: The Phillies team defense was not as good as Houston’s this past season, and with Neshek outperforming his FIP by nearly half of a run, it looks like he was getting some help from the defense behind him. It’s not a huge difference, but enough of one that could make an impact on a few games.
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That all said, the Phillies adding Neshek is a smart, low cost move that should work out in their favor. And if it doesn’t, his contract will be up at the end of the 2017 season, so either he’s effective and can help the team potentially make a push towards the playoffs, or he’s not and it was destined to be another rebuilding year.