Battle in limbo:
The rule of thumb for firemen is four decent appearances out of five (80 percent). And while David Robertson, Seranthony Dominguez and Hector Neris will handle the high-leverage situations, five other relievers will fill out the pen. Moreover, three have options: James Pazos, Edubray Ramos and Victor Arano.
Lefty Jose Alvarez will probably fill one of the two spots. His four-seam fastball averages 91.9 mph, and he has a slider, sinker and changeup. Last summer, he recorded a 2.71 ERA over 63 innings and had good or so-so outings at an acceptable 80 percent exactly.
Barring a dreadful March, Adam Morgan with no options remaining has earned his relief corps slot over the last two campaigns. In 2018, he had a 3.83 ERA with ERA estimators between 3.77 and 3.81 plus an acceptable 76.1 percent in good and so-so performances.
Even though Pazos had a 2.88 ERA and decent appearances at an 80 percent rate, he could be battling for a spot with Alvarez. He’s on his third option until April 8, so a roster problem could determine his fate. Primarily, he mostly fires a four-seam heater averaging 93.8 mph but occasionally twirls a slider (8.2 percent).
Hard-throwing Ramos is also on his third option until April 8 and might be an IronPig again due to an overcrowded pitching staff. Last season, he fashioned a 2.32 ERA and had decent outings at an 88.6 percent rate. But he’ll again have to earn a spot in the pen.
While Arano was effective 80 percent of the time and recorded a 2.73 ERA, he still has all of his options remaining. So, he’ll be in the hunt, but like others he’ll be competing for a slot because the Phillies added four relievers. Like Pazos and Ramos, his fate depends more on an available spot than March’s showing.