Phillies: Considering their real off-season needs now
By Rick Soisson
Alex Colome
For those wondering why, at this point, three relief pitchers should be signed “first,” let’s say that this is an ideal likely unachievable, but whatever else Phillies fans are worried about, this fact should also be considered: However demanding the team’s other needs, there is only a 6.7 percent chance currently of greatly improving a bullpen in a given season.
As veteran writer Bob Brookover pointed out, in MLB’s most recent season, only two teams improved their bullpens significantly, Kansas City and Baltimore, both of which did not reach the expanded playoffs. With a 200-million-dollar-plus current aggregate payroll for players, the Phillies’ goal is to make the playoffs next year, right? So, this means fixing the bullpen entirely.
Thus, the next Phillies signing target should be Alex Colome, who will soon be eligible to leave the White Sox as a free agent. With two pitches that generate groundballs, a cutter and a four-seamer, this right-hander has significant value in situations with runners on base.
Over the past three years, he has posted an aggregate 2.65 ERA and 1.097 WHIP, with his 2020 numbers coming in at 0.81 and 0.940.
Even a Colome naysayer like Forbes writer Tony Blengino, who leans on “advanced” metrics, has to admit that the big Dominican is a “tough kid who will fight with every weapon he’s got to get the last outs of ball games.” Blengino just thinks Colome isn’t “elite.”
Sometimes a battler who isn’t seen as elite can be more useful than the designated elite pitcher, a Brandon Workman, for example. Workman just blew up in the Phillies’ faces.
The signing of relievers is always an iffy proposition, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it. In the extreme case of the Phillies, some wholesale thinking is needed, so signing a third veteran for the bullpen is also needed.