Philadelphia Phillies 2016 Grades: Bullpen

The Phillies bullpen exited spring training with no clearly established closer, had one emerge and received strong early work from the relievers, but have seen that bullpen group collapse as the season draws to a close.

After the latest collapse on Tuesday night, when the pen surrendered all of a 6-1 lead following a rain delay and handed the host Atlanta Braves a 7-6 victory, manager Pete Mackanin spoke in frustrating tone per Jim Salisbury at CSN.com.

“…at some point, somebody else has to do a (bleeping) job. Somebody else has to (bleeping) step up. In two games now, every reliever I brought in has given up a (bleeping) run. That’s unheard of.”

The Phillies are 10-14 in September, but could probably be at least a half-dozen games better than that if the bullpen simply did their jobs, holding leads and getting the opposition out late in games.

During the 2016 season the club has used 19 different pitchers in a relief role at one time or another. 

That includes Adam Morgan, who has made 20 starts but also has two relief appearances, and Phil Klein, who has made two relief appearances and one start.

Gomez, Neris, and Hernandez will all receive grades here, as will regular contributors Edubray Ramos and Elvis Araujo, and Andrew Bailey, who was a regular contributor until his late summer release.

My Phillies 2016 Season Crystal Ball

The rebuilding plan finally and belatedly got underway back on December 19th, 2014. That was the day that the club dealt away longtime franchise iconic shortstop Jimmy Rollins. 

He was the first of the remaining 'Core Five' from the glorious 2000's-era World Series winning club to be dealt.

At the trade deadline a year ago, it was Cole Hamels turn to say goodbye, and then roughly three weeks later in mid-August of 2015, beloved 2nd baseman Chase Utley was traded away.

Now only Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz remain. Both are in the starting lineup for today's 2016 season opener in Cincinnati. Both are also most certainly starting their final Opening Day in a Phillies uniform.

There stands a very real chance that neither 'The Big Piece' nor 'Chooch' will last the entire season in red pinstripes. 

Even if it means eating both salaries and getting little in return, the odds are good that general manager Matt Klentak will deal away both by this year's trade deadline or soon thereafter, allowing the two veterans to take another shot at a title with some contender as their careers draw towards a close.

That will be a part of the story of these 2016 Philadelphia Phillies, the final pages turned from the good old days. The bigger part will be what comes next, as the club continues adding future building blocks in the ongoing rebuilding program.

The rebuild began in earnest a year ago with the promotion of Maikel Franco in May, and the Aaron Nola debut in July. We also got to witness a potentially exciting debut by a surprise addition, as December 2014 Rule 5 draftee Odubel Herrera became a legitimate starting big league center fielder.

THE PREDICTION

Phillies 2016 Closer Options

With the trade of Ken Giles to Houston, the Philadelphia Phillies have a few options for the 2016 closer role.

Giles was always considered the heir apparent to Jonathan Papelbon, took over that role when the veteran was dealt to the Washington Nationals at the trade deadline this past season, and succeeded as most evaluators believed he would.

In fact, Giles was so impressive as both a setup man and in the closer role that he became easily the team’s most valuable remaining trade piece following the deals involving Papelbon and ace Cole Hamels.

Now that he is gone, the closer role would appear to be wide open. While that is likely to remain the case when the club reports to Clearwater for spring training, there is a clear frontrunner to fill the role.

Yesterday, on the same day that Giles talks were heating up and the deal being finalized, the Phils announced the signing of free agent David Hernandez to a one-year contract. 

That contract reportedly included incentives based on games finished. So it would appear that GM Matt Klentak was already thinking contingency plans with the Hernandez signing.