NEW YORK -- Jesús Luzardo played catch for 10 minutes in the Citi Field outfield on Sunday morning, and the experience made him smile afterward.
“It’s a good day,” he said before the Phillies' 7-2 victory over the Mets.
Consider it the best news this weekend about the Phillies’ pitching staff as the team tries to secure a fifth consecutive trip to the postseason, despite its bullpen being in disarray and only seven games to play (six after Sunday). Luzardo is on the 15-day injured list with inflammation in his left shoulder. He said he is moving in the right direction, and he is optimistic about how he will feel on Monday.
“I’m happy about it,” he said.
The Phillies need help. Luzardo remains in play to either start or relieve in the postseason, according to Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and interim manager Don Mattingly.
“Very optimistic,” Dombrowski said about Luzardo’s recovery.
Injured right-hander Jonathan Bowlan played catch on Sunday morning, too. He has a “mild” right groin strain, but the Phillies are optimistic that he will be able to pitch in the NL Wild Card Series, should Philadelphia make it -- the club entered Sunday in sole possession of the third Wild Card spot, four games ahead of the Diamondbacks and one game back of the Cubs and Padres.
The Luzardo and Bowlan updates followed Saturday night’s news that Orion Kerkering had been optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Kerkering had allowed a run in eight of his last nine appearances for an 11.57 ERA, including four runs in the eighth inning on Saturday night. He had a 10.24 ERA in 22 appearances since July 22.
The Phillies could no longer trust Kerkering to get outs.
“It looks like he needs a break to get away from here,” Dombrowski said. “Sometimes you need to step away.”
The Phillies recalled Max Lazar to take Kerkering’s spot in the bullpen. Kerkering will continue to pitch at the “stay ready” camp in Allentown, Pa. Kerkering’s option will last 15 days, meaning he will be ineligible to rejoin the team until the NL Championship Series, unless there is an injury.
It’s difficult to see a path back for Kerkering, though.
“It got to the point where it was almost unusable,” Mattingly said. “I feel like he kind of lost confidence and just needed to be able to try to right the ship. It's kind of hard to do that here and now in this situation.”
The Phillies’ bullpen is something of a mess right now. Jhoan Duran is one of the best closers in baseball, but getting the baseball to him has been a high-wire act for weeks, if not most of the season.
It’s been worse lately.
At the moment, rookie right-hander Alex McFarlane and left-hander José Alvarado are probably Mattingly’s top two choices to set up Duran. Behind them are Chase Shugart, Tim Mayza, Lazar, Brooks Raley and Tanner Banks. José Urquidy could start on Thursday against the Brewers, but he is ineligible for the postseason roster. Left-hander Nestor Cortes tossed three scoreless innings on Saturday with Triple-A. He could pitch this week as the Phillies try to cover innings, especially if they want to set up the rotation for the Wild Card Series.
But the Phillies view this as a mostly temporary issue.
“We need to straighten it out, but there's a lot of different ways we can straighten it out,” Dombrowski said.
If Bowlan returns as expected, he could slide ahead of McFarlane. But should they make it, the Phillies will move two of their starters to the bullpen for the Wild Card Series, which begins on Sept. 29. Rookie right-hander Andrew Painter feels like a lock. Mattingly said if they get an opportunity this week, they would like to have Painter pitch in relief.
Luzardo could be the other, if he is healthy enough to pitch but perhaps not ready to start.
“We have to be better in the bullpen than we have been recently,” Dombrowski said. “But we think we have the ability to do it.”
The Phillies used six pitchers in the 2022 NL Wild Card Series vs. St. Louis, and seven pitchers in the 2023 NL Wild Card Series vs. Miami. (The Phillies swept both series.) If Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Aaron Nola are lined up to start next week, the Phillies might need only four more pitchers to get through it.
Hypothetically, those four could be Duran, Luzardo, Painter and Alvarado/McFarlane.
“We basically have been focused on making the playoffs,” Dombrowski said. “That's our big focus, and really, no matter what happens, Sánchez is pitching today, Wheeler pitches Tuesday. You don't really get into any other type of plan beyond that until then. We’re really letting it play out before we answer a lot of the questions.”
Following this week’s three-game series against the Brewers at Citizens Bank Park, Painter, Sánchez and Wheeler are scheduled to pitch the final three games of the season. If the Phillies have locked up a postseason berth, don’t be surprised to see them shuffle their pitching plans so Sánchez and Wheeler open the Wild Card Series, even if home-field advantage is still in play.
“We have a lot of good things about our team, but one of our strengths is our starting rotation, especially the top of it,” Dombrowski said. “I sure hope that we can go into any postseason with them intact to pitch, but we still have to make the playoffs. That’s the most important thing.
“I’d love to have home-field advantage. Everybody wants home-field advantage, but playing on the road with our club doesn't really bother me.”