NLCS: Seranthony Dominguez Leads a Rebuilt Phillies Bullpen
Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Seranthony Dominguez was one of the few bright spots in a bullpen that suffered significant losses of top-level talent this season. (Getty Images)
By John Fay
The Philadelphia Phillies, having struggled to a 13-27 record this season, were out of the playoffs for the first time since 2012. At the same time, the Phillies bullpen was out of synch and had pitched into a funk for the entirety of the 2012 season. With this in mind, let’s examine the Phillies’ last five (5) relief pitchers from the 2012 season and their postseason performances to determine if they were a potential future strength.
The following are the “fantasy-relevant” numbers for the last five (5) relief pitchers from Phillies relief staff to be used in the 2012 baseball season:
RHP: Seranthony Dominguez, R, PIT
ERA: 7.43
The Phillies relief pitching staff had no shortage of trouble in 2012. The bullpen lost seven of their first nine relievers, including one of their last two pitchers, in May. Seranthony Dominguez had the biggest impact of the bunch. Between the first and last games of May, Dominguez gave up just two runs, held the Indians to two runs and didn’t give up more than three earned runs all season. While the Phils didn’t win as many games in May as they did in May of 2012, they were a force. In addition to relievers, the Phillies bullpen also had three excellent starting pitchers.
In 2012, the Phillies were able to use four top-level pitchers for 15 starts. Three of those four starters were injured in 2012, and one of them, Michael Young, wasn’t until July. With only a few games remaining before the trade deadline, who will be the next pitcher to join the Phillies starting rotation and bullpen and lead them to their first playoff appearance since 2012?
Before the trade deadline, the Phillies could only use five pitchers without a loss during their six-game series against the Red Sox. Three of those pitchers — Shane Victorino, Domonic Brown and Kyle Kendrick