Phillies' Dave Dombrowski Plans to Add a Reliever at Trade Deadline, Move Starters to Bullpen in October

Yahoo

27-06-2025

Phillies' Dave Dombrowski Plans to Add a Reliever at Trade Deadline, Move Starters to Bullpen in October originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Philadelphia Phillies are heading into a massive July and trade deadline, as the current iteration of the team might not last past this year. With Kyle Schwarber, Ranger Suarez, and J.T. Realmuto all set to be free agents after 2025, the Phillies need to win this season before the team starts to break apart.
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Fortunately, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has a plan. In an article from Jayson Stark in The Athletic, Dombrowski revealed the Phillies' plan to target more bullpen help, just not in the way most fans would expect.
"That's because Dombrowski didn't sound like a man shopping for multiple high-leverage relievers," Stark writes. "At least not at the moment."
While most Phillies fans are clamoring for Dombrowski and the front office to acquire the best relievers on the market, Starks' report hints that it isn't likely the plan in Philadelphia. Instead, they plan to address the bullpen differently.
"Over the next few weeks," Stark writes. "The Phillies will lean on the accelerator, trying to acquire a reliever with the talent to get huge outs in October and the temperament to handle getting those outs in a place like Philadelphia. But do they need more than one arm like that? Dombrowski talked like someone who thinks he can use his starting-pitching depth to solve his bullpen issues."
Philadelphia Phillies president Dave Dombrowski during Phillies Alumni Weekend and the 20th anniversary of Citizens Bank Park before the game against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park.Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
While the Phillies do plan to add a reliever, Dombrowski is planning to utilize his team's depth at starting pitcher to round out his bullpen depth. Based on the current rotation, it isn't hard to blame him for such a plan.
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Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Christopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Ranger Suarez, Andrew Painter, Mick Abel, and Taijuan Walker round out the deepest starting rotation in baseball. In the postseason, teams typically don't need more than three to four quality starters.
So, for the Phillies, they could move half of their starters to the bullpen, and have not just a deep starting rotation, but a strong bullpen as well. The Phillies have previously used their starters out of the bullpen in the postseason, but this go around, the Phillies have more than enough starters to make it work.
Walker is already coming out of the bullpen, and with Nola and Painter expected up at some point after the All-Star break, the Phillies could be looking at eight quality starters on the roster.
Instead of trading a starter or sending one to Triple-A, Dombrowski is planning to utilize their extra starters out of the bullpen in October. The Phillies will still look to add a reliever, but the big additions to the bullpen are coming in the form of their starters heading to the bullpen once October and postseason baseball come around.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.