Phillies’ 6-5 loss to Angels exposes bullpen, one of the win-now franchise’s biggest flaws

There’s no need to crane your neck, like Tanner Banks in the seventh inning Friday night, to spot the biggest flaw in the win-now Phillies.

Just look out beyond the right-center field fence.

Back from baseball’s four-day midseason break, less than two weeks before the trade deadline, All-Star Game MVP Kyle Schwarber homered on his first swing and rested Bryce Harper went deep twice.

Yet the Phillies lost anyway, 6-5 to the Angels, after Banks yielded a tiebreaking two-run homer to Taylor Ward in the seventh inning before a sold-out crowd in Citizens Bank Park.

» READ MORE: The Phillies are at the front of the line for bullpen shopping. How much will a ‘difference maker’ cost?

“He just missed his spot on Ward,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He threw it right where he likes to hit. But Banks has been good. He’s a guy that really wanted to get in today because he’s had five days off, and he tends to pitch better the more he pitches.”

All true, and fair enough. Banks is among Thomson’s more trusted relievers. And maybe he was a tad rusty after not pitching since last Saturday in San Diego. He fell behind three of five batters and issued a one-out walk two batters before Ward’s homer.

Besides, pinning it all on Banks would absolve starter Jesús Luzardo of allowing four runs on seven hits, including two homers, and not completing the fifth inning for only the second time in his last seven starts.

“I feel like this loss is on me,” Luzardo said. “Just not being able to give length and kind of hurting the bullpen a little bit and just taxing our team and our offense a little more.”

It would also ignore another low for embattled left fielder Max Kepler, who got booed after grounding into a double play in the second inning and again after flying out in the ninth to drop his average to .207 and OPS to .669.

Juxtapose those numbers with Ward, a righty-hitting left fielder with 22 homers who could be available at the trade deadline, and an argument could be made that upgrading from Kepler should be high on the Phillies’ list of priorities.

» READ MORE: Phillies owner John Middleton on re-signing Kyle Schwarber: ‘ We love him. We want to keep him’

But team officials realize that no area of the roster needs to be addressed more than the bullpen, even if they aren’t hanging a “Help Wanted” sign in Ashburn Alley.

There were positive signs. In addition to the homers, Harper scorched a double (exit velocity: 113.8 mph) that was his hardest-hit ball since July 22 of last season. He has 10 hits and three walks in his last 23 plate appearances — and no trace of pain in his right wrist.

“It’s the best I felt in the last year, probably,” he said.

Said Luzardo: “When Bryce goes, I think we all go. He’s primed for a big second half, so we’re excited about that.”

And in losing the series opener to the Angels, the Phillies didn’t have a full-on bullpen meltdown. But in a rare instance when their starting pitcher didn’t go deep into the game, the lack of swing-and-miss among the relievers was stark.

Without his best stuff, Luzardo struck out seven of 22 Angels batters. The bullpen faced 18 batters and struck out only three. It’s a tough way to record 13 outs in a tight game.

It’s also typical of Phillies relievers, who combined to produce the second-fewest swings and misses (592) of any bullpen through the All-Star break, in part because they were tied for 22nd in average four-seam fastball velocity (94.1 mph).

The trade deadline isn’t until July 31, so there’s not much sense in appearing desperate for relief help. Before the game, Phillies owner John Middleton suggested some solutions may come from within, especially because the Phillies would likely move a starter to the bullpen in the postseason.

» READ MORE: Trade deadline preview: Dave Dombrowski on the Phillies’ biggest roster needs and their X-factor

Middleton recalled a recent conversation with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who told a story about reaching the World Series with the Tigers in 2006.

“He said the Cardinals’ bullpen was very mundane, very average,” Middleton said. “He said, ‘We weren’t concerned about it at all.’ And then they put Adam Wainwright in the bullpen, and overnight it turned into a really, really good bullpen.”

Maybe the Phillies can get a similar boost in October if Luzardo goes to the bullpen. Dombrowski has said top prospect Andrew Painter isn’t a candidate to pitch in relief after missing the last two seasons after Tommy John elbow surgery. But Mick Abel might be.

Even so, the Phillies need external additions to supplement Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm, and Banks. Jordan Romano, the biggest offseason bullpen move, struggled in the first half and started the second by sidestepping a leadoff walk to pitch a scoreless sixth inning against the Angels.

The Phillies’ strength is undeniably their starting pitching. Middleton pointed to Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, Luzardo, and injured Aaron Nola and said, “It’s the best rotation we’ve had since ‘11, which was a historically great rotation.” He isn’t wrong.

But bullpens often decide things in the postseason, and the Phillies were sunk by their bullpen in the 2023 National League Championship Series and last year’s divisional round against the Mets.

Dombrowski has 12 days to address it. As Middleton says, “He’s aggressive.”

“Obviously Dombo’s going to do his job and get what he thinks is best for our team,” Harper said. “But we’ve got 26 guys in here that need to do the job every day. We’ve got to be better.”