MLB fans voice their dilemma over the Phillies' bullpen addition this off-season, "All I see is mid"

Adding to their pitching depth, the Phillies made another trade on Monday, exchanging left-handed pitching prospect Erik Miller for right-handed reliever Yunior Marte from the San Francisco Giants. Marte turned 28 in February and played in 39 games for the Giants in 2022. In his first big-league season, he had a 5.44 ERA, 44 strikeouts, and 22 walks.

MLB fans had a mixed set of emotions. Many replied to the claims that Philadelphia now has great depth in their bullpen and that some of the relievers that they have signed are noteworthy.

Some additions to the Phillies bullpen this offseason

By acquiring Craig Kimbrel, a right-handed reliever, in a one-year, $10 million deal, the Philadelphia Phillies strengthened their bullpen. In Philadelphia, Kimbrel will re-join Dave Dombrowski, the former baseball operations president of the Boston Red Sox. Between 2015 and 2019, Dombrowski worked for the Red Sox, and Kimbrel played three seasons in Boston between 2016 and 2018.

His 3.75 ERA, 22 saves, and 72 strikeouts in 60 innings helped with Los Angeles' success in 2022. Prior to losing to the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series, the team had the best record in the majors throughout the regular season. With a 1.43 ERA over five seasons with the Atlanta Braves and 14.8 strikeouts per nine innings, the eight-time All-Star was one of baseball's best closers in his prime.

On Saturday, Philadelphia traded three players—outfielder Matt Vierling, catcher Donny Sands, and infielder Nick Maton—to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for All-Star reliever Gregory Soto and utility player Kody Clemens, the son of seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens.

Soto, an American League All-Star the previous two seasons, set a career high with 30 saves and 64 games played last year while striking out 60 batters in 60 1/3 innings. The 27-year-old left-hander spent four years with the Tigers, making 186 appearances, and has a career record of 8-20 with 50 saves.

With the departures of David Robertson and Zach Eflin and the arrivals of Craig Kimbrel, Gregory Soto, and Matt Strahm this offseason, Philadelphia's bullpen has undergone significant changes. Philadelphia's eight or nine bullpen spots look to be taken by Seranthony Dominguez, Jose Alvarado, Kimbrel, Soto, Strahm, Andrew Bellatti, and Connor Brogdon, leaving seven of those spots available.

About the author

Karan has been a baseball sports betting expert, analyst and content strategist at Sportskeeda since 2022. He holds a Master's degree in Sports Management from Virginia Commonwealth University, and worked with the VCU Rams baseball team as a trackman analyst. He started following the sport at 18, watching postseason on television.

Karan is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers owing to their successful history in the sport, and their consistent performances at the highest level. He admires Mookie Betts’ on-field defensive and offensive prowess, along with his off-field charitable exploits, while Bruce Bochy is his favorite coach.

The Mets’ miraculous rally from a two-run deficit in the 1986 World Series Game 6 in the bottom of the 10th inning despite being two outs and two strikes down is his all-time favorite baseball moment.

Karan’s strengths are player profiling and technical deep dives, for which he always refers to reliable sources such as the social media handles of the best MLB analysts.

When not strategizing, he likes to read, listen to music, go for a run, and watch sit-coms.

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