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Orion Kerkering reached a milestone when he recorded his first career save in Monday night's 5-2 win over the Marlins.
“I was shocked, to tell you the truth,” manager Rob Thomson said of learning it was Kerkering’s first save. "He pitched great."
Save No. 1 was just the latest in a long stretch of much-needed solid outings from Kerkering.
The 24-year-old righty has not allowed an earned run in 17 straight appearances dating to May 9. He has recorded seven holds and two wins during that stretch, but Monday's 1-2-3 ninth inning marked his first career save.
“It feels great,” Kerkering said. “Just to be able to continue the stretch I’m on right now [since] the beginning of May, and just kind of keep it rolling and not overthink the situation. I think that’s what’s most important.”
It’s certainly most important to the Phillies' bullpen.
The Phillies have been in desperate need of relief help for most of this season, but especially since José Alvarado was suspended 80 games for a PED violation on May 18. Kerkering has been the one to step up the most, going 12 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run since Alvarado's suspension.
Kerkering answering the call has been all the more important with Jordan Romano running into some trouble of late. After posting a 13.50 ERA in his first 11 appearances, Romano seemed to have righted the ship when he rattled off nine straight scoreless appearances from April 27-May 22, during which he had 13 K's and just one walk over nine innings. But he has a 6.75 ERA in nine appearances since, allowing at least one run in four of those nine appearances.
So on Monday, Romano was called on for the seventh inning. After he tossed a scoreless frame, Thomson turned to Matt Strahm to face the top of the order in the eighth. That left Kerkering to tackle the all-important final three outs in the ninth, which he breezed through on 12 pitches.
A reliable bullpen arm since debuting late in 2023, Kerkering now has a 2.36 ERA in 100 career appearances. Though he was expected to take on a more significant role this season, it was reasonable to assume he’d be the No. 4 option behind Alvarado, Strahm and Romano.
Between Alvarado’s suspension and Romano’s struggles, Kerkering suddenly finds himself as one of the club’s top two relievers -- and its most consistent right-handed option.
Now, he still has areas in which he can improve.
Kerkering has allowed eight of his 21 inherited runners (38.1%) to score this season, including three of his past five during this streak of scoreless appearances. He’s allowed at least one inherited runner to score in more than half of the outings he’s entered with a runner on base (seven of 13).
Even aside from the inherited runners, Kerkering has allowed 17 baserunners (nine hits, seven walks and one hit-by-pitch) over 15 1/3 innings during his 17-game streak of not allowing an earned run. Overall, Kerkering's 1.36 WHIP might not be what a team is looking for out of a high-leverage reliever, but his run prevention over the past month is hard to ignore.
The Phillies will almost certainly be seeking at least one reliever ahead of next month’s Trade Deadline, but Kerkering will have every opportunity in the meantime to seize a more significant role at the back of the ‘pen.
So far, so good.
MLB.com reporter Justin Morris contributed to this story from Miami.