NEW YORK — After extended struggles, the Phillies have optioned reliever Orion Kerkering to triple A, the team announced on Sunday.
The Phillies will continue their wild-card pursuit without Kerkering, who has struggled significantly in the second half. In four appearances in September, he had an 18.68 ERA. The right-hander headed to Lehigh Valley after Saturday’s 10-3 loss to the Mets.
The IronPigs’ season concludes on Sunday, but the Phillies will hold a “stay-hot” camp starting on Thursday for reserve players to be prepared if needed for potential postseason action. Kerkering will take a few days to reset and then participate in the camp. While he is not eligible to return for 15 days after being optioned, the Phillies would be able to bypass that rule in the event of an injury to another pitcher.
“Felt like he had lost confidence and just needed that to be able to try to right the ship, and it’s hard to do that here and now in this situation,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “So it’s best to get it right, and get him right, and go from there.”
After getting knocked around for four runs in the eighth inning on Saturday, the Phillies reached a crossroads with the 25-year-old, who was unable to hold the game to a three-run deficit.
On Friday, with the Phillies trailing by one, Kerkering gave up a three-run homer to Juan Soto. Interim manager Don Mattingly said it was “hard to find places” to use Kerkering.
“It got to the point where it’s almost unusable,” Mattingly said.
In a corresponding move, right-hander Max Lazar was recalled from triple A. This is Lazar’s third stint with the Phillies this year. He has a 4.07 ERA in 42 minor league innings.
The Phillies once viewed Kerkering as one of their top high-leverage arms with the potential to be a setup man for closer Jhoan Duran, but he fell down the depth chart during his second-half struggles. Before the All-Star break, Kerkering had a 2.43 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. Since then, though, those numbers have shot up to 9.43 and 1.95, respectively.
“He handled it fine,” Mattingly said of Kerkering’s reaction to the demotion. “Obviously, I’m sure guys are always disappointed. Nobody wants to be optioned, especially now. It kicks you right out of a chance, if we’re able to take care of our business and get into a playoff round, it kicks him out of that.”
Kerkering’s best offering, his sweeper, has no longer been effective. Hitters averaged .429 against the pitch in September.
In his outing on Saturday, Kerkering’s velocity had also lost a tick. His fastball, which has averaged 97.2 mph this season, sat at 95.3 mph.
Kerkering had been dealing with turf toe for a stretch in September, which had him in a walking boot away from the field for a period of time, but he said on Friday that was no longer an issue.
“I don’t know. I don’t think there’s anything physically wrong with him,” Mattingly said.
The Phillies will try to get to the bottom of Kerkering’s struggles in Lehigh Valley. This marks the right-hander’s first time being optioned since he made his major league debut in September 2023.
“Sometimes you need to step away, just like a lot of people,” said Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. “Sometimes you need to step away.”
Luzardo, Bowlan progress
While the rest of the Phillies have an off day Monday before starting the final homestand of the regular season, both Jesús Luzardo (shoulder) and Jonathan Bowlan (groin) will report to the field to continue to work.
Both pitchers played catch for the first time on Sunday, marking a significant step as they both work to return from injury. Dombrowski said the club feels “very optimistic” about both of their progress and potential readiness for the postseason.
The club is leaving the door open for Luzardo to return as either a starter or a reliever in the postseason and have not made any further decisions on how they would envision using him if he remains on track. He is eligible to be activated on Sept. 27 at the earliest, which is the last day of the regular season.
“Positive signs with him,” Mattingly said. “We felt he was getting better and better. The last couple of days, the range of motion was back, there was no more stiffness. Then the doc basically had to say, ‘Hey, start start playing catch.’ So that’s where we’re at. It’s been positive with him.”
Bowlan, on the other hand, is not on the injured list and is officially day to day with a mild groin strain, though it’s still not a guarantee he will be able to return by the end of the season. The team doctor, Steven Cohen, joined the club on its trip to New York to evaluate both Luzardo and Bowlan.
“Originally when it happened, he was saying maybe he could be back, but we haven’t had any further discussions, other than that he’s been progressing well,” Dombrowski said. “He threw out I think 90 [feet on Saturday] and felt good, but it’s a situation where we haven’t pushed it beyond that.”
Extra bases
Nestor Cortes pitched three scoreless innings in triple A on Monday, allowing two hits and striking out three. … Following Monday’s off day, Zack Wheeler (13-5, 2.99 ERA) will start the series opener against Milwaukee. The Brewers have not yet announced their starting pitcher for the game.
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