On Wednesday, the Phillies blew an eighth-inning lead and watched the Nationals walk them off with a walk. It was the first Phillies loss of the year and they were the last team to lose a game in 2019.
Still, they get Thursday off with a nice 4-1 start. Through a remarkably small portion of the 2019 season, they look good. The task is to carry this level of success on for the full season. And now, as the saying goes, it's time to strike while the iron is hot. There are two free-agent pitchers sitting right there who could beef up this Phillies team and the ballclub has the capability to add both.
Here are four reasons why they should go sign Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel.
1. There's room, financially
The Phillies play in a large market and have handled a payroll of nearly $180 million before. The luxury tax threshold this season is $206 million. The Opening Day payroll this year even after a furious offseason was a tick over $140 million. They likely wouldn't need to do this -- especially at this point -- but even if they paid Kimbrel and Keuchel $60 million combined, they'd still be below the luxury tax cut off for this season.
It's unclear what kind of deal it would take to land Keuchel and/or Kimbrel, but the Phillies should still have some financial flexibility moving forward, though that's ultimately the call of ownership.
They certainly have the means to sign both pitchers.
2. There's room, pitching-wise
The Phillies currently have five right-handers in the rotation. Keuchel is a lefty who could break things up. I also maintain the opinion that Vince Velasquez's stuff would play much better in the bullpen. He's in his age-27 season and after 76 career starts has a 4.59 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. There's enough here to realize he's just not going to be a good starting pitcher. [Small Sample Alert!] Velasquez did make one appearance in relief this season and he went three-up-three-down with two strikeouts. He did what pitchers can do in relief. He only used three pitches instead of five and threw his slider harder than he ever has.
Meantime, Keuchel moves to the NL from the AL and that gives him a bump. Even in a down year in 2018, his 3.74 ERA was worth a 108 ERA+. He'd obviously need a quick trip through the minors to get up to speed, but having him in the rotation by the end of April kicks Velasquez to the bullpen and deepens matters there.
Speaking of which, Kimbrel bumps everyone back a spot as well, so the bullpen would deepen by two. Offseason free-agent acquisition David Robertson has been a disaster thus far, walking five in two innings, including issuing the walkoff walk in the club's only loss. He has been accountable, but he's not pitching well. Throwing Kimbrel in the mix beefs things up.
Looking down the line, a rotation with Aaron Nola, Jake Arrieta, Keuchel, Nick Pivetta and Zach Eflin teamed with a bullpen led by Kimbrel, Robertson, Seranthony Dominguez, Hector Neris, Pat Neshek and Juan Nicasio is rather formidable.
3. It hurts the competition
Look around the NL East. The Nationals' bullpen has been a mess so far, so they could obviously use Kimbrel. The 5-1 Mets have lefty Jason Vargas in their fifth rotation spot and can we really be sure Steven Matz, Noah Syndergaard and/or Zach Wheeler hold up all season, health-wise? Surely they could use Keuchel. Hell, they could add Kimbrel to their back-end and make it a killer duo with Edwin Diaz. The Braves' rotation is banged up and they definitely have questions in the bullpen as well, not even mentioning the history with Kimbrel.
Even if none of these teams are interested right now, things change during the course of the season. The Phillies adding either or both of these pitchers both helps their team and plays keep-away from their competition.
4. Free agency is dwindling
The contract extension craze in the last month has almost seemed exaggerated. Likely due in part to seeing how free agency treated Kimbrel and Keuchel, dozens of players have signed multiyear extensions with their current teams, most club-friendly, some incredibly club-friendly. Part of the fallout to that is future offseasons won't have quite as attractive free agent classes as we've seen in the past. As such, there might be a feeling of "if we can't spend it in the future, why not just spend it now?" coming from the front office.
It's entirely possible the front office isn't considering this at all, but they should. It's entirely possible ownership is content with the current team, but it could be improved without subtracting from the current team. The time is now, Phillies. Supplement the current group that is already bringing so much excitement to Philadelphia.
