June 17, 2025
Sam Navarro/Imagn Images
Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Orion Kerkering (50) celebrate with catcher Rafael Marchan (13) after the game against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park.
Even without two of their best players, the Phillies continue to roll and recover from an early June swoon.
Kyle Schwarber's eighth-inning blast to right field Thursday night provided the go-ahead run and supported another brilliant outing from Cristopher Sánchez as the Phillies beat the Marlins, 2-1, to take three out of four in Miami. Schwarber's homer was his 23rd, as he trails only Shohei Ohtani for most dingers in the National League.
On the same day that Aaron Nola was moved to the 60-day IL as he continues to recover from a stress fracture in his rib and as Bryce Harper reportedly took some dry swings and threw while he recovers from wrist pain, per the Inquirer, the Phillies took their third consecutive series and won their eighth game in the past 10.
Starting pitching, coupled with some timely hitting, continued to fuel the Phils as starters Mick Abel, Ranger Suarez and Sánchez each picked up wins. Max Kepler, Bryson Stott and Schwarber each clubbed momentum-grabbing homers in the series while Orion Kerkering continued his emergence as a high-leverage bullpen arm with two saves in the series.
Perhaps most significant is that the Phillies survived some rare internal drama, as manager Rob Thomson benched right fielder Nick Castellanos in Game 2 for what Thomas called making an "inappropriate comment" after being pulled from Game 1 late for defensive purposes. Castellanos responded with two hits in Game 3 and even made a highlight-reel catch to seal the 4-2 win.
Nick Castellanos makes the catch at the wall to seal the @Phillies win! pic.twitter.com/FSUHimpzns
— MLB (@MLB) June 19, 2025
Around Philadelphia, Castellanos' benching became a hot overnight topic Tuesday into Wednesday, but the Phillies didn't let the drama fester. Castellanos wasn't replaced Thursday in the ninth, even with the Phillies nursing a one-run lead.
Let's take a look at some of the other big storylines from the Phillies' series:
As it has been all year, the Phillies' rotation was primarily responsible for the series win. Outside of another Jesús Luzardo hiccup Tuesday in Game 2, the starters made sure the overly aggressive, often impatient, Marlins offense didn't get into a rhythm. Starting with Mick Abel on Monday, the trio of Abel-Suarez-Sánchez combined to allowed three runs on 12 hits in 19 2/3 innings. Sánchez saw his ERA lower to 2.87.
Suárez was especially dominant, as his ERA lowered to 2.20 after his Game 3 win in which he allowed a run on four hits through seven and struck out eight. His name is often mentioned in trade rumors as a chip to help the Phillies improve their bullpen and/or batting order, especially since he's a free agent after the season, but are we sure Suárez is expendable at this point?
At very least, the southpaw is earning right to be the No. 2 starter in the postseason, and if not, he's already shown that he can get high-leverage outs from the bullpen in the playoffs. Trading Suárez could prove to be too risky for a team that's sole mission is to win the World Series.
A big storyline at the start of the season was if the Phillies would change their approach at the plate, and if anyone would emerge as a more viable leadoff hitter than Schwarber. Looks like the Phils are just fine with Trea Turner, who led off for all four games of the series and churned out five more hits, though all of them came in the first two games.
Turner's 90 hits continue to lead the National League and his .300 batting average and .359 on-base percentage are better than his career averages, which has served the Phillies well even as his power and RBI production have dipped with his new small-ball approach.
The Phillies are 19-6 when Turner has two or more hits. Proponents of Schwarber as the leadoff hitter always pointed to the team's win-loss record when Schwarber led off, but Turner has now batted leadoff in 10 straight games – his longest streak of the year – with the Phillies winning eight.
One small issue – Turner's slugging percentage and OPS are down from his career averages. But if he's being asked to play more small ball, something had to give.
Perhaps we saw a philosophical shift from manager Rob Thomson in this series in terms of bullpen usage. On Monday night in the opener, Thomson summoned Jordan Romano into the seventh to protect a 3-1 lead, then turned to Matt Strahm for the eighth, leaving right-hander Orion Kerkering to pitch the ninth for his first career save. Kerkering retired the side on 12 pitches for his first career save.
Two nights later, Thomson brought in Kerkering to pitch the eighth and protect a 4-1 lead before handing the ball to Strahm, who got knocked around for a run on three hits before picking up the white-knuckle save. On Thursday, Thomson lifted Sanchez after 91 pitches for Kerkering, who pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save in three games.
While the Phillies bullpen still invites some major breath-holding, Kerkering has quietly pitched well for more than a month. He hasn't allowed a run since June 6, when his ERA climbed to 5.14. Since that day, Kerkering has pitched 16 1/3 innings, allowed 10 hits, walked eight – two were intentional walks – and struck out 16.
Right now, with no Alavarado, with Strahm's ERA nearing 4.00, and with Romano's ERA still well above 6.00, Kerkering appears to be the only reliable arm in the pen.
The Phils come home for a significant mid-June series against their NL East rivals, as the Mets are coming back to Citizens Bank Park for a three-game set. Earlier this month, the Mets were starting to put some separation between themselves and the Phillies in the NL East race, but the Mets have lost six straight thanks to back-to-back sweeps from Tampa Bay and Atlanta. The Mets and Phillies are tied for the division lead at 45-30.
The Phils and Mets haven't played since the Phillies got swept at Citi Field from April 21-23, a tough pill to swallow at the time given their loss to the Mets in last year's National League Division Series. Phils ace Zach Wheeler will start Game 1 of the series, followed by Mick Abel and Jesús Luzardo.
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