February 16, 2024
Ron Cortes/Philadelphia Inquirer / MCT / Sipa USA
Brad Lidge delivers the biggest slider in Phillies history.
Over the last few winters, we've passed the time by ranking things. We ranked every Eagles player, and Sixers player by position while also throwing in some other lists that weren't quite as fun.
For the next two weeks, leading up to pitchers and catchers reporting to Clearwater for the 2024 Phillies season, we decided to take a look at each position in the Phillies storied 100+ year history and come up with a list of the all-time greats at each position.
We're going to limit our lists to 10 (with a few extra mentions) in part because there have been more than 2,000 different players to appear in at least one game for the Phillies. But we did look at everybody.
As has been the case recently for the Phillies, relief pitching is truly hit or miss. It's rare to find a bullpen arm that has reliability and longevity. We did our best to search for the best of these throughout the history of the franchise, but it was rare to find a hurler without a few blemishes — as is the nature of the job. It was also interesting to see how many of the top relievers in Phils history are hated, or controversial in the eyes of many fans.
Before we dive into the relievers the Phillies have trusted the most, here's a look at the players we ranked in the 11-20 range, just missing the cut.
| Player | Stats | Accolades |
| Ricky Bottalico | 3.70 ERA in 370.0 IP | 1996 All-Star |
| Jose Alvarado | 3.30 ERA in 280.2 IP | Had a 1.74 ERA last season |
| Gene Garber | 2.68 ERA in 3.92.2 IP | Led NL with 75 games in 1972 |
| J.C. Romero | 2.75 ERA in 165.0 IP | 2008 World Series Champion |
| Pat Neshek | 2.40 ERA in 82.2 IP | 2017 All-Star |
| Héctor Neris | 3.42 ERA in 407.2 IP | 84 saves as a Phillie |
| Al Holland | 2.88 ERA in 194.0 IP | 1983 Reliever of the yr, 1984 All-Star |
| Jose Mesa | 4.05 ERA in 242.0 IP | 112 saves as a Phillie |
| Jack Baldschun | 3.18 ERA in 543.1 IP | Led MLB with 61 games in 1961 |
| Warren Brusstar | 3.23 ERA in 248.0 IP | 1980 World Series Champion |
• Evan Macy: What stands out to me most from this list of the next 10 best Phils relievers is just how underrated some of these guys are in Phillies lure. Who knew while Hector Neris was with the team or Pat Neshek (two recent examples) that the team was employing two of the 20 best relievers in team history? Shows how hard it is to find consistency out of the bullpen.
• Shamus Clancy: J.C. Romero was absolutely aces in the 2008 playoffs, allowing zero runs in 7.1 innings of work, striking out seven batters. That includes 1.1 innings of shutout baseball during that championship-winning Game 5 of the 2008 World Series. A 6-7-8 run of Romero, Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge was filthy during that magical season.
• Nick Tricome: The 2017 season was an extremely lean one for the Phils. Pat Neshek was their All-Star choice, which was cool, but at the same time, said a lot about where the team was at. The mid-2010s were brutal.
And now our list of the 10 best relief pitchers in Phillies history:
Shamus: During the Phillies' 2008 championship year, Lidge was a perfect 41-for-41 in save opportunities while also picking up seven saves during the postseason. No appearance was bigger than his Game 5-clinching strikeout of Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske that brought about one of the most iconic photos in the city's history:
Now that should be a statue somewhere in Philadelphia.
Nick: Winning a Cy Young as a reliever shoots you up the top of the list by default.
Evan: Some interesting Madson stats. He's got the third most games ever pitched as a Phillie (behind Steve Carlton and Robin Roberts). He's 14th in team history in a stat called "win probability added." And he was (along with fellow top 20 reliever J.C. Romero) a part of the "bridge to Lidge" that helped the team win its second World Series in 2008.
Evan: Wagner is on the cusp of making the Baseball Hall of Fame, and though he only passed through Philly briefly for two seasons, his numbers speak for themselves. He was unhittable in Philadelphia, getting one of his seven All-Star berths while pitching here and was an anchor in the bullpen for a team close to contending.
Shamus: Hand up... I didn't have Williams in my top 10. If your most famous moment as an athlete is the worst moment of some fans' lives, you can't be ranked this high. He had phenomenal closer vibes, but made his own teammates want to cover their head with a towel while he was on the mound.
Nick: Papelbon was still a pretty solid closer when he got to Philadelphia, but the window for the Phillies to compete had slammed shut. It was the wrong place at the wrong time.
Nick: Reed took a loss in Game 2 of the 1980 NLCS, but from that point onward, he was lights out, making four scoreless appearances on the way to the Phillies' first-ever World championship.
Evan: No pitcher in team history has ever finished more games than McGraw, who threw the final pitch 315 times as a Phillie. He had a really productive 10-year career in Philadelphia and might be the most beloved and well known pitcher on this list. He had a 1.17 ERA in four World Series games in 1980.
Shamus: McDowell was the real spitter on Kramer and Newman all along:
He's more famous for "Seinfeld" than for baseball in the non-New York era.
Shamus: Hoerner was an All-Star in 1970, but his numbers were even better in 1971 with the Fightins. He sported a 1.97 ERA (compared to 2.65) while striking out 57 batters compared to 39.
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