Before we continue, I would like to give myself a quick pat on the back.

There. I feel better now.

The Phillies’ signing of Jordan Romano adds another high-leverage arm to a bullpen that a manager will use in a variety of situations. Gone are the days when Rob Thomson looks for a closer set and lets the matchups decide when and where he uses his support arms on a given day. During Craig Kimbrel’s halcyon days, he was the one who got the lion’s share of save opportunities, but if Rob had his power, no one would get the role outright.

Now that Romano is involved, we’re starting to see the 2025 version of the bullpen take shape. This is a different version than previous years and still looks like it’s another arm just before it’s fully functional. As currently constructed, the bullpen for the Phillies in 2025 looks like this (in no particular order of confidence). wink):

• Matt Strahm
• Jordan Romano
• Orion Dungeon
• Jose Alvarado
• Jose Ruiz
• Tanner Banks
• Two from Tyler Phillips, Max Lazar, Tyler Gilbert, FA addition?

That’s a solid quartet at the top of the group, a relatively reliable center in Ruiz and three options that seem to be more on the fungible side of things.

The team led by Dave Dombrowski has always built bullpen, trying to focus on velocity first and quality second pitch second. Each of these names from one to five seems to go in this direction. Strahm has a deeper pitch mix that would be considered average or higher, but relievers don’t really need that many pitches. His arsenal is a luxury that Thomson uses against right- or left-handed players. It’s a good bullpen that still seems a little too light.

Considering how much Thomson likes to use his bullpen and how often he wants to rest them, the team needs to think about adding another free agent arm to the mix. They went into the playoffs with five reserves that they believed could handle any situation, but with this current mix, there’s an argument for them to only have four. Ruiz made some progress last year, but it would probably be a mistake to view him as one of the team’s “powerful levers.” Even with this quartet, there are always concerns about Jose Alvarado and what version of him will emerge. Matt Strahm just had the best season of his career, so it might be wise to expect and plan for a regression. Orion Kerkering is still young, still talented, but was exposed again when the lights got a little brighter. Romano is a solid addition, but his elbow issues will always be in the back of people’s minds when he’s on the mound.

Everything points in one direction – adding yet another layer of relief to the mix. Jeff Hoffman is the most logical candidate to return because of his familiarity with a) the position and b) the organization. Any other available reliever would also make some sense if there were breaks for names like Kenley Jansen (still wary of him) and Tanner Scott (too left-handed?) for the reasons mentioned.

Is this a bullpen the team could open the season with? Naturally. At the start of 2024, they weren’t exactly successful with five players and had to sign Carlos Estevez over the course of the season. That could also be the strategy for the future. But for a team that looks like it needs every win possible, even early in the season, strengthening the bullpen as much as possible seems like the smartest route.