The Phillies had even better news for reliever Orion Kerkering the day after they presented him with one of their two 2023 Paul Owens Awards, which are given to the best position player and minor-league pitcher in the organization: He is an MLB player.
Kerkering started the year in Single A, but in less than six months, he was promoted four times due to his dominance. Just past weekend, he received a call-up from Double A to Triple A and made one appearance before receiving the final call-up to the show.
The Phillies selected the 22-year-old right-hander in the fifth round of the 2022 draft out of the University of South Florida. Aaron Nola was the last Phillies pitcher drafted in 2015 to make his major league debut the following year. In 49 appearances this season, Kerkering has a 1.51 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 14 saves, 79 strikeouts, and 12 walks. His breaking ball is thought to be among the greatest in the minor leagues, and his velocity has increased to between 97 and 98 mph.
Now’s his chance to prove to the Phillies what kind of weapon he may be out of the bullpen come October. Nine games remain in the regular season.
13 pitchers will be available to the Phillies in the wild-card round. Even if they aren’t used as starters in the first Best-of-Three series, Zack Wheeler, Nola, Ranger Suarez, Craig Kimbrel, Jose Alvarado, Gregory Soto, Seranthony Dominguez, Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm, and most likely Cristopher Sanchez and Taijuan Walker are locks. There would be two slots available for Kerkering, Michael Lorenzen, Yunior Marte, and Dylan Covey if all 11 players were to make the playoff roster. Andrew Bellatti and Luis Ortiz are two additional depth players at Triple A.
To create space for Kerkering on the active roster, Marte was optioned to Triple A, while Drew Ellis was designated for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.