As the past decade-plus of baseball has shown, putting together an elite bullpen is the key to consistently making it deep into the playoffs. Having composed pitchers come off the pen in a postseason setting is a luxury that not too many teams have, but the Philadelphia Phillies, after consecutive years of falling short in the postseason, are looking to get over the hump by utilizing a tried and tested bullpen approach.
This past offseason, the Phillies reshaped their bullpen, signing Brad Keller to a two-year, $22 million contract while also shipping away Matt Strahm to the Kansas City Royals to open up a spot. But amid all the Phillies' bullpen wheeling and dealing, an unheralded lefty that they acquired only a few months ago is catching the eye of many as a potential big piece of their relief corps.
That pitcher is Kyle Backhus, who may be in line to get a substantial role in the Phillies bullpen. He presents an incredible change-of-pace option, as his unique arm angle that is among the lowest in MLB (he had the fourth-lowest arm angle in MLB last season at nine degrees, according to Todd Zelecki of MLB.com) is a nasty thing to pair with the high arm angles of fellow lefties Jose Alvarado (59 degrees) and Tanner Banks.
Phillies have a stacked bullpen
The Phillies are seeing Backhus emerge as a bright spot in a bullpen that is expected to be a solid unit in 2026. The closer job is Jhoan Duran's for good, especially when he's throwing over 100 mph, while the likes of Keller, Alvarado, Banks, Orion Kerkering, Jonathan Bowlan (the piece they got for Strahm), and Backhus are all expected to be steady hands in relief.
Kerkering, in particular, is expected to bounce back after the heartbreaking end he suffered to the 2025 season.
