Hog Blog: Bullpen and catcher battles to watch

In this week's Pork Barrel Blog, IronPigs media assistant Pat McCarthy takes a look at the relief pitchers and catchers who are battling for spots on the Phillies' 25-man roster.

The Phillies have a lot of arms and an interesting situation at catcher going into the 2018 season and will have a few tough decisions to make at the end of March.
We've already looked at the guys battling for spots in the starting rotation, but the Phillies spent a lot of money this winter to bolster a bullpen that was strong in the second half of the 2017 season. After trading away Pat Neshek in July, the Phillies and Neshek both expressed interest and reuniting as soon as the trade was completed. Neshek was the Phillies lone All-star last season and is back with the Phils for the 2018 season after signing as a free agent.
The Phillies also added veteran Tommy Hunter who, since becoming a relief pitcher full time, has become a very good set-up man. Hunter will set up Héctor Neris who enters his first full season as the Phillies closer. Neris was dominant at the tail end of 2017 recording 26 saves in 29 opportunities. Adam Morgan, Luis García and Edubray Ramos all broke out during the 2017 season and will open the season in the pen.
Morgan could not find consistent success as a starter and settled into a pen role last season, making a career-high 37 appearances striking out 63 hitters in 54.2 innings. Luis Garcia has always had electric stuff but was never able to put it all together in the big leagues before a brilliant 2017. The IronPigs' all-time saves leader throws one of the hardest fastballs on the Phillies roster and has shown that he can control is better than ever. Garcia and Morgan are both out of minor league options and cannot be to the Lehigh Valley like some of the other relievers on the roster.
Edubray Ramos' big league career got off to a rocky start but the 25-year-old put it all together in 2017. After pitching for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, expectations were high for Ramos. Pitching in career-high 59 games, he struck out 75 batters in 57.2 innings and was dominant at the end of the campaign. In 13 games during September, Ramos allowed just two runs, six hits and struck out 20 batters in 13.1 innings.
It is projected that the Phillies will open with an eight-member bullpen which leaves two spots up for grabs. If the Phillies go conventionally, they will reserve one of those spots for a left-hander to compliment Adam Morgan. The Phillies have Hoby Milner and Zac Curtis on their 40-man roster and could use one of them as their second lefty. Milner is a lefty specialist and was really successful against left-handed hitters in the big leagues last season. Lefties hit just .159 against Milner while righties hit .377. Because of the extended pen, the Phillies have the room to keep a specialist on the active roster that they can use for a batter or two.
Zac Curtis has made 27 big league appearances, most of them in 2016 with Arizona. After being claimed off waivers in September; Curtis made three appearances with Philly and allowed one run. The Phillies recently came to terms with veteran lefty Fernando Abad. Abad, who does not have any minor league options, either he has to be added to the roster by March 22nd, or he will become a free agent. The 32-year-old made 48 appearances and had a 3.30 ERA for Boston last year.
That leaves one spot up for grabs and it likely goes to a long reliever. Mark Leiter Jr. served that roll for most of last season and likely does so again. Leiter is also up for the fifth starter role but has shown he can pitch out of the pen successfully.
Other options are right-handers Vìctor Arano, Yacksel Ríos and Ricardo Pinto. All three pitched in the big leagues last season but could be back in Lehigh Valley for the start of the new season. Arano was thrown into the fire late into games last season and posted a 1.69 ERA in 10 appearances while striking out 13 and notching his first big league win. Rios made the jump from Double-A to Philadelphia and made 13 appearances for the Phillies. Rios also had plus strikeout numbers, fanning 17 batters in 16.1 innings. Ricardo Pinto was a dominant reliever in the minors when he transitioned from a starter but in 26 games with the Phillies allowed just under two base runners an inning and had a 7.89 ERA.
The most interesting name in camp is Francisco Rodríguez. On a non-roster deal, "K-Rod" will need to really impress the club to beat out one of the younger guys on the 40-man.
Although the Phillies only have three catchers on their 40-man roster they are at an interesting point in all three of their catchers' careers. Andrew Knapp and Cameron Rupp spent the full 2017 season in Philadelphia and split the time as the team's starting catcher. Rupp has been the team's starter for the last couple of years and after a strong 2016 offensively he struggled in 2017. Knapp is a former Top-30 Prospect and Paul Owens Award winner but hasn't taken that major step forward to the team's full time starter. Jorge Alfaro has been considered a top catching prospect for a number of years and has a tremendous upside but has been delegated to the minors despite jumping from Reading to Philadelphia in 2016 to make his Major League debut in September.
The Phillies decided to go with Rupp and Knapp in 2017 to give Alfaro a season in Triple-A, knowing that they would have a tough decision to make this March. Besides the fact that Alfaro was very good when he came up at the end of 2017, he is also out of minor league options and needs to remain on the big league roster. He has proven that he deserves to be in the conversation to start Opening Day, but that leaves either Rupp or Knapp as the backup and the other down to Lehigh Valley. You need an insurance policy at catcher so no one is going to get removed from the 40-man roster but with the Phillies planning on going with a four-man bench, they do not have the room for three catchers.
Non-roster players, Matt McBride, Logan Moore, Nick Rickles and Edgar Cabral are all also in big league camp and could serve a role on the IronPigs roster in the spring.