How will Phillies round out their bullpen in 2026?
After signing right-hander Brad Keller and trading away lefty Matt Strahm, the Phillies seem to have the main members of their bullpen set. Jhoan Duran will return as the closer, Keller and Orion Kerkering will serve as the later-inning righties and José Alvarado and Tanner Banks will be the club’s go-to lefties. Taijuan Walker finished the 2025 season as a reliever, but he’s likely to open the year as a starter with Zack Wheeler potentially getting a late start.
That leaves three other spots in the bullpen to begin 2026.
Of course, there’s still over a month until spring training begins in Clearwater, Fla., so there’s plenty of time for Philadelphia to add more relief depth. But as things stand, the Phillies have a handful of obvious internal candidates to round out the back of the bullpen. Here’s a breakdown of which pitchers could win a job out of camp.
RHP Jonathan Bowlan
If Bowlan is not a lock for one of the final bullpen spots, he’s as close as you can get. When the Phillies acquired him in exchange for Strahm last month, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the team is “counting on” the right-hander to be on the major-league roster. Bowlan, 29, is out of minor-league options and has somewhat limited big-league experience, although he did have a 3.86 ERA in 34 appearances for Kansas City last season. He can throw multiple innings and should be able to pitch as either a long man or middle reliever.
RHP Zach McCambley
The Phillies took McCambley in the Rule 5 draft, meaning he has to remain in the majors all season or else the team has to offer him back to the Marlins organization. The Phillies could be incentivized to keep McCambley on the roster, especially if he can prove to be effective against right-handed hitters in the big leagues. He had a 2.90 ERA in the minors last year and limited righties to a .490 OPS.
LHP Kyle Backhus
The club traded for Backhus shortly after dealing away Strahm, adding another lefty to the mix. He had a 4.62 ERA in 32 games for the Diamondbacks in 2025. Backhus did have extreme splits as righties hit a staggering .365 off him while lefties batted just .139. If the Phillies want to carry a third lefty that can be more of a left-on-left specialist, Backhus could be that guy. He does have minor-league options remaining.
RHP Zach Pop
Pop signed with the Phillies on a major-league deal last month after struggling to stick with a major-league team in 2025. He allowed 11 earned runs in five combined appearances with the Mariners and Mets. Pop is another pitcher who can throw more than one inning, and he did have some success earlier in his career with the Marlins. The 29-year-old is out of minor-league options, so the Phillies would have to designate him for assignment if he does not impress enough during spring training to make the team.
RHP Max Lazar
Lazar has been up and down between the big leagues and the minors over the past two seasons for the Phillies, and it could be like that again in 2026 since he still has options. But when he’s up in Philadelphia, manager Rob Thomson seems to trust Lazar in a variety of roles. The righty is a different look out of the bullpen without overpowering stuff. He had a 4.79 ERA in 36 outings last year, finishing 19 games.
RHP Seth Johnson
The Phillies acquired Johnson at the 2024 trade deadline and turned him into a reliever last season. He had a 4.26 ERA in 10 appearances. He’s a relatively hard thrower and can provide some length, but the Phillies seemed to prefer Lazar over Johnson in 2025. Johnson was granted an extra option year for 2026, according to The Athletic’s Matt Gelb.
Additional Candidates
Right-hander Nolan Hoffman made one relief appearance for the Phillies in 2025 and is still in the organization. Alan Rangel was also the team’s long man out of the bullpen at different points, but the club might need him at Triple-A as rotation depth to start the year. Prospect Alex McFarlane was added to the 40-man roster this winter and has plus stuff, but he’s probably a long shot to open up the year in the majors since he hasn’t pitched above Double-A.
In terms of dark-horse candidates, Daniel Harper and Andrew Walling were summoned to Philadelphia to throw live batting practice to Trea Turner and Edmundo Sosa as they recovered from injuries near the end of the season. Jack Dallas had a solid year at Double-A and a strong showing at the Arizona Fall League.