The Philadelphia Phillies were able to salvage their series finale at home Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays, winning 7-6 in extra innings.
However, their biggest problem showed itself once again as the bullpen allowed Toronto to tie the game in the eighth inning and send it to extras. Unfortunately, the relief problem is not getting solved anytime soon and is only getting worse.
The Phillies lost another relief pitcher to injury Monday in their latest announcement. "Prior to tonight's game against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phillies placed RHP Caleb Kilian on the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain. To fill his spot on the 26-man roster, the Phillies recalled RHP Chase Shugart from Lehigh Valley (AAA)," the team wrote on X.
While Kilian has not been good with the Phillies, owning a 13.50 ERA across four appearances, he still represented an arm with big-league experience spanning parts of four seasons. Now Philadelphia had to replace him with Shugart from Triple-A, further depleting their organizational depth.
Shugart will hope to be a more reliable option in the role. The 29-year-old right-hander also has three years of big-league experience, and this year during his time with the Phillies he has posted a 4.93 ERA with 45 strikeouts across 38 1/3 innings of work.
Even if Kilian had not suffered the oblique strain, there is a chance Shugart could have been called upon in his place eventually, but now the Phillies have an extra right-handed option in their bullpen at a time when they desperately need one.
Whether he can provide the stability this bullpen has been searching for all season remains unclear.
