Young Phillies Reliever Set to Return From Injured List Sunday

Orion Kerkering Set to Return from IL

Once the Phillies make the transaction official, Nelson will be out of minor league options. This means if Nelson is recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley later on, he will either have to remain on the Phillies roster or be designated for assignment to clear a 26-man roster spot. Nelson will be one of four pitchers who are currently on the Phillies’ 40-man roster at Triple-A. The other three, Kolby Allard, Max Castillo, and Michael Mercado, have minor league options remaining.

Kerkering missed most of spring training dealing with the flu. Last season in three major league appearances, Kerkering had a 1-0 record with a 3.00 ERA and a 162 ERA+ with six strikeouts. During the postseason last year, he had a 3.38 ERA and five strikeouts with a -5.8% cWPA. In two spring training appearances this season, Kerkering recorded two strikeouts along with a 0.500 WHIP and did not allow an earned run.

The return of Kerkering gives Phillies manager Rob Thomson another option to close out a game. So far 15 games in this season, José Alvarado, Jeff Hoffman, Gregory Soto, and Ricardo Pinto have recorded saves. Alvarado has two saves while the other three have one save each. Thomson has been using a closer-by-committee system so far this season. That is not currently expected to change, even with Kerkering returning to the bullpen.