Phillies possibly interested in Todd Coffey

The Phillies pitching staff has a 4.59 combined ERA, good enough for the fourth-worst in all of baseball. By itself, the bullpen has been flirting with a 5.00 ERA that goes up dramatically if you don't include Jonathan Papelbon's numbers.

Presumably, after a month and a half of this, they are ready to make some changes. And according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation, those changes have names.

Farnsworth's name popped up almost as soon as he was available, but he signed with the Astros Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, Todd Coffey has been on the Phillies' radar for some time. Not necessarily because they wanted to trade for him, but because he has a trademark routine:

Sprinting in from the bullpen is fun to watch, but less fun to watch is a man's ERA balloon up to 4.66, as Coffey's did in 2012, the last time he pitched in the Majors.

The 33-year-old righty had a solid 2009 for the Brewers, when he pitched in 83.2 innings, but kept his ERA under 3.00 and struck out 65 while only walking 21. Things have been downhill since then, with his walk rate remaining similar in 2010, but his he gave up the same amount of runs in 20 fewers innings.

Coffey bounced back slightly for the Nationals in 2011, but his career numbers are not impressive and he has a history of shoulder issues, culminating in two Tommy John surgeries, the second of which ended his 2012 season in early July.