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Who could a new-look Phillies bullpen include?

All signs point to Jesen Therrien, a 23-year-old Canadian righthander, as one addition to the Phillies bullpen.

Jesen Therrien.
Jesen Therrien.Read more(AP Photo/John Raoux)
    by Matt Gelb
    Published 

When the Phillies return to action Friday, they may feature a new-look bullpen. The team could add two arms to the bullpen, and they could be unfamiliar faces.

There is one spot to fill with Pat Neshek dealt to Colorado. And, after Jake Thompson went unused for two days in the majors, the Phillies could want to return him to triple-A Lehigh Valley so he can rejoin their starting rotation.

The roster situation is a bit complicated. Neither Edubray Ramos or Ricardo Pinto, two arms the Phillies like and have used this season, are eligible to be promoted. Ramos was placed on the minor-league disabled list Wednesday with a blister on his right index finger. Pinto was optioned Tuesday, and he cannot return to the majors for 10 days unless he replaces an injured player.

All signs point to Jesen Therrien, a 23-year-old Canadian righthander, as one addition to the Phillies bullpen. Therrien has a 1.41 ERA in 57 1/3 innings with a 30.1 percent strikeout rate and 4.2 percent walk rate between Reading and Lehigh Valley. He is a minor-league free agent at the end of the season, unless the Phillies add him to the 40-man roster. They would like to audition him for two months.

[Timeshare at first base appears on the horizon for Joseph and Hoskins]

As for the other spot, the Phillies could simply keep Thompson in the majors as an extra arm. He is still a developing pitcher, though. They could swap Thompson for another one of the triple-A starters — Mark Leiter Jr. or Ben Lively — and use them as a bullpen arm for a few days. But that's just a temporary solution to the first temporary solution.

The Neshek trade was less about the return — three low-level minor leaguers — and more about clearing roster space for different faces. The deal will have a chain reaction: One byproduct was the promotion of Jeff Singer, a lefty reliever from Delran, N.J., to double-A Reading. Singer, 23, had a 2.34 ERA in 50 innings as the closer at high-A Clearwater. J.D. Hammer, one of the players acquired for Neshek, could slot into the closer's role at Clearwater.