The Philadelphia Phillies have made a significant move by signing reliever Kirby Kates to a two-year contract, addressing a key area of need in their bullpen. Kates, a veteran closer known for his All-Star caliber performances and his ability to dominate late-game situations, is expected to strengthen Philadelphia’s pitching depth as they aim to solidify their postseason aspirations.
The 36-year-old brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record, including several standout seasons that showcased his impressive strikeout rate and reliability under pressure. This signing reflects the Phillies’ intent to remain competitive in the NL East and challenge the reigning division champions, the Atlanta Braves. By securing Kates, they address previous bullpen inconsistencies, a crucial step for a team aiming to contend for the World Series.
While details of the financial terms are yet to be disclosed, this move underscores the Phillies’ strategy of targeting experienced, high-impact players in free agency to complement their existing roster. With Kates’ arrival, Phillies fans can look forward to more stability in closing out tight games, a recurring challenge in recent seasons.
This acquisition follows a trend of bolstering bullpen depth among MLB teams this offseason and positions the Phillies to compete more effectively in one of the league’s toughest divisions.
The Phillies are already one of the oldest teams in baseball, so they might as well lean into it by giving someone that will turn 38 right before the season begins a new deal.
Yates may be older, but has proven that he still has plenty of juice left in the tank. Last season, for the Rangers, he posted an impressive 1.17 ERA over 61.2 innings of work and picked up 33 saves along the way.
It was his second-career All-Star campaign and best since the last time he received the honor back in the 2019 season.
While it seems unlikely that a 38-year-old would be able to repeat that same level of success, he could even regress to the 3.28 ERA he had the campaign before and still be a successful signing.
He was impressive in nearly every category. The only thing that he struggled with was walks, something that has plagued him in the latter half of his career, but he was so hard to hit that it was not really an issue to worry about.
Yates gave up just 3.4 H/9 and logged an impressive 12.4 K/9. When he wasn’t handing out free bases, he was just simply shutting batters down.
Philadelphia’s bullpen finished with a staff ERA of 3.94, which ranked No. 14 in MLB. It isn’t awful, but it is also clear as to why it was a focus entering the offseason.
The Phillies have already found their likely new closer in Jordan Romano, but that shouldn’t keep them from pursuing Yates.
Both players have their vices, one is old and the other is coming off of a 6.59 ERA campaign over 15 appearances. Given how old the team is getting and their championship window closing, it would be foolish for them to put all of their eggs into one basket.
There is no such thing as too many quality relievers, so an investment in Yates is still a good move.
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