PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies are turning to one of the hardest-throwing arms in their farm system as they enter a week that could significantly alter their position in the National League playoff race.
The club is calling up right-handed reliever Alex McFarlane from Double-A Reading, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reported Monday. McFarlane will return to the major-league roster ahead of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park.
It is not a routine promotion arriving during an ordinary part of the schedule.
The Phillies dropped two of three to the New York Mets coming out of the All-Star break, including a flat 6-1 loss Sunday. They now welcome one of the National League’s strongest clubs before the New York Yankees arrive for a weekend series.
Six games against the Dodgers and Yankees would represent a difficult stretch under any circumstances. For a Phillies club sitting three games behind Atlanta in the NL East and only three games ahead of St. Louis for the final National League playoff position, the stakes are beginning to rise.
McFarlane offers the Phillies another power arm at a time when their bullpen needs reinforcements.
The 25-year-old has made 32 appearances for Reading this season, going 1-1 with a 2.06 ERA and 12 saves. He has struck out 47 batters over 35 innings while posting a 1.17 WHIP. Those numbers have made him one of the organization’s most effective minor-league relievers.
His arsenal gives the Phillies reason to believe those results could translate.
Mayo wrote for MLB.com in May that McFarlane’s fastball had been sitting between 96 and 97 mph and reaching 99. He also highlighted an 83-to-85 mph slider that had produced an exceptionally high rate of swings and misses during the opening portion of the season.
The Phillies originally selected McFarlane in the fourth round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Miami. Although he spent much of his college career in relief, Philadelphia initially attempted to develop him as a starter.
That path was interrupted by Tommy John surgery, which cost him the entire 2024 season. McFarlane returned last year but struggled to establish consistency in the rotation. The Phillies eventually moved him back to the bullpen, where his velocity increased and his two best pitches became more effective in shorter appearances.
The role appears to fit him.
McFarlane will not be expected to rescue the Phillies’ season or immediately assume the most important innings in the bullpen. He has yet to prove he can consistently retire major-league hitters, and the command questions that followed him through the lower levels have not completely disappeared.
But the Phillies need pitchers capable of missing bats. They need pitchers who can shorten innings rather than allowing traffic to build. McFarlane’s fastball-slider combination gives them another option with the raw ability to do both.
The timing matters.
Philadelphia had an opportunity to begin the second half with momentum against a struggling Mets club. Instead, the Phillies scored one run in each of their two losses and watched the series slip away.
The schedule now becomes considerably less forgiving.
The Dodgers can punish mistakes throughout their lineup. The Yankees bring another dangerous offense into Philadelphia this weekend. Neither opponent will allow the Phillies much time to search for answers once a game begins moving in the wrong direction.
This week will not decide the division or determine whether the Phillies reach October. There are still more than two months remaining in the regular season.
It can, however, change the shape of the race.
A strong homestand would allow Philadelphia to apply pressure to Atlanta while protecting its position in the wild-card standings. A poor one could create further separation in the division and bring St. Louis — along with the rest of the wild-card field — closer.
McFarlane represents only one roster move. But his arrival comes as the Phillies reach a point where every useful arm, every missed opportunity and every game against a postseason-caliber opponent carries greater weight.
This is an important week.
The Phillies cannot afford to treat it like anything else.
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