Phillies’ Dave Dombrowksi Reveals Plan to Target Relief Pitching at MLB Trade Deadline originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
At the 2025 MLB trade deadline, the Philadelphia Phillies and Dave Dombrowski have a challenging task ahead of them. The Phillies need to add a reliever, who could use help in the outfield.
Dombrowski revealed his trade deadline plans in a piece from Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He identified the team’s primary target at the trade deadline, with the Phillies looking to add a bullpen arm by the end of the month.
“Well,” Dombrowski said, “It’s not going to be our starting rotation, and our lineup doesn’t have an abundance of places that are a hole. So, I think almost by process of elimination, [the bullpen] would be the area we would address most openly.”
While he intends to look closely for bullpen help, Dombrowski did lay out a stipulation that could cause the team not to over-pursue any arms.
“I do look at the bullpen needs differently,” Dombrowski said. “Because if we’re fortunate enough to get to the postseason, our bullpen is going to get some major additions to it because our starting pitching is very deep.”
With seven potential starters, multiple pitchers could be moved to the bullpen in October for a postseason run. That could affect how Dombrowski views the trade deadline. Instead of trying to land multiple relievers, he could look to the starting rotation for bullpen help.
But, while he plans to make such changes in October, the Phillies are still planning to add bullpen help. Jordan Romano has been rough, while Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering have had their ups and downs this season.
While they have a backup plan in the starting rotation depth, the Phillies plan to add a reliever by the end of the month. Although the specific player he’ll target is unknown, by the end of the month, the Phillies bullpen is expected to be home to at least one new player by August.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.