Per reports, one of the Phillies top bullpen arms, Seranthony Dominquez, has suffered a setback in his recovery from an elbow injury.
This is not good for a bullpen that is counting on it’s young arms to take the next step in 2020. Dominquez, who suffered the injury in the middle of last season, opted not to get surgery and attempted to rest and rehab to get ready for the 2020 season. If this is a major setback, the Phillies have already lost some major fire power in the back end of the bullpen and will now have to rely on uncertainties to step up once again in 2020.
Who will need to step up?
Dominquez was in line to be the 8th inning man for the Phillies this season. I believe this is Victor Arano‘s chance to step up for this ball club, he had a very strong rookie campaign in 2018 and missed most of the season in 2019 due to injuries.
In his rookie 2018 season he appeared in 60 games, posting a 2.73 ERA while striking out 60 batters in 59 innings of work. He only appeared in a few games in 2019 so asking him to jump in and be the 8th inning man is no easy task but if Seranthony is out an extended period of time Arano is the best candidate to step into his role in the beginning of the season.