Categories: Phillies Nuggets with Tim Kelly

Could reacquiring David Robertson make sense for Phillies?

David Robertson hardly pitched during his time with the Phillies. (Ian D’Andrea)

ESPN‘s David Schoenfield penned a column Saturday outlining how the right tweaks at the deadline could turn a Philadelphia Phillies team that’s holding onto the final Wild Card spot currently into a World Series-caliber team, much like what happened to the Atlanta Braves a year ago.

One of the suggestions that Schoenfield had was that the Phillies add a veteran reliever capable of pitching in the eighth or ninth inning, going on to say that David Robertson “is the obvious candidate.”

“Obvious” may not be the word used by those who remember Robertson’s first stint in Philadelphia, although perhaps the outsider perspective here is the correct one.

For as well as some of the major acquisitions that the Phillies made before the 2019 season — Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Jean Segura — have panned out, the signing of Robertson to a two-year/$23 million deal proved disastrous.

Over the lifetime of that contract, Robertson made a grand total of seven appearances for the Phillies. Ultimately, the long-time New York Yankee had Tommy John surgery in August of 2019. There was some hope he would return late in the 2020 season and help bail out what ended up being a historically-bad bullpen, but a setback in late August of that year squashed any idea of him taking part in the pandemic-shortened season.

But while it seemed very possible at that time that Robertson would be finished after spending more than a decade in the league, he revived in 2021. After pitching for Team USA in the Olympics, Robertson signed with the Tampa Bay Rays and made 12 regular season appearances and three in the postseason.

That netted Robertson a one-year/$3.5 million deal with the Chicago Cubs, which has proven to be one of the better investments of this past offseason. Now 37, Robertson has a 2.23 ERA and 3.52 FIP in 36 games. Despite sweeping the Phillies in the first series after the All-Star Break, the Cubs are 41-59, one of the worst teams in the league. Jed Hoyer and the Cubs are certain to move Robertson before Tuesday’s trade deadline.

USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale reported Sunday that both the Yankees and New York Mets have interest in Robertson.

We’ve yet to see a report actually connecting the Phillies to Robertson, but there’s no reason why Dave Dombrowski and company shouldn’t have interest in him. Robertson is pitching well in 2022, has a slew of postseason experience and likely wouldn’t cost a ton to acquire given that he’ll be a rental. Things didn’t work out in Robertson’s first stint not because he couldn’t handle pitching in Philadelphia — he’s done just fine in New York and Chicago — but because his body failed him. That problem is now corrected.

Seranthony Domínguez and José Alvarado have both performed like legitimate back-end relievers of late. Andrew Bellati and Nick Nelson have been positive developments. Heck, Corey Knebel’s ERA is down to 2.59. Sam Coonrod, who has electric stuff, is currently rehabbing at Triple-A Lehigh Valley and could make his season debut relatively soon. Adding another starting pitcher and an upgrade in center field do feel like bigger priorities than another back-end reliever.

But you can never have too many arms this time of year, especially ones with extensive postseason experience. And what a story it would be for Robertson to return to the Phillies and be part of the team that brings playoff baseball back to Citizens Bank Park for the first time since 2011.