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Orion Kerkering was as good as advertised in MLB debut

Orion Kerkering made his MLB debut in Sunday’s win against the Mets. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

The Phanavision cameras cut to Orion Kerkering jogging to the mound to make his major league debut.

It was the top of the eighth inning of a 5-2 game against the Mets. The Phillies, a team with aspirations of playing deep into October, have decided that a 22-year-old who started the season in Low-A Clearwater is worthy of a chance to prove he belongs as a high leverage reliever.

Once he heard legendary public address announcer Dan Baker utter the words “Now pitching for the Phillies, making his major league debut, No. 50, Orion Kerkering” and the applause from the fans in attendance that followed, the nerves dissipated.

“Competing here in Philly is probably one of the best feelings ever,” Kerkering said.

He’ll get plenty of chances to compete again.

Kerkering struck out two and threw a 1-2-3 eighth inning. His first big league pitch was an 88 mph slider that landed for a strike. His last was a slider with an absurd 20 inches of horizontal break that tied up Rafael Ortega for the final out.

His ability to command the slider in the strike zone, throw it in the high 80s and get hitters to consistently chase out of the zone is why the Phillies have awarded him an extended look.

“I don’t know if it’s classified as a sweeper or not because it’s so hard, but it has that type of movement and that type of horizontal break, but it’s 88 mph,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said after the game. “It’s one of the more unique sliders I’ve seen in the game.”

“We knew the stuff was electric, and it really is,” Rob Thomson said after the game. “The slider is his pitch, but you can’t fall asleep on the fastball either, because it’s pretty darn good.”

It’s been an incredible journey for Kerkering. He was selected by the Phillies in the fifth round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of South Florida. After impressing in Low-A Clearwater, Kerkering was promoted to High A in May, Double A in July and Triple A just a week ago.

Overall, Kerkering posted a 1.51 ERA across four different levels of the minor leagues. He allowed only nine earned runs and struck out 79 batters over 53 2/3 innings.

The reason why he’s making his big league debut now and not May 2024 is because there is belief that Kerkering can handle the big moments.

“The only thing with guys coming up here is how they are going to handle this environment,” Thomson said. “How are they going to handle the third deck, 40,000 people in the stands, the passion of the city. He looked like he wasn’t even sweating it out there.”

Kerkering needed only five minutes to retire the side, but for his father Todd, it might as well have been an eternity. He went viral for his tearful reaction to his son’s debut.

“I heard everyone was crying,” Kerkering said with a smile. “It’s great for TV.”

Kerkering has a real chance at breaking the postseason roster. It could be just a matter of who he would replace. The Wild Card round requires teams to only carry three starters, but the Phillies, and every other playoff team, are going to need length with the regular season extra inning rules gone.

It’s why the Phillies will probably carry both Taijuan Walker and Michael Lorenzen on the Wild Card roster. Lorenzen threw an impressive 1-2-3 ninth inning and became the first pitcher since Matt Garza in 2010 to throw an individual nine-inning no-hitter and record a save in the same season.

“You get into a 16-inning game, you better have protection,” Thomson said before Sunday’s game. “That’s where those guys come in to play.”

If Kerkering’s stuff continues to look as good as it did on Sunday, the Phillies will probably find a way to make it work.