It appears as if the Hector Neris era has come to a quick end with the Philadelphia Phillies.
After having another meltdown this time in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, the Phillies announced that they optioned closer Hector Neris to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Monday.
Replacing Neris on the 25-man roster will be left-handed pitcher Austin Davis, who has a record of 0-1 with an ERA of 2.43 in 22 games with Lehigh Valley.
This season has been nothing but a nightmare for Neris, who showed a significant amount of promise last season. In 30 games, the closer had 10 saves with a record of 1-3 and an ERA of 6.00.
Then to make matters worse, Neris gave up 18 earned runs and nine home runs in only 27 innings pitched.
In the 2017 season, however, Neris was a different pitcher and proved to the coaching staff that he should be the closer going forward. He saved 27 games for the Phillies and only had an ERA of 3.01.
Neris also did a good job of keeping the ball in the park, only giving up nine home runs in 74.2 innings pitched.
Nevertheless, it was about time that Phillies manager Gabe Kapler finally pulled the plug on Neris. The 29-year-old relief pitcher lost his job as the closer in May, after blowing two saves in a six-day span, which is just unacceptable.
On Saturday, Neris picked up his 10th save of the season, after pitching a scoreless ninth inning. It was his first save since May 21.
Neris’ inability to get outs over the last month or so has created save opportunities for other pitchers such as Seranthony Dominguez. The flame-throwing 23-year-old is a fan favorite and for good reason, he gets outs.
This season, he has three saves, a 1.27 ERA, and 27 strikeouts in 21.1 innings pitched.
Dominguez will likely receive more opportunities to close games and for the Phillies’ sake, they hope he can shut the door on opponents in the ninth inning.
