CINCINNATI — Wednesday’s game unraveled with a slider taken deep to right-center field. Elly De La Cruz raised his arms rounding toward home as fireworks erupted next to the scoreboard. The two-run blast was nowhere near the end of the ugliness for the Philadelphia Phillies or reliever Tanner Banks, who gave up three consecutive home runs in a fourth inning that featured four homers, five runs and 26 pitches as the Phillies lost 11-5 to the Cincinnati Reds.“You think, ‘When’s the ball going to start turning and rolling the other way?’” Banks said of his poor performance this season. “I just need to be better at getting (the ball) to here and here and here and not just here, here, here.”The Phillies prioritized building bullpen depth in the offseason, but some cracks have started to show. From June 8 through July 7, the bullpen had a 5.40 ERA and 1.51 WHIP, ranking No. 25 in MLB in both. Its ranks in categories such as strikeouts and fWAR are significantly higher, but that has not always translated to success. Perhaps no outing displayed these problems better than Wednesday’s disaster, which featured eight runs, eight hits and four walks — the vast majority coming against lefties José Alvarado and Banks.The left-handed relief situation is a huge piece of all of this; Alvarado and Banks combined to give up eight runs Wednesday. The two have the worst ERAs among qualified lefty relievers league-wide: 7.14 for Banks and 7.03 for Alvarado. As for other options, Kyle Backhus, an offseason addition, was sent down after giving up five runs in 5 2/3 innings since June 24. Tim Mayza has been fine, at least. But the whole situation is untenable.“Obviously, tonight didn’t look very good,” Phillies manager Don Mattingly said of the lefties. “We’ve probably been searching for that more than anything through the course of this kind of season.”The latest MLB draft intelKeith LawMattingly cited poor luck on batted balls as perhaps one reason for Alvarado’s struggles. Entering Wednesday’s game, Alvarado had the worst BABIP of any qualified lefty reliever (.437). Banks, who gave up three consecutive homers Wednesday, said he feels like a “one-trick pony,” showing hitters much of the same over and over at similar speeds.Whatever the reason, their struggles might leave president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski hunting for relief help at the deadline yet again. In the meantime, Mattingly said he will consider deploying “the best guy” rather than selecting pitchers based on upcoming batters’ handedness.Seeking a setup man might be in the cards as well, depending on the next few weeks. That is because so much of this also hinges on Brad Keller, who was activated Wednesday after three weeks on the injured list with forearm tendinitis. Keller was signed effectively to be the Phillies’ setup man. But he was nowhere near his 2025 version in his first 30 1/3 innings with Philadelphia, giving up as many homers (four) as he allowed all of last season while producing a 4.15 ERA.In his absence, the bridge to closer Jhoan Duran has been shakier — particularly Orion Kerkering, who has walked the bases loaded twice in just over a week. Not much damage has come of it; Kerkering has given up four earned runs since the beginning of June and none in his last six outings. But it is still an issue.“I still like his stuff and where he’s been,” Mattingly said, “but obviously the walks are something you hate seeing late in the game.”Keller threw 14 pitches in his first outing back, appearing when the Phillies were down 11-4. He walked one batter, but otherwise it was an inning with little fanfare — a welcome reprieve from the rest of the game. Mattingly said pregame he wasn’t entirely focused on Keller’s first outing but what would follow.“This was nothing major,” Mattingly said, “but the bounce back is different when you’re feeling that kind of stuff. Because then, the next day, you’re not feeling great. You’re just taking another day to recover, and it’s putting pressure on another guy. (I’m) looking forward to having him healthy. Not worried about what his stuff’s going to look like. It’s going to be good.”The Phillies have to hope so. Keller was a significant investment, signed to a two-year, $22 million deal in December. Should he pitch as he did in 2025 with the Chicago Cubs, the Phillies would have a more effective and less stressful bridge to Duran — and perhaps would be saved from trading for a high-leverage reliever at the deadline.Still, Keller is just one moving piece in a bullpen with question marks of late. Reinforcements might be on the way in just a few weeks.Jul 9, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms