Backup Closer Wanted

For those of you who couldn't stay up late enough last night, you missed Seranthony Dominguez blowing his second straight save.

Seranthony w/rest: 0.82 ERA, 8.20 SO/BB

Seranthony when pitching on back-to-back days: 9.82 ERA, 1.38 SO/BB

— Joe Giglio (@JoeGiglioSports) August 7, 2018

Like many of the young Phillies, Dominguez is going through some on-the-job training. He's allowed 5 runs in his last 6.1 innings of work after allowing just 6 in his first 34 innings. He's working in relief for the first time in his career.

So who gets the call when you need a closer on back-to-back nights? Pat Neshek is a candidate, he of the 0.79 ERA. He's allowed exactly 1 run in his 11 appearances this season with 1 walk and 9 strikeouts. Tommy Hunter is another possibility and although he's pitched well as of late, he's a little too inconsistent. The third candidate would be Luis Garcia, who has only given up 25 hits in 30 innings with 34 strikeouts.

One name I don't think and hope you won't be seeing in the 9th inning is Hector Neris, who was banished to the minor leagues in June. In Triple A, Neris has a 1.62 ERA in 16 innings of work and has allowed only 7 hits while striking out 26. His WHIP is a minuscule 0.78 and he has not allowed a home run. He's doing a good job of rebuilding his confidence. But I don't think the middle of a pennant race is the place to try him in the 9th inning again.