The Philadelphia Phillies blew a 2-run lead on Sunday afternoon to drop the series finale against the Cincinnati Reds 6-4.

Craig Kimbrel entered the game in the eighth inning and allowed a hit, a walk, and an earned run which cut the Phillies lead to just one-run heading into the top of the ninth inning. 

Seranthony Dominguez struggled to earn the save and left Phillies fans puzzled as to why he would be slotted as the closer in the first place. Dominguez then surrendered three hits, two walks, and three earned runs to give the Reds a 6-4 win.

While that seems like an overreaction so early on in the season, it’s hard to blame fans and their concerns.

Dominguez is an elite relief pitcher and one bad outing certainly doesn’t define what he can and is expected to be every time he takes the mound.

However, when you have someone pitching like Jose Alvarado, maybe a change in the closer role is needed.

Jose Alvarado has faced 13 batters in 2023:

1. K
2. Single
3. Groundout
4. K
5. K
6. K
7. K
8. K
9. K
10. K
11. K
12. K
13. K

Jose Alvarado

So yeah, asking for a change isn’t the craziest thing in the world but at the same time, Rob Thomson is a players manager and pulling Dominguez from the closer spot this early in the season could be a little premature.

We’ll see what the skipper does when the Phillies open up a series at Citizens Bank Park tonight against the Miami Marlins.

Read Full Recap from Yesterday’s Game Here >>

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