Track Record: In his first two seasons at South Florida, Kerkering was almost exclusively a reliever. In his draft season, he shuttled between the rotation and the bullpen and achieved mixed results. Confident in what they’d seen in previous seasons, the Phillies drafted Kerkering in the fifth round in 2022. He moved through all four levels of the minor leagues in 2023, made his big league debut on Sept. 24 and was a part of the Phillies’ playoff roster.
Scouting Report: Kerkering works largely with two pitches--a high-90s two-seam fastball and a monster of a mid-80s slider that won Best Breaking Pitch in the Florida State, South Atlantic and Eastern leagues in BA’s Best Tools voting. The combination helped him rack up 79 strikeouts in 53.2 innings before his callup. He then added six more punchouts in three big league innings. The slider is so good, in fact, that he uses it to set up his fastball. He threw it 53% of the time in the minor leagues, then went even further by throwing it on 51 of his 60 big league pitches in the regular season. The slider’s effectiveness can be explained by two factors: The velocity and fierce, two-plane movement that includes roughly 17 inches of sweep. The results were a 51% miss rate in the minors and a 40% rate in the big leagues. Kerkering also has thrown a changeup and a curveball but used neither in the majors or minors. The biggest holes scouts could find in Kerkering’s game were a lack of elite life on his fastball and a need to better learn how to deploy his arsenal in the types of situations he’d face in pressure situations in the big leagues.
The Future: Kerkering is a near-lock to make Philadelphia’s bullpen on Opening Day. He should be an elite reliever for a long time.
Scouting Grades Fastball: 60 | Slider: 70 | Control: 45
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