Heading into the MLB trade deadline, one of the weaknesses that the Philadelphia Phillies were looking to address was in their bullpen.

Building a bridge to All-Star closer Jhoan Duran was proving difficult, especially with their biggest free agent signing, Brad Keller, landing on the injured list. One of their deadline additions, Caleb Kilian, ended up on the injured list as well after appearing in four out of six games.

That led to the Phillies finally turning to one of their top prospects, Alex McFarlane. It was his third stint with the Major League team after not making an appearance the first time and making his debut during the second.

This time, the promotion looks permanent, with McFarlane quickly solidifying himself as a reliable option out of the bullpen. And in his most recent outing, he had the biggest achievement of his young career, blowing away future Hall of Famer Mike Trout on three pitches.

Alex McFarlane emerging as legitimate bullpen option for Phillies

With one out and a man on first base in the bottom of the eighth inning, McFarlane faced off with the all-time great. His first pitch was a 100 mph sinker that hit the inside corner. The second pitch reached triple digits again, this time a four-seam fastball on the outside corner, down and away.

Both of those pitches were taken by Trout. On the third pitch, he got aggressive, swinging at a fastball near the top of the zone which McFarlane blew by him at 101 mph. If there were any doubts about whether or not the young right-hander was ready for the bright lights of The Show, he has quickly answered them.

As Jeff Kerr of Phillies on SI shared on X, McFarlane was throwing some serious heat against the Los Angeles Angels. Out of the 12 sinkers and four-seam fastballs that he threw, nine of them were clocked at 100+ mph. Two of the pitches that didn’t reach triple digits were just short at 99.7 and 99.9 mph.

There was real hesitancy on Philadelphia’s part to bring McFarlane up to the Major Leagues. They wanted to see him gain some late-game experience with Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Eventually, the Phillies’ hands were forced, and they turned to him because of an injury. It has turned out to be the right decision, with McFarlane steadily moving up the pecking order of interim manager Don Mattingly.

This season, the top prospect has made eight Big League appearances, throwing 8.1 innings with a 4-1 record, 1.08 ERA and eight strikeouts. The only trouble spot thus far is the four walks, but he has successfully been able to work around them.

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