Orion Kerkering was back at Dodger Stadium on Friday for the first time since the error that turned last October’s NLDS Game 4 into a lasting wound for the Phillies. The right-hander returned to the same ballpark where a softly hit bases-loaded grounder got away from him and over J.T. Realmuto’s head, ending the 11-inning game and sending Philadelphia home with a postseason memory it would rather not revisit.
This time, Kerkering arrived with a different kind of attention. He has a 2.21 ERA this season, has not allowed an earned run in his last three appearances and already has four holds and one save, numbers that have kept him in key relief work for Philadelphia. He also developed a new splitter over the offseason, and hitters have not touched it in 18 tries. That pitch has become part of the reason the Phillies are comfortable using him in tighter spots even as the setting brings back what happened here last fall.
Kerkering said he is trying to treat this trip like any other road series, even if the last one ended with the kind of mistake that lingers. “I’m just going in there like it’s another game, not really try to overthink it, and just go after guys while I’m there,” he said. “Just trying to build off of a bad memory. Put that foundation down, for sure.”
He has not tried to hide from the play, and he has said he does not want it to define him. Instead, he has kept pushing toward the future, saying he was hoping to play 10 more years. His confidence shows in the numbers too: opposing batters have hit.154 against his two-seam fastball this season after averaging.317 against it last year, a sharp enough change to explain why the Phillies are sending him into important innings again.
Realmuto said Kerkering has been one of Philadelphia’s most dependable arms, especially this year, and praised the way he has attacked the strike zone. For the Phillies, the return to Los Angeles is not just another stop on the schedule. It is a chance to see whether the pitcher who lived through one of their most painful playoff plays can keep turning the page in the same place where it happened.
