Entering the 2016 season, Hector Neris was largely written off as another middling to useless reliever on a team that appeared to be suffering from an epidemic of that sort. Enabling the stereotype were lofty numbers like 4.72 and 1.79, or the respective FIP and HR/9 that Neris pitched to the year prior. The Phillies’ bullpen looked like an impending train wreck, and Neris’ inclusion on the train was mostly seen as inconsequential. Mostly.
An anonymous Phillies’ blogger did not share this sentiment, and in a prescient post on the topic, made a compelling argument that Neris was actually a viable late inning option.