The Philadelphia Phillies may not have one of their most important bullpen pieces available on Opening Day.

Phillies: Matt Strahm provides an update on injury recovery

According to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman, Phillies All-Star reliever Matt Strahm revealed this about his rehab from his current shoulder injury:

“I’ve got a little impingement in the shoulder, a little bone bruise back there. Just need to make sure we get the inflammation out, make sure the muscles around it are strong and hopefully it will clean itself up for the season,” Strahm said Monday morning.

I hope so,” Strahm said when asked about being ready come Opening Day. “Day by day. Cohen gets out here Thursday, he’ll get his hands on me, we’ll come up with a plan and go from there.”

Strahm will be needed for the Phillies’ bullpen in 2025

Approaching the 2025 MLB campaign without All-Star leadup man Jeff Hoffman or former All-Star closer Carlos Estevez, Strahm will be needed even more next season for the Phillies to put away teams late.

In 2024, the nine-year veteran boasted a pristine 1.87 ERA. Strahm went 6-2 across 66 games played. He struck out 79 batters while earning a career-low 0.750 WHIP.

The North Dakota native is a model of efficiency and precision who will likely dominate once back to form. He’ll be pivotal behind standout closer Jordan Romano next time out. Once his bone bruise and shoulder impingement are behind him, the Phillies will likely give him tune-up reps before deploying him on the mound again. It appears that the earliest he’ll return is sometime in April.