Phillies 2026 News and Discussion

[Callison]

Wheels got into some trouble along the way and Mattingly visited the mound. After listening to Wheels and JT, leaves him in. Faces more trouble, but doesn't flinch. Cool under pressure and sticks with his decisions.

Has some judgment to bring, too. Nola was in trouble but one out away from going 5. Mattingly pulls him.

IMHO, the team is in good hands.

[andyb]

NEWS: Preston Mattingly and four others from the Phillies are currently in Japan scouting Hanshin Tigers 3B Teruaki Sato.

Sato’s stats this season:
138 AB | 51 H | 15 2B | 10 HR | 30 RBI |
23 BB | 41 K | .370/.453/.739 pic.twitter.com/pIwsucUx4P

— Phillies Tailgate ( @PhilsTailgate ) May 16, 2026

Looking for a Bohm replacement next year along with a Miller contingency plan?

Really took off last year with 40 HRs after not showing much power. Average much higher this year. 27 years old.

Teruaki Sato Japanese & WBC Leagues Statistics | Baseball-Reference.com

Looks like the batspeed and exit velocity are very good. Questions about his 3B defense though it should be passable. He'll be expensive given age and scouting reports. Does not have the swing and miss issues that Murakimi had.

Teruaki Sato Looks MLB-Bound in Superstar Form | Just Baseball

[EDmuch]

If only we could finally get an Asian superstar ..........

[zambonir]

He's gonna miss his (half) brother's college graduation

Phillies Nation

[EDmuch]

More & more it seems that if Trout remains healthy after July 4, DD will go all in to get him to bat behind Harper for this Last Hurrah effort to get a championship fro this Core. Price will be Nori plus one other prospect. Unless there is a miraculous turn around from Garcia.

[zambonir]

Plenty of other ways to improve the team besides Trout, and plenty of reasons why it might not be him (the $, his no-trade and personal preference). Phillies also need a 3B a lot more than they need a RF, even if Garcia's defense hasn't been as great as hoped either (statistically). Possibly they need both. They also need to see a lot more from Turner, and Painter/Nola, to really be all-in, as DD tends to be conservative unless he really thinks it can get the team to the WS (and it still didn't last year).

Regardless, we'll see where the team actually is on July 4. How these last two weeks have gone still doesn't guarantee they'll still be any better than a .500 team at the bottom of the wild card contenders group by then. If they keep banking wins from May 29 on, then sure.

[DurhamBull]

More & more it seems that if Trout remains healthy after July 4, DD will go all in to get him

Is this personal speculation, or something you’re seeing reported somewhere?

[EDmuch]

About 3 weeks aog, one of Athletic writers (I forget who) said he thought merger between Trout and Phils was "inevitable". The idea that last nite's win contributed to this "inevitable" occurrence was my idea.

Although I really do not see any other obvious players that would put this version of the team "over the top".

[EDmuch]

I also think (just my opinion) that if they could get an OF who would be an effective No. 4 hitter, they could get by with Bohm at 3b.

[zambonir]

It sounds like something Bowden would say, that is also just him blowing smoke.

Actually, it was Keith Law, already posted by me in this thread, and responded to by many people here, to start the Trout chatter in the first place. See posts 327-372.

[zambonir]

Certainly adding a .900 OPS RHB can make you live with Bohm a little more easily. A lot depends on whether Bohm and Garcia are really this bad, and if one or the other of them will stabilize. If Garcia ends up being a 1.0 WAR player (for defense) and Bohm a -1.0 WAR player (which might be generous) than what Trout adds, net, is not that much more than if you could just replace Bohm with a 1.0 WAR player. But if Bohm's bat gets him above replacement level....

Of course Trout probably adds more in a playoff series but only if he actually makes it to October. It is still going to have to be a screaming deal (either very little trade cost or the Angels paying a lot) for the Phillies to be tempted. But they might also be making trades simply to make the playoffs, not just to win it all, as in 2022.

[allentown]

About 3 weeks aog, one of Athletic writers (I forget who) said he thought merger between Trout and Phils was "inevitable".

The exact same thing was 'everywhere' prior to Trout re-signing with Angels. He clearly doesn't love the Phillies as he does the Eagles, because it seemed the Phillies were willing to pay as much as Angels did. If he really wanted to join the Phillies he would have done so. Not saying he wouldn't be happy for a soft landing spot now, but we shouldn't give it to him.

[BostonRoss]

Pundits like to connect players to their hometown teams, but it doesn’t seem to happen very often in reality.

[Deadgmwalking]

Wouldn't be the first time Bowden blew smoke...

See posts 327-372.

As an aside, I like to think I read most of the threads on the site, but I have never seen someone with the dedication to cite their work in near MLA format.

[zambonir]

I don't think there was much chance of the Phillies adding Trout right after they signed Harper. He had two years left on his Angels deal. The Angels may have been afraid of losing him after 2020 and they also had to step up exceed Harper's deal to keep make Trout happy, but at no point was he truly available to the Phillies as a FA (nor was Middleton and MacPhail ever going to do that back then. Would have been nice if they'd been able to do that instead of Nick, but would they have ever signed Schwarber if so? It wasn't until 2023 that they got Turner.

[zambonir]

Haha, I was going to just requote my original post with Law's words but then I saw all the debate and figured that was simpler (at least for me). Of course arguably it all could move to either a premature hot stove thread or a Trout-only thread.

[Austinfan]

They need a RH power bat.
They're looking at that Japanese 3B, but that wouldn't be until next season.
Nothing in the system. Especially Lehigh.

[zambonir]

Well, in theory they have a potential RH bat in AAA, if not a slugger. But he's largely a myth right now.

There's no question Trout would help the team this year and could for another two or three years. He'll only have four years left on the deal and he wouldn't be expensive so long as the Angels are paying half. But still a high risk of getting nothing from him due to injury or falling off for good, as well as a continued poor defensive team (including Harper locked in at 1B).

In response to a recent Red Sox rumor:

. @JonHeyman says there's roughly a "5% chance" of seeing Mike Trout on the move this summer pic.twitter.com/dR8afdaNPU

— B/R Walk-Off ( @BRWalkoff ) May 13, 2026

[LegoDoom]

They need a RH power bat.
They're looking at that Japanese 3B, but that wouldn't be until next season.
Nothing in the system. Especially Lehigh.

Isn't he left handed?

[zambonir]

Yup. Due diligence more than anything. If his bat that's good you figure it out, plus the LHBs Marsh and Stott will both be one year from FA. But doesn't solve the overall line-up mix problem.