Phillies 2026 News and Discussion

[Jazzhead]

Zach Littell might be a realistic trade target. Historically, he's had excellent command although not so much this year.

[flyers19rw]

It’s obvious that the first thing that Painter needs to do is get his head cleared of the negativity that the start of this season has created. He’s better than what he’s shown. Next phase will be for him to re-work his mechanics. His extension and release points are off. Finally he needs to trust that his elbow isn’t going to blow up when cranks off some pitches. The Phillies need to be patient with him.

[zambonir]

Entering Thursday, the Phillies were 4-15 and outscored by 72 runs in games pitched by Painter and Taijuan Walker, whom they released in April. They were 36-19 with a plus-54 run differential in games pitched by everyone else.

Story says Painter probably won't pitch for about 10 days, and then his AAA starts could be like spring training starts, where he mostly works on his mechanics and his fastball even if it gets hit more along the way. I think that's fine, his job is not to win Iron Pigs games and doing it in A games would be too easy (and with the wrong ball, right?).

How Phillies plan to help Andrew Painter fix issues that plagued his MLB intro

[Austinfan]

I'm not worried about Painter, he's regained his velocity, he has a full menu of solid secondary pitches.
I just think he's messed up mentally and his mechanics need work.
Some of it may be subconscious fear of reinjury.

[phillychuck]

He needs to throw his 2 seamer more and junk the 4 seamer if he can’t get more spin on it. His 2-seamer is pretty good. 4 seamer is -12 runs, 2 seamer is -0.5 according to fangraphs. Just show the 4-seamer above the zone and throw mostly 2 seamers.

[bkox]

They were 36-19 with a plus-54 run differential in games pitched by everyone else.

I was shocked that we are 8-7 when Nola starts. I would have thought that would have been worse

[andyb]

There is luck involved but at least Nola gives us more innings than most bad pitchers. Painter is out before the 5th regularly.

[phillychuck]

The triple was a bad scoring decision...at least historically... scoring seems more random these days. I would have scored it a double and Harper took third on the throw home. But whatever.

Here is commentary on this kind of scoring decision from MLB:

The key principle is that the batter is credited only with the bases he would have reached without the defense's attempt to retire another runner.

If, in the scorer's judgment: the batter would have been safely on second, but would have been out at third had the defense thrown there, then the batter has not "earned" third base on the hit itself. He reached third because the defense elected to make a play at the plate instead.

The fact that the batter never stopped running doesn't change the scoring. The scorer is not asking whether the batter hesitated; the scorer is asking what base he would have reached if the defense had played him directly.
So the scorebook would typically show:
2B for the batter,
runner from first scores,
batter advances to third on the throw home.

Top picture the SS is already throwing home and Harper is barely around second. Bottom picture ball is halfway to home and harper is still 40 feet from third.

How many times in his Phils’ career has Harper tripled to LCF at the Bank on a cleanly handled ball? I think the answer is zero before tonight.

[EastFallowfield]

[zambonir]

I think there are probably 50 home-cooked scoring decisions like that a year in every park these days, that one just felt bigger because of the circumstance and context (versus a hit/error or WP/passed ball. And also too big to be overturned

[zambonir]

Here's Matt Gelb's lawyerly interpretation.

As the Mets made a pitching change in the fifth inning with Harper due to hit and runners on first and second, Kyle Schwarber ambled back to the dugout.

“We all said it to him,” Stott said. “Kyle, you better run.”

Stott and Trea Turner, his double-play mate, had tried to foresee how it would happen. “Where are you going to hit your triple?” Turner had asked Harper in the fourth or fifth inning. Stott told Harper he had to hit the angled part of the wall in center field.

“Then,” Stott said, “he hit the ball into left-center, and we were like, ‘Oh, no. This isn’t the one.’”

It was not, by any standards, a normal triple. Harper would have been out by at least 30 feet had the cutoff man not fired home. But Harper never stopped running, and by definition, he did not advance to third on the throw home.

“It was a perfect storm,” Stott said.

Schwarber also said he was going home no matter what because he knew Harper wasn't going to stop.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7379726/2026/06/20/bryce-harper-cycle-phillies-mets/?unlocked_article_code=1.r1A.w8at.MAgRs--7x9fH&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta

[BostonRoss]

The scorer made the right decision because:

• He didn’t want to get booed out of the ballpark

• He knew it would be cool history

• He avoided an argument (the Mets certainly didn’t care)

• The way the Mets are going, they probably would have blown the play at third base

[zambonir]

Lazar down, Backhus back, Bryse Wilson down. So presumably Rangel coming up.

[andyb]

Bullpen game /5th starter slot was moved up to today to give others an extra day rest. So they were clearly going to swap (and potentially lose) Wilson.

They need Backhus. Not sure he is that good,, but we are just going to rotate lefties till we find a combo that works.

[zambonir]

I don't imagine Wilson will get claimed or actually find another job but I guess he did pitch pretty well in his most recent AAA stint. Phillies already released Rutledge and brought back Allard, so, still churning the depth. And Painter just replaces Rangel in LV rotation, if not this week.

[andyb]

Kolby Allard pitched yesterday Could easily see him being the 5th starter after they do a bullpen game tonight. Might depend upon whether the opposition hits lefties well I guess since he probably gets lost in a DFA when they send him back down.

[zambonir]

I think it's just a regular start for Rangel tonight, or maybe an opener plus Rangel. Bullpen game, they could have just left Wilson up, he's gone three days since pitching two innings. Rangel's on four days rest, and I assume he's better than Allard (based on what we saw of Allard before and the fact that he got released this year. He already went unclaimed on DFA this year though Not for a while, since he never got back to the majors after April).

[andyb]

Allard was pitching about as well as Rangel. In Columbus his ERA was exactly the same as Rangel at LHV (4.11). And he opted out of his contract because he did not get promoted to the majors so he really was not released.

I am sure the Phillies want to look at him once or twice in the minors, but his resume is very similar to Rangel at this point except for the options. I think Rangel goes 3 or 4 tonight so it will still be a glorified bullpen game.

[zambonir]

Oh you mean they were forced to release him. I suppose it's possible he has an opt-out with the Phillies too then, or he just saw there was an opportunity here (or was promised one).

Hopefully Abel pitches well enough to go 4-5 rather than 3-4. He actually got a five-inning save for the Phillies last year (in the game where Abel didn't get an out and Phillies still took an 11-0 lead after three).

The pen still feels thin with the lefty issues. At least Keller won't be out long I don't think (and hopefully better).

[andyb]

Just like we were forced to call up Wilson - though I think he is less good and thus less likely to get a major league deal as a free agent.

One thing all these AAAA guys like is a team with an open rotation spot and no prospects ready to take it. Something the Phillies offer in addition to being a winning team.