Phillies 2026 News and Discussion

[BostonRoss]

A crude measure, but Bryce’s dWAR has gone from -0.6 to -0.8 since moving to the OF. In a week. While Harper himself seemed to want to play RF, the Phillies should have expressed their appreciation, said no thanks, and traded for an outfielder (maybe in addition to Arraez).

[zambonir]

I don't think he really wants to play the OF, he just said he'd move for an impact bat, or to make the team better. They got the former without necessarily doing the latter.

But they can still make the best of the situation they created, because Stott looks great at 3B. Getting Bohm out of the line-up, Harper back to a less stressful position and a better defensive OF is win-win-win.

And Taylor Ward is hitting .148 with zero walks and -0.2 WAR on his new team.

[Austinfan]

I'm wondering if some in the FO don't want to admit they screwed the Bohm pick even though it was made well before the current grouip was running things.
Yes, he has a legitimate "clutch" bat, but it's not clutch enough to compensate for his fielding or his hitting without men in scoring position.
The allegence to Bohm makes no sense.

[JoeBas]

It's "The Phillies Way". 80 year old Alec Bohm will still be a special instructor at Spring Training.

[Carver]

Concerned to hear that Bryce has some knee pain, and that it started before they allowed him to move to RF.

This is where I become uncomfortable with the organizational process. From my perspective (but obviously without all of the facts), the decision should be simple:

• Protect your star player. He is an above average fielder at first; Bohm is not and nor is Schwarber.
• He is now an average RF, and the injury risk is greater as is the wear and tear.
• Why bother to keep Bohm's bat in the lineup? Seriously. He is gone after this year - who cares if he wants to sulk.
• BDLC / Hill are probably as effective or more at the plate anyway at this point.

It also sends a message - performance matters. We are not talking about a respected veteran, team leader and a guy that is under control for years in Bohm so just fix this now.

[zambonir]

Ha, I don't think it's some weird loyalty to Almaraz or some scout (even if he probably still works there). The mistake they aren't willing to eat wasn't in 2018, just the past two off-seasons and this trade deadline. Dombrowski may not own Bohm's presence as much as he did Castellanos or Walker, but he still has to own it. You have to wonder what he even expected to get for him had they actually landed Bichette. Clearly the offers were almost nothing this time. And he's probably still worth more than nothing as a bench player, but they have to make him one first.

I suppose I could imagine a scenario where the owner has a hard time releasing a once-beloved homegrown player who's also going through some personal challenges, but I doubt it's actually come up.

[Philsmania]

Nobody's going to give you much--or, indeed, anything--for a guy you want to get rid of and don't perceive any value in.

[zambonir]

Right, but that's the moment when your own valuation should match the market's.

Meanwhile - while I realize it's SSS and the guy is probably the same .700 career OPS guy he's always been - De La Cruz has a 1.022 OPS and 0.4 WAR and basically lost his job to Bohm via Harper.

[Philsmania]

At this point, 25% of the season is left. Releasing Bohm would mean they eat $2.5 million but $40.5 million total with Casty's and Walker's money added to that. The good news is that all that money comes off the books after this season.

A simple solution would have been to nontender him when they had a chance.

[zambonir]

I imagine they did prepare for the possibility of trading, benching or releasing him had Miller been ready to go. But between that and Sosa having an off year and Kemp/Reyes flopping, they didn't really have any options once Bichette bailed on them.

Now, however, they do. If he has one good game every two weeks and gets three or four good pinch-hits coming off the bench he'd be worth every penny. Just not worth it as a 1B who keeps De La Cruz (even more than Hill, who at least can still platoon in CF) on the bench and Harper in the OF.

I think the team is just tired (and old). It's completely reasonable for Sanchez, who pitched 200+ IP for the first time last year, and Wheeler, given his age and injury, to hit a wall for a while. Last year Luzardo did. And the big 3 are in fact our older players besides JT. The heat's getting to them, Harper and Schwarber both have known ailments, Turner's Turner, and then of course there's the pen. Doesn't mean they can't bounce back, but being out of gas is also a real possibility.

[Philsmania]

Would you release Bohm or send him to the bench?

With regard to the Phillies' so-so home record, the friend with whom I share the partial season ticket plan and I have discussed it and my friend is of the opinion that in the Phillies fanbase, there is a palpable sense of tense restlessness with this team which has been gradually building since game 6 & 7 of the 2023 NLCS and perhaps the Phillies sense that and that may cause them to play a little tight at home. Just a theory.

[zambonir]

Are you familiar with the concept of "quiet quitting"? I would just "quiet bench" him. Let him play against LHP occasionally and hopefully get some PHs. Kind of the same way Stott was actually a platoon player last year without anyone ever saying it. Bryce's knee and Kyle's back are both easy excuses.

It's just not clear that the front office views Bohm quite as negatively as we do, despite all the evidence that they should. They've said they're committed to him, that he gets RBIs, etc. Not that they'd say otherwise out loud, and he has sat for one game in each series.Considering they were carrying Stubbs as the fourth bench player and will get an extra spot in 18 days, not that hard to keep him around.

[flyers19rw]

I’d like to know what it would cost to sign Stott long term. If it’s reasonable, get his name on the bottom line. He’s not Chase but he plays the game the right way which is more than can be said of some of the guys in red striped jerseys. Guys like him should be part of the base of the team.
This series with St. Louis, as with ones in the past with Milwaukee, showed just how important defense is. With the absence of the long ball in today’s game, pitching, contact hitting and defense matter more than in past years. The Phillies need to adjust their lineup and play to this. SP they have. BPs can be (re)built. In some ways, the defense has improved. I like Crawford in CF. He covers a lot of territory which makes it easier for the corner OFs.
The infield is too leaky. SS is a black hole that needs to be fixed. Turner is just bad and that affects everyone else in the IF. He has to either go to LF or to another club in a trade. It has to be put to him in those terms. He isn’t the SS going forward. An IF of Stott,?, Arraez, Harper and JT is passable.
At the plate, some nits and gnats hitters need to be added to the order. Guys who can put the bat on the ball. The rate of strike outs with the club is not acceptable. So is the RISP that are LOB. In two of the last three games the club had the bases loaded with no outs and failed to score. That’s not professional performance. It happens too often.
This doesn’t mean that a tear down of the club is needed. Some guys need to be moved but others need an attitudinal adjustment. Turner in particular is a problem. He just doesn’t make changes to his game. Under the right terms he could be moved. Might have to eat some money or take on a poor contract to make the exchange work but he can’t be allowed to stay at SS destroying the defense and messing up the batting order by swinging at low and away pitches. He isn’t going to alter his game. If he was capable of doing that it would have happened by now.

[BostonRoss]

Interestingly, Turner has not made an error in August yet. All the errors since the position shifts have been made by Bohm. Turner has never been a great defensive shortstop, but his problems seem to come in bunches (also true about his offense).

[zambonir]

I'd like to see Stott stick around but you just never know with Boras guys. Pretty safe to say the chance of him taking an extension before the lockout is slim. Unless, that is, Boras thinks contracts will shrink after the new CBA. But if the Phillies think that too, they'll want to wait.

I don't think the era of the long ball is over though. This team is missing power (home run and otherwise). Good power guys also walk. RISP failings are always frustrating in the moment but not the be-all and end-all. Phillies have the third-best OPS in MLB with RISP, so clearly that's not the problem - nor the thing that produces runs most efficiently.

[Philsmania]

Turner is an untradeable toxic asset as is Nola.

[flyers19rw]

It all depends on what the Phillies put into and take on in a deal. There are other clubs with albatross contracts that they might want to shed. This is where the FO would need to be creative.

[EDmuch]

Turner is not al albatross contract. He is still a talented player. He may be an albatross is the future. But not now. The albatross is Nola.

[andyb]

Right-handed pitcher so he probably won't start, but hopefully Derek Hill gets to play some tonight in his home state.

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[phillychuck]

This team is losing active fans at an an alarming rate, almost as fast as they are losing games. It’s a shame.