Phillies 2026 News and Discussion

[Austinfan]

This is probably the best group of DSL signings in the history of the organization.
The drafts are still uneven however.

[BostonRoss]

Overall, I think the Yankees have been about as bad than the Phillies at player development most of the time. Other than when George Steinbrenner was suspended and the 1996-2000 teams were built, they've mainly just acquired the highest profile players they could: Clemens, Giambi, Mussina, Sabathia, Stanton, etc. They've hit on a few (Judge and Rice, notably), but so have the Phillies.

[zambonir]

I feel like they traded away more good players than the Phillies ever did, though some of those were busts (but had more value at the time of any trade. Sort of self-fulfilling I suppose).

Funny, then, that the Phillies hired so many people from the Yankees organization! Of course, they too, did not hit on their LA/Tampa/Andrew Friedman guy, albeit by giving him the wrong job. And the Marlins will likely fail on that front too, as they already failed Ng too.

[EDmuch]

Tied with Cubs for 1st WC spot.

[zambonir]

Cubs hold tiebreaker. But it's been quite a rise up the standings. Wasn't that long ago Phillies briefy lost the 6th seed.

They'd probably have to really beat up the Braves - go 6-1 or 5-2 - to make a run at the East.

[Philsmania]

Cubs hold tiebreaker. But it's been quite a rise up the standings. Wasn't that long ago Phillies briefy lost the 6th seed.

They'd probably have to really beat up the Braves - go 6-1 or 5-2 - to make a run at the East.

Sometimes the schedule works that way. Phillies played the entire season series with the Cubs in April when they were in the midst of their 9-19 start and 3-15 swoon that ended the Rob Thomson Era while the Cubs were on a 20-3 run. Thirteen of the eighteen games in that swoon came against the Cubs and Braves. Not convinced the Cubs are that much better than the Phillies if at all. 2-11 against the Cubs and Braves during that stretch. It will be very interesting to see how the Phillies and Braves match up now.

[zambonir]

It remains lame that NL and division games are spread out this way, while the Phillies play AL teams 12 times in the last five weeks of the season. I'd rather things go back to the way they were but since they won't, it wouldn't bother me if there's realignment or crossover wild cards two CBAs from now (along with the still-inevitable expansion. I'm sure one of the reasons the owners want their cap now is it will jack up the expansion fee even more too, since franchise valuations in general would rise).

But over 162, these things still tend not to matter. A couple of weeks ago we also saw the last six against MIlwaukee and Tampa as being a big challenge but it's possible none of the three teams will have all that much to play for by then (Tampa definitely won't, Brewers maybe the bye, Philles maybe home field in WC).

[Philsmania]

Phillies record stands at 77-60 (91 win pace). Two really bad stretches--3-15 from April 7-26 and 3-10 from July 16-31, 6-25 combined during those two stretches--but, otherwise, they've played really well this season, though maddening at moments.

[zambonir]

As frustrating as the offense has been you can also pretty much write off April as a product of no Wheeler and far too much Walker/bad Andrew Painter. It's actually impressive they've overcome shaky Nola (earlier) and shaky Wheeler (now) and shaky'injury-plagued bullpens. But all teams are flawed.

[Philsmania]

As frustrating as the offense has been you can also pretty much write off April as a product of no Wheeler and far too much Walker/bad Andrew Painter. It's actually impressive they've overcome shaky Nola (earlier) and shaky Wheeler (now) and shaky'injury-plagued bullpens. But all teams are flawed.

Nola and Painter now, at the very least, keep them in games which they (and Walker) were not doing earlier. Painter's ERA is 3.82 since coming back while Nola's is 3.38 in his last seven starts. That has helped us get through Wheeler's recent issues. Perhaps Cotham and his pitching crew is an underappreciated hero for us? Yesterday was just on start for Wheeler but just maybe he's fixed all three on the fly.

[zambonir]

Sounds like they did a lot of work with Wheeler, the only question is why they didn't do it sooner.

[andyb]

The Phillies will not add Tommy Pham yet another time. Unsurprising that he was likely told today he would not be the September callup.

@JeffPassan tweeted
Trade news: The Chicago White Sox are acquiring outfielder Tommy Pham from the Philadelphia Phillies, sources tell ESPN. Pham is expected to join the White Sox when rosters expand Sept. 1. The 38-year-old rejoins the Sox after spending parts of 2026 with the Mets, O's and Phils.

— Passanthallich ( @passanthalbot.bsky.social ) August 31, 2026 at 2:14 PM

[zambonir]

Sounds like they did a lot of work with Wheeler, the only question is why they didn't do it sooner.

There's actually an interesting answer to this - the Phillies' biomechanics guy left for an assistant GM job in Japan before the season, and while they had other analysts, he returned to the Phillies and his old job on August 4.

How biomechanics and some serendipity helped Phillies ace Zack Wheeler find a...

“When I feel off, or stuff’s going wrong,” Wheeler said, “I really like looking at the biomechanics stuff because you can see a lot of different stuff, compared to the old-school video, that you might not see. They have the balls on your joints where you can see the smallest little difference.”

So, in the four days between one of the worst starts of his career and a much-improved outing Sunday in a 5-2 Philadelphia Phillies win over the Los Angeles Angels, Wheeler leaned on a trusted tool. An analyst, who was not a Phillies employee at the beginning of August, showed Wheeler a graph.

The ace was holding his glove 2 inches lower whenever he came set during his eight-run start against the Seattle Mariners. It had been trending downward all season. His posture was askew. It messed with his mechanics. He could not throw the baseball where he intended.

“So what do we do?” Wheeler asked. “Just bring the front arm up a little bit. Go from there.”

[dicemen99]

That’s really good stuff.

[Carver]

Great article...thanks!

[Callison]

Going into the Angels series, was thinking at last here are a few games the Phils can just put away. Not. Played the Orange Angels like they were the LAD.

The Phils' talent scouts have a lot of misses on the books shopping for under-valued players. Hill had a slow start and looked like he was going to be just one more, but he's shown some spectacular ability on D and several spectacular ABs. TWO bunt 1B's! Takes a whole lot of practice to be able to do that. Kinda fast - one of the announcers saying he wished for a moment he could feel what it was like to run like Hill. With Turner, Crawford and Hill the Phils have some real speed. Maybe Stubbs belongs on that list, too.

Good to see McFarlane show some ability, too. Paying some dues while he gets used to the next level as he muffs a DP nearly twice as he throws an awkward 1-bouncer to Bohm, but Bohm makes the play and saves the inning.

OTOH, Alvarado shows again he can't be trusted to hold a lead. This time Mattingly hooks him before he gives away a couple runs. I know some times it's hard to say "Sayonara"...

Trout goes 2 - 12. Not nearly looking like the star he once was and seeing at last why the Phils weren't interested. And why Trout wasn't interested.

[Philsmania]

Phillies trade Tommy Pham to White Sox. Tommy, we hardly knew you. Actually, only the folks in Allentown can say that.

White Sox To Acquire Tommy Pham

[Philsmania]

Going into the Angels series, was thinking at last here are a few games the Phils can just put away. Not. Played the Orange Angels like they were the LAD.

The Phils' talent scouts have a lot of misses on the books shopping for under-valued players. Hill had a slow start and looked like he was going to be just one more, but he's shown some spectacular ability on D and several spectacular ABs. TWO bunt 1B's! Takes a whole lot of practice to be able to do that. Kinda fast - one of the announcers saying he wished for a moment he could feel what it was like to run like Hill. With Turner, Crawford and Hill the Phils have some real speed. Maybe Stubbs belongs on that list, too.

Good to see McFarlane show some ability, too. Paying some dues while he gets used to the next level as he muffs a DP nearly twice as he throws an awkward 1-bouncer to Bohm, but Bohm makes the play and saves the inning.

OTOH, Alvarado shows again he can't be trusted to hold a lead. This time Mattingly hooks him before he gives away a couple runs. I know some times it's hard to say "Sayonara"...

Trout goes 2 - 12. Not nearly looking like the star he once was and seeing at last why the Phils weren't interested. And why Trout wasn't interested.

From listening to the game on the radio yesterday and seeing replay clips, it looks like the Phillies phan diaspora showed up in Anaheim this weekend. In fact, yesterday, Phillies phans sounded louder than Angel fans.

McFarlane has certainly been a revelation. I didn't know until listening to yesterday's broadcast that he was from St. Thomas, USVI. Back in the early '90's, I spent nearly a year of my life living in St. Croix, USVI. One-time Phillie Midre Cummings was from St. Croix which I thought was cool during the half-season he played for us.

At this point, watching Alvarado is probably more sad than frustrating or annoying. He's been a stalwart of our bullpen much of this decade but either he's washing up or his time in Philadelphia has run its course. Trout is also in the sad to watch category at this point.

[zambonir]

Stretching the definition of notable (which is why andy put it in the minor league thread since that is where he was and the only reason he could be traded). But nice he gets a shot somewhere, whether it was contractual or a favor by the Phillies.

[andyb]

At this point, watching Alvarado is probably more said than frustrating or annoying.

Of course everything is in the eye of the beholder. There is a Nationals article today in the Athletic saying the Nats need to sign a closer (their entire bullpen puts the fire in firemen) and they list a half dozen candidates including Alvarado. The Nationals had another 6-run 9th inning this past weekend and not even against the Phillies. It is a truly awful bullpen.