Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/4fjs9jud

PHILADELPHIA — Hours after taking over as Phillies interim manager, Don Mattingly was in a familiar spot: at first base next to a bucket of baseballs, helping run pregame infield/outfield practice.

“I’m always in the role that I was in in the past or, you know, before this happened,” he said Tuesday. “I’m the support staff, right?”

“Donnie Baseball” — an iconic former player who was king of New York with the Yankees for most of a decade in the mid-1980s through the early ‘90s — signed on as Phillies bench coach before spring training. He neither expected nor wanted to become the new skipper.

“Dave asked. That’s pretty much it,” Mattingly said of accepting the managerial job, referencing team president Dave Dombrowski, who let Rob Thomson go Tuesday morning. The gig likely won’t extend beyond this season, win or lose, but who knows?

“I came in here not wanting to be in front, knowing how good these guys were and the style of play they had, never feeling comfortable with the lead — things like that,” Mattingly said. “I love Topper.”

Mattingly, whose son Preston is the Phillies’ general manager and Dombrowski’s right-hand man, previously managed the Dodgers and Marlins. Most recently he was bench coach with the Toronto Blue Jays, who lost a classic seven-game World Series to the Dodgers last fall.

He is third in a succession of former Yankees to serve as Phillies manager, starting with Joe Girardi in 2020, then Thomson, who took over in June of 2022.

“I don’t think they’re looking for ex-Yankees, right? We’re trying to win games at this point,” Mattingly said.

But the 65-year-old former first baseman, whose plaque in Yankee Stadium’s vaunted Monument Park sits between Reggie Jackson’s and Ron Guidry’s, said he feels like he has begun to develop a rapport with many players here — even if he’s still getting to know some of them — thanks to his support role.

“While you’re doing that (role), you know, you have conversations with players,” Mattingly said. “I like these guys. … I want to have more conversations.”

During a whirlwind day after Thomson’s firing, Mattingly did address the team as a whole.

“Really what we talked about was us being ourselves and playing good baseball,” he said. “It’s about doing all the little things — getting ahead in counts, being aggressive on the bases, good at-bats up and down the lineup. All those things contribute to wins.

“You feel this coming,” he added after Tuesday night’s 7-0 victory over San Francisco, which saw the Phillies crack 11 hits while Jesús Luzardo tossed seven dazzling innings. “I’ve been around long enough to feel the last game in Chicago (April 23, an 8-7 loss in extras) — the fight. The games in Atlanta (April 24-26), we had a chance to win two out of three there. … This has been coming.

“You know when you have this type of talent, it’s there and it’s coming.”

Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper, who played in the World Baseball Classic in March, said he’s still becoming familiar with Mattingly as both a man and a manager.

“I haven’t really been around him too much, just because I was out of spring training” Harper said. “Obviously, the last three weeks I’ve been around him, but just still trying to get to know him as a person and a professional as well.

“He’s one of the best first basemen to ever play the game, played in a tough environment in the Bronx. He’s got a lot of stuff in that head to help us play better and things like that. We’re looking forward to turning the page (after Harper gave considerable deference to Thomson), and hopefully it starts to roll a little bit.”

Almost immediately after the Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and five coaches last weekend in a Saturday night massacre in Boston, Dombrowski called Cora to try bringing him to the Phillies. The two won a championship together in Boston in 2018 and have a close relationship. But Cora ultimately declined, at least for now, wanting to take some time away with his family.

It was after this series of events that Dombrowski turned to Mattingly, who made third-base coach Dusty Wathan his bench coach and promoted Triple-A Lehigh Valley manager Anthony Contreras to fill Wathan’s previous role.

Dombrowski said he never considered replacing any of the coaching staff himself — which seems difficult to fathom — and left it up to Mattingly.

“He was very supportive of the coaching staff. He wanted to keep the coaching staff together,” Dombrowski said.

Mattingly concurred: “I have confidence in everyone in there,” he said.

The Phillies, with a $311 million payroll, entered the homestand against the Giants 28th in the majors in runs (102), 29th in batting average (.219), 29th in on-base percentage (.294), 27th in slugging (.362), last in productive-out percentage (19.4) and tied for 20th in stolen bases (11).

They were also last in starter ERA (5.80), 26th in team WHIP (1.47) and 29th in opponents’ batting average (.280).

The offensive issues have been the most glaring, not only this year but in recent postseasons. Yet hitting coach Kevin Long — with whom many players, including Harper, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber, have longstanding relationships — has been immune to staffing changes. He’s another former Yankee, for whom Aaron Judge and Alex Rodriguez have strongly advocated.

“Kevin Long, if you ask around the big leagues, is one of the best hitting coaches in baseball. Has been for a long time,” Mattingly said. “We’ve had multiple issues. It’s not just hitting. We need to play better baseball. Pretty much as simple as that.

“I really like the continuity of the staff, and I want to keep it like that.

“If you truly look in the mirror, this club, with the talent we have, we know we haven’t performed to what we’re capable of. I know how good these guys are, and we just have to go prove that. We can talk about it all we want, and we can put things on paper all we want, but we have to go play.”

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.

Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/59kz9w8f

PHILADELPHIA — As Yogi Berra said, it’s getting late early.

The Major League Baseball season is only in its fourth week and roughly 141 games remain, but the Phillies entered their series finale against Atlanta having lost eight of their last 10 games.

With Saturday night’s defeat, they’ve dropped four straight series. They’re hovering near the bottom of the division, just above the melting-down Mets, while the first-place Braves look like the real deal.

Last year, it was the Braves who stumbled out of the gate (5-13) and they never fully recovered. As the Phillies embark on a seven-game road trip, the “it’s still early” rationalization is rapidly wearing thin.

“We’ve just got to play better baseball,” manager Rob Thomson said. “It’s about executing — throwing strikes, getting timely hits, doing the little things. … That’s the game.

“You’ve just got to keep grinding, stick with the process.”

Right-hander Taijuan Walker has had a disastrous start to the season (1-3, 9.16 ERA, 2.036 WHIP), and lefty Jesús Luzardo (1-3, 7.94, 1.456) has had his share of struggles. But Luzardo has a history of steering back on track. And if everything runs smoothly, veteran ace Zack Wheeler will return from rehab this week and Walker will be out of the rotation — though Walker is currently slated for one more start.

Relievers Jhoan Duran, Jonathan Bowlan and Zach Pop are on the injured list, so it’s extra important that Brad Keller, Jose Alvarado and Orion Kerkering step up in the bullpen. The bigger concern has been the offense — not just the lack of hits, but the way many at-bats have unfolded.

Too often, the Phillies have looked impatient early in counts and vulnerable once they fall behind. The lineup has chased pitches far out of the zone, struggled to string together quality plate appearances and tried to win at-bats with one swing.

Even when they seem to break out of it, like in last Monday’s 13-7 victory over the Cubs, they revert to old habits.

The Phillies’ early-season struggles against left-handed pitching have been well-documented. They’re batting just .176 against lefties, among the worst marks in the majors. Their production against southpaws has cratered to roughly a .510 OPS.

Last year, Philadelphia was solid in those matchups, hitting .252 with a .745 OPS against lefties — good enough to rank among the better teams in the league.

The issues at the plate have also shown up in the strikeout column. Entering the series finale against Atlanta, the Phillies had 175 punchouts — the third-most in the majors. They strike out approximately 23% of the time, failing to put pressure on opposing defenses.

Until the lineup shows more discipline and a willingness to grind through plate appearances — especially against left-handed pitching — the offense may continue to sputter, regardless of talent.

“It’s a long season,” said catcher J.T. Realmuto, who has been dealing with lower back soreness. “But you don’t want to dig yourself a hole early. We’ve got to clean up some things and start playing the way we know we can.”

Why not run?

Instead of a feast-or-famine approach on offense, the Phillies could employ some small ball to manufacture runs and provide a spark. For a roster loaded with speed, the Phillies haven’t used it.

Entering the series finale against Atlanta, the Phils had stolen just 10 bases on 13 attempts, ranking 26th in the majors. Several clubs have already topped 25–30 steals this April as they continue to exploit the larger bases and pickoff limits.

That makes the Phillies’ inactivity stand out. Trea Turner, one of baseball’s premier base stealers when he wants to be, and rookie Justin Crawford — who swiped 60 bases in the minors last year — give the lineup two obvious running threats. Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott and even Bryce Harper could also run more.

But the Phils have rarely tested opposing batteries

The Phillies ran a fair amount last year, so they aren’t opposed to it philosophically. They weren’t a high-volume running team, finishing 12th in the majors with 124 steals, but they were efficient, converting more than 80% of their attempts. Turner’s 36 steals led the club, with Bryson Stott adding 24.

Right now, they’re on pace for 65% of that team total.

Sosa’s difficult week

Edmundo Sosa’s big moment early last week didn’t carry over in the ensuing days.

Sosa crushed a three-run homer and went 2-for-4 in the Phillies’ loss to the Cubs last Tuesday, briefly reigniting talk about giving the versatile infielder more starts.

Since that performance, Sosa struggled to find consistency at the plate while filling in as a starter at third and second, and his fielding miscue opened the door to three unearned runs in Saturday’s loss. A night earlier, he was waving at pitches 6-10 inches out of the zone.

Last Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, Sosa went 2-for-11 with four strikeouts and stranded three runners in scoring position.

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.

Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/4ebhvpnn

PHILADELPHIA — According to Jerry Seinfeld, “People like to say salsa.”

Around here, people like to say Sosa.

Edmundo Sosa delivered again Tuesday night, much to the delight of Phillies fans.

The Phillies lost to the Chicago Cubs in the second installment of their three-game series at Citizens Bank Park, but Sosa injected life into the lineup — the kind of spark he often seems to provide when he starts.

“I just keep working every day on the things I have to do,” Sosa said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “During the days I didn’t play, I kept working on anything that we needed. Always ready, always focused. We have a plan when we go out to work.”

Sosa crushed a three-run homer to center field — 442 feet, just left of the shrubbery and onto Ashburn Alley — in the second inning to put the Phils and right-hander Aaron Nola up 3-0, waving a hand in the air as he rounded the bases.

He lined a double into the left-field corner to lead off a rally in the eighth, later coming home to help account for all four Phillies runs in the 10–4 defeat.

After that double, he made a questionable decision to take third on a Justin Crawford flyout to center, but replay confirmed he slipped the tag. It was an exhilarating moment.

And he played a virtually flawless third base in place of Alec Bohm.

If salsa is an underrated condiment that should be on every restaurant table, Sosa is an underrated player who should — perhaps — play every day.

Such a flavor jolt is hard to come by.

Manager Rob Thomson wanted to give Bohm a breather Tuesday and get Sosa some consistent at-bats. It was his first start in a week.

The effort was vintage Sosa and again raised the question: Is there a way to get this super-utility man into the lineup more often?

The manager bobbed his head sideways — considering all the stats and analytics and previous forays down that road. Right now, he won’t commit to more than a day or so.

“If he keeps performing, we’ve got to find a way to get him in,” Thomson said. “He’s gonna play (Wednesday) against a lefty.”

Sosa is a natural athlete. He has played a ton of shortstop in his career, particularly with the St. Louis Cardinals. Since arriving here in 2022, he mainly fills in at third for Bohm and at second for Bryson Stott, both of whom have been scuffling at the plate this year. (Once in a blue moon, the Phillies have experimented with Sosa in left field.)

After nights like Tuesday, the debate gets louder about whether he should be the full-time starter at third base.

Sosa, 30, is only five months older than Bohm. Both of their contracts are up at the end of the season. Bohm, a homegrown Phillies product, is making $7.7 million this year. Sosa is making $3 million.

Asked if salary plays a role in who gets more playing time, Thomson was unequivocal.

“No, never,” he said. “Not the salary, no. Never. It’s all about performance. … Performance is everything.”

Bohm hasn’t exactly won the hearts and minds of Phillies fans lately. The team has been open to moving him the last two offseasons but didn’t receive enough of a bite. He’s slashing .155/.231/.224 this April, though he’s had some better at-bats recently.

Speaking of that eighth-inning rally Sosa started, it could have been much more. Thomson sent Bohm up to pinch hit for the red-hot Brandon Marsh against Cubs lefty Caleb Thielbar. The bases were loaded and the Phils were down by four. He struck out.

A smattering of boos surfaced among the fans still remaining, and a stream toward the exits ensued.

Bohm plays nearly every day. Sosa fills in, often against left-handed pitching or when the Phillies want a defensive boost late in games. Offensively, the difference starts with consistency.

Since both players arrived in Philadelphia in 2022, Bohm has been productive against both sides of pitching. During that span he has hit roughly .301/.349/.446 against left-handers and .269/.317/.404 against right-handers, numbers that make him playable every day.

Sosa’s splits tell a different story.

Against left-handed pitching he has been excellent, hitting about .292/.335/.455 since joining the Phillies. Against right-handers the production falls to roughly .236/.285/.364.

That gap can’t be ignored. It’s why Sosa is often in the lineup when a lefty starts but not when a right-hander takes the mound. A bench player who mashes one type of pitching is still incredibly useful. It just doesn’t always translate to everyday value.

Manager Rob Thomson appreciates the flexibility.

“He’s ready every day,” Thomson said. “Whenever you put him in there, he gives you good at-bats and plays good defense.”

Sosa said he embraces the role.

“I just try to help the team,” he said. “If they need me to start, I start. If they need defense late, I do that.”

Defense keeps the debate alive

Where Sosa really strengthens the argument to play every day is in the field. He is the quicker athlete and the better range defender at third base. His first step and lateral movement allow him to reach balls deep in the hole that many third basemen cannot get to.

Bohm, though, has gradually improved. After struggling early in his career, he has settled into something close to league-average defense at third base over the past couple seasons. He handles routine plays more consistently and charges slow rollers with confidence.

That improvement shrinks the defensive gap enough that Bohm’s more complete offensive profile still carries the day.

In other words: Sosa might be the flashier defender, but Bohm still provides the more stable everyday package.

The Stott comparison

If Sosa has another path to more starts, it might be at second base. That’s where he filled in Wednesday night, going 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Stott, who’s struggling so far this year, has been the Phillies’ regular at second since 2022. Like Bohm, he produces against both sides of pitching — .248/.301/.344 against lefties and .277/.339/.415 versus righties.

Sosa’s slash is decidedly better against left-handers than Stott’s. The Phillies have leaned into that dynamic at times, with Sosa getting spot starts at second. In 2023, he produced a 146 wRC+ against southpaws, hitting .318/.362/.533 in those situations.

Defensively, Stott is excellent (despite being tagged with an error on Tuesday). Statcast metrics have consistently rated him among the better defensive second basemen in the league. In 2023, he recorded eight Outs Above Average, ranking in the 94th percentile. But Sosa is still a plus defender at second base.

It’s Stott’s combination of solid offense against right-handers, passable production against lefties, speed and strong defense that maintains him as the everyday option. At least for now.

The right role

What Sosa does best might be exactly what he did Tuesday.

He jumps into the lineup, creates energy and forces the other team to work. He can play third, second or shortstop and often improves the defense when he enters late.

And when the matchup favors him — especially against left-handed pitching — he can be more than a role player. But over a full season, the broader offensive profiles of Bohm and Stott still matter.

That is why the Phillies keep Sosa exactly where he is: one of the most useful bench players in the National League.

And one of the most reliable sparks when the lineup needs one.

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.

Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/bdz739jv

PHILADELPHIA — As Rob Thomson settled into his usual spot in the dugout for his pregame media session Monday, he glanced around.

“Seems like there’s a few less of you than normal,” the Phillies manager said.

One reporter pointed out that there was a big hockey game across the street, where the Flyers were getting ready to face Carolina with the playoffs on the line.

“Yeah, that is a big one,” said the Canadian-born Thomson, a lifelong Toronto Maple Leafs fan from southwestern Ontario, shaking his head in agreement.

The assembled media and 36,045 fans in attendance at Citizens Bank Park — many keeping one eye on the Flyers game — witnessed the Phillies’ offense finally erupt like they’d been waiting for this season. As the Flyers rallied to clinch their first playoff berth in six years, the Phils drilled 15 hits and scored in six different innings during a 13-7 romp over the Chicago Cubs.

Everyone in the starting lineup had a hit except for rookie Justin Crawford, whose bat has been a bright spot this year (.306/.370/.429).

For the better part of a week, and really since opening day, the Phillies had looked tight. Every at-bat seemed rushed, every swing urgent. They had scored in just three of the last 46 innings.

The tension finally broke Monday night. The Phillies’ lineup relaxed and spread the ball to all fields. Kyle Schwarber homered twice, J.T. Realmuto had three hits and three RBIs, Brandon Marsh added three hits, and Adolis Garcia — moved to the cleanup spot — went 2-for-4 with an RBI double as the offense exploded.

Even in a loss to Arizona a day earlier, some guys were starting to show signs of life. Like Trea Turner, who was a combined 3-for-8 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored Sunday and Monday.

The difference, Thomson said, was simple: “It’s guys not trying to do too much.”

“It think they needed it, just to kind of breath a little bit,“ he said. “It was a good night all around. … But it’s just one day. We’ve got another one tomorrow. You’ve got to come back with the same focus. You can’t feel like, ‘Well, we’re back.’ You’ve got to keep working and fighting and grinding.”

The Phillies stopped trying to win every at-bat with one swing. For a club built on power and patience, the best approach was a quieter one: Let the game come to you and trust the next guy.

Bryce Harper knocked a hit the opposite way and scored twice. Alec Bohm, down in the lineup to take some pressure off, singled and drove in a pair of runs.

“He had good at-bats,” Thomson said of Bohm. “He looked better.”

The tone for the evening was set immediately. Schwarber led off the bottom of the first inning by driving an 0-1 changeup from Cubs starter Javier Assad over the wall in center field. Two innings later he went deep again, a two-run blast that made it 4-0 and ignited the ballpark.

But the Phillies’ night was less about a single swing than a series of them.

They strung together hits, moved runners and kept innings alive. A five-run fifth inning broke the game open, highlighted by a Marsh double and RBI hits from Bryson Stott and Realmuto.

By the time the dust settled, the Phillies were 8-for-14 with runners in scoring position. It was the type of offense that had been missing during a recent skid.

The Phillies’ approach didn’t appear overnight.

Before the series finale against Arizona on Sunday, Turner spoke about resisting the urge to press when the lineup goes cold. The key, he said, is remembering that nine hitters share the workload.

“You can’t try to do too much,” Turner said, as Thomson reflected. “Just take your at-bat, trust the guys behind you and let the lineup work.”

That message echoed through Monday’s series opener against the Cubs.

Turner scored twice and helped spark the offense from the top of the order. Realmuto kept rallies alive in the middle. Marsh delivered multiple clutch hits. Even productive outs — like Bohm’s sacrifice fly in the fifth — added to the pressure on Chicago’s pitching staff.

Schwarber said the lineup works best when it stays connected.

“When everyone just passes it along, that’s when we’re tough,” he said after the victory. “You don’t feel like you have to be the guy every time.”

It showed in the way the Phillies attacked Assad. Rather than chasing early-count pitches, they forced the Cubs right-hander into the zone and punished mistakes.

Assad lasted only 4 1/3 frames and allowed nine runs on 11 hits.

Schwarber’s two home runs grabbed the headlines, but even he described them as the byproduct of a calmer approach. He has spent most of his career embracing patience — deep counts, selective swings, and letting pitchers make mistakes.

Monday’s swings were classic Schwarber: quick, direct and driven by timing rather than force.

“Sometimes when you’re trying too hard, everything speeds up,” he said. “When you slow it down and just take a good swing, the ball tends to find the barrel.”

Both homers were to center field, a sign he was staying through the ball instead of trying to yank it into the right-field seats.

The Phillies have seen enough Aprils to know that one big offensive night doesn’t fix everything. Still, if the lineup keeps Monday’s approach in mind — less pressing, more trusting — the results could follow.

NOTES: RHP Jonathan Bowlan went on the 15-day IL with a right groin straight. To replace him on the 26-man roster, the Phillies called up RHP Seth Johnson from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He gave up five runs — three earned — on four hits and two walks with a strikeout in 1 2/3 innings Monday. Johnson was sent back down Tuesday and the team recalled RHP Chase Shugart. … Schwarber’s two bombs gave him six on the season. It was the 37th multi-homer game of his career, his first this season and first since Sept. 24, 2025, against Miami.

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.

Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/c6ew2xv7

PHILADELPHIA — After Tanner Banks nearly frittered away starter Andrew Painter’s dazzling major-league debut in the sixth and seventh innings, Brad Keller and Jhoan Duran entered in the final two frames to lock down the rookie’s inaugural win in the bigs.

With a 3-0 lead, Banks surrendered an inherited run and later a run of his own before the Phillies went on to a 3-2 victory over Washington Tuesday night.

The unflappable Painter allowed just four hits while striking out eight over 5 1/3, leaving the mound to his third and loudest standing ovation of the night when manager Rob Thomson made a call to the pen.

“It was awesome,” said Painter, a lean, 6-foot-7 right-hander with a boy-next-door face. “Crowd showed up tonight. I just kind of soaked all of it in. I don’t think I could have drawn it up much better.”

As spectacular as 22-year-old Painter’s performance was, the effective combo of Keller and Duran was another positive that shouldn’t be overlooked.

“We didn’t have (Jose) Alvarado tonight because of the pitch count last night, but those guys are power guys, they throw strikes,” Thomson said. “Keller had the one walk and he was a little upset about it, but those guys throw strikes and they get both sides out. It’s a good combination.”

Ideally, the Phillies would like Alvarado to handle the seventh inning, Keller the eighth and Duran to close out the ninth. (Keller and Alvarado could occasionally swap.)

No more bullpen by committee. The plan goes back to the days of more defined bullpen roles, with setup men and a dominant closer who could shorten a game from nine innings to six if their team had the lead.

That formula helped the Phillies win the World Series in 2008, when they had J.C. Romero, Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge. It helped propel the late-1990s Yankees with Mike Stanton, Jeff Nelson and Mariano Rivera. The list of examples goes on.

Now, it allows a guy like Orion Kerkering (once he’s healthy) to be a middle-inning fireman. That was Banks’ role Tuesday.

Since the explosion of analytics, the classic seventh-eighth-ninth inning ladder has largely taken a back seat to managers playing matchups and using their would-be closers earlier in games. However, the pendulum may be swinging back.

“When you have a true closer like Duran, that’s the way you should set it up,” Thomson told The Athletic’s Matt Gelb in spring training. “And especially when we have the type of arms that we have. But if you give a guy a fifth- or sixth-inning role, and the seventh- and eighth-inning guys aren’t available, well they’re going to have to pitch in the seventh inning.”

Seems reasonable.

Before even getting to Banks, Thomson handled Painter just right in his debut by not hanging with him too long. He could have sat him down after 77 pitches over five stellar frames to be sure to keep his confidence intact. Instead, he did one better. He sent him back out for the sixth, let him get an out, and then pulled him when C.J. Abrams singled — allowing Painter to bask in the appreciation of an electric crowd at Citizens Bank Park as he departed.

As Painter handed the ball over, Thomson patted him on the chest and asked him if he had enjoyed his outing.

“He shook his head no,” Thomson said. “And then he figured out what I said and shook his head yes.”

Thomson reminded him to tip his cap to the fans when he walked off.

“He told me to do that,” Painter said. “I almost forgot, but I did it.”

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.

From the Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/s5kfpspn

PHILADELPHIA — Different year, same Aaron Nola.

The Phillies’ talented right-hander, who has been dogged by home runs throughout his career, was burned twice by the long ball in his season debut Saturday, a 5-4 loss to the Texas Rangers.

Nola’s line wasn’t terrible: five hits, three earned runs, two walks and seven strikeouts over five frames. (Yes, seven Ks.) But two of the hits left the yard — the second with a runner on base.

Perhaps it’s unfair to get upset with Nola, 32, at this point. He’s 109-89 in his MLB career with a 3.83 ERA, one of the more effective pitchers in recent Phillies history. Homers are baked-in with him. But he’s under contract at $24.7 million per year through 2030, when he’ll turn 37.

Nola always seems to cough up at least one home run. Yet for whatever reason, he often seems to receive the most tepid support from Phillies hitters.

Over the past five seasons, he has ranked far below league average in run support, including just 3½ runs per start in 2025 — a full run below the league norm.

The Phillies didn’t even produce a base hit out of the infield until the ninth inning Saturday.

Still, Nola surrendered 18 homers last season — one of the negative-tier totals in the majors — and that was with missing two months with injuries. The previous two seasons, he gave up a whopping 30 and a league-worst 32.

And guess what he did in his season debut a year ago: He grooved two home runs. Just like Saturday.

Nola didn’t serve up any meatballs while somehow pitching for Team Italy in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. (Major League Baseball is trying to expand its reach, so he qualified for Italy because his great-grandparents emigrated from there nearly a century ago. Join the club.)

In two WBC starts over nine innings, Nola went 1-0, allowing seven hits, one run and one walk while striking out 10. No homers.

It took him about 5 minutes to give up a round-tripper with the Phillies on Saturday.

“Felt pretty good, body and arm felt good,” Nola said afterward. “I think the command in the second inning got out of whack there, but felt like it came back pretty well. I threw a lot of pitches. They worked the counts pretty good. Obviously, those two pitches that those guys hit for homers were tough.

“The strikeouts were good. … But I needed to go longer and deeper into the game.”

Nola’s velocity dropped from 93-94 mph in the WBC to 90-91 in his season opener and final spring-training outing.

Both home runs by the Rangers came with two outs. The first was to Corey Seager in the first inning on a four-seamer up in the zone. The other was in the third to Jake Burger on a knuckle curve — a second-consecutive curve. It followed an 0-2 base hit by Brandon Nimmo on cutter down the middle.

“I thought he was fine,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Two (bad) pitches, really. The fastball to Seager was right at the top of the zone … and he just beat him to the spot. (Nola) probably wants the curveball to Burger back, middle of the dish and hooked it down the line.

“I thought his command for a cold day was really, really good. Spun the ball well. I thought it was a good outing.”

The weather was just as brisk for Rangers lefty Jacob Latz, who started in place of right-hander Jacob deGram, a late scratch because of neck and shoulder soreness. Latz held the Phillies hitless through four innings while striking out three and walking one.

Also, Thomson didn’t mention the pitch to Nimmo.

Nola has defended his decision to pitch in the WBC following an injury-plagued 2025 as a “stress text” for this season. How did it help?

The Phillies’ offense was just as mediocre as Nola on Saturday. Phils hitters showed flashes of life but never fully delivered.

It was just one game — the second of 162 — so no reason to panic. If Wheeler comes back healthy, Nola will drop down to at least No. 3 in the rotation. The bullpen is promising, as are rookie center fielder Justin Crawford and free-agent right fielder Adolis Garcia. Third baseman Alec Bohm is off to a hot start in a contract season.

Hopefully this year is different for the Phillies in a good way, and there are signs that it will be. It’s way too soon to tell. Saturday just felt awfully familiar with Nola and this offense.

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.

From the Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/4esw8uz2

PHILADELPHIA — Within two hours of losing out on the Bo Bichette sweepstakes to the NL East rival New York Mets, the Phillies re-signed catcher J.T. Realmuto on Friday.

Realmuto’s deal is for three years, $45 million plus $5 million in incentives.

Realmuto, a team leader who turns 35 in March, has been one of the best catchers in the sport. Outside of the shortened COVID year and a knee surgery in 2024, the durable Realmuto has averaged 135 games behind the plate since he became a starter with the Marlins in 2015.

He arrived in Philadelphia in 2019 and eventually became the right-hand man for current manager Rob Thomson. For $15 million per year, a fair price to pay in this market, it’s odd that negotiations became contentious between the catcher and the organization — which also happened in 2020, when the Phillies were initially hesitant to pay up.

Realmuto has consistently ranked above the 22% league average for throwing out runners trying to steal. In 2019, he gunned down an astounding 47%.

Perhaps most importantly, he has been highly trusted by Philadelphia’s top-tier pitching staff.

Realmuto has started every one of the Phillies’ postseason games from 2022-25, hitting .232 with seven home runs and a .745 OPS. He was 6-for-17 (.353) with a pair of doubles, a triple and a homer in the 2025 National League Division Series.

In the 2022 NLDS, he became the first catcher with a postseason inside-the-park home run.

The Phillies appeared to be the frontrunner to sign Bo Bichette, 27, a versatile infielder who has won two Gold Gloves at shortstop and hit .300 or better four times in his Major League career. But Bichette, the son of former MLB All-Star outfielder Dante Bichette, signed a three-year, $127 million contract with the Mets that notably includes opt-outs after year one and two.

Bo Bichette hit .311 with 18 homers, 94 RBIs, 78 runs, and an OPS of .840 with 94 strikeouts in 139 games with the Toronto Blue Jays last year.

He hit .348 with a homer and six RBIs in November’s riveting World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As a right-handed contact hitter, Bichette would have been a huge addition to an all-or-nothing Phillies lineup that often either homers or strikes out. He has a close relationship with Don Mattingly, whom the Phillies recently hired as bench coach after he served in the same role in Toronto, but the Phillies’ front office failed to close a deal.

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc for the latest updates.

From the Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/3wkdkumc

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies added a dose of right-handed power and postseason pedigree Monday, signing outfielder Adolis García to a one-year, $10 million contract as the club continues to retool its roster with October in mind.

García, who turns 33 in March, gives the Phils a right-handed hitter with a track record of thunderous power — and also a history of swing-and-miss — as they reshape an outfield that lagged behind their pitching and star-studded infield core.

García is expected to take over in right field for Nick Castellanos, whom the Phillies plan to either trade or release this offseason to save money.

It wasn’t long ago that García looked like one of the sport’s most impactful two-way corner outfielders. He was the ALCS MVP and a centerpiece of the Texas Rangers’ 2023 World Series championship, punctuating that October run with eight postseason homers, a 1.108 OPS and a single-postseason record 22 RBIs. He also hit a walk-off homer in Game 1 of the World Series.

In the regular season that year, García posted career highs with 39 home runs, 107 RBIs and an .836 OPS while earning his second All-Star nod and a Gold Glove.

Since then, his production has declined.

García’s OPS dropped below .700 in both 2024 and 2025. The Rangers elected not to tender him last November rather than carry him into what would have been his final year of arbitration. (Not tendering a player means letting him walk when he is still under team control.)

Last season, García hit .227 with 19 homers, 75 RBIs and a .665 OPS — numbers that reflect both the volatility and the power that still lurk in his profile. In his six full seasons in the majors (after playing in Japan), he has struck out 175 times or more in five of them.

The Phils are banking on the power indicators. García still hits the ball hard when he connects — including a 92.1 mph average exit velocity — but his approach can veer toward boom-or-bust. His chase rate spiked last season, and his contact metrics trended in the wrong direction, a familiar trade-off for some hitters who live on major damage.

The Phillies already have a bunch of feast-or-famine hitters who chase.

Even if García’s bat doesn’t fully return to its 2023 form, he brings a defensive floor the Phillies need in right field, despite Castellanos’ improvement. After a rough defensive season in 2024, García rebounded with plus marks in 2025, including 16 defensive runs saved in the outfield.

The Phils would love to re-sign center fielder Harrison Bader, who was a sparkplug late last season after his acquisition at the trade deadline, but he may command too high a price on the open market.

Meanwhile, Philly has been eager to turn the page from Castellanos in right.

Castellanos, owed $20 million in the final year of his contract, is widely expected to be traded or released before spring training. Though he has had stretches of productivity here, the Phillies have made clear, through both their shopping of Castellanos and this signing, that they want more athleticism, more run prevention, and a right-field fit that better complements the rest of a roster built to win in October.

In García, they’re getting a player who has thrived on the postseason stage — and who now arrives with something to prove.

—

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc for the latest updates.

From The Reporter: https://tinyurl.com/3r967zzj

PHILADELPHIA — Nobody out in the ninth, down by one after a two-run double by Nick Castellanos — with a dramatic replay review upholding his safe call at second — and the Phillies sent lefty Bryson Stott to the plate… to bunt.

Not to try for an RBI base hit or even a grounder to the right side that moves the runner. But a sacrifice bunt toward third.

Despite the Phils’ bats finally waking up and having the Dodgers on the ropes, manager Rob Thomson said he never considered letting Stott swing away with a man already in scoring position.

“I wanted to play for the tie,” Thomson said. “I liked where our bullpen was compared to theirs. We play for the tie at home.”

Always?

The Dodgers (who, by the way, have been successfully supplementing their pen with an infusion of starters this postseason) were expecting the sac bunt. They put on the wheel play, which sent shortstop Mookie Betts charging to cover third while third baseman Max Muncy fielded the ball and fired it to him, easily tagging out a lumbering Castellanos trying to advance.

So not only did the Phils give away an out, they also lost their lead baserunner.

“Mookie did a great job of disguising the wheel play,” Thomson said. “We teach our guys that if you see the wheel, just pull it back and slash because you’ve got all kinds of room in the middle. But Mookie broke so late that it was tough for Stotty to pick it up.”

Ah, well… In that case, c’est la vie. Such is life, right?

The Phils still had two outs left to tie the game, but that meek play took the wind out of the inning. A hobbled Harrison Bader drilled a pinch-hit single to left to put men on first and second, but Max Kepler grounded into a fielder’s choice and Trea Turner grounded out to end it.

It was a 4-3 loss Monday night, and suddenly the Phillies were down 0-2 in the NLDS heading to L.A.

“I was given the bunt sign, so I’m going to get the bunt down,” Stott said. “It was assigned.”

When asked about Thomson’s comments regarding the wheel play, Stott was taken aback: “Obviously with a guy on second, Freddie’s going to be 5 feet away from me,” he said, referencing Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman. “So you’re kind of peeking at the third baseman and going from there. Mookie was (breaking) late, and you just get the bunt down and go from there.”

Stott isn’t to blame and doesn’t have the gravitas to override his manager. He did what he was told and laid down a solid bunt. The blame was on Thomson, who (a) wasn’t aggressive and (b) hadn’t communicated well enough to have Stott fully prepared for the situation — or, for that matter, Castellanos, a subpar baserunner who could have just stayed at second when the play was clearly busted.

A Dodgers pitching change beforehand gave Thomson ample time to get everyone on the same page, but he didn’t. He did nothing. He was checked-out and passive, like his mentor Joe Torre in his waning years with the Yankees.

One aspect of the game Thomson didn’t mismanage was southpaw starter Jesús Luzardo, who arguably outdueled Los Angeles’ Blake Snell, who carried a no-hitter into the fifth.

“He was really fantastic,” Thomson said of Luzardo. “He was about 70% strikes. The slider was good, the changeup was good, the fastball had life. He battled and then just rolled from there.”

Luzardo allowed two runs on three hits over six-plus frames, striking out five and walking just one. The runs didn’t cross until he was pulled in the seventh after recording 17 consecutive outs.

“I was just focusing on locating certain pitches, especially early in counts and getting ahead instead of falling behind,” Luzardo said.

The pitching wasn’t the problem. It was late managerial decisions and, even worse, the failure of the Phillies’ biggest bats (once again).

Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos — the Phils’ top six hitters — are making a combined $123.2 million this year. That’s more than 42% of the team’s $290.3 million payroll, which includes starting pitching and the back end of the bullpen.

Those six players were 4-for-22 with seven strikeouts. This after going 3-for-19 in Game 1.

Talk about spending “stupid money.”

Principal owner John Middleton’s infamous quote from seven years ago, before the team signed Harper, has been taken out of context plenty. In fact, it’s admirable that he and the Phillies spend big and aim to win big, but this collection of bats just isn’t getting it done.

“I think those guys are trying to do a little too much right now,” Thomson said. “Instead of just being themselves and looking for base hits and the power will come.”

By the way, what would Thomson have done if Castellanos hadn’t stretched that single into a double?

Even though Castellanos — who, with a year left on his deal, may have played his last game as a Phillie at Citizens Bank Park — slid in safely, it wasn’t a smart baserunning play, but at least he was being aggressive. Thomson following up with a bunt call was the opposite of aggressive.

But remember, Thomson isn’t playing to win. He’s playing for a tie.

—

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.

From The Reporter: https://tinyurl.com/vux9ynr4

PHILADELPHIA — With another postseason came more October struggles for the Phillies’ biggest bats.

The Phils’ top hitters disappeared along with a three-run lead in Saturday night’s 5-3 loss to the Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Divisional Series at Citizens Bank Park.

One through four in the Philadelphia lineup — Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm — were a combined 1-for-13 with a single, three walks and six strikeouts.

Overall, the Phillies produced just five hits while fanning a dozen times.

It was a familiar theme. A year ago, the same quartet was 11-for-56 (.196) when the Phils got bounced in four games by the Mets.

The year before, in games 6 and 7 of the NLCS against Arizona — and adding Nick Castellanos to the mix — the group was 4-for-35 as a trip to the World Series slipped away.

After putting up three runs in the second inning Saturday, Phillies bats swooned as Shohei Ohtani settled into a groove. He piled up nine strikeouts over six frames before Tyler Glasnow, Alex Vesia and Roki Sasaki took over the rest of the way.

“I thought Ohtani threw the ball really well, obviously the heater, curveball, split,” Harper said. “We jumped on him and then we kind of laid low for a bit. We weren’t able to do more than that.

“We were chasing a little bit … and I thought we missed a lot of pitches over the plate against him tonight, and that just can’t happen.”

The Phils failed to deliver on two-out scoring opportunities and finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. It’s an example of why many fans — haunted by Octobers past — were hesitant to fully jump aboard all summer, even as Schwarber bombed 56 home runs and the team charged ahead to 96 wins and the second-best record in the majors, capturing the NL East by 13 games.

“He really pitched them well,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of Ohtani’s approach to his top hitters. “A lot of offspeed, dotted his fastball. … So tip your cap and move on. It’s a tough loss, but we’ve got to shake it off and come out here Monday and get after it again.”

Sure, this was only one game, but it’s only a best-of-five series. And the Phillies have lost four of their last five playoff games at home.

Phillies lefty Cristopher Sanchez, displaying strong command a devastating changeup, lasted 5 2/3, giving up four hits and a pair of earned runs while striking out eight and walking two.

Questions may linger about Thomson’s bullpen management, particularly about sending 40-year-old David Robertson back out for the seventh — and the subsequent three-run shot Matt Strahm gave up to Teoscar Hernández was a crushing blow that flipped the game — but Phillies hitters still had nine outs to do something about it.

It didn’t help that Harrison Bader, the Phils’ trade-deadline sparkplug in center field, had to exit after suffering a groin injury.

“This is never going to be easy,” Schwarber said. “You’re facing the best of the best out here. (Ohtani) does a really good job of mixing up his pitches. I feel like it’s all quality pitches. There’s not a below-average pitch. I feel like they’re all above average. …. Glasgow comes out of the pen, got some traffic on base and did a good job. And then obviously Sasaki comes in there at the end and was making some quality pitches.

“It’s up to us to be able to make the adjustments and go out there and do everything possible to put ourselves in a good position. … It’s up to us to go out there and keep having quality at-bats and find a way to get a win.”

—

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.

From The Reporter: https://tinyurl.com/4z9muh9x

PHILADELPHIA — Harrison Bader stood in front of his locker Wednesday and simply smiled as reporters asked whether he knew he was hitting leadoff again. The Gold Glove outfielder has become more than a platoon bat since arriving at the trade deadline; he has turned into a catalyst for a lineup missing National League batting leader Trea Turner.

In a 9-3 Phillies victory a day earlier, the right-handed Bader had three hits, including a solo homer, from the leadoff spot when the New York Mets started southpaw Sean Manaea. Manager Rob Thomson had said, “Oh, I don’t think I’d do it against right-handers,” but that’s exactly what he did in Wednesday’s third installment of this four-game series.

“I don’t think I committed one way or the other,” Thomson said Wednesday. “I said day-to-day, and that’s what it is. He had a big night last night, so let’s run it back through again.”

Bader went on to open the bottom of the first against Mets righty Clay Holmes with a base hit and later scored. He followed up with a double to left in the second, finishing 2-for-5 with a hit-by-pitch while crossing the plate twice in an 11-3 Phillies romp to clinch the series.

The Phillies expected to lean on Turner before he strained his hamstring late last month. When he landed on the injured list, Thomson tried Bryce Harper at leadoff. Harper went 0‑for‑4 in a 1-0 Phillies win Monday; Bader was 3-for-5 from the No. 5 spot with righty Nolan McLean starting for New York.

Even though Thomson may have preferred not to hit Bader leadoff, back‑to‑back three‑hit games made the decision hard to pass up. The Phillies’ depth allowed Thomson to platoon Nick Castellanos and Max Kepler in right field, but Bader’s surge meant he was penciled into the top of the lineup regardless of righty/lefty matchup.

The Phillies acquired Bader from the Minnesota Twins on July 31 in exchange for a pair of minor leaguers — outfielder Hendry Mendez and right-handed pitcher Geremy Villoria. Since his arrival, Bader has done much more than plug a hole in center field. In 33 games as a Phillie through Sept. 9, he slashed .333/.398/.533 with four homers and 13 RBIs, good for a .932 OPS.

The combination of Bader, Brandon Marsh, Kepler, Castellanos and Weston Wilson produced a .278/.330/.470 line (.800 OPS) with 25 doubles, two triples, 17 homers and 51 RBIs in the 37 games since he joined the club

Bader’s hot streak has been startling. Over his last 17 games through Sept. 9, he recorded seven three‑hit games and went 26‑for‑59 (.441) with a 1.213 OPS. Those numbers convinced Thomson to keep him in the leadoff spot, at least temporarily. Turner is expected back before the playoffs.

Bader’s success isn’t limited to conventional statistics. His OPS+ with Philadelphia sits at 153, according to The Sporting News, meaning he has been 53 percent better than league average since the trade. Bader also expressed gratitude for the Twins trading him, saying he is thankful to play meaningful games in a pennant race.

“It’s a gift,” the outfielder keeps repeating about being dealt to a top contender. The phrase has become a running joke around the clubhouse, as teammates and the manager himself have started applying it to all sorts of situations.

“He works hard and he’s improved his offensive game,” Thomson said. “But I think he’s good at involving his clubhouse because he’s a really good personality. He’s got a lot of energy. I think that fits perfectly with the way he’s going. … He fits perfectly with the group we’ve got.”

It was Bader’s home run ball in Miami last Friday that led to the incident involving “Philly Karen.” A woman in Phillies garb in the left field stands accosted a man and his son, also Phillies fans, to demand the ball after the father, Drew Feltwell, had retrieved it from the ground and given it to his son Lincoln for his birthday. Drew eventually handed over the ball to the enraged lady to de-escalate the situation, after which she gave him and his family the middle finger.

A representative of the Marlins gifted a goodie bag of baseballs to Lincoln and his sister Avery. After the game, Bader met with the entire family and presented Lincoln with a signed bat.

Bader is on a one-year deal with a mutual option after the season, meaning both he and the team would have to agree to an extension. He’d be owed a pre-set guaranteed $10 million for 2026, otherwise he could take a $1.5 million buyout and test the market, according to Spotrac.

Wheeler update: Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, who was around the team earlier in the week, suffered a minor setback in his timetable for thoracic outlet decompression surgery, which he was hoping to undergo sometime this month. It is delayed indefinitely because of an issue related to blood thinners he’s been prescribed.

In August, Wheeler underwent a successful procedure to remove a blood clot in his pitching arm and was diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), and the recommendation was to have thoracic outlet decompression surgery. TOS occurs when blood vessels or nerves in the space between the collarbone and first rib (the thoracic outlet) are compressed, which can lead to pain, tingling, numbness and weakness in the neck, shoulder, arm and hand. The causes include trauma and repetitive arm motion. The surgery relieves this compression and has a typical recovery time of six to eight months.

NOTES: With Bader in center field Wednesday, Brandon Marsh returned from the flu to play left while a red-hot Max Kepler got the start in right over Nick Castellanos. … The Phillies outscored the Mets 21-6 in the first three games of this series, the final set of the regular season between these division rivals. … The Mets are still clinging to the last NL wild card spot, with the Giants, Reds and Diamondbacks close behind.

—

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.

From The Reporter/MediaNews Group: https://tinyurl.com/mr2fkbs3

PHILADELPHIA — The news wasn’t unexpected, but it was jarring nonetheless.

Phillies ace right-hander Zack Wheeler is out for the rest of the season, the team announced Saturday.

Wheeler, 35, has been diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), and the recommendation was to undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery in the coming weeks. Such a procedure typically has a recovery time of six to eight months.

In a stunning development a week ago, the Phillies placed Wheeler on the 15-day injured list when doctors discovered a blood clot in the upper part of his pitching arm after he had complained of discomfort. He underwent successful surgery to remove the clot last Monday morning at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City. In the ensuing days, through a follow-up evaluation and second opinions, came the venous TOS diagnosis.

“I found out last night,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said in the dugout before Saturday’s game against the Washington Nationals. “He’s healthy. It’s disappointing to lose him, but we have a lot of depth here. I love our club. So, the six- to eight-month recovery was encouraging to me.”

Thomson, who has said Wheeler’s health is of paramount importance and goes beyond baseball, had a sense of relief in his voice that the veteran would be OK.

TOS occurs when blood vessels or nerves in the space between the collarbone and first rib (the thoracic outlet) are compressed, which can lead to pain, tingling, numbness and weakness in the neck, shoulder, arm and hand, according to Yale Medicine. Among the causes are trauma and repetitive arm motion. The surgery relieves this compression.

Venous TOS is generally considered less serious than neurogenic TOS for a pitcher. Current Texas Rangers right-hander Merrill Kelly, who helped lead the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Phillies in the 2023 NLCS, had successful venous TOS surgery in Sept. of 2020 and returned for the start of the 2021 season.

“We figure that he’ll come back in the six- to eight-month time period and be the Zack Wheeler of old,” team president Dave Dombrowski said. “That’s what we’ve been told (by the medical team).

“Of course, it’s never good to lose your No. 1 pitcher. I think we have starting pitching depth that’s capable of pitching well for us and pitching well in the postseason. Again, you’re never going to replace an individual like that. But when you go into the postseason, with all different types of scenarios with different pitchers being out, we have a good ballclub (and we need) for other people to step up and pick up the slack for us.”

Wheeler, a three-time All-Star, was 10-5 this season with 195 strikeouts in 149 2/3 innings. He had a 2.71 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. He is 113-75 with a 3.28 ERA in his 11-year major league career and is signed through the 2027 season.

“It’s tough to lose him, especially (a player) of his caliber and this part of the season,” said righty Aaron Nola, who started Saturday against the Nationals. “It’s tough for the team, the city and the organization. But we’re gonna do our best to pick him up and go win as many more baseball games as possible.”

The Phillies’ current rotation consists of Christopher Sanchez, Ranger Suárez, Jesús Luzardo, Taijuan Walker and Nola.

Their top Triple-A prospect, right-hander Andrew Painter, has been uneven with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs this season, though he gave up just one run while striking out five in five frames against the Durham Bulls on Friday.

Nola, who struggled early in the year and then was sidelined with an ankle injury and a broken rib, was solid in Saturday’s 6-4 victory over the Nationals, his second start since returning. He went six innings, allowing five hits, a walk and three runs (two earned). He did give up a pair of homers, but he displayed elevated velocity.

“Much better,” Thomson said. “He looked really good tonight. Touched 94 mph. Command of his fastball was really good. Curveball was sharp, mixed in his changeup late, got some rollovers on that. … I thought he was great.”

Recently acquired closer Jhoan Duran (aka “the Durantula”), whose entrances in home games are a spectacle of lights and music, with a fiery digital image of a spider crawling around the outfield wall, suffered his first blown save as a Phillie in Friday night’s series opener against the Nats. But Thomson said he wasn’t worried, invoking the greatest closer of all time.

“Mariano (Rivera) had 80 of them, so it’s going to happen every once in a while,” he said.

Thomson, as a longtime coach with the Yankees, witnessed Rivera up close in the last six seasons of his Hall of Fame career. Rivera, a 13-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, recorded 652 saves in 732 opportunities, with a lifetime ERA of 2.21 and WHIP of 1.00.

He famously used to come into games with Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” blasting over the stadium speakers.

Duran, who entered with a one-run Phillies lead, struck out three but took the loss after an inning of work. He gave up two hits and two runs, but the go-ahead run scored when catcher J.T. Realmuto sailed a throw to third.

“It’s just the game,” Duran said of the defeat. “Sometimes that happens, even when you prepare for everything.”

Thomson tapped Duran again on Saturday. He threw a scoreless ninth to notch the save.

NOTES: Edmundo Sosa got the start at second base over Bryson Stott on Saturday against Washington lefty Mitchell Parker. Stott was hitting .342 with 12 extra-base hits, 15 RBIs and a 1.006 OPS in his last 26 games. Sosa went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer. … Trea Turner saw a 10-game hitting streak snapped on Friday. He had batted .522 during that span. He bounced back with a solo home run on Saturday. … With SEPTA cuts taking effect Sunday, the Phillies are encouraging fans to allow for extra time getting to Citizens Bank Park. Among the changes are the elimination of special express trains for games.

—

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.

From The Reporter/MediaNews Group: https://tinyurl.com/w6ms9ta5

PHILADELPHIA — Manager Rob Thomson quickly punched a hole in any mystery surrounding lefthander Ranger Suárez’s exit after only 80 pitches in Saturday’s 5-1 Phillies victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

“It was designed,” Thomson said. “In June he had six starts, five of them seven innings, one of them six innings, all of them 94 pitches or more. So we went in today just trying to pull back a little bit. He had an 85-pitch limit today.”

Suárez, who turns 30 in August, held the Reds hitless through the first three frames. By the time he departed after the fifth, he had scattered five hits and one earned run — a solo homer to right-center field by Will Benson, who jumped on a first-pitch fastball — while striking out six and walking two.

“The last time I went out in Atlanta (June 29), I didn’t feel well in my body, so today was a pitch limit to see how I was evolving,” Suárez said through translator Diego Ettedgui. “It’s a shoulder and my back. I felt it a little bit, but that’s why they told me that we were going to have a pitch limit today. But today I felt good overall. I felt way better.

“All my pitches were pretty good. … Great, actually. I mean, my changeup was great. The cutter and the curveball were too. I mean, overall, I think all of my pitches were done fantastically.”

The Phillies don’t want to take any chances with Suárez (7-2, 1.99 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 73 K, 19 BB, 77 IP). He started the season on the IL for five weeks because of his back, and he has an intermittent history of back issues and other ailments.

But when he’s healthy, he’s as steady as they come, and he seems to relish big moments. In each of his last 10 starts heading into Saturday, he had pitched at least six innings while posting a 1.19 ERA during that span. But a year ago, after hot first half, a back injury crept up on him after the All-Star break.

“That’s why we had the pitch limit today, right?” Suárez said. “Last season, during the second half, I got hurt. So the pitch limit was just because of that, to see how we can progress, to keep feeling better and just going forward like that.

“I think that the main thing for us right now is just to focus on finishing the season as healthy as possible.”

Suárez’s contract, which is paying him $8.8 million for 2025, is up at the end of the year. The Phillies will have a serious decision to make about resigning him, along with catcher J.T. Realmuto and slugger Kyle Schwarber, who will both be free agents as well, and southpaw Jesús Luzardo, who’s on a one-year deal. (The Phillies can retain control of Luzardo through 2026 with arbitration.)

If Suárez stays healthy and continues pitching anywhere close to his current level, he’ll be a hot commodity with a high price tag.

On the surface, the Phillies seem to have a plethora of good starting pitching. Righthander Zack Wheeler (8-3, 2.27 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 136 K) is again looking like a Cy Young candidate, and 28-year-old lefty Cristopher Sanchez (7-2, 2.68 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 108 K) continues to realize his potential.

Also, hot prospect Andrew Painter, who has been impressive in Triple-A while recovering from Tommy John surgery, is expected to join the club later this month (though there’s no official timetable).

But Luzardo, who began the season on fire, has been up and down lately. And 32-year-old Aaron Nola, to whom the Phillies just gave a seven-year, $172 million contract, is out multiple months with a cracked rib.

Not to mention, the Phils just sent highly touted youngster Mick Abel, 23, back to the minors after a couple of rocky outings. Add in the fact that Wheeler is 35 and comes off the books after 2027, and that Sanchez’s contract also is due to expire after ’27, and suddenly the Phillies’ starting staff doesn’t seem so loaded after all.

A team can never have too much starting pitching. Just ask the Dodgers, who overloaded their roster with it, and then half their staff got hurt and they didn’t have enough arms.

By exercising such caution with Suárez, the Phillies are displaying how valuable he is, and how much they may need to keep him.

—

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.

From The Reporter/MediaNews Group: https://tinyurl.com/2s3e6t85

PHILADELPHIA — In the second inning, and then again in the sixth, an old bugaboo reared its head for Phillies righthander Aaron Nola against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The long ball.

He was burned by a pair of home runs in his first start of the season against the Washington Nationals, and burned again Saturday in a 3-1 loss to star-studded L.A.

First to go deep was Kiké Hernandez, who drilled a hanging knuckle curve over the left-field fence, erasing a 1-0 Phillies lead with a two-run shot.

The second was a solo bomb to right center by Michael Conforto, extending the Dodgers’ advantage.

“I didn’t think his stuff was quite as good as it normally is,” manager Rob Thomson said. “His velocity was down a little bit. His command was down a little bit. But he battled. He got through six.

“He made a couple mistakes. The breaking ball to Hernandez backed up into his wheelhouse. The cutter on Conforto, he didn’t quite get it there. … He doesn’t quite have his fastball yet. It’ll come in time, as the weather warms up. Some guys are just like that. I trust him though, because he’s going to battle.”

Nola gave up 30 home runs last season, which was tied for third most in all of baseball, and surrendered 32 the previous year (a spike from 19 in 2022).

The Phillies scratched across a run in the first inning before 23-year-old Japanese phenom Rōki Sasaki settled in to retire nine in a row and 12 of 13.

“I know his stuff’s big, and like I said yesterday, I like watching talent,” Thomson said of Sasaki. “Sometimes you’d rather watch it on TV than live, but I love talent and I respect it.”

The Phillies saw the young righty, whose four-seam fastball on four occasions has been clocked at 102.5 mph, up close and personal. He effectively mixed his four-seamer and splitter with a changeup, cutter, knuckle curve and slider before manager Dave Roberts removed him after just 68 pitches. (The Dodgers are bringing him along slowly, with the softest of kid gloves. And, yes, Sasaki throws that many different pitches.)

Nola, who dropped to 0-2, gave up seven hits in six innings, striking out two and walking one. Not a terrible start, but not good enough to beat the defending World Series champs. If only he could eliminate those pesky home runs.

“Grinded through it,” Nola said. “Kiké hit a pretty big homer right there. … The ball was up today. I struggled to get the fastball down in the zone, especially my four-seam. And the curveball was not that sharp today. … I made some good pitches when I needed to with some guys on base. But other than that, I was kind of off today.”

Three of the four home runs Nola has surrendered this season have come off the first pitch of the at-bat.

“I just need to throw a little better pitches,” he said.

The Phillies’ quiet bats didn’t help. They generated just three hits (well, technically four, counting when Bryce Harper reached in the ninth on what should have been scored an E5). It also didn’t help that Bryson Stott got doubled off of first base in the bottom of the fifth on a Kyle Schwarber lineout to right — before a tagging-up Realmuto could score from third.

“It’s 3-2 with Schwarber up and a player trying to stay out of a double play, and we ran into a double play,” Thomson said. “So, what are you going to do?”

Stott confirmed he was stealing and credited the throw by Teoscar Hernandez.

“I think the only ball to the outfield that I get doubled off on is that — a hard line drive right to the right fielder,” he said. “Teoscar’s got a good arm and he made a perfect throw. If he bounces the throw, I’m safe.”

Thomson sat Edmundo Sosa for the third straight game. He finally sent him in to pinch hit in the eighth, and he promptly struck out looking.

Before Thomson yanked him from the lineup — because of a dogmatic adherence to righty/lefty matchups — Sosa was hitting an insanely hot .600.

Another bat that was quiet was Shohei Ohtani’s. He’s 1-for-8 so far in this series, including 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout on Saturday.

He’s still hitting close to .300, and as talented as the Dodgers’ roster is, Ohtani has yet to return to the mound after an elbow injury kept him from pitching last season. But on Saturday, he threw a 26-pitch bullpen session — his second session this year.

The already loaded Dodgers, whom the Phillies could feasibly see in October, plan to use a six-man rotation when Ohtani takes the mound again. But if the Phils want to get to the postseason, Nola needs to find his footing and keep the ball in the park.

—

Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.

All right, I have to get this off my chest before I can finally move on with my life.

For two years, I was mostly stuck at home or stuck in a hospital, and I'm not talking about COVID. I had a thrown-out back, a blood infection, and double spinal-fusion surgery. Even though I attempted to work from home when I was able, I probably watched 300-plus Phillies games in that span.

Is that sad? Maybe. Maybe very sad.

I wasn't glued to the TV for every game, and I obviously wasn't able to cover the Phillies as a journalist, but I always had the game on, no matter what I was doing (usually lying in bed on a combination of heavy meds).

The Phillies gave me a sense of normalcy every day while I was dealing with health issues, while I was gaining ungodly amounts of weight before and after back surgery. (Pass me the Ozempic, please!) The Phillies were always there.

In other words, I was a fan, and I was extra invested. I know that many people around here were invested too.

The Phillies lost the NLCS when they blew those first two games in Arizona. Thank you very much, Craig Kimbrel — and Rob Thomson.

Thomson blew both of those games by bringing in the rookie Orion Kerkering and 35-year-old Craig Kimbrel, who has looked washed since the All-Star break, when he seemed to hit a wall, in both Game 3 and Game 4.

(And Kimbrel just let baserunners run wild against him. They'd get into scoring position and then score. It was like, "Hello! That's your responsibility!")

Also, there was no reason for Thomson not to pinch hit for Johan Rojas in Game 7 with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth, with the Phillies up 2-1 and with runs at a premium.

Rojas finished 4-for-43 this postseason. He flailed with a weak swing for strike three in that pivotal moment, when the Phillies had a chance to break things open. Rojas gave us no chance.

Thomson said he didn't want to sacrifice his defense in center field (as if Rojas is Willie Mays out there). Christian Pache plays an excellent center field and had some clutch hits for us during the regular season. He would have been a logical choice to pinch hit (or even to start). Or Thomson could have pinch hit with Jake Cave, who ended the game at the plate, put Cave in left and moved Marsh over to center.

And why on earth did Thomson keep choosing to pitch to Corbin Carroll?

With two outs and a man on second base in the fifth, he let Ranger Suárez pitch to Carroll, who was already 2-for-2 with a run scored against Ranger. (Pregame, Thomson had said he'd be looking to remove Suárez in that spot, regardless of what was happening.) But instead of taking him out, when it turned out it actually made sense to do so in that spot, he left him in and Carroll burned us with an RBI single to tie the game, stole second, and then scored on a base hit to put the D'backs ahead 3-2.

What?!

Also, our big bats obviously didn't come through in the last two games. In Game 7, Schwarber, Turner, Harper and Castellanos were a combined 1-for-15.

And what was Turner doing trying to bunt in the fifth after Schwarber led off with a double?

Turner followed up the failed, foul-ball bunt attempt with an unproductive out by grounding out to third. He didn't even try to hit the ball the other way to at least move the runner over — despite getting an outside pitch he could have smacked toward right. Harper and Bohm then made outs to end the inning.

Really bad approaches at the plate by some of our best hitters, not being selective, swinging out of their shoes, and trying to pull everything.

Arizona definitely deserves credit, but we let them back in the series by blowing those first two in the desert. Even if we had taken 2 of 3 in AZ, and had come back home up 3-1, it would have been a different series.

I don't trust Rob Thomson to manage our pitching at all, especially in tight games when offenses are being shut down — which happens a lot in every postseason. That's when elite in-game managers are on point and inhabiting all the details, from pitching to pinch hitters to runners to moving guys around, etc.

I don't trust Thomson in those situations at all. He has shown himself to be passive and analytics-driven. He used to be Joe Torre's right-hand man, and his passiveness reminded me of Torre in the 2004 ALCS, when the Yankees blew a 3-0 series lead to Boston. The Red Sox went on to break their World Series curse, and it was the downfall of Torre with the Yankees, who didn't really contend again for five more years (when they beat the Phillies in the '09 World Series under Joe Girardi).

And I definitely don't trust Thomson with handling pitchers. It was on full display in last year's World Series against Houston, when he pulled Wheeler prematurely in Game 6, but it has been an ongoing bugaboo. Thomson doesn't learn from it or change. It's a big deal.

(Even when he pulled Wheeler with two outs to go in the ninth in Game 7 against the Diamondbacks, Wheeler had a look on his face like, "Really? Again?" but didn't argue.)

By the way, while Thomson was wearing out our bullpen, did he forget that Taijuan Walker was on the roster? Walker, who tweeted after the Phillies lost the NLCS that "Disrespect is at an all time high," led the Phillies with 15 wins this year. Thomson didn't use him once in the postseason.

Again, what?!

Thomson likes to gamble that multiple relievers will all be on their games rather than sticking with guys who are dealing. Doesn't analytics tell him that the odds are stacked against him?

He got away with it when he prematurely pulled Suárez in Game 3 of the NLDS against Atlanta (Ranger was visibly angry and shocked.) All six relievers Thomson used happened to perform well in that game, but that is beyond rare.

I have to believe Thomson's mismanagement of his pitchers has become a source of tension in the clubhouse. It happened throughout the regular season, perhaps most notably when he gave Christopher Sanchez an early hook while he was throwing a no-hitter during an awful series in Pittsburgh at the end of July. I think the players are going to confront him about the issue.

They have to.

I don't trust him with the pitching. I don't trust him with the pitching. I don't trust him with the pitching.

I'm not calling for Thomson to be fired (as if I have a say anyway). He runs a good clubhouse and the players play for him. But he does need to make some serious changes to his in-game approach, because this pattern is harmful.

Thomson needs to adapt.

He should have learned a year ago, against the Astros. The message needs to be sent up the chain, where many of his predetermined moves come from, even though some of the problem is Thomson himself, with his own situational panic and a deference to analytics that he can always justify to his bosses.

Phillies president Dave Dombrowki gave Thomson a two-year extension after last season, after Thomson took over in June of 2022 and led the Phillies to the World Series and became a popular figure. But that extension wasn't exactly a vote of confidence. It was a wait-and-see move. Thomson will now be entering the final year of his deal.

Dombrowski believes in analytics, but he's not someone who wants to die on that hill either. He needs to get the message, but you can't count on an unlimited number of chances in life. This should have been the Phillies' year. Next year isn't promised.

It was a strong year for the Phils, but I really thought they'd get to the World Series and win it. So disappointing. And it's on Thomson, the captain of the ship.

Email the DeFranco Post at chris@defrancopost.com, or comment below.

On a Saturday night in Houston — Nov. 3, 2022 — live on national television, in front of millions of witnesses around the globe, Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson, as casually as sipping a warm cup of tea, committed highway robbery against his own people.

It was Game 6 of the World Series, his club leading the Houston Astros 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth, trying to force a Game 7. Thomson’s right-handed ace, Zack Wheeler, was dominating, having thrown only 70 pitches while surrendering just 3 hits.

The Astros, with a fluky hit-by-pitch, a fielder’s choice, and a ground-ball bleeder up the middle, had put runners on the corners with one out.

That’s when Thomson, with everything on the line, decided to stride out to the mound and remove Wheeler from the game, bringing in hard-throwing lefty Jose Alvarado to face left-handed Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez — whom Wheeler had retired twice on three total pitches.

“I thought Wheels still had good stuff; it wasn’t about that,” Thomson said. “I thought the matchup was better with Alvarado.”

The move almost immediately blew up in Thomson’s face and blew up the Phillies’ season with it.

Alvarez launched the fourth pitch from Alvarado — a flat, 98-mph sinker above the knees in the middle of the plate — deep into another stratosphere, a Houston liftoff high over the center-field wall and onto a towering balcony of filled seats.

It was a 450-foot, mammoth shot that will live in legend, and the Astros went on to a 4-1 victory and the World Series crown.

“It was the sixth inning and I felt like the normal, back of the bullpen guys could get through it,” Thomson said, after robbing Wheeler and Phillies fans everywhere of a shot at history. It was like Jesse Plemons’ obtuse character of Todd in “Breaking Bad,” abruptly going off the reservation and committing unnecessary and irrevocable murder for no good reason other than folks in these positions are often thick-headed.

Thomson’s operative words were “sixth inning,” because Wheeler was going through Houston’s lineup for the third time. According to Daddy Analytics, that means you pull your starting pitcher. Because, statistically, the hitter often wins the third time through against a starter.

Never mind how well the pitcher is performing, how locked-in he is.

Fox play-by-play broadcaster Joe Davis oddly claimed, “This is what Thomson has done all year.”

Replacing a dealing Wheeler after 70 pitches at the slightest sign of trouble, just to play the matchup game with a struggling Alvarado, who had had difficulty locating his pitches all series, was what Thomson had done all year? Huh?

Nope.

Vanilla Joe Davis, with extra rosy TV makeup on his cheeks, does a solid job and is benign enough (anyone is more tolerable than Joe Buck, although that’s an issue for another day), but he was glossing over reality by not wanting to second-guess Thomson.

The reality is, Alvarado was sent down to Triple-A for a few weeks over the summer to work on his command. He returned a different pitcher, much improved, with an unwavering mindset and a badass cutter that hadn't been so effective prior to his stint in the minors.

But in this World Series, he had been (and ended up being) the old Alvarado, jittery and unreliable in big moments. His pitches hadn't done what he wanted them to do, and he had allowed every inherited Astros runner to score — and then some.

Thomson hadn't made such a pitching move all year. It was a colossal blunder, historically bad, one of the worst in World Series history.

“Honestly, he (Thomson) just caught me off guard,” Wheeler said postgame. “That’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s ultimately his call, and that’s the call he made.”

Thomson, despite his calm demeanor and pressing all the right buttons to guide the Phillies here, panicked. He yanked his best starter, the most exquisite horse in his stable, because of analytics.

Thompson said the move was about righty/lefty. But Alvarez is similarly dangerous against left-handed and right-handed pitchers. So why the hell would Thomson put in a power pitcher who hadn't been able to locate all series against a power hitter who, as anyone who paid attention this postseason knew, could have erupted at any moment?

What is more hazardous than a power pitcher who can't locate? All the hitter has to do is put the bat on the ball, and it's over. And it was.

That was it.

The worst part is, we had seen this movie before — just two years earlier, in fact. And it, too, happened because of analytics.

‘Those who don’t learn history are doomed to repeat it’

In the 2020 World Series, it was Blake Snell on the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays, who were trailing 3-games-to-2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Rays Manager Kevin Cash pulled Snell — also in the sixth inning, with one out and a 1-0 lead, in Game 6. Snell (who later became well-known to Phillies fans when he broke Bryce Harper’s thumb) had thrown only 73 pitches and was absolutely dazzling. He had struck out the Dodgers' first three hitters six times. He had given up just two hits and fanned nine.

After Cash’s move, Los Angeles rallied for two runs against Tampa Bay reliever Nick Anderson, going on to a 3-1 win and the Dodgers’ first World Series title since 1988.

Several members of the Dodgers, including manager Dave Roberts, said afterward that they were totally relieved and thrilled when Snell was pulled, because he was in complete control of them.

“At that point I was like, ‘I got a chance,’” Mookie Betts said. “Snell was rolling.”

Cody Bellinger said he was “shocked” by the move because Snell “had his stuff .. he was gross.” He added that the move “definitely uplifted us.”

Cash, for his part, was unapologetic, citing analytics.

“The lineup the Dodgers feature is as potent as any team in the league,” he said. “Mookie coming around for the third time through, I value that. … I didn’t want Mookie or (Corey) Seager seeing Blake a third time.

“I’d do it again,” Cash later added.

The analytics of the moment

Analytics have been part of the game almost since its inception, but never to such an absurd extent. The Dogma of Analytics fails to account for feel.

How do you feel? I feel good, how about you? How does your arm feel? How do you feel about me? How do I feel about this situation?

Daddy Analytics fails to account for momentum, clutch performance, being “in the zone” — otherwise known as the human element. It fails to account for your own eyeballs and common sense.

Daddy Analytics also doesn’t include real-time analytics. For example, just because a guy performed a certain way on a Tuesday in late July doesn’t mean he’ll perform that way in the postseason (for better or worse). Some guys shrink, some guys excel. In basketball, it’s called “the Jimmy Butler effect,” because he seems to find new heights in the playoffs.

What made Derek Jeter great? Certainly, part of it was his consistency over two decades in the majors. But a big part of it was how he elevated his performance in the clutch, with memorable play after memorable play, in October and November.

Where was the analytics of the moment in the 2020 and 2022 World Series? Where was the real-time analytics?

Where was the analytics of, How does Snell perform the third time through in Game 6 of the World Series when he’s living his childhood dream and dominating the Dodgers? or How does Wheeler respond with the World Series on the line when he’s pitching the game of his life?

There’s usually no book on those situations. That’s when a manager has to rely on the limited stats he has available in real-time as well as on his eyes, his gut, and his personal knowledge of his players.

It is why analytics, while important, aren’t the only important factor in winning. It is why push-button managing doesn’t work.

Could the Astros and Dodgers still have ended up winning the World Series if Thomson and Cash hadn’t made those moves? Of course. But who knows. Those were pivotal points on the biggest stage.

Overuse, and misuse, of analytics robs us all.

What fan, outside of Houston and Los Angeles, didn’t want to see Wheeler and Snell stay in the game?

“I am definitely disappointed and upset,” Snell said after his early exit. “I just want the ball. I felt good. I did everything I could to prove my case to stay out there, and then for us to lose, it sucks.”

Most managers pray their ace starter has his electric stuff in a World Series game. What are the analytics on how rare it is for your starter and every guy out of your bullpen to have their best stuff on the same day under such a spotlight?

Billy Beane made a name for himself as general manager of the Oakland A’s by employing Bill James-style analytics to build a team on the cheap, to re-conceive the approach to the game and recreate the statistics of unaffordable star players in the aggregate.

Even in the years when Oakland has been good, when ownership hasn’t sold off its talent as soon as it came time for new contracts, Beane’s adherence to analytics has yielded a grand total of zero championships.

The A’s haven’t even come close.

“My shit doesn't work in the playoffs,” Beane himself admitted. “My job is to get us to the playoffs. What happens after that is fucking luck.”

And the human element.

Email the DeFranco Post at chris@defrancopost.com, or comment below.

Subscribe now