The Phillies keep running into the same problem, and Brad Lidge thinks the answer starts with a hard look at the roster’s age and production.
The former Philadelphia closer said the club may need to get younger as it tries to sort out what comes next. “They are a team that is probably in need of some youth,” Lidge said, H/T Chris Spiering.
He also pointed straight at the offense, where the questions are only getting louder. “They're going to have to take a look at the offense, and say are we going to be able to commit to these guys as everyday players year in and year out if they're not producing at the levels that we need?”
That’s the dilemma facing a Phillies team that has disappointed over the past couple of seasons despite being a regular playoff presence and a club with division-winning expectations every year. The issue isn’t just whether they can stack up regular-season wins. It’s whether the roster has enough in either half of the game to inspire real confidence when October arrives.
Against the Atlanta Braves, that concern showed up again.
Philadelphia now has some difficult decisions ahead over the next couple of months and years, and those choices may force the front office to move on from players tied to major contracts who are no longer performing like the versions of themselves the team once counted on. For the Phillies, that’s the tricky part: the need for change is obvious, but the path to making it happen is anything but simple.
They’re one of the teams without a clear-cut route to getting better, and that reality is going to need sorting out soon.
In Other News...
J.T. Realmuto Might Not Be Finished After All For The Phillies
J.T. Realmutos 2026 season looked rough on the surface, the kind of year that can make a veteran catcher seem to be slipping out of place all at once. His offensive numbers dipped to career lows in several important categories, and for a Phillies team that has long counted on his all-around value, that kind of decline naturally raised questions about what comes next.
Still, the deeper numbers offer a more encouraging read for Philadelphia. Realmutos expected metrics were noticeably stronger than his actual production, suggesting the gap may have been driven more by bad luck than a true collapse. Add in the fact that he remains athletic for his position and age, and there is at least a real case that he could bounce back next season rather than fading away. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Make A Notable Staff Reset Around Don Mattingly
The Phillies are moving into the offseason with a notable coaching shakeup around Don Mattingly, who has had the interim tag removed as the club begins reshaping its staff for the year ahead. Hitting coach Kevin Long will not be retained, ending a run that began before the 2022 season and included an extension after Philadelphias World Series push, while infield coach Bobby Dickerson is also departing after joining the staff in 2021.
Longs exit stands out because it comes after a season in which the offense did not hold its earlier standard, giving the front office a clear reason to look for a different voice. Dickersons departure adds another layer to the reset, and with Mattingly now formally in place, the Phillies appear ready to rework more than just one corner of the dugout as they head into the next stage of the offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Rafael Marchn Is Suddenly Playing For His Phillies Future
Rafael Marchn is using winter ball to put himself back on the Phillies radar. The catcher is playing for Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League and was in the season opener, where he caught for starter Ricardo Pinto and finished 0-for-3 with a walk. For a player trying to carve out a place on a roster that already has established pressure points behind the plate, every appearance this winter carries a little extra weight.
Marchn enters the offseason as a possible non-tender candidate, which makes this stretch in Venezuela more than just extra work. The Phillies could wind up weighing what they see in winter ball and then again in spring training before deciding whether he fits into their plans. For Marchn, the path forward is simple to understand and difficult to control: keep playing, keep catching, and give the club enough reason to keep the conversation going into next year. [Read more 🡒]