The Phillies are heading into the offseason with a problem that looks a lot like the one the Yankees are trying to solve.
Both clubs have gone nearly two decades without a World Series title, and both are carrying position-player cores that are getting older. The lineup balance is an issue too, with left-handed bats piling up and not enough impact from the right side.
Philadelphia’s left-handed group includes Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Bryson Stott, and Justin Crawford. On the other side, third baseman Alec Bohm, one of the team’s right-handed hitters, is due to hit free agency this offseason.
That shortage is exactly why FanSided’s Zachary Rotman thinks the Phillies need to shop for a “potent” right-handed bat.
“The Philadelphia Phillies find themselves in a similar spot to the Yankees. They've consistently made the playoffs on the back of an elite rotation, but have repeatedly fallen short thanks to their lineup's inability to score runs.
"They scored just nine runs (an average of three per game) in three Wild Card series games, which just isn't enough to win you a series most of the time," Rotman wrote.
At the moment, Philadelphia simply does not have a right-handed hitter who can be counted on every day. Trea Turner is the best right-handed option in the lineup now, but his production has slipped.
The same goes for J.T. Realmuto and Bryan De La Cruz.
“Trea Turner is probably their best right-handed hitter now, and he's heavily regressed. If the Phillies want to seriously compete, they're going to need to add to their lineup in a huge way, and the best way for them to do that would be by adding a big right-handed option,” Rotman added.
That makes this winter a likely search for a right-handed slugger, with Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski expected to be in the market.
In Other News...
Yankees Just Lost A Key Coach In A Troubling Development Blow
The Yankees are losing one of the more quietly important figures in their development pipeline, as the Astros have hired Spencer Medick away from Triple-A to become their new director of pitching. Medick had been in the organization since 2022 and spent time working with Cam Schlittler during the right-handers rise through the minors, a stretch that helped shape one of the most encouraging young pitching stories in the system.
Schlittlers 2026 season only sharpened the interest around that work, finishing with a 1.95 ERA, the lowest qualifying mark for the Yankees since 1978. So while the move is being made at the staff level rather than on the major league roster, it still lands as a meaningful development loss for a club that has leaned heavily on continuity in its pitching instruction. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Boone Just Made Jazz Chisholms Yankees Future Feel Clear
Jazz Chisholm Jr.s first full run in pinstripes never quite settled into the kind of season the Yankees were hoping for, and it ended with more questions than answers. His uneven 2026 performance was already under the microscope before a costly throwing error in the ALDS only added to the scrutiny, making the fall feel even steeper for a player brought in to bring energy and production.
Then Aaron Boone said the quiet part out loud. The Yankees manager made it clear that Chisholms approach has rubbed him the wrong way, pointing specifically to the kind of behavior that can grate inside a clubhouse, and the comments only sharpened the sense that Chisholm may not be part of the teams long-term plans. For a player whose talent still makes him intriguing, the issue now is whether the Yankees see enough fit beyond the flashes to keep the relationship going. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Fifth Starter Battle Comes Down To Upside Or Reliability
The Yankees have plenty to like at the top of their rotation, with recent All-Stars like Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodn and Max Fried headlining a group that also includes Cam Schlittler. The question now is less about star power than about how to round out the back end, where the fifth-starter spot has turned into a familiar kind of camp debate: do the Yankees lean into upside, or do they choose the arm they trust most to take the ball and keep them in games?
Ryan Weathers looked like a real candidate after a solid 2026 season, but the forearm injury he suffered late in the year complicates his case. Will Warren, meanwhile, brings the kind of durability teams value in April and beyond, having topped 150 innings in each of the past two seasons, even if his command can wander at times. For a club built to expect excellence from the front of the rotation, the final choice may come down to whether it wants the ceiling of a comeback candidate or the steadier profile of a workhorse who does not always have perfect feel. [Read more 🡒]