The Philadelphia Phillies are back in a place that looked impossible when the season opened 9-19: sitting near the top of the National League picture and getting treated like one of baseball’s best teams again.
That turnaround has them at 54-43, with Don Mattingly now steering the club as interim manager after Rob Thomson was let go. If the season ended today, Philadelphia would be in the playoffs as a wild-card team, and the Phillies are only two games behind the Atlanta Braves for first in the National League East.
MLB.com’s latest power rankings reflect that surge. The two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers stayed at No. 1, but the Phillies landed at No. 5, one spot ahead of the New York Yankees.
"The goal for this veteran Phillies team is to win a World Series title before everybody gets too old to reasonably make another run," wrote Will Leitch. "Since Don Mattingly took over as interim manager in late April, the Phillies have been one of the best teams in baseball. So that World Series win they want so badly is very much on the table."
The roster still looks loaded in the middle. Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh all represented Philadelphia in this year’s All-Star Game, while Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez continue to give the rotation real punch.
Age, though, hangs over this group. Harper, Schwarber and shortstop Trea Turner are 33, Wheeler is 36, and catcher J.
T. Realmuto is 35.
That’s why the conversation around this team keeps circling back to urgency.
With the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaching, the Phillies are being linked to potential upgrades. The needs are clear enough: pitching help, another outfielder and a right-handed bat. The question is whether they have enough trade capital to land a meaningful addition.
Even so, there’s a belief that team president David Dombrowski will push hard to improve the roster. If Philadelphia can pull off the right move, the idea of a real October run - even against a powerhouse like the Dodgers - starts to look a lot more believable.
In Other News...
Phillies Fans Face Another Miserable Wait Before Mets Opener
Smoke from Canadian wildfires has already turned the sky hazy across parts of the Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, and Philadelphia is among the cities feeling it most as the Phillies get ready to open a key series against the Mets on July 16. The air quality in the city is sitting in the unhealthy range, adding another layer of discomfort to a matchup that already carries plenty of weight for a fan base that has been waiting for meaningful baseball to pick back up.
The smoke is also casting a wider shadow over Fridays MLB schedule, with other games in places like Cleveland and Chicago potentially dealing with the same conditions depending on how the wind shifts. For the Phillies, though, the immediate concern is simpler and more familiar: a night at the ballpark that may look and feel a lot different than anyone hoped when the series was first circled on the calendar. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Face A Costly Jhoan Duran Decision They Can't Dodge
Since arriving in Philadelphia, Jhoan Duran has settled into the closer role and given the Phillies the kind of late-inning certainty they were hoping to buy at the deadline. The early returns have been strong enough that the next question is no longer about whether he fits, but how long the Phillies can realistically keep him if they want to turn a short-term upgrade into something more durable.
That is where the decision gets expensive in a hurry. Duran is still years away from free agency, which gives the Phillies time to weigh an extension before the market gets even more complicated, but the timing also means they are staring at a pre-free-agency negotiation rather than a simple retention move. With elite reliever contracts already setting a high bar and the broader financial landscape in baseball potentially shifting again, Philadelphia may have to decide sooner than later how much it is willing to pay to keep its ninth-inning answer in place. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Just Took A Bullpen Hit At The Worst Time
The Phillies came back from the All-Star break a little earlier than most clubs, opening the second half against the Mets in a nationally televised game with the kind of timing that can sharpen every roster move. They also chose to give Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Snchez a few extra days of rest, leaving Aaron Nola to take the ball in the opener and keeping Jess Luzardo and Alan Rangel lined up behind him as they try to keep the rotation lined up for the stretch run.
The bullpen, though, took the kind of hit teams hate to absorb this time of year. Brad Keller landed on the 15-day injured list because of a right elbow issue, and the Phillies had to turn to Seth Johnson, recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, to fill the vacancy. For a club trying to bank wins while managing its arms carefully, losing a reliable relief option right as the second half begins makes the margin a little thinner. [Read more 🡒]