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  • Indiana’s football run has made Kyle Schwarber ‘super fan out’ and helps him appreciate passion of Phillies fans

    Indiana’s football run has made Kyle Schwarber ‘super fan out’ and helps him appreciate passion of Phillies fans

    Kyle Schwarber will be in the stands Friday night, allowing his feelings to be controlled by the college football players in front of him the same way he often dictates people’s nights with one swing during the summer. He’ll be a fan, riding the emotional roller coaster with Indiana’s football team in Atlanta as the Hoosiers try to reach the national championship game with a victory over Oregon.

    “You’re living and dying with it and you’re like, ‘Man, this is what Phillies fans do for 162 games? That’s impressive,’” said Schwarber, the Phillies slugger who hit 56 home runs last season. “It brings back the super fan in you. It brings back that aspect. You’re in it and now you get to go super fan out on someone else.”

    Schwarber, 32, grew up near Cincinnati as an Ohio State fanatic but traded the Buckeyes for the Hoosiers after playing baseball for three seasons at Indiana. The school’s baseball team transformed during that time from an afterthought to a national power. The football team — which until November had the worst winning percentage in college football history — is now doing the same. And it’s allowing Schwarber to know what it feels like to be a fan in South Philly.

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    “We have people who show up and care,” Schwarber said. “How many times have we gone to a weekend series and it wasn’t sold out for any of those games? A Monday night or Tuesday night or a Wednesday afternoon, we have 40,000-plus. That’s awesome. Now you get to see that for these kids in college. This is so awesome and it’s such an awesome experience for me to be able to fan out.”

    Schwarber will be IU’s honorary captain for Friday’s Peach Bowl against Oregon. He narrated the team’s hype video before its Big Ten championship win over Ohio State and sat next to Lee Corso in 2024 when College GameDay came to Indiana. It might be harder to find a bigger IU football fan than the Phillies slugger, who was elected to the school’s Hall of Fame last year.

    A linebacker in high school, Schwarber had football tickets as a freshman, but the Hoosiers won just one game. The football program did little while Schwarber was there — “There wasn’t much winning going on,” he said — and it was hard to imagine the sport ever catching on at a basketball school.

    “It was like the tailgate fields were filled and then everyone vanished when it was game time,” Schwarber said.

    Now he’s wearing Indiana gear on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — “You have to wear it the day before game day, on game day, the day after they win,” Schwarber said — and texting his old buddies about the football team. Schwarber said people call him a bandwagon fan. Nope, he said. This is his school. Schwarber drove to Notre Dame last winter to tailgate at IU’s playoff game with his old baseball teammates and is flying to Friday’s Peach Bowl.

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    “It’s so much fun now,” Schwarber said. “Now that they’re good, it takes away that Ohio State in you. You were there. You went to school there. It just revamps you — that’s my team, that’s my school. It brings back the super fan in you.”

    The turnaround started in November 2023 with the arrival of head coach Curt Cignetti, who was the quarterbacks coach at Temple under Jerry Berndt from 1989-92 and coached Indiana University of Pennsylvania from 2011-16. The Hoosiers reached the College Football Playoff last season, and became the nation’s No. 1 team in December a week before their quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, won the Heisman Trophy. The doormats rapidly became a powerhouse.

    “I need a documentary,” Schwarber said. “I need to meet Cig and see how in the heck does this guy come in from having one of the worst winning percentages in college football history to taking it in two years to a College Football Playoff team and then being No. 1 in the country the next year and being a win away from the national championship. It’s surreal.

    Kyle Schwarber played three seasons at Indiana on his way to being a first-round pick by the Cubs in 2014.

    “It’s so awesome to watch. It gives you goose bumps when you can sit back and realize that, ‘Man, Indiana is getting some really cool recognition.’ I wish I could go back all the time. It’s such a beautiful campus. It feels like the perfect college town with nothing around it. Just cornfields around it and it’s beautiful. To have a place like that get recognition because our football team is doing amazing things.”

    Schwarber started hitting earlier this month as he prepares for the first year of his newly signed five-year, $150 million contract. He could have gone elsewhere in free agency but said he often thought about the atmosphere at Citizens Bank Park on a Tuesday in May or a Friday in October. He knows now how it feels to sit in the stands.

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    “I’m not the outrageous, screaming, yelling guy,” Schwarber said. “That was the younger me watching the Bengals, screaming at the TV. Now being professional and understanding, you just understand a little more and not screaming, ‘How the hell did that dude not catch the ball?’ No, the guy is trying to catch the ball. He just didn’t. But I’ll be the first one to let you know that Indiana scored or Indiana stopped them on a fourth down or didn’t jump on a fake punt on fourth down. I’ll be the first one to let you know.

    “I’m going to be screaming and yelling and losing my mind Friday and then come home the next day and my wife will be like, ‘What the hell happened?’ That’s what this is about. It’s the escape and it brings you back to being the fan.”

  • How can Don Mattingly help Bryce Harper? It starts with his star power.

    How can Don Mattingly help Bryce Harper? It starts with his star power.

    A.J. Preller grew up in New York — Long Island, to be specific — in the ’80s.

    Guess which baseball player was his favorite.

    “Don Mattingly,” the San Diego Padres president of baseball operations said, never hesitating, a few years ago over the phone. “That was the guy. ‘Hitman’ poster on the wall. I was at the last game of the [1984] season, when he won the batting title over [Dave] Winfield. ’85 MVP; ’84-’85-’86-’87, those were my formative baseball years.

    “And he was the guy I grew up with.”

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    Preller went on and on, and a generation of fans might as well have nodded in agreement. Because for most of a decade, when baseball could still reasonably call itself America’s pastime, Mattingly was the face of the sport — with a nickname to match.

    “Donnie Baseball” captained the most storied franchise in the biggest city and ranked among the best players in the majors. But he also penetrated into pop culture, guesting with David Letterman and getting booted from Mr. Burns’ power-plant softball team on The Simpsons.

    Don Mattingly (left) is the Phillies’ new bench coach after being hired this week by president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

    And while none of that may mean much to many millennials, it surely does to Bryce Harper, never mind that he was eight days shy of turning 3 in 1995 when Mattingly played his final game.

    “Players that came before, we usually don’t think that this generation of players knows as much about us as they should,” Mike Schmidt said recently on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast. “Not with Bryce. He’s very informed about the alumni like myself.”

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    Indeed, Harper is a baseball obsessive with a respect for the game’s past. He talks with familiarity about the ’70s Reds, his father’s favorite team. He picked No. 7 in youth baseball after hearing about Mickey Mantle. As Dusty Baker once said when he managed Harper in Washington, “He’s as knowledgeable of baseball history as anybody that I’ve had.”

    So, although Harper met Mattingly only briefly at the 2017 All-Star Game in Miami and may not be able to recite all the pertinent numbers — .307 average, 222 homers, nine Gold Gloves, six All-Star appearances — it’s a safe bet he appreciates his nearly Hall of Fame-level place in the sport.

    And it has been years since Harper played for anyone with those credentials as a player.

    That wasn’t the primary reason the Phillies this week finalized a two-year contract with Mattingly to be the bench coach. They wanted another voice in the dugout alongside manager Rob Thomson. Mattingly managed for 12 seasons with the Dodgers and Marlins; at 64, he insists he doesn’t want to do it again.

    But Thomson also conceded that Mattingly’s distinguished playing career sets him apart among the Phillies’ coaches. Because Thomson didn’t play in the majors. Caleb Cotham (pitching), Kevin Long (hitting), Bobby Dickerson (infield), and others are well-regarded across the majors, but they played in the big leagues only briefly or not at all.

    Mattingly’s career gives him instant credibility among players, especially star players. His impact on Harper could be profound.

    Bryce Harper (left) played for manager Dusty Baker with the Nationals.

    By all accounts, Harper is coachable. He confides in Long, with whom he worked in Washington before Philadelphia. He took a crash course at first base from Dickerson in 2023 and learned the position on the fly.

    But for a two-time MVP who’s likely headed to the Hall of Fame, the conversations with someone like Mattingly must resonate differently.

    Harper’s first two Phillies managers — Gabe Kapler and Joe Girardi — had long playing careers. But he hasn’t played for a manager or coach with Mattingly’s name or stature since Baker with the Nationals in 2017.

    Add the fact that Mattingly became an icon at first base, and it would appear that he’s uniquely suited to relate to Harper on multiple levels.

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    “If there’s things he wants to talk about from a first-base standpoint, then we can talk about it,” Mattingly said in a video news conference this week. “If there’s things he thinks about at the plate, hitting the lefty or hitting the righty, or a certain style of pitcher, I’m going to be like, ‘Hey, what are you trying to do with this guy? What are you thinking?’ I want to learn, too.”

    Mattingly recalled fondly a conversation with Harper and former Reds star Joey Votto at the 2017 All-Star Game. He also marveled, like most baseball observers, at how good Harper already was upon making his major league debut at age 19.

    “Watching his development over the years, this cat can go,” Mattingly said. “This is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, hands down.”

    (Mattingly and Harper did get into a spring-training rock fight through the media in 2018 over Harper’s criticism of the Marlins’ offseason moves, though eight years is a long time for water to flow under a bridge.)

    In Washington, Harper hit it off with Baker, whose long, successful managerial tenure was preceded by 19 major league seasons in which he got nearly 2,000 hits and slugged 242 homers. It was reciprocal. Baker once called Harper “a pretty cool little dude” and said he’s “pretty hip on a lot of fronts.” Harper batted .319 with a 1.008 OPS for Baker in 2017.

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    Nearly a decade later, as one of this generation’s biggest baseball stars, Harper figures to find “Donnie Baseball” to be relatable and potentially helpful.

    “Well, I think we’ll find out, right?” Mattingly said. “You’ve got to build a relationship first. I’ve seen him from afar; I’ve not seen him from the inside. Listen to him, watch him, and just talk.”

    The conversations will begin next month at first base on the spring-training half-field in Clearwater.

  • How Bo Bichette could wind up with the Phillies

    How Bo Bichette could wind up with the Phillies

    There is a long list of reasons that you shouldn’t waste your daydreams on visions of Bo Bichette wearing red pinstripes and hitting behind Bryce Harper. The Phillies’ reported interest in the Blue Jays star only barely distinguishes them from the 29 other major league teams that likewise are interested in signing very good baseball players at the right price. Interest is not a differentiator. You can’t buy a Bentley with affection.

    Circumstance, context, and logic suggest that Bichette will end up signing elsewhere. And that’s great if you’re into those things. The rest of us will be over here indulging ourselves. On the 12th day of Christmas, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman gave to us a vaguely worded, thinly sourced report connecting the Phillies to a big-ticket free agent. What are we supposed to do? Underreact?

    The least we can do is try to proceed with some level of dignity and decorum. This often is easiest to do under the guise of asking questions. There are no dumb questions, only dumb questioners, right? So let’s fire away.

    The Phillies already have a shortstop in Trea Turner. Presumably, Bo Bichette would move to second base in any scenario that brought him to Philadelphia.

    Only a few weeks ago, Dave Dombrowski sounded like a man who didn’t expect any more major additions to his roster. What would have caused that to change? Is Bitcoin about to spike again?

    This is the however-many-million-dollar question. Five weeks out from pitchers and catchers reporting, the roster looks pretty close to set. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Monday that the Phillies still were in the market for another right-handed-hitting outfielder, which is encouraging, because they really could use a viable Plan B in case Justin Crawford turns out to be late-stage Juan Pierre or Ben Revere. They don’t need anything major. Veteran Randal Grichuk, whom the report mentioned specifically, would make a lot of sense. Otherwise, there isn’t an obvious opening that would compel the Phillies to make an offer with the sort of necessity premium that often distinguishes a winning bid from the rest.

    One thing that may have changed is Dombrowski’s evaluation of the market. Not much has happened since the last time he spoke. Not only do most of the major free agents remain unsigned, we aren’t even seeing smoke. Bichette, Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker, Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman, Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger, Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suárez, not to mention Ranger Suárez and the rest of the starting pitchers … the complete lack of movement at the top of the market is abnormal.

    We’ve seen slow-moving markets before. But there is some reason to believe that this one is reaching a point of collapse. The money may not be out there this year. Virtually all of the big-market teams already are at or above the luxury tax threshold with the money on their books. Last year, the Phillies were at a disadvantage because teams like the Mets, Red Sox, and Cubs were in payroll expansion mode. Other teams simply had more money to spend than they did. That may not be the case this year.

    Can Don Mattingly save Phillies skipper Rob Thomson from himself?

    The Cubs still are a potential market maker, with roughly $80 million in space before the first luxury tax threshold. It shouldn’t surprise anybody if they make a flurry of moves that alters the current narrative about the NL landscape. Same goes for the Mets, who presumably have whatever money they would have paid to Pete Alonso and Edwin Díaz before both signed elsewhere. The Orioles are always lingering. The Blue Jays are pushing $300 million but seem to be operating with the taste of blood in their mouths. So there still is plenty of reason to doubt that the Phillies can win via aggression.

    But there are a lot of players out there. And there don’t seem to be the usual dark-horse lurkers among the midmarket clubs. It’s worth noting the situation in Minnesota, where the Twins are shedding payroll as if they need to make rent. The middle class might be content to sit this one out, especially with next year’s labor talks looming.

    Bo Bichette was an MVP-level hitter after he broke out of an extended slump last season.

    So Bichette might be more affordable than the Phillies thought?

    Yes and no. It’s awfully hard to project a contract for a player who is an anomaly in terms of his age (only 28 this season), career production (24 home runs per 162 games and 121 OPS+) and pedigree (Dante Bichette’s kid), but who also is less than a year removed from a brutal 18-month stretch in which he posted a .651 OPS in 651 plate appearances. Trea Turner’s career numbers were nearly identical (minus the steals) when the Phillies signed him to an 11-year, $300 million contract heading into his 30-year-old season. FanGraphs had Bichette projected at seven years and $189 million entering the offseason. ESPN recently updated its projection to five years and $150 million. If that second number is close to reality, the Phillies may well readjust their expectations.

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    What’s this about Bichette posting a .651 OPS in 651 plate appearances? Isn’t that a concern?

    It is. But it also might be an opportunity, if other teams are worried. Once he snapped out of his funk early last season, Bichette was an MVP-level hitter. In his last 102 games, he hit .325/.372/.528 with 17 home runs. From the right side of the plate. While playing middle infield. He has always had the kind of skill set scouts drool over. Bichette’s contact rate ranked in the top 20% of qualified hitters last season. At 83.2%, it would have ranked third among Phillies regulars, behind Alec Bohm (87%) and Bryson Stott (86.1%). His chase rate also ranked at the high end of the spectrum — in a bad way. Only 18 qualified hitters chased more often: Bichette’s 37.9% ranked just behind Bryce Harper (38.1%).

    That said, Bichette did make some steady progress last season. It’s fair to wonder if he emerged from his slump as a different hitter. Only 10 hitters in baseball had a lower strikeout rate after the All-Star Break — his 11.1% was a dramatic improvement over an already-solid roughly 15%. He coupled that with a huge boost in his walk rate, from an anemic 5.5% to a slightly-better-than-average 8.8%. If the Phillies think they can get a $250 million player for $175 million, that might change things.

    Bo Bichette scoring a run for the Blue Jays in June as Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto tries to catch the throw.

    Why wouldn’t the Blue Jays just match any offer?

    I guess Christmas is over, isn’t it? Assuming Bichette likes Toronto, which seems to be the case, and the Blue Jays are willing to spend, which seems to be the case, the Phillies presumably would need to land Bichette the old-fashioned way: by guaranteeing him more than anybody else is willing to guarantee him. They have close to $60 million coming off the books next season and theoretically would be able to accommodate another big deal, biting the bullet on the luxury tax this season while freeing up $15 million to $20 million by trading Bohm and Edmundo Sosa and finding someone to pay a little bit of Nick Castellanos’ salary.

    But, then, we’d be back where we started. Realizing that Bichette probably won’t be here.

  • Lenny Dykstra formally charged with drug possession

    Lenny Dykstra formally charged with drug possession

    Former Phillies star Lenny Dykstra has been charged with misdemeanor possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia following a traffic stop just after midnight on New Year’s Day in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

    Matthew Blit, lawyer for Dykstra, said in a statement that the 62-year-old Scranton resident was not arrested or taken into custody at the scene, and was accused of being under the influence.

    Blit said that “the actual driver,” whom he would not name, was taken into custody for suspicion of driving under the influence.

    “Lenny Dykstra was merely a passenger in a vehicle that did not belong to him,” Blit said.

    Blit said the charges against Dykstra “will be swiftly absolved.”

    Thomas Mincer, another lawyer for Dykstra, said in a statement that “we firmly assert that the alleged narcotics in the vehicle did not belong to Lenny.” Dkystra “was not knowingly in possession of or under the influence of any narcotics,” the lawyer said.

    Just after midnight on Jan. 1, Dykstra was a passenger in a 2015 silver GMC Sierra truck in the area of Route 507 and Robinson Road in Greene Township, Pike County, when the vehicle was stopped by the Pennsylvania State Police for a motor vehicle code violation, the state police said in a report.

    “During this investigation, the passenger was found to be in possession of narcotics and narcotic related equipment/paraphernalia,” the state police report said. “Charges to be filed.”

    The state police report identified Dykstra as the “arrestee,” but the court record showing the charges says Dykstra was issued a summons.

    Dykstra has a preliminary hearing in Pike County scheduled for Feb. 3.

    Dykstra played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball in center field, spending the first four with the Mets — including as part of the team that won the 1986 World Series — before being traded to the Phillies during the 1989 season. He retired with the Phillies in 1996.

    Nicknamed the “Dude” and “Nails,” Dykstra was a celebrated member of the 1993 Phillies team that made it to the World Series, but lost to the Toronto Blue Jays.

    After his baseball career, Dykstra ran afoul of the law multiple times. He spent time in prison after pleading guilty in federal court for bankruptcy fraud and pleading no contest to grand theft auto in California.

  • Can Don Mattingly save Phillies skipper Rob Thomson from himself?

    Can Don Mattingly save Phillies skipper Rob Thomson from himself?

    David Robertson, 40 and unemployed until July, put out a fire in the sixth inning of the Phillies’ first playoff game of 2025, but he hadn’t pitched an “up-down” all season — ending one inning and beginning another. With a one-run lead, Rob Thomson sent him back out for the seventh. Robertson hit one batter and another singled. Thomson then brought in Matt Strahm, who hadn’t inherited a runner in six weeks. Strahm got two outs, then gave up a three-run homer. The Phillies lost Game 1 of the NLDS to the Dodgers.

    Two nights later, with a slow runner on second base and nobody out in the ninth inning of a one-run game, Thomson directed Bryson Stott to bunt. Twice. The Dodgers ran a “wheel” play and nailed the runner at third. The Phillies lost Game 2 of the NLDS.

    Phillies hire Don Mattingly as bench coach: ‘This is the perfect guy’

    These are the latest blemishes on Thomson’s thin resumé. He was elevated from longtime major league bench coach to first-time manager in June 2022, and the Phillies have at least played to the level of their payroll ever since, but they’ve faltered in the fall. Fairly or not, from pulling Zack Wheeler early in Game 6 of the 2022 World Series to not pinch-hitting early for Johan Rojas in Game 7 of the 2023 NLCS, the popularity of the affable, accountable skipper has steadily waned.

    Enter Donnie Baseball.

    After an intense, two-month recruiting effort, the Phillies on Monday hired Yankees legend Don Mattingly, 64, to replace Mike Calitri as bench coach. Immediately after the four-game NLDS loss to the Dodgers, the Phillies reassigned Calitri to the post of major league field coordinator, which means he’ll retain his myriad administrative duties as they pertain to scheduling and number-crunching. But he no longer will be Thomson’s chief lieutenant; no longer the voice of reason in tight situations.

    Phillies manager Rob Thomson will have an experienced bench coach in the dugout with him in 2026 with the addition of Don Mattingly.

    That louder, deeper voice will belong to Mattingly.

    Thomson was asked Monday if some of his playoff missteps might have been averted had Mattingly been on the bench, protesting.

    “Possibly,” Thomson replied. “Possibly. You never know.”

    “Missteps” might be unfair, but Thomson has addressed each one with honest reevaluation. His authenticity and his absence of ego are part of his charisma.

    Charisma doesn’t win World Series.

    Anyway, the dugout’s charisma just grew by a factor of 10.

    For a decade, Mattingly was the face of the Yankees, then the biggest sports franchise in America. His .307 career average, .830 OPS, and nine Gold Glove awards make him a logical Hall of Fame candidate who has been cursed by a largely illogical voting bloc. With a husky build, full mustache, and thick, full head of dark hair, he was an archetype of a baseball player for a generation. Even today, as the cleft in his chin grows deeper with age, he looks like a movie-star version of a once-great athlete.

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    He managed the Dodgers to the playoffs three times and the Marlins once, in 2020, when he was National League Manager of the Year. He has coached for the Yankees, Dodgers, and, for the last three seasons, for the Blue Jays, who lost the World Series to the Dodgers in seven games. Mattingly expected Game 7 to be the last of his career.

    But Phillies president Dave Dombrowski was on the phone the next day, and the day after that, and so forth. Finally, Mattingly agreed.

    From now on, every decision — who pitches the eighth inning, who sits for a defensive replacement, who steals and who sacrifices — will go through a man with credentials Thomson simply doesn’t have.

    Don Mattingly managed the Marlins for seven seasons after leading the Dodgers for five.

    “We can now blame Don for it,” Thomson joked.

    Mattingly might have agreed to support Thomson for the next two seasons, but he agreed to much more than just making sure that Topper doesn’t bunt again in the ninth with nobody out.

    Superstar Don

    Mattingly immediately validates a coaching room full of excellent, but anonymous, teachers of the game. With a roster that includes Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Wheeler, in a game in which nothing carries more weight than having withstood the brightest lights yourself, this cannot be overstated.

    “He’s a great sounding board for our stars because he’s been there and done all these things,” Thomson said. “The rest of us really can’t [say] that.”

    Sheriff Don

    One of the most important services a bench coach provides is as a buffer between a manager and the players or as an enforcer who snuffs sparks before they become fires. It’s doubtful that Nick Castellanos’ insubordination or Strahm’s frequent criticisms would have proliferated if Mattingly had been around the clubhouse.

    Manager Don

    Asked if he ever wanted to wear the skipper hat again, Mattingly was steadfast and insistent in his reply.

    “I feel like those days have passed me by; I don’t have any aspirations to manage,” Mattingly said. “I don’t think I have the energy for that anymore.”

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    Well, then, he took the wrong job.

    If the Phillies stumble early in 2026, or if, heaven forbid, something incapacitates Thomson, Mattingly will be the obvious choice to replace him. You simply don’t take a job as bench coach without the understanding that you will manage the team in case of dismissal or emergency. Also …

    Preston Mattingly (right) with Dave Dombrowski, is going into his second season as Phillies general manager.

    Daddy Don? Spy Don?

    The Phillies and Mattingly want us to believe that the presence of Preston Mattingly as the Phillies’ general manager is almost entirely coincidental to their pursuit of him and of him delaying retirement. Mattingly swore that, even though Press is his son, he never would betray the sanctity of the dugout and clubhouse to the front office.

    “I’m not a voice running upstairs to talk about anything and everything,” Don said, clearly aware that some organizations are run in exactly that manner. “I came from a different era where that is not something that happens.”

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    That said, after more than four decades of playing and working in the majors, Mattingly admitted that he has envisioned the sweetness of winning the first World Series with his son as his boss.

    “To be able to do that with him would be incredible,” Don said.

    Incredibly difficult.

    In fact, even chiming in on Thomson’s occasional cockeyed decisions, and even riding herd over a roster full of coddled princelings, maintaining a normal father-son relationship while balancing a strictly professional GM-bench coach relationship will be the hardest part of old Don Mattingly’s new job.

  • Phillies hire Don Mattingly as bench coach: ‘This is the perfect guy’

    Phillies hire Don Mattingly as bench coach: ‘This is the perfect guy’

    There was a point last season when Don Mattingly was planning on calling it a career.

    He went into 2025, his third year as the bench coach with the Blue Jays, expecting it to be his last in the sport. Mattingly, now 64, thought he had accomplished what he had set out to do in Toronto, helping a younger manager in John Schneider become established.

    But it was his 11-year-old son, Louis, who helped change his mind.

    “Dad, you can’t stop,” Louis told him. “You’ve got to keep going.”

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    And after Toronto fell to the Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series — marking Mattingly’s first World Series appearance in more than 40 years in baseball as a player, manager, and coach — he was approached by the Phillies for their open bench coach job.

    The position had been vacated after Mike Calitiri was moved to the role of major league field coordinator at the end of the season. The fit was natural on both sides. The Phillies wanted a veteran voice to add to manager Rob Thomson’s staff. Mattingly managed the Dodgers from 2011-15 and the Marlins from 2016-22.

    He had also previously worked alongside Thomson and hitting coach Kevin Long in the Yankees organization, as well as assistant hitting coach Edwar Gonzalez with the Marlins.

    And he will reunite with another of his sons, Preston Mattingly, who is the Phillies’ 38-year-old general manager.

    “When it came to me that there was a possibility that Donny was going to be available, I said, ‘This is the perfect guy,’” Thomson said Monday after the Phillies announced that Mattingly’s hiring was official. “Because I know the integrity, I know the knowledge. I know how detailed he is. And plus, I think he’s a great sounding board for our players and our stars. He’s been there, and he’s done all these things, and the rest of us really can’t answer that.”

    ‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Don Mattingly on why he walked away from baseball ‘to be with my boys,’ including Preston

    Thomson’s contract was recently extended through 2027, and Mattingly said Monday he had committed to “a couple of years” with the Phillies’ manager.

    He also said he has no further aspirations to be a manager again. His approach as a bench coach is to be another set of eyes and ears for Thomson.

    A six-time All-Star, Don Mattingly was a career .307 hitter over 14 seasons with the Yankees.

    “I know it gets busy and fast at times when you’re thinking about your pitching, and then you got a pitch-hit situation, and all those things get fast,” Mattingly said. “ … Try to stay ahead of him and just lighten the load for him.”

    Mattingly’s playing career, during which he was a six-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glove winner at first base, and 1985 American League MVP, also influences how he coaches.

    “The one thing I’ve tried to always do is never forget how hard the game is,” Mattingly said. “Guys make a lot of money, and we expect them to come through all the time, and that’s just not that way. … I’m always going to try to be myself [in] any role that I’ve played, as a coach or a hitting coach or manager, I feel like I’m here to help players. I’m here to serve, help them get the best out of their ability.”

    Mattingly managed Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo on the Marlins, and is looking forward to developing relationships with the other Phillies players. He met Bryce Harper at the 2017 All-Star Game in Miami.

    “He’s always been a guy for me who’s been really interesting, just because of how young he was when he came [up], how good he was when he broke into the league, watching his development over the years,” Mattingly said of Harper. “This cat can go, for me. He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer, hands down. So I love being around guys like that.”

    It’s a bit of an unusual arrangement to have his son in the front office, but Mattingly said his priority is preserving trust with the players.

    Don Mattingly, then the Marlins manager, talks with Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski before a game in 2022.

    “I’m not a voice that’s just running upstairs and talking about anything and everything,” he said. “That’s just not the way I operate. I came from a different era where that is not something that happens. I’m going to have to build that trust with players so they will trust me that that’s not going to happen.”

    But there is also the possibility for a storybook ending for Mattingly’s career. He had hoped last season that Toronto would meet the Phillies in the World Series to go head-to-head with Preston. Now, they’re on the same side.

    “To be able to do it with him would be incredible,” Mattingly said.

  • ‘Not elite’ Bryce Harper could use better lineup protection. Here are the Phillies’ options.

    ‘Not elite’ Bryce Harper could use better lineup protection. Here are the Phillies’ options.

    Maybe Bryce Harper is still ticked off. Maybe, even after his air-clearing with Dave Dombrowski, he implanted a chip on his shoulder. Maybe he’s just trying to sell T-shirts.

    Either way, he got our attention.

    As usual.

    In case you missed it, because the holidays can be hectic, the Face of the Phillies posted a 101-second TikTok video in which he took seven swings while wearing a long-sleeve black shirt with two words — NOT ELITE — printed in all caps across the chest.

    Cue the social media buzz.

    @3ryceharper

    Eastside in my blood🥱

    ♬ Eastside – benny blanco & Halsey & Khalid

    Whatever the motivation, Harper’s choice in workout wear was as intentional as his “Rivalry Pack” cleats or his color-coordinated arm sleeves. He rarely does or says anything without thinking it through.

    And if Dombrowski’s candid assessment of Harper’s 2025 — “He didn’t have an elite season like he has had in the past,” the Phillies’ president of baseball operations said in October — rang in Harper’s ears as he rang in the New Year, well, would it be so bad? The last time someone publicly slighted him, Harper homered twice and stared a hole through Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia in Game 3 of the divisional series in 2023.

    Besides, Dombrowski wasn’t wrong. Although he omitted the inflamed right wrist that sidelined Harper for a month and ate into his counting stats (e.g., homers, RBIs, walks), Harper lagged in other areas.

    To wit: Harper swung at 35.6% of pitches out of the strike zone, 129th among 144 qualified hitters, according to Statcast, and worse than the league average (28.4%) and his career mark (29.3%). If you’re wondering why he faced a lower rate of strikes (43%) than any hitter in baseball last year, that’s the biggest reason.

    How can Bryce Harper have an ‘elite’ season in 2026? It starts with examining his atypical 2025.

    “He expanded a little bit more than we’re accustomed to,” hitting coach Kevin Long told Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast. “I don’t know what his actual chase rate ended up being, but it was probably 35%. That’s high. If he gets that number down to 32, just drop it 3%, now he’s swinging at better pitches [and] he’s going to do more damage.”

    But while Harper must revert to better plate discipline, the Phillies could also stand to better protect him in the batting order. Manager Rob Thomson is already scribbling possible lineups, crossing them out, and making new ones.

    “I’ve got some ideas, but I haven’t talked to the players yet,” he said last month. “I don’t want to talk much more about that. But, yeah, I’ve thought long and hard about it.”

    Two-thirds of the way through the offseason, it’s fair to wonder if Dombrowski has provided Thomson with better alternatives than he had last season. With five weeks until spring training, let’s look at the options:

    Kyle Schwarber (right) batted in front of Bryce Harper for most of the 2025 season en route to finishing second in the NL MVP race.

    Kyle Schwarber

    Two weeks into last season, after Harper drew 10 walks in 12 games, Thomson moved Schwarber down in the order to bat third or fourth behind Harper.

    It stayed that way for 45 games.

    But Harper injured his wrist, and upon returning, Schwarber was firmly in the midst of a 56-homer season that resulted in a runner-up finish in the NL MVP race. Thomson left him in the No. 2 hole, one spot ahead of Harper.

    “Schwarber is having, at that point, a career year, and I just didn’t want to mess with it,” Thomson said. “And the fact that Harper was protecting Schwarber, too.”

    Bryce Harper plans to join Kyle Schwarber and play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic

    Fair enough. And then there was this: Although Schwarber would seem to represent Secret Service-level protection, Harper saw even a lower rate of strikes (41.7%) while batting behind him.

    “It’s actually gotten worse,” Harper noted in May, “which is crazy.”

    Long’s theory: When it comes to superstar hitters, lineup protection doesn’t matter much. In Harper’s case, the numbers support that idea. He has seen only 42.7% of pitches in the zone in seven seasons with the Phillies and 42.1% since he arrived in the majors.

    Former Cubs manager Joe Maddon once walked Harper 13 times (four intentional) in 19 plate appearances over four games at Wrigley Field in 2016.

    “I don’t care where you hit [Shohei] Ohtani, I think they’re going to pitch him the exact same way,” Long said. “They’re scared to death of him. I think Harper’s in that category. You can kind of put him wherever you want, but I do not think pitchers are going to give in to him. I just don’t. I think they’re going to try to be very careful.

    “Can we maybe help him out and put somebody [else] behind him? That may be part of the equation as well. But in Bryce’s case, I think it’s more, if this is where it’s been the last six years since he’s been here, then the onus falls on me to make sure that he’s swinging at the right pitches and him to make sure that he’s not expanding. No matter what, he has to control his at-bats.”

    The path of least resistance is to put Schwarber back behind Harper, an alignment that Thomson is considering. Thomson prefers to alternate left- and right-handed hitters through the order. But Schwarber’s success against lefties (.300 average in 2024; major-league-record 23 left-on-left homers in 2025) leaves Thomson comfortable with Harper and Schwarber back-to-back.

    It might be easier to protect Schwarber. He tends to be more disciplined than Harper (21.5% out-of-the-zone swing rate last season; 22.8% for his career). He strikes out more often than Harper but is less likely to get himself out in front of the Phillies’ middle-of-the-order righty options, such as …

    Adolis García is poised to be the Phillies’ right fielder after signing a one-year, $10 million contract.

    Alec Bohm and Adolis García

    In 2022, the Phillies threw $100 million at Nick Castellanos to supply sock from the right side. Among 179 hitters with at least 1,500 plate appearances in the last four seasons, he ranked 87th in slugging (.426) and 172nd in wins above replacement (1.3).

    And now, he’s about to disappear.

    Castellanos clashed with Thomson and lost his everyday job last season. All parties agree that a change of scenery is best. The Phillies will trade or release him, likely before spring training. Either way, they will pay all or most of his $20 million salary in the final year of his contract.

    Adolis García could be a steal, or just another Nick Castellanos. Here’s why the Phillies like the gamble.

    The Phillies already replaced Castellanos with free-agent right fielder Adolis García, a candidate to bat behind Harper if he hits like he did earlier in his career. From 2021 to ‘23, García slugged .472 with 97 homers, tied for sixth among all right-handed hitters.

    But García was available because of the last two seasons. He slugged .397 and hit 44 homers, tied for 28th among all right-handed hitters. His swing-and-miss rate soared. And he got non-tendered by the Rangers.

    Maybe García can provide at least a $10 million value at a position that will cost the Phillies roughly $30 million. If so, he’d be viable as right-handed protection for Harper in a batting order that would look something like this:

    Bohm emerged in 2023 as the Phillies’ best protection for Harper. He excelled with runners in scoring position, often making teams pay for pitching around Harper, and drove in 97 runs in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and ‘24. He started the All-Star Game in 2024.

    The Phillies balked at trade offers for Bohm last offseason, with rival teams suggesting they overvalued a player who hasn’t hit more than 20 homers in a season. Then he got off to a brutally slow start, prompting a move down in the order and the Harper/Schwarber arrangement. Bohm dealt with injuries through the middle of the season and finished as a league-average hitter (102 OPS-plus).

    Is he primed to bounce back? Or is he who he is?

    “I think he’s much closer to that type of [97-RBI] hitter than he was last year,” Dombrowski said. “All of a sudden you put him, that same guy, fourth or fifth in your lineup, and I think that’s a pretty good addition in itself.”

    J.T. Realmuto (left) has batted behind Bryce Harper at times over the last several seasons.

    Getting creative

    After the All-Star break, nobody took more at-bats behind Harper than J.T. Realmuto, mostly a function of Bohm’s injuries and Castellanos’ reduced role. But at times over the years, the iron-man catcher reliably protected Harper.

    Now, Realmuto and the Phillies are having a staring contest over variations of a multiyear contract, the free-agent catcher seeking a better combination of years and salary. There’s still mutual interest in an agreement, according to major league sources. It remains likelier than not that they will come together.

    But what if they don’t?

    The Phillies’ contingency plan could set in motion several dominoes. First, they would pivot to a catcher, in free agency or a trade, to pair with Rafael Marchán or Garrett Stubbs. The new catcher would be a downgrade from Realmuto but also cost less than his catcher-record $23.1 million annual salary.

    The savings could then be applied to another area of the roster. Maybe an addition to the rotation — Ranger Suárez is still available — or the bullpen?

    Or, if Bohm had to be packaged for a catcher, the Phillies could take a run at a free agent, such as Alex Bregman or Bo Bichette, right-handed hitters with power who could slot in behind Harper.

    The Phillies are sticking with a veteran core in 2026. But this time the kids have to play too.

    Maybe it will help restore Harper’s elite status.

    It can’t hurt. Take it from Maddon.

    “I am about [lineup] protection, and I’ll argue that with anybody,” Maddon said. “Regardless of what the stats indicate, if the number of balls out of the zone are the same, I still would put somebody back there [behind him] because I still believe it causes pause with how you’re pitching.

    “Maybe you say, ‘If we walk him, we walk him.’ There’s that attitude, also. But if there’s a guy behind him, I’m telling you, you’re not going to want to do it if there’s a real guy.”

  • The advantage to the Eagles’ resting their starters, Bryce Harper’s inspiration, and other thoughts

    The advantage to the Eagles’ resting their starters, Bryce Harper’s inspiration, and other thoughts

    First and final thoughts …

    The stakes for the Eagles on Sunday are clear: If they beat the Washington Commanders and if the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, then the Eagles would secure the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.

    It would likely make for an easier road back to the Super Bowl (easier on paper, anyway), because they’d be assured of having home-field advantage in at least the wild-card and divisional rounds, and the matchups they’d face in those games might be more favorable.

    So the Eagles had a choice: They could play their starters against the Commanders, giving their most important players no rest ahead of the postseason, with no guarantee that, even if they beat Washington, that they’d end up with the second seed anyway.

    Or they could sit their starters, banking that a well-rested team would be better off no matter who or where it plays. Nick Sirianni and his staff, as we now know, opted to rest the starters.

    It was the right decision, for this reason: Given that Washington is 4-12 and will have third-stringer Josh Johnson at quarterback Sunday, there’s a decent chance that the Eagles will secure the best of all outcomes for themselves.

    They can give their starters a week off, still win the game, and have the Bears lose to the Lions. After a regular season that raised some questions about the Eagles’ ability to repeat, that scenario would be a timely reassertion of strength from the defending champs.

    Too hot for pucks

    The entire premise and most of the appeal of the NHL’s Winter Classic, when it began in 2008, were based around the notion that hockey in its best and purest form was a cold-weather sport.

    A pond or stream or lake froze over. Kids bundled up, grabbed their skates and sticks and a couple of rickety little goal nets, and just played. The sport was a natural and seamless part of life in Canada and in certain regions of the United States.

    But not in Miami. Which is where this year’s Winter Classic, between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers, was held Friday. How do you know a gimmick has gotten stale? When you’re playing an outdoor hockey game in early January in a place where it’s 70 degrees in the shade.

    Quarterback Fernando Mendoza (right) and Indiana routed Alabama on the way to the College Football Playoff semifinals.

    Hoosier daddy?

    The benefit of the 12-team College Football Playoff is that it is a great revealer. Most of the sport’s regular season is marred by “expert analysis” that is based on little more than arrogance and presumptuousness: The SEC is obviously a better and more challenging league than the Big Ten, which is better and more challenging than the Big 12, which is way ahead of the ACC, and so on. It’s regional bias and figure-skating-style judging all the way down.

    Then they actually play the games. And we learn that Alabama has no business being on the same field as Indiana, that Texas Tech is a long way from the days of Kliff Kingsbury and Patrick Mahomes, that Ohio State’s lopsided intraconference victories aren’t a true indication of how good the Buckeyes really are.

    Dave Dombrowski apparently provided Bryce Harper with some extra motivation this offseason.

    An elite idea

    Bryce Harper recently posted a video of himself taking batting-cage swings while wearing a T-shirt with “NOT ELITE” across the front, a reference to Phillies president Dave Dombrowski’s description of Harper’s 2025 season.

    You’ve got to love that defiant, near-vindictive energy from Harper, and it was a brilliant idea to take Dombrowski’s words and strip them across a shirt. Imagine an entire apparel line, marketed to individual athletes, made up of critical yet potentially inspiring phrases. The possibilities are endless.

    Jalen Hurts: CAN’T PASS

    A.J. Brown: READS BOOKS

    Joel Embiid: GAME-TIME DECISION

    Aaron Nola: TWO-STRIKE BOMBS

    Alec Bohm: TEMPER TANTRUM

    Ben Simmons: GONE FISHIN’

    Carson Wentz: INTENTIONAL GROUNDING

    LeBron James: U R NO MJ

    From the Eagles’ Super Bowl win to the Phillies’ bitter end, let’s look back at 2025 in Philly sports

    VJ’s biggest jump

    In his 33 games during his only year of college basketball at Baylor, VJ Edgecombe took 4.6 three-pointers a game and made 34% of them. In his 28 games so far with the 76ers, he is taking 5.8 a game and making 38% of them. That improvement might be the most pleasant surprise of his terrific rookie season.

    One last one-liner

    Congratulations to former Eagles great Frank Gore for being a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist.

  • Lenny Dykstra arrested for alleged drug possession in Northeast Pennsylvania

    Lenny Dykstra arrested for alleged drug possession in Northeast Pennsylvania

    Former Phillies star Lenny Dykstra was arrested for possession of narcotics and narcotics paraphernalia during a traffic stop just after midnight on New Year’s Day in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the state police said.

    Dykstra, 62, who lives in Scranton, was a passenger in a 2015 silver GMC Sierra truck in the area of Route 507 and Robinson Road in Greene Township, Pike County, when the vehicle was stopped by the Pennsylvania State Police for an alleged motor vehicle code violation, the state police said in a report.

    “During this investigation, the passenger was found to be in possession of narcotics and narcotic related equipment/paraphernalia,” the state police report said. “Charges to be filed.”

    Neither Dykstra nor the Pike County District Attorney’s Office could be reached for comment Friday night.

    Dykstra played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball in center field, spending the first four with the Mets — including as part of the team that won the 1986 World Series — before being traded to the Phillies during the 1989 season. He retired with the Phillies in 1996.

    Nicknamed the “Dude” and “Nails,” Dykstra was a celebrated member of the 1993 Phillies team that made it to the World Series, but lost to the Toronto Blue Jays.

    After his baseball career, Dykstra ran afoul of the law multiple times. He spent time in prison after pleading guilty in federal court for bankruptcy fraud and pleading no contest to grand theft auto in California.

    In February 2024, Dykstra suffered a stroke. In an interview later that year with the Times-Tribune in Scranton, he reflected on his health recovery and his legal and drug problems.

    Dykstra told the Times-Tribune he did some drinking while playing for the Mets, but his drug use intensified when he played for the Phillies.

    “It was a pharmacy,” he said.

    Dykstra said he liked using drugs and alcohol, but did not consider himself an addict, the Times-Tribune reported.

    “There were a lot of other players that were worse than me,” he said.

  • Stories that could shake Philly sports in 2026, from Lane Johnson and A.J. Brown to Bryce Harper and Shane Steichen

    Stories that could shake Philly sports in 2026, from Lane Johnson and A.J. Brown to Bryce Harper and Shane Steichen

    You never see the biggest stories coming. That’s kind of by definition, isn’t it?

    The year 2025 was relatively quiet one as far as seismic activity goes. The Sixers’ arena switcheroo probably was the biggest pure news story next to the Eagles’ Super Bowl win. Compare that to 2024, in which Saquon Barkley and Paul George signed, Jason Kelce retired, Matvei Michikov arrived, and the Sixers went belly-up. That, in addition to Carter Hart being arrested, Cutter Gauthier forcing a trade, and Haason Reddick being traded.

    It’s impossible to say whether the earth will shake in 2026. But if it does, here is how it could happen:

    The thrill of victory and the exasperation of trying to feel good about it define the 2025 Eagles

    1. Lane Johnson announces his retirement after 13 NFL seasons and leaves the Eagles scrambling.

    At this point, nothing suggests that Johnson will seriously consider retiring after the season. The contract extension he signed last year tacked on $40 million in guarantees in 2025 and 2026. That’s a pretty good reason for Eagles fans to take comfort, especially if Johnson returns to the field for the postseason, as is expected. He’d be walking away from some serious money if he retired this offseason.

    At the same time, we’d be foolish not to at least acknowledge the possibility, given the dramatic implications it would have on the Eagles’ roster. Johnson has been the single biggest reason the Eagles have seamlessly bridged their competitive teams through a rotating cast of quarterbacks and head coaches. There will be no replacing him, at least not immediately.

    Johnson has been open about the punishment that the NFL has inflicted upon his body over the years. That’s worth noting after a regular season in which he missed seven games because of injury for the first time since 2020 and just the second time in his career.

    At 35 years and 239 days, Johnson is the second-oldest offensive lineman to play at least 300 snaps this season. Only Kelvin Beachum has him beat at 36 years, 207 days. Since 2015, only seven offensive linemen have a season of 12-plus starts at age 36 or older.

    Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown shown after making a catch against the Bills on Sunday in Buffalo.

    2. A.J. Brown gets traded for a conditional 2027 second round pick that can become a first; Eagles immediately invest in a replacement.

    Forget about Brown’s public grumbling for a moment. Consider instead this fact: In the 10 games in which Brown has seen eight or more targets, the Eagles are 5-5. In the five games in which he has seen fewer than eight targets, the Eagles are 5-0. Kind of strange, isn’t it?

    Correlation doesn’t equal causation, but Brown’s on-field performance clearly has dipped this season. In his first three years with the Eagles, he looked like a receiver who belonged in the conversation for best in the sport. That hasn’t been the case this season. The explosiveness, the burst, the strength at the point of attack and in the air appear to be diminished. The numbers reflect it. His 8.3 yards-per-target is down nearly 20% from 2022 to 2024 (10.3), as is his yards per reception (12.9, down from 15.4) and his catch percentage (52.1, down from 56.3).

    Brown is at an age at which decline can come fast at the wide receiver position. Cooper Kupp hasn’t broken 850 yards in a season since turning 29. Same goes for Brandin Cooks and Odell Beckham Jr.

    DeAndre Hopkins averaged 1,380 yards per season from 25-28 years old and 644 yards at 29-30 years old. Adam Thielen averaged 6.4 catches and 82.8 yards per game at 27-28 and 4.2 catches and 53.7 yards at 29-30.

    The Eagles wouldn’t be foolish to rest their starters in Week 18. But they’d better be right.

    Alshon Jeffery, Allen Robinson, Michael Thomas, Tyreek Hill … the list goes on. For Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Amari Cooper, Stefon Diggs, and Antonio Brown, the drop-off came at 30 or 31.

    There are exceptions: Davante Adams, Keenan Allen, Mike Evans. But they are very much exceptions.

    To justify trading Brown, the Eagles almost certainly would have to have a replacement lined up. Jahan Dotson clearly isn’t a suitable second option. In the four regular-season games Brown has missed over the last two seasons, Dotson has a total of five catches for 25 yards. In those four games, the Eagles’ total wide receiver production outside of DeVonta Smith was 20 catches for 94 yards.

    The Eagles would save about $7 million against the cap if they traded Brown after June 1. They might be able to accommodate a free-agent offer to somebody like Alec Pierce, the Colts deep threat whose all-around game took an intriguing step forward this season. But there are a lot of teams that will be in the free-agent market this season, with the Patriots and dream quarterback Drake Maye at the top of the list.

    Even if Brown isn’t the player at 29 years old that he was at 27, he would still be difficult to replace. Combined with the limited financial upside of moving him, we’ll have to see this story to believe it.

    Sixers center Joel Embiid has scored 27 or more points in his last three games.

    3. Joel Embiid helps to lead the Sixers to a first-round playoff upset and sparks trade interest among teams desperate to catch the Thunder and Spurs.

    Embiid entered the new year having scored 27-plus points in three straight games. That counts as an accomplishment these days. He looked like an empty husk of his former self in his first nine games of the 2025-26 season, averaging just 18.2 points on a woeful .441 effective field goal percentage.

    Question is, what if Embiid’s recent uptick in minutes and production is a signal that he has more left in the tank than we’ve given him credit for? He still needs to show a lot more defensively. And he has yet to play more than 71 minutes in a seven-day span. But he just logged 38 minutes in an overtime win over the Grizzlies, four days after playing a season-high 32 minutes in a loss to the Bulls.

    With three years and $188 million left on his contract after this season, Embiid would probably have to be playing at his prime MVP level to have positive trade value. A more realistic question is whether he can play well enough to change the Sixers’ short-term narrative.

    4. Eagles hire Shane Steichen or Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator.

    The Colts would be foolish to fire Steichen, who has somehow managed to put together a 25-25 record with the following starting quarterbacks: Gardner Minshew (7-6), Daniel Jones (8-5), Anthony Richardson (8-7), Joe Flacco (2-4), and Philip Rivers (0-3). But here is what owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon told the Athletic recently:

    Tanner McKee is ready to ‘play fast’ in his next opportunity to start at quarterback with the Eagles

    “Most people don’t like change,” said Irsay-Gordon, who has been patrolling the sidelines with a clipboard all season. “I think there’s something wrong with me, but I feel like it is the one thing that is a guarantee. I think it can be exciting.”

    Even if the Colts part ways with Steichen, a team like the Giants could easily snatch him up. I can’t imagine Nick Sirianni would demote himself from head coach in order to restore Steichen as the play-caller. It definitely would be a heck of a story.

    McDaniel might be a more realistic option, although he may be in the process of saving his job by leading the Dolphins to five wins in seven games.

    5. Bryce Harper takes another step backward, as do the Phillies.

    There has been enough passive-aggressive weirdness percolating between Harper and management that we have to at least flag him as the main character in a potential major story. Dave Dombrowski rankled Harper when he mused about Harper’s eliteness, but it is a legitimate question. At 32 years old, Harper is coming off his worst season in a decade. Another step backward would raise some serious concerns. And create some serious headlines.