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  • Phillies’ Brad Keller on track to return before the All-Star break: ‘It’s a night-and-day difference’

    Phillies’ Brad Keller on track to return before the All-Star break: ‘It’s a night-and-day difference’

    Brad Keller knew something was wrong a few weeks ago when he rolled over in bed, reached for the pillow, and felt an ache in his right elbow.

    When he pitched, though, everything seemed normal.

    But the right-handed reliever reached a tipping point on June 14. He threw 32 pitches and gave up three runs in the eighth inning the night before in a Phillies victory in Milwaukee, then woke up and couldn’t straighten his elbow.

    Phillies top prospect Gage Wood selected for MLB’s Futures Game

    So, Wednesday was an important day for Keller. After facing hitters for the first time in 2½ weeks in live batting practice, he was eager to see how his arm bounced back. Keller has been on the injured list since June 16 (retroactive to June 14) with right forearm tendinitis.

    “It’s a night-and-day difference,” Keller said. “Like even just waking up, I remember there would be times where I’d grab a pillow and it would hurt. Today I didn’t have any of that, so I’m really happy with that.”

    Next up: Keller will pitch in a minor league game Friday night, interim manager Don Mattingly said. Depending on how he responds, he could be reinstated from the injured list after that.

    Regardless, the Phillies expect Keller to return before the All-Star break.

    Phillies reliever Brad Keller has a 4.15 ERA in 31 appearances this season.

    “If it continues on this path, for sure,” Mattingly said. “He hasn’t been down very long, and he was throwing fairly quickly. I don’t know why you would need a ton of outings down there. So, yeah, if everything goes good, I think we would get him back before the break.”

    It will represent a boost for a bullpen that has been tested lately. The Phillies signed Keller to a two-year, $22 million contract in the offseason to fortify the bridge to closer Jhoan Duran. In his absence, the bullpen has posted a 4.26 ERA compared to 3.98 before he was sidelined.

    Keller overcame a rocky start and had allowed three earned runs over 12⅔ innings in a span of 13 appearances before the blowup in Milwaukee. Overall, the 30-year-old righty has a 4.15 ERA in 31 appearances.

    “We were kind of pinpointing some things that I was doing, more so [pitch] usage-wise and stuff,” Keller said. “And then there was some other stuff, like some mechanical things that maybe have led to this.”

    One-stop shopping for the Phillies at the trade deadline again? Here’s three teams that could be a fit

    Keller said he began feeling an unusual amount of soreness after back-to-back appearances in Boston in mid-May. It would surface when he played catch before games, subside, and then come back.

    “Last year, I literally was never sore,” he said. “And this year, I was battling with this stuff, and all of a sudden, something mechanically is not right.”

    Keller will return a little less than a month before the Aug. 3 trade deadline and could inform the Phillies’ approach. They have other needs, including a right-handed bat and back-end starter. If Keller pitches well upon his return, it would lessen the need for another late-inning reliever.

    Justin Crawford had three hits in the Phillies’ victory Tuesday night.

    Crawford adjusts

    Justin Crawford hit .322 in the minors, including .334 last season in triple A to win the International League batting title.

    It hasn’t gone as smoothly in the majors.

    Crawford got off to a promising start, then slumped as the league adjusted to him. But he has worked with hitting coach Kevin Long to shorten his leg kick, even eliminating it at times.

    The Phillies still need a right-handed bat. Let’s take an early dive into some options before the trade deadline.

    Over his last 16 games entering Wednesday night, the rookie center fielder was 18-for-48 (.375) with a .400 on-base percentage. He finished with three hits Tuesday night, including a two-run cue shot down the left-field line in the second inning.

    “I’m definitely working on being shorter to the ball,” Crawford said. “Just trying to take a little bit of that extra movement out, making me a tick late on the ball. I’ve definitely been trying to do that a little bit. It’s been good.”

    Gabriel Rincones Jr. remained in the lineup on Wednesday amid his recent slump.

    Extra bases

    Amid a 5-for-38 slide to begin his major league career, lefty-hitting right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. remained in the lineup, even against Pirates ace Paul Skenes. “He’s here for a reason,” Mattingly said. “If he doesn’t play [against a righty], then he shouldn’t be here.” … The Phillies moved veteran outfielder Tommy Pham to triple A after two games in the rookie-level Florida Complex League. Pham, 38, signed a minor league contract last weekend. … Thursday marks the Phillies’ last home game before the All-Star break. They will finish the first half with nine consecutive road games in Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Detroit. … Alan Rangel (0-1, 4.50 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale at 12:35 p.m. Thursday against Pirates righty Jared Jones (1-1, 5.76).

  • Phillies top prospect Gage Wood selected for MLB’s Futures Game

    Phillies top prospect Gage Wood selected for MLB’s Futures Game

    One year after he was drafted by the Phillies, Gage Wood will make his Citizens Bank Park debut in the Futures Game.

    Wood and fellow right-hander Wen-Hui Pan were selected to represent the Phillies in the annual prospect showcase as part of MLB’s All-Star festivities. The seven-inning game takes place July 12 (noon, NBC10).

    The Phillies selected Wood with the 26th overall pick last year. After striking out 38% of the batters he faced over eight starts this season at low-A Clearwater, they promoted him two levels to double-A Reading, where he has a 3.86 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 25⅔ innings over seven starts.

    Wood, 22, achieved notoriety last year with a no-hitter for Arkansas in the College World Series. He’s widely regarded as the Phillies’ top prospect, though not yet among the top 50 in baseball. MLB Pipeline has him 54th in its midseason rankings, while Baseball America lists him 69th.

    Pan, a right-handed reliever, signed with the Phillies as an international amateur from Taiwan in 2023. The 23-year-old missed last season after Tommy John surgery but was promoted to double A roughly two weeks ago.

    In 20 appearances at three levels, Pan has a 3.18 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 22⅔ innings, including a 5.40 ERA mark in five games since moving up to Reading.

    Like everything about All-Star week, the Futures Game will have a Phillies flavor. Shane Victorino will manage the National League roster, while Larry Bowa will manage the American League. Bowa’s staff will include several former Phillies, notably Michael Bourn (first base coach), Juan Samuel (bench coach), Milt Thompson (hitting coach), and Hall of Fame closer Billy Wagner (pitching coach).

    Twelve of the top 13 prospects in Baseball America’s rankings were selected for the Futures Game: infielders Jesús Made (Brewers), Leo De Vries (Athletics), Franklin Arias (Red Sox), George Lombard (Yankees), and Eli Willits (Nationals); outfielders Josue De Paula (Dodgers), Theo Gillen (Rays), and Mike Sirota (Dodgers); pitchers Ryan Sloan (Mariners), Seth Hernandez (Pirates), and Kade Anderson (Mariners); and catcher Ethan Salas (Padres).

  • Cristopher Sánchez battles through a scrape, pitches seven scoreless innings in Phillies’ shutout win vs. Pirates

    Cristopher Sánchez battles through a scrape, pitches seven scoreless innings in Phillies’ shutout win vs. Pirates

    Cristopher Sánchez unleashed a first-pitch strike in the second inning and called for a trainer.

    Uh-oh.

    Three words the Phillies never want to see in the same sentence: “Cristopher Sánchez” and “trainer.” But there they were Tuesday night, and well, Citizens Bank Park held its collective breath.

    Sánchez, it turned out, cut loose a changeup and scraped the top of his left thumb, the evidence of which was a blood stain between the red pinstripes on his white pants. He smiled, even chuckled with a few teammates, and a few dabs later, the ace lefty was firing again.

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    Crisis averted. Sánchez kept throwing his signature changeup without incident, allowing three hits in seven scoreless innings. And the Phillies cakewalked, 8-0, over the Pirates to move within 2½ games of the first-place Braves, who lost at home to the Cardinals.

    Oh, and postgame fireworks went off as planned for the 41,710 paying customers.

    Scrape? What scrape?

    “Yeah, just a little scratch on the finger,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter. “It happens sometimes when I throw the changeup because of the touch with the finger. So, it’s no big deal.”

    But that momentary pit-of-their-stomach feeling as assistant athletic trainer Christian Bermudez went out to see Sánchez underscores the precariousness of this entire thing.

    Justin Crawford drove in the Phillies’ first two runs with a two-out single in the second inning Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

    Look, there isn’t any replacing Sánchez, whose next home start may come for the National League in the All-Star Game in two weeks. He sits atop the rotation with a 2.00 ERA, second in the majors behind only the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski (1.45).

    But the Phillies lack the organizational pitching depth to cover for any of their starters if they miss even a turn or two. They already have back-of-the-rotation worries, with Aaron Nola’s 6.04 ERA and Andrew Painter’s return to triple A. The fifth-starter spot is occupied by Alan Rangel, who has twice been used behind an opener.

    One injury, and it all comes down like a Jenga tower.

    Surely, then, an anxious feeling came over interim manager Don Mattingly when Sánchez waved to the dugout.

    The Phillies still need a right-handed bat. Let’s take an early dive into some options before the trade deadline.

    “Yeah, a little bit,” Mattingly said. “Especially in the second [inning], right? You’re like, ‘Oh, not tonight.’ But once you get out there, you kind of see what it is. It’s not like a cut on a nail or anything like that where you feel like it’s going to keep getting extended. They did a nice job of stopping that.”

    Justin Crawford gave Sánchez a 2-0 lead by cueing a two-out single inside the third-base line. It was up to Sánchez to keep it that way because the Phillies didn’t break things open until scoring three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings.

    Trea Turner, on his 33rd birthday, had an RBI double in the seventh and a two-run homer in the eighth.

    Trea Turner, on his 33rd birthday, levied most of that damage, with an RBI double in the seventh and a two-run homer in the eighth. Don’t look now, but he’s 19-for-55 (.345) over the last 13 games, a welcome sign for an offense that is looking for more production from the right side of the plate.

    “Is he going yet?” Mattingly said, mimicking questions about when Turner will get going at the plate. “I don’t know if he’s going yet or not. But to see Trea get a big hit down the line and then the home run, it really extends that lead where it saves us [from using] an arm in the bullpen.”

    Sánchez leaned on his changeup, as usual, but continued to spin more sliders. After throwing 26 in his last start, he mixed in 17 against the Pirates, six of which came in his first 19 pitches.

    No matter what he throws, Sánchez owns the Pirates. Six weeks ago, he struck out 13, a career-high, in a six-hit shutout in Pittsburgh. This time, he didn’t give up a hit until Nick Gonzales punched a two-out single in the fourth inning.

    Sánchez is lined up to pitch Monday in Kansas City and July 11 in Detroit, the closing arguments in his case to start three days later (it would be his bullpen day) in the All-Star Game.

    As you may have heard, it will be held in South Philly.

    “[It would be] another goal, another dream come true and more when you think about it in this beautiful city,” Sánchez said. “The fans deserve that and even more.”

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    Symbolically and strategically, Sánchez is a sensible choice to start for the NL. Misiorowski throws harder than any pitcher in history, with a fastball that’s been clocked at 105.5 mph. But Sánchez has allowed seven earned runs in 73 innings for a 0.86 ERA in 11 home starts. Since 2024, he has a 1.76 ERA in 280⅔ innings over 43 starts at home.

    In his latest gem, he pitched out of one quasi jam, a two-on, two-out spot in the fourth inning, by striking out Endy Rodríguez on a signature changeup, and sidestepped a one-out double by Billy Cook in the fifth inning.

    But even with a 100-degree heat wave rolling into town, it was no sweat compared to the Phillies’ dodging an injury to their ace. As Sánchez received a quick fix on the mound, Turner and other infielders looked on and laughed.

    “They were just giving me a hard time and joking around on the mound,” Sánchez said. “You know, these guys are terrible.”

    As long as the Phillies keep their pitchers healthy, the good times can keep rolling.

  • Phillies’ Derek Hill uses his artistic side to paint his own cleats as a ‘little getaway from the game’

    Phillies’ Derek Hill uses his artistic side to paint his own cleats as a ‘little getaway from the game’

    During the Phillies’ rain delay last week in Washington, Derek Hill kept himself busy with a Sharpie and pair of cleats.

    The outfielder spent the hour and a half coloring the white shoes red with a marker. It was just a way to pass the time while the Phillies waited for their game to start, but it’s not the first pair of spikes that Hill has customized.

    It’s actually a hobby of his, although typically it involves more elaborate designs and acrylic paint instead of a Sharpie.

    The Phillies have made history turning the NL East into a race again: ‘Just want to keep it going’

    “It’s like a little getaway from the game,” Hill said. “It’s pretty addicting. So, once I get going, I’ll go for like two months, and then I’ll stop for like two months, then I’ll just pick it up and just keep on going. But I got to make some for Philly.”

    @derek_hill

    Drop in the comments what design I should do next 🙏🏽 #fyp #mlbb #art #mlb #baseball

    ♬ original sound – derek_hill

    Hill, 30, has always been artistic. Not only does he love to draw and paint, he also had an interest in metalwork and ceramics growing up.

    This is the first year he’s tried painting his cleats, though, and found that the process helps him unwind.

    “Just don’t have any outside noise,” Hill said. “Just sitting there, it’s just quiet, and you get to relax, and just focus on one thing, and not worry about anything outside of that.”

    In 14 games since the trade with the White Sox, Derek Hill is batting .313 with a .865 OPS.

    His new teammates don’t yet know about this side of him, as Hill was only acquired from the White Sox on June 11.

    He has already made an impression in the clubhouse with two clutch ninth-inning home runs in Washington and a home run-robbing catch against the Mets in New York. In 14 games since the trade with the White Sox, Hill is batting .313 with a .865 OPS. He’s become a key utility platoon outfielder, primarily starting against lefties or coming off the bench.

    But so far, his affinity for art has been under wraps. Even Brandon Marsh, who shares the outfield with Hill and played with him in 2019 as prospects in the Arizona Fall League, was unaware.

    “I had no idea how much of an artiste he was,” Marsh said.

    Derek Hill brings value to Phillies’ lineup, even when at-bats are limited: ‘He fits right in with our group’

    Hill said the favorite shoes he’s done recently were a colorful pair he made for Easter, with bright purple, orange, green, blue, and pink on a white base.

    The entire process, starting with a plain white pair, takes him about two days.

    “I acetone them down, to get rid of all the finisher that they put on it,” he said. “And then let that dry, throw my paint on, throw my clear coat on, and let it dry, and it’s good to go.”

    @derek_hill

    🔥🔥🔥#fyp #mlb #art #baseball #sports

    ♬ original sound – derek_hill

    Most of the cleats Hill has designed were with the White Sox in mind. He has a red, white, and black pair in his Phillies locker, but originally wore them with Chicago’s City Connect uniform, which draws inspiration from the red Chicago Bulls basketball jersey.

    For him, inspiration can come from anywhere.

    “Honestly, I just see something and I’m like, ‘Oh, let me see if I can recreate that,’” Hill said.

    Now that he’s settling in with his new team, he has plans for more at some point — maybe a pair that incorporates the Phillies’ powder blues.

    “We’re going to have some heat on the feet,” Hill said.

    Lou Trivino’s contract was selected by the Phillies on Tuesday.

    Extra bases

    The Phillies made a bullpen swap ahead of Tuesday’s game, optioning Chase Shugart and selecting the contract of right-hander Lou Trivino, a Green Lane, Montgomery County native. “Just needing a fresh arm,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “Bullpen’s been on fumes. I know Shug gave up a couple homers lately, but he’s really good for us this year. He did what we needed from that role, taking the ball a lot, always ready to take it.” … Brad Keller (right forearm tendinitis) threw a live batting practice session on Tuesday. The Phillies will re-evaluate him on Wednesday to determine next steps. … Zack Wheeler (8-1, 2.03 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday opposite Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes (6-7, 3.10).

  • Phillies fall as Aaron Nola is left searching for answers — and trying a new pitch — in quest to turn his season around

    Phillies fall as Aaron Nola is left searching for answers — and trying a new pitch — in quest to turn his season around

    For the better part of a decade, Aaron Nola has been the Phillies’ workhorse.

    It’s a role he takes pride in. Six times, he has taken down over 180 innings in a season. But lately, that durability has started to show cracks.

    Last year, Nola was uncharacteristically hampered by injuries. He’s healthy now, but his bounceback season hasn’t gone according to plan. And after Monday’s 11-7 loss to the Pirates, where he allowed a season-high seven earned runs over just 4⅓ innings, the path forward isn’t clear.

    “I haven’t really had a stretch like this ever in my career,” said Nola, whose season ERA has risen to 6.04.

    The Phillies have made history turning the NL East into a race again: ‘Just want to keep it going’

    Nola squandered a 5-0 lead the offense built against Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft. Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh each hit solo homers in the first inning, while Bryce Harper hit a two-run shot in the third. All three homers came in two-strike counts.

    But Nola had issues with homers, too. He looked efficient early with an eight-pitch first inning, and was getting a lot of batters to swing and miss. But he started to falter by the fourth. Bryan Reynolds was inches away from clearing the top of the railing in left-center, settling for a leadoff double. He scored anyway when Esmerlyn Valdez teed up a curveball over the middle of the plate for a two-run shot.

    “Early in that game I thought he was going to roll,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “The way he was throwing the ball, it seemed sharp. Good breaking ball, down in the zone, a lot of swing-and-miss early in the game. And then just got sideways. So I’m not quite sure what happened.”

    For the seventh time this year, Nola failed to get out of the fifth inning, which turned ugly quickly. Nola allowed four hits — including another homer and a double — and walked two in the frame.

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    Three runs had already scored when Seth Johnson finally relieved him with the bases loaded, and all three inherited runs would score, too.

    “It just sped up on him quite a bit there,” said catcher J.T. Realmuto. “The stuff diminished quite a bit. … You could just tell he got a little tired, it was hot, just the stuff wasn’t as good that inning.”

    Although Nola induced 23 whiffs from Pirates hitters, the second-most in a game in his career, he wasn’t able to take many positives from his outing.

    “A lot of runs tonight, I didn’t really do well with the lead I got, what the guys gave me. They hit really well tonight,” Nola said. “… Swing and misses, honestly, tonight it doesn’t really matter. Gave up too many hits, too many runs, got to be better at that.”

    The two homers Nola allowed Monday upped his season total to 19, which is tied for fifth-most among pitchers this year.

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    As Nola tries to find a way to turn his season around, he has started toying with a slider as a potential different look for hitters. It can be a challenge to add a new pitch mid-season and he hasn’t thrown it much. He flashed it three times against the Pirates, generating one whiff.

    “Just something different,” Nola said. “I throw so many curveballs, and I feel like we saw it tonight, if one pops, it usually gets barreled. So we’ll see.”

    Nola’s shorter outing caused the Phillies to turn to their bullpen earlier than hoped, as the unit had been taxed recently after some tight games against the Nationals and Mets.

    After entering the game, Johnson issued a leadoff walk to force in the go-ahead run, and then induced a grounder to Harper. He got the force out at second, but Turner flung the ball high over first base, allowing two more runs to score for the 8-5 Pirates lead. Turner’s error is his 11th of the season, which has already surpassed his full-season total of eight in 2025.

    Bryce Harper (right) celebrates with Brandon Marsh after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning of Monday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

    The offense showed some life late, though. Marsh hit his second homer of the game in the eighth to start chipping away. He fell behind in the count, 1-2, to Gregory Soto, but put a good swing on a high and inside fastball. Bryson Stott and J.T. Realmuto hit back-to-back two-out singles to cut the lead to 8-7.

    Derek Hill kept the line moving with a walk, but Justin Crawford was called out on strikes to end it, stranding two.

    Phillies won’t rush Andrew Painter’s return to majors. Instead, it’s about ‘getting himself’ right.

    In the ninth, Mattingly opted to use righty Chase Shugart, who had blown a save against the Mets on Sunday, with the intention of preserving his higher-leverage arms. It backfired when he gave up a three-run homer to Pittsburgh catcher Endy Rodríguez that put the Pirates back ahead by four runs.

    “I really didn’t feel like I have much of a choice, honestly, there,” Mattingly said. “Didn’t really feel like, where we’re at with everything, we could just keep chasing a win in with our back-end guys and lose another one. Yeah, I felt like we had to get through that with Shug. He gets two outs quick, and then little kind of a halfway flare to center, and yeah, obviously the breaking ball he hits for the homer.”

    In the bottom of the ninth, Turner struck out, Schwarber grounded out, and Marsh struck out to end it.

  • The Phillies have made history turning the NL East into a race again: ‘Just want to keep it going’

    The Phillies have made history turning the NL East into a race again: ‘Just want to keep it going’

    The Phillies returned to Citizens Bank Park for Monday’s series opener against the Pirates a season-high 10 games above .500.

    It’s a far cry from where they were in April, as they tumbled as far as 10 games under .500 on April 26. But their improbable rebound has made them the first team in baseball history to bounce back from 10 games under .500 to 10 games over .500 before the end of June.

    Now, they’ve all but erased their dismal start. At the 84-game mark last year, the Phillies had a 49-35 record, and would go on to finish with 96 wins and win the division. This year, they are 47-37 at the same point.

    “This is a 96-win club last year, this is not a club that didn’t show up every day and play every day,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “You win 96 games, you’re playing good baseball, so nothing that you really didn’t expect to happen is happening. Just want to keep it going.”

    Not only that, but the Phillies have closed within three games of the Braves for the lead in the National League East. It’s a gap that was as wide as 10½ games in May.

    NL East standings

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    It’s helped out that the Braves’ early-season dominance has somewhat faltered, with Atlanta posting a 9-13 record so far in June. But the Phillies have managed to capitalize, and a chasm that seemed insurmountable a month ago is shaping into a race again, with two series remaining between the teams in September.

    “I wasn’t really looking at Atlanta,” Mattingly said. “I was looking more at us getting back to .500 at first, then to five [games over .500], and then trying to get to 10, and now trying to get to 15, and wherever you end up landing is where you land, but obviously you want to win the division. But still day to day, and so much baseball to be played.”

    Bryce Harper has proven he is still elite. Now, it’s Dave Dombrowski’s turn. | David Murphy

    García in town

    Right fielder Adolis García was at the ballpark on Monday to get checked out after undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a torn lat on Wednesday.

    García, who signed a one-year, $10 million deal in the offseason, spent time catching up with his teammates behind the batting cage pregame. His rehab is expected to take place primarily at the Phillies’ facilities in Clearwater, Fla.

    “He’s just coming in to see where he’s at. He’s had surgery a few days ago, he’s not going to be able to do a whole lot, but it’d be good to see him,” Mattingly said.

    Starting pitcher Andrew Painter will likely make his next start for Lehigh Valley on Saturday.

    Painter’s next start

    The Phillies haven’t officially announced when Andrew Painter will make his next start for triple-A Lehigh Valley, but Mattingly said he expects the righty will remain on a regular schedule.

    With the minor leagues having a day off built into their schedule each Monday, that means joining a six-day rotation, which would line up Painter to next appear on Saturday in Rochester.

    “Unless they want to move him, or there’s a reason for us to move him to keep him on a certain day to match up with certain guys,” Mattingly said. “So, in general, I think he’s just one of the boys down there and working on his craft and getting it together.”

    Mattingly said pitching coach Caleb Cotham’s report was that Painter was OK in his first appearance after getting optioned, in which he allowed one run over four innings.

    “Still felt like some of the things that they talked about implementing, he’s starting to be able to do that,” Mattingly said. “We just let it play out now.”

    Phillies won’t rush Andrew Painter’s return to majors. Instead, it’s about ‘getting himself’ right.

    Pham back in action

    Tommy Pham made his first appearance for the Florida Complex League Phillies on Monday after signing a minor league deal with the organization. Pham, who the Phillies picked up as outfield depth after he was released by the Orioles, went 2-for-2 in the Complex League game.

    The 38-year-old outfielder has a .256 career average and .764 OPS across 13 seasons and 10 teams. He went hitless in 13 at-bats across nine games with the Mets this April before being released and catching on with the Orioles’ triple-A affiliate.

    “I know Tommy from the past; I always liked Tommy, he gives you good at-bats,” Mattingly said. “I don’t know what the plan is other than to see where it goes and how he’s swinging and how he’s performing, and what we need.”

    Extra bases

    Gabriel Rincones Jr. was back in the lineup Monday against right-hander Braxton Ashcraft after sitting in the series finale against the Mets. Rincones has a .118 batting average in 32 major league at-bats. “[Sunday] was more of a day off, and kind of a little bit of a reset for Rico, see where it goes,” Mattingly said. … Cristopher Sánchez (9-3, 2.13 ERA) is scheduled to start opposite Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler (3-7, 4.42) on Tuesday.

  • Bryce Harper has proven he is still elite. Now, it’s Dave Dombrowski’s turn.

    Bryce Harper has proven he is still elite. Now, it’s Dave Dombrowski’s turn.

    The funny thing about Bryce Harper’s 2026 world-wrecking tour is that he has somehow managed to both vindicate his boss and hang him over the dunk tank. There isn’t an executive in Major League Baseball that should be feeling more pressure than Dave Dombrowski now that Harper has answered fully and satisfactorily the infamous question that the Phillies president posed this offseason.

    “Can he rise to the next level again?‚” Dombrowski asked about Harper after the Phillies’ postseason loss to the Dodgers. “I don’t really know that answer.”

    Eight months later, Dombrowski should know it better than anyone. The Phillies’ personnel boss has spent 84 games watching Harper bail him out of another failure of an offseason. One year after the Phillies’ superstar posted an .844 OPS that was his lowest since 2016, his current .915 OPS would be his best since 2021, when he hit .309/.429/.615 with 35 home runs en route to winning his second MVP.

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    Harper’s 19 home runs in his first 83 games were his second-most as a member of the Phillies. His .391 wOBA ranked eighth in the major as of Saturday. His .278/.379/.536 batting line is pretty much exactly his career baseline. It is a lofty baseline. You might even call it elite.

    While Harper might argue that retribution is a dish best served raw (like milk), his performance this season actually lends some credence to his boss’ offseason critique. Harper isn’t proving Dombrowski wrong. He is proving him right.

    Fact is, Harper wasn’t an elite player in 2025. Between 2021 and 2024, Harper was one of five players in the majors with a wOBA of .390+. The other four were Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and Yordan Alvarez. Add in Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts, and those were the truly elite hitters in Major League Baseball.

    Bryce Harper has hit 19 home runs this season.

    In 2025?

    Harper’s .361 wOBA ranked 25th, behind guys like Ramon Laureano (.364), Pete Alonso (.368) and Geraldo Perdomo (.370). That was Dombrowski’s whole point. You can certainly question whether it was an appropriate one to make. The under-the-hood numbers suggested that Harper’s “down” year was mostly attributable to chance.

    There weren’t any significant dips in his hard hit rate or his strikeout rate or his bat speed. He showed fewer signs of regression than most 32-year-old hitters. The Phillies could not have hoped for a better return on the first seven years of the 13-year, $330 million contract that Harper signed in 2019. As the old saying goes, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and tell him he isn’t elite.

    At the same time, Dombrowski’s assessment was correct. In 2025, Harper’s production wasn’t in the same realm as a Judge or a Soto or an Ohtani. It just wasn’t. He was still a very, very good player. He just wasn’t a singular one.

    Here in 2026, Harper is reminding us just how much of an impact he can make when he is elite. The Phillies have been the best team in baseball since the beginning of May despite a lineup that has five regulars who have been 30% worse than league average as measured by OPS+. Harper’s 146 OPS+ is more than twice as high as those of four of the six guys who hit behind him in the lineup.

    The onus is now on Dombrowski to do his part.

    How active will Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies be at the MLB trade deadline?

    As good as the Phillies have been since replacing Rob Thomson with Don Mattingly, any realist should wonder how good they’d be with a roster that wasn’t completely reliant on two MVP seasons at the plate, two Cy Young seasons in the rotation, and one of the best closers in the game … and Brandon Marsh. It would be foolish for anybody to think that formula can carry them through a month of playoff baseball.

    With just over a month to go until the trade deadline, Dombrowski and his front office better have a serious plan for broadening the team’s potential contributors for a postseason series against the Dodgers or Braves.

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    Even with Marsh’s All-Star-worthy season, the Phillies’ outfield entered Sunday with the sixth-worst collective OPS in the majors. At catcher, theirs is the second-worst OPS. They rank in the bottom five at third base and shortstop and are 23rd at third base. But, hey, other than that they’ve been great.

    Right now, Dombrowski’s offseason looks like a near-total failure. Adolis García, J.T. Realmuto, Andrew Painter, Brad Keller, Justin Crawford — all received his stamp of approval as he tinkered with a roster that had suffered three straight playoff disappointments.

    Phillies won’t rush Andrew Painter’s return to majors. Instead, it’s about ‘getting himself’ right.

    Even if you are willing to credit Crawford with being a perfectly adequate bottom-of-the-order hitter at a premium position in center field, the aggregate output of the offseason maneuvering still qualifies as a man-made disaster.

    It may not be now or never. But it is getting close. The Phillies owe it to Harper, Schwarber, Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Jhoan Duran to aggressively address the holes that threaten to undermine one of the greatest efforts we’ve ever seen from five superstars in one season.

    Harper is still elite.

    The jury is out on Dombrowski.

  • Kyle Schwarber launches 30th homer of the season to lift Phillies past Mets

    Kyle Schwarber launches 30th homer of the season to lift Phillies past Mets

    NEW YORK — Kyle Schwarber watched it go.

    Just a guess, but when you’ve hit as many homers as the Phillies’ star slugger — 30 this season, more than any player in baseball; 370 in his career, tied fittingly with 1969 Miracle Mets manager Gil Hodges for 87th all-time — you probably know it when you feel it.

    And so, with one swing, Schwarber covered up another Phillies wart.

    “What he’s doing,” left fielder Brandon Marsh said after Schwarber’s two-run homer in the seventh inning here Sunday brought the Phillies back — again — in a 5-4 victory that drew them to within three games of first place in the NL East, “is off the charts.”

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    It’s also historic.

    With his 408-footer to right-center field against Mets righty Kodai Senga, Schwarber reached the 30-homer mark in the Phillies’ 84th game, faster than any player in franchise history. He didn’t hit No. 30 until the 94th game last season en route to finishing with 56, a career-high.

    “After last year, I didn’t think it was easily topped,” said starter Jesús Luzardo, who gave up one run but lasted only five innings. “But I mean, he just keeps making it seem easy.”

    In this case, Schwarber got four consecutive forkballs, Senga’s signature pitch, and fouled off the last two to keep the at-bat going. Eventually, Senga had to throw a fastball, and when he did, well, kaboom.

    “You’re just trying to get a pitch in the zone and put it in play,” Schwarber said. “There’s no real, look for this, look for that. It’s more just trying to really simplify the approach, and whenever that ball does come, try to put it in play.”

    Said Marsh: “I wouldn’t say it was a bad idea for [Senga] to try to sneak a heater in after throwing the 80-mile-an-hour forkball, which is a crazy pitch, by the way. But Kyle just really stayed on that heater and got one in a good spot.”

    And just like that, the Phillies had the lead again after Chase Shugart turned a 3-1 lead into a 4-3 deficit in the sixth inning. José Alvarado stranded two runners in the seventh inning and Orion Kerkering tightrope-walked through a bases-loaded jam eighth before Jhoan Duran locked it down in the ninth.

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    It feels nitpicky after a wildly successful road trip in which the Phillies went 5-2 in Washington and New York and moved to within three games of the division-leading Braves, but their flaws bubbled to the surface last week. They’re vulnerable to left-handed pitching; the middle relief can be exposed when the starter doesn’t go six innings; the defense isn’t good.

    But all’s well that ended well, and the Phillies scored 26 runs in the seventh inning or later in the seven games to make sure most of them ended well.

    “Well, I don’t know what it tells us, honestly,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “But it’s good to see that we keep going, like even losing the lead there and coming right back, getting it back.”

    Kyle Schwarber watches his two-run home run against the Mets on Sunday.

    Said Schwarber: “I don’t know if I’ve ever been part of a road trip quite like that. I don’t think I saw as many [comebacks] as we did in our previous series against Washington. You don’t see those games very often, but really cool. And then to be able to come here and have some one-run wins. Those are the things that it’s going to take as we keep moving forward through the season.”

    Ideally, the Phillies will address a few areas before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. But they can also tighten up their performance in others.

    Just ask their manager.

    “There’s going to be times where the bullpen’s carrying us, and the starters,” Mattingly said. “There’s going to be times where we score some runs. Hopefully, there’s going to be times we’re catching the ball and making plays.”

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    And there’s going to be times when the Phillies jump on Schwarber’s back.

    Everyone knows he can carry them.

    “I don’t know if I’ve seen anybody quite like him,” Mattingly said. “He’s a little different than guys I’ve played with. It’s a different time with more strikeouts, damage, walks. But he’s amazing in what he does, and it’s obviously good to see.”

    Schwarber is on pace for 59 homers, which would not only break Ryan Howard’s single-season franchise mark of 58 but also leave Schwarber one homer shy of 400 at the end of the season. It’s a race to 400 between him and Bryce Harper, who has 382 career homers.

    Kyle Schwarber celebrates as he runs the the bases after hitting a two-run home run on Sunday.

    “I think it’d be cool, just knowing that it’s going to happen one day, right?” Schwarber said. “To see someone of [Harper’s] caliber be able to reach 400 will be really cool. Whenever that day comes for me, it’ll be another cool milestone.”

    In the meantime, he can keep making the Phillies’ issues vanish with one swing.

    “I’m just trying to soak it all in and learn,” Marsh said. “Because years down the road from now, it’s going to be one of those where, God willing, I’ll get to tell my family, ‘I got to watch this.’ It’s pretty special.”

  • Phillies won’t rush Andrew Painter’s return to majors. Instead, it’s about ‘getting himself’ right.

    Phillies won’t rush Andrew Painter’s return to majors. Instead, it’s about ‘getting himself’ right.

    NEW YORK — The symmetry was undeniable.

    As the Phillies finished a series against the Mets here Sunday, Andrew Painter faced New York’s JV club in his first start for triple-A Lehigh Valley. The games were played only 109 miles apart along Interstate 78, and the Phillies hope Painter’s road back to the majors isn’t much longer.

    That remains to be seen. But for starters, Painter got better results, especially with his fastball, in allowing one run in four innings against Syracuse.

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    When the Phillies demoted Painter 10 days earlier, the instructions were clear. They wanted him to focus on his fastball, which got hit hard in his first 14 major-league appearances. Opponents batted .404 and slugged .660 against it.

    Painter threw 44 four-seam fastballs out of 80 pitches for Lehigh Valley, while sprinkling in 11 sliders, seven sinkers, six curveballs, six sweeping sliders, and five splitters. The hits came off his slider and sinker.

    The Phillies haven’t outlined a timetable for Painter to return. It’s intentional. But with scant depth in the rotation, they are counting on the 23-year-old to get back.

    But interim manager Don Mattingly also isn’t waiting breathlessly for daily updates on Painter’s progress.

    “From my standpoint, he’s just down there working and getting himself [right],” Mattingly said. “It’s not like a rehab-type situation where you think, ‘Oh, he’s going to get one start and he’s coming back.’ I think it’s more like, ‘Hey, let’s get this guy on the right track and don’t put a timetable on it.’

    “It’s really important moving forward, to the organization, that he becomes what he’s capable of. So, I just look at it more like he’s down there working, and then we’ll hear periodically how it’s going.”

    Phillies rookie outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. has struggled since getting called up from triple A.

    Rincones sits

    As the Phillies anticipated, the Mets brought in righties Tobias Myers and Kodai Senga behind lefty opener Cionel Pérez to cover the bulk of the innings Sunday.

    But Gabriel Rincones Jr. wasn’t in the lineup.

    Rincones, a left-handed hitter who plays against most righties, was in a 3-for-30 skid with seven strikeouts since hitting his first career homer June 15 in his first at-bat at Citizens Bank Park. Overall, he was 4-for-34 with nine strikeouts.

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    “I felt like Rinco needed a day to think about it just a little bit,” Mattingly said. “Sometimes I feel like, with young guys, you kind of pay attention to when the at-bats aren’t going good. What are they [like]? How are they dealing with that? So, [it’s] a day just to watch a game.”

    Besides, righty-hitting Derek Hill was on an 8-for-19, two-homer roll. Hill started in right field in Rincones’ place.

    The Phillies are scheduled to face four righty starters this week against the Pirates. It will be interesting to see how many games Rincones starts.

    “In general, I’d just like him to stay aggressive and not really get where he’s thinking too much about the at-bats just one to the other,” Mattingly said. “I’d say it’s been spotty as far as feeling like he’s making quality contact a lot. It’s another thing that we’ll keep an eye on.”

    Phillies reliever Brad Keller has been on the injured list since June 16 with right forearm tendinitis.

    Extra bases

    Reliever Brad Keller, sidelined since June 16 with right forearm tendintis, threw from the slope of a mound and is expected to progress to a bullpen session this week. After that, Mattingly said Keller may face hitters, then make a minor-league appearance before rejoining the Phillies’ bullpen. … Knicks playoff star OG Anunoby threw the ceremonial first pitch to former Mets shortstop José Reyes. … The Phillies will return home at 6:40 p.m. Monday to begin a four-game series with the Pirates. Aaron Nola (3-4, 5.58 ERA) is slated to start against Pittsburgh righty Braxton Ashcraft (7-3, 3.07).

  • Defense lets the Phillies down in a four-run sixth inning and offense finally cools off in 6-2 loss to Mets

    Defense lets the Phillies down in a four-run sixth inning and offense finally cools off in 6-2 loss to Mets

    NEW YORK — Bryce Harper got a fastball over the middle of the plate here Saturday and didn’t miss it.

    That was the extent of the Phillies’ offense.

    Hey, it happens. Near the end of a weeklong road trip in which they’ve scored 34 runs in six games, after a 44-run outburst on a six-game homestand, the bats were bound to cool.

    But if Harper’s glove was as quick in the sixth inning as his bat in the third, it may not have mattered. Instead, Francisco Lindor’s scorched liner went under Harper’s mitt as he dove to his left, the start of a Mets’ rally that doomed the Phillies to a 6-2 loss.

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    “I felt like he top-spun it and I thought it was going to bounce up, and it just got under my glove,” Harper said after the Phillies’ four-game winning streak ended. “I was pretty upset about that play. Obviously a play I think I should have made, but it didn’t happen.”

    It wasn’t the only costly play, though. Two batters before Lindor’s game-tying two-run triple, Juan Soto singled on a fly ball that fell in front of right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr.

    Could Rincones have been more aggressive?

    “I couldn’t really tell,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “They’ll have the report out tomorrow, just [catch] probabilities and things like that. I haven’t really looked at it yet.”

    Phillies lefty reliever Tim Mayza (left) opened Saturday’s game before Alan Rangel entered in the second inning.

    In any case, the two plays in the Mets’ four-run sixth inning amplified one Phillies weakness that hasn’t gotten better since Mattingly took over on April 28.

    While the rotation is among the best in baseball, the bullpen has largely held up, and the offense is more productive despite lacking a big right-handed bat, the Phillies remain the second-worst defensive team in the sport, according to both defensive runs saved (minus-29) and outs above average (minus-20).

    And it isn’t a nitpick. In close, low-scoring games — the kind that get played in October — even the slightest defensive shortcomings loom large.

    For as well as the Phillies have played under Mattingly, he knows it’s an area they need to button up.

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    “There’s times I like it, and there’s times that I don’t feel as good about it,” Mattingly said of the overall team defense. “It’s kind of day-to-day. Some of the plays, you don’t know why. Like, I see certain plays that you feel like you can get to.

    “In general, it’s been OK.”

    Hardly a ringing endorsement.

    Then there was another out on the bases by Harper. With the Phillies leading 2-0, he led off with a bloop between diving center fielder A.J. Ewing and Lindor. When Lindor fell down, Harper tried to reach second, but the shortstop recovered to throw him out.

    “I didn’t think Lindor was going to go get it, and he did,” Harper said. “Not one that I’m trying to go to second on aggressively.”

    Bryce Harper (3) celebrates after his two-run home run with teammate Brandon Marsh in the third inning.

    Mattingly liked the aggressiveness. And given the lack of hits from everyone else in the lineup (Harper had two of the Phillies’ five), it’s hardly a guarantee Harper would have scored.

    Alan Rangel, meanwhile, continued to impress Mattingly in what amounts to an ongoing audition for the No. 5 starter spot. Once again, the 28-year-old righty came in after lefty opener Tim Mayza — after a 70-minute rain delay at the outset — and held the Mets to one infield hit before the sixth inning.

    “I felt great today,” Rangel said through a team interpreter. “I felt great with commanding the strike zone, and I just felt great overall with my slider, my curveball. My changeup was good.”

    Rangel has a higher-than-usual release point and three varieties of offspeed pitches (changeup, slider, and curveball). Harper said the changeup reminds him of reliever Tyler Clippard, his teammate with the Nationals.

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    “Just a really good pitch,” Harper said. “I think that just keeps guys off balance. The changeup is kind of a hidden gem in the game nowadays. Not many people throw it, but when they do, and they can throw it really well, you’re going to have success.”

    After Lindor’s triple, Rangel walked Jared Young and was lifted for Jonathan Bowlan, who walked Mark Vientos to load the bases and gave up Ewing’s two-run single through a drawn-in infield.

    But while the sixth inning spoiled Rangel’s outing, the Phillies are content to keep using him in the fifth-starter spot.

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    “I’d say right now we’re committed to him being in there,” Mattingly said. “He’s thrown the ball good both times, kept us in the game. We weren’t really putting runs on the board to give a little bit of a cushion where one inning doesn’t hurt you. But in general, Al’s been good.”

    Unlike, say, the defense.

    “I’d like to see us always continue to tighten everything up,” Mattingly said. “We can get better where, the outs we’re supposed to get, we want to get and not give those guys extra chances.”