NEW YORK — In their endless search for a right-handed bat, the Phillies are turning to a well-traveled 38-year-old outfielder.
Tommy Pham, released by two teams in the last three months, has agreed to a minor-league contract with the Phillies, a major-league source confirmed Saturday. He will likely join triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Pham can opt out of the deal if he isn’t in the majors by July 25, nine days before the trade deadline, according to ESPN.com, which initially reported the agreement.
The Phillies bypassed other opportunities to acquire Pham, notably at the 2024 trade deadline. But through Friday, their right-handed hitters combined for a .605 OPS, last in the majors by a wide margin.
Pham is a .256 hitter with 149 homers and a .764 OPS in 13 seasons with 10 teams. Two years ago, he had a 70-game stretch for the White Sox in which he batted .266 with five homers and was 3% better than league average, based on OPS+.
But it’s been a while since Pham was productive at the major-league level. He went 0-for-13 with seven strikeouts in April with the Mets before getting released. In 16 triple-A games with the Orioles, he went 12-for-61 (.197) with four homers and a .696 OPS.
The Phillies are running two outfield platoons. Lefty-hitting rookies Justin Crawford and Gabriel Rincones Jr. start against right-handed pitchers; righty-swinging Derek Hill and Edmundo Sosa start against lefties.
Entering play Saturday, Phillies outfielders had a .668 OPS, tied for 26th at the position despite an All-Star-caliber season from Brandon Marsh.
NEW YORK — Jacob Misiorowski has The Heater (105.5 mph!), and Cristopher Sánchez had The Streak (50⅔ scoreless innings!), and Shohei Ohtani is, well, Shohei Ohtani!
But at the midpoint of the schedule, there’s another nominee for the best pitching story in baseball: The Comeback, by Zack Wheeler.
Wheeler gave up one run in seven innings here Friday night against the Mets. And although he got a major assist from center fielder Derek Hill, it still marked the eighth time in his last nine starts that he allowed less than three runs.
It’s almost like the 36-year-old righty didn’t have a rib removed nine months ago to relieve a compressed vein near his collarbone.
“Yeah,” interim manager Don Mattingly said, “it’s been pretty remarkable.”
Never mind that Wheeler had the less threatening form of thoracic outlet syndrome. It’s a condition that has derailed many pitching careers. Yet here he is, with a 2.03 ERA that ranks fifth among 100 pitchers with at least 70 innings entering play Saturday.
If you didn’t know what Wheeler went through last summer, beginning with the discovery of a blood clot near his right shoulder after an Aug. 15 start, well, you wouldn’t know.
His average fastball velocity is down a tick to 95.3 mph, but he can still dial up 97. (He scraped 97.7 mph Friday night against Mets star Juan Soto.) And he still changes speeds with a sweeper, splitter, and curveball.
Wheeler won’t admit that he’s surprised by any of this. Then again, he couldn’t allow himself to expect anything less.
“I mean, you almost have to, right?” he said. “You’ve got to have that mindset when you get hurt and you’re going to have surgery. You just build out your plan in your head — what it’s going to be like, and where you want to be at the end — and you kind of just tick those boxes off as you go.
“You’re always going to have your ups and downs. That’s going to happen with the human body. It doesn’t always go your way. But for the most part it went pretty smooth, and, yeah, I always envisioned myself coming back and hitting the ground running.”
Even as he was coming back from surgery and regaining strength after losing “a good bit” of weight, Wheeler said he set the same three goals: “win the Cy Young, win the World Series, and make the All-Star Game.” He could check off the latter next Saturday when the All-Star rosters are announced.
Wheeler was named to the National League team last year and in 2023 but didn’t attend the game either time. This year, with Philadelphia hosting the game, he won’t have to travel. But if the Phillies stay on rotation, he would start the final game before the break, leaving him unavailable to pitch in the All-Star Game.
In any case, Wheeler has never had a lower ERA through his first 12 starts of a season. Even in his runner-up Cy Young finishes in 2021 and 2024, his ERA through 12 starts was 2.51 and 2.32, respectively.
Zack Wheeler is making a strong case to be an All-Star for the third time in the last four years.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
And yet, ever the perfectionist, Wheeler insists his command isn’t as sharp as it can be.
“Something’s still a tick off, and I hate saying that just because it was a good game,” Wheeler said. “But I’m so used to throwing eight or nine pitches out of 10 where I exactly want it. So, when that’s not happening, I feel like it’s just not there all the way.
“But I know things are going well. I’m feeling strong, so I’ll take that for sure.”
One day after grounding into three double plays, as part of a 1-for-19 funk, third baseman Alec Bohm wasn’t in the lineup Saturday against Mets righty Christian Scott.
“He just looked tired last night,” Mattingly said of Bohm. “I thought he was dragging a little bit. It’s just a day.”
Edmundo Sosa started in Bohm’s place.
Extra bases
Reliever Brad Keller (right forearm inflammation) has progressed to throwing a bullpen session within the next few days, Mattingly said. … Andrew Painter is slated to start Sunday for the first time since getting demoted to triple A on June 17. … Jesús Luzardo (6-4, 4.39 ERA) will start the series finale at 1:40 p.m. Sunday and Mets lefty opener Cionel Pérez (3-3, 4.99).
Last summer, at a win-now moment in their competitive cycle, the Phillies addressed two holes in the roster with one-stop shopping at the trade deadline.
Sort of.
Priority No. 1 felt familiar. Despite trading for a reliever at other recent deadlines, the Phillies’ playoff runs in 2023 and ’24 were torpedoed by the bullpen. So, they went in search of a lockdown late-inning anchor.
But they had another obvious shortcoming: a righty-hitting outfielder to platoon in left field or, better yet, stop the revolving door in center.
For weeks, Dave Dombrowski and his front office made calls and put out feelers. But gridlock in the wild-card standings — think of the Schuylkill Expressway at rush hour — led to market fluidity until a few days before the July 31 deadline.
After fence-sitting amid ownership uncertainty, the Twins finally decided to break up their roster. On the eve of the deadline, the Phillies landed Jhoan Duran for two top-100 prospects (pitcher Mick Abel and teenage catcher Eduardo Tait), a steep price for a closer, albeit a star who came with two full seasons of club control.
Harrison Bader’s name came up in the Duran talks, a source with knowledge of the conversations said, but the Twins kept the center fielder out of the deal as they orchestrated an everything-must-go bonanza in which they wound up unloading 11 major league players. The next day, Bader went to the Phillies for two minor leaguers.
Two trades. One-stop shopping.
Jhoan Duran has locked down the ninth inning for the Phillies since he was acquired at the trade deadline last year.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Eleven months later — still in win-now mode, and back on a 90-win pace at the mathematical midpoint of the season after a 9-19 start that cost manager Rob Thomson his job — the Phillies again have multiple needs. The top priority is up for debate, even among some in the organization, but in some order:
Right-handed hitter
Back-end starting pitcher
Late-inning bridge to Duran
And with the trade deadline a little more than five weeks away — jot it down: Aug. 3, 6 p.m. — it’s worth wondering if they can one-stop shop once again.
Before we explore a few potential trade partners, a few caveats:
1. Across the sport, right-handed hitters had a .703 OPS through Thursday, which would be the third-lowest mark since 1991. Righty-hitting outfielders had a .709 OPS, tied for the second-lowest in the last 70 years. And two of the best, Mike Trout and Byron Buxton, have no-trade clauses and no interest in waiving them.
2. That said, the easiest place for the Phillies to add a right-handed bat is in the outfield … unless they move Bryce Harper back to right field and open first base (or third, if they shift Alec Bohm to first). Harper recently reiterated that he’d be open to it “for the right player.”
Dombrowski, on the other hand …
“We haven’t talked to him about it, and I really don’t contemplate it because I really like the way he goes about his business at first base,” he said recently. “I look at him as being our first baseman.”
The Phillies plan to keep Bryce Harper at first base, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski reiterated recently.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
3. Over the last few years, the Phillies traded Abel, Tait, and fellow prospects Hendry Mendez, Starlyn Caba, William Bergolla Jr., George Klassen, Sam Aldegheri, Hao-Yu Lee, Mickey Moniak, Ben Brown, Logan O’Hoppe, and TJ Rumfield, among others. The teams hasn’t been burned, but it has drained the farm system.
Andrew Painter (starting Sunday in triple A), Justin Crawford (graduated to the majors), and Aidan Miller (injured) were largely untouchable in previous talks. If that’s still the case, the best chips in a top-heavy system are right-hander Gage Wood, infielder Aroon Escobar, outfielder Dante Nori, and 17-year-old outfielder Francisco Renteria, off to a flying start in the Dominican Summer League.
It begs the question of whether the Phillies have the prospect capital to fill each of their needs.
“We feel good where our system’s at,” general manager Preston Mattingly said recently on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast. “We’re not concerned about a lack of assets in the minor leagues. A lot of times you see that top-100 [prospects] list. That’s not necessarily what teams internally talk about, and those are not the players they ask about.”
4. Remember that Schuylkill-style traffic jam in the standings last July? Well, entering the weekend, 24 teams were in a playoff spot or no more than five games out. Only four American League teams — four! — were even above .500.
Given the dearth of obvious sellers, one league source predicted that contenders may have to trade with each other. Think of the 2024 deadline, when the Phillies got outfielder Austin Hays in a buyer-to-buyer swap with the Orioles.
5. Oh, and did we mention there’s a work stoppage looming in December? The owners and players are at odds over, well, everything. And regardless of whether the owners get their salary cap, the sport’s economic system will change in ways that front offices can’t possibly anticipate as they maneuver at the deadline.
Got all that? Amid that backdrop, here’s a look at three teams that might match up with the Phillies on one or more of their needs.
Despite not hitting for as much power as usual, Orioles outfielder Taylor Ward is reaching base at a .389 clip entering the weekend.Chris O'Meara
Baltimore Orioles
Here’s all you need to know about the state of play in the AL: The Orioles haven’t been over .500 since April 14, but were only 1½ games out of a wild-card spot entering the weekend.
No wonder a white flag isn’t flying over Camden Yards.
The next two weeks may determine which trade-deadline lane the Orioles choose. They play 12 of 15 games before the All-Star break at home, where they were 22-19 with a plus-13 run differential going into the weekend.
And if they’re still undecided on a path as the deadline approaches, the Phillies will visit Baltimore on July 31.
Ward, 32, was popular in trade rumors for years with the Angels before finally getting dealt to the Orioles in the offseason. He entered the weekend with only five homers after averaging 24 in the last four seasons, but appears to have traded power for on-base ability, reaching at a .389 clip.
(Phillies right-handed hitters had combined for a .269 on-base percentage, last in the majors.)
Ward would fit atop the order ahead of Kyle Schwarber and Harper, enabling interim manager Don Mattingly to finally slide Trea Turner down. Or the Phillies could put Ward in the cleanup spot behind Harper and work on restoring his fly-ball and barrel rates to his career levels.
As a free agent after the season, Ward probably won’t come at a high acquisition cost. But the Orioles would get a better return if they package him with rental starter Trevor Rogers or controllable relievers Yennier Cano or Rico Garcia.
Potential trade: Ward and Cano for Nori and right-hander Ramon Marquez.
Giants lefty Robbie Ray has allowed one earned run or fewer in four of his last five starts.Chris O'Meara
San Francisco Giants
Two years ago, the Phillies raced to a big lead en route to an NL East title. But they went 33-33 after the All-Star break and lost their momentum in part because they lacked a competent No. 5 starter.
Dombrowski regretted not getting one at the deadline.
“I’ll take the responsibility,” he said after a divisional-round knockout. “When you look at the fifth spot that we had, that was not a good spot at all for us the last two months of the season.”
Maybe it will inform how Dombrowski acts now, with Painter back in triple A and a hole at the back of the rotation. But teams don’t use five starters in the postseason. So, unless the Phillies can upgrade from Aaron Nola, or even Jesús Luzardo, they won’t want to give up an asset.
In that case, the rental market is an option. And the Giants’ Robbie Ray is a classic rental. The 34-year-old lefty will be a free agent after the season. He has pitched well lately, too, allowing one earned run or fewer in four of his last five starts.
In lieu of what the Giants really want to do — offload unwieldy long-term contracts for Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, and Rafael Devers — they almost certainly will move Ray.
If the Phillies take on the $12.5 million that Ray is owed through the end of the season, the return would be minimal. But the Giants can get a better prospect by including, say, controllable outfielder Heliot Ramos, who is nearing a return from a quadriceps strain.
Potential trade: Ray and Ramos for outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. and righty Jean Cabrera.
Aroldis Chapman has a 1.41 and 46 saves for the Red Sox over the last two seasons.Robert F. Bukaty
Boston Red Sox
When the Red Sox finally accept reality and go into sell mode, they will have players who are in demand.
Atop the list: fire-breathing closer Aroldis Chapman.
Even at age 38, Chapman is lighting up radar guns and overpowering hitters. Entering the weekend, these were his numbers in two years with the Red Sox: 1.39 ERA, 47-for-50 in save chances, 114 strikeouts, 25 walks in 84 innings. His fastball still averages 97.4 mph.
Chapman has 382 career saves, 10th on the all-time list. With the Phillies, he would supplant José Alvarado as the high-leverage lefty and set up for Duran. He has filled a setup role before, notably in 2023 for the World Series-winning Rangers.
Two years ago, the Phillies acquired walk-year closer Carlos Estévez from the Angels for two pitching prospects (Klassen and Aldegheri). The Sox will likely seek a similar haul for Chapman, a free agent at season’s end.
They will have a harder time maximizing the value for outfielder Jarren Duran. Although he’s under team control through 2028, the 29-year-old’s production has dropped off since his All-Star season in 2024.
Duran is a left-handed hitter, not an ideal fit for the Phillies. But given the lack of righty-hitting outfield options, he’s worth considering as a buy-low candidate.
Potential trade: Chapman and Duran for Escobar, Marquez, and righty Matthew Fisher.
NEW YORK — Zack Wheeler stood on the mound, looked out to center field, and, well, LOL.
For real. He laughed out loud.
How else was the Phillies ace supposed to react? Given the level of ridiculousness of the catch that Derek Hill just made — sprint to the warning track, perfectly timed leap, hang in the air, and reach over the wall to take a two-run homer away from Mets star Juan Soto — even super-intense Wheeler couldn’t stifle a chuckle.
“I mean,” Wheeler said later, “that won us the game right there.”
Well, technically, it would take Trea Turner‘s go-ahead single — which drove in Hill, by the way — in the seventh inning to decide the Phillies’ 2-1 victory Friday night. Maybe that was because it took a while for them to pick up their jaws from the turf after Hill’s first-inning catch, which was every bit as good as home-run robberies get.
So, you bet Wheeler laughed. And right fielder Brandon Marsh chest-bumped with Hill. In the dugout, players tipped their caps. Some even went to watch it again between innings.
“I had a pretty good view, and that was unbelievable,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “The replay was almost even better.”
Said Marsh: “Probably one of the best catches I’ve ever seen … in person, for sure.”
The Phillies won their fourth game in a row and, at 46-36, climbed to a season-high 10 games over .500 after a 9-19 start. They also deepened their rival’s misery. The Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza, then dropped their seventh straight game while fans chanted to fire president of baseball operations David Stearns.
But there’s no telling how much differently the series-opener would have gone if not for Hill’s catch.
Staked to a 1-0 lead on Bryce Harper’s single, the third consecutive hit to begin the game against Mets rookie lefty Zach Thornton, Wheeler gave up a leadoff single to Carson Benge before throwing an 0-2 fastball to Soto.
“Honestly, I ain’t got much on that,” he said. “I just kind of blacked out on it. Just kind of pure instinct and whatnot. But I knew I had a chance because the wind was kind of knocking things down a little bit. Marshy was giving me some good comms on the side, letting me know where the wall was.”
Ever made a catch like that before?
“Not quite like that one,” Hill said. “Minor leagues and stuff like that a couple times, but no, this atmosphere was a little different. And obviously the guy [Soto] I did it against makes it a little bit cooler.”
Everything, it seems, is going Hill’s way. When he lost a fly ball in the twilight in the sixth inning, Marsh raced over from right field to catch it.
“I just see him coming across like a freaking bull,” Hill said. “I didn’t see it at all until it hit his glove. I was like, ‘Oh, cool. Thanks, dog.’”
Consider it the cherry on top of a charmed week for Hill, acquired by the Phillies two weeks ago from the White Sox after right fielder Adolis García tore the lat muscle near his right shoulder and needed season-ending surgery.
Hill came up as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning Wednesday night in Washington, and down to his last strike, smashed a go-ahead two-run homer to fuel a 5-4 victory.
One night later, he came off the bench and picked up two hits, including a two-run homer in a five-run ninth inning in a come-from-behind 10-5 victory.
And now this. After taking two runs off the board in the first inning, Hill led off the seventh with an infield single and scored the go-ahead run on a two-out, two-strike single by Turner.
Could the Phillies possibly ask for any more from a part-time player who has bounced from the Tigers to the Mariners, Nationals, Rangers, Giants, Marlins, White Sox, and now Phillies since 2022?
“No, it’s been good,” Mattingly said. “It’s good to see, and he has integrated great with our club. I think just personality-wise, work-wise, he’s professional, the way he goes about his defense, everything. Really good.”
Speaking of which, Turner is percolating after a rough first half. The reigning National League batting champ finished with two hits for the fourth game in a row and is 8-for-20 to hike his average to .235 and his OPS to .625.
If Turner is turning the corner at the plate, he would represent a more impactful addition than anyone the Phillies could get at the trade deadline.
“I think Trea’s fine,” Mattingly said. “I mean, when do we decide that he’s [back]? When he’s getting two hits a night for 10 straight days? He’s getting his hits.”
Wheeler, meanwhile, is rolling in a remarkable comeback after having a rib removed last September to treat thoracic outlet syndrome. In his 12th start, he allowed one run on four hits in seven innings to leave his ERA at 2.03.
But what if Hill doesn’t make that catch?
“It’s the best one I’ve seen in person,” Wheeler said. “I knew [Soto] got it, so I looked back and he’s on a dead sprint towards the wall. I’m like, ‘Man, he’s about to go get this thing.’ Sure enough he did.”
Back in the dugout, Wheeler gave Hill a hug.
“I’m not gonna say it won us the game, but it won us the game,” Marsh said. “It was a special, special play.”
NEW YORK — Don Mattingly has lived through his share of managerial firings by the baseball teams in this city.
“Oh really?” he said, smiling.
Indeed, in 14 seasons with the George Steinbrenner-era Yankees, Mattingly played for eight managers, including Billy Martin three times and Lou Piniella twice. The Boss fired a manager midway through a season five times in Mattingly’s career.
And even if that wasn’t the case, Mattingly is managing the Phillies right now only because president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski fired Rob Thomson on April 28 after a 9-19 start.
Surely, then, Mattingly must have thoughts on the Mets’ decision Friday to can manager Carlos Mendoza amid a six-game losing streak and with the third-worst record (34-47) in the National League.
Oh, and just in time for a visit from the Phillies.
“We don’t know what’s been going on over there, and we’ve got enough stuff to deal with ourselves,” Mattingly said. “So, I kind of just get back to the coldhearted [viewpoint]. If I’m hitting, I need to get a good pitch to hit and I need to hit it hard. If I’m playing [defense], I need to make baseball plays for the situation of the game.
“I don’t worry about what’s going on with them.”
Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said he does not get caught up in other organizations’ personnel decisions. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
For the Phillies, the managerial change served as a pivot point in the season. But as Mattingly notes, it had less to do with a difference between him and Thomson than with better starting pitching. The offense has started to come around, too.
The Phillies were 36-15 under Mattingly — and 45-36 overall, a 90-win pace at the mathematical midpoint of the season entering Friday night.
It may be too late for the Mets to save their season. But maybe they’ll get a boost under interim manager Andy Green, who was promoted after spending the past 2½ seasons as farm director.
Like Mattingly, Green didn’t expect to be in this position. Green has managed previously in the majors, steering the Padres to a 274-366 record from 2016-19.
“I just think it [feels like] you are where you’re supposed to be, right?” Mattingly said. “It just falls into your lap more than anything else, and then you just take it and just do the best job you can.”
Alan Rangel will take the hill Saturday for the Phils. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Rangel ready
Two and a half hours before Friday night’s game began, Alan Rangel stepped out from the Phillies’ dugout and took a photo of Citi Field.
He will pitch here Saturday.
Mattingly said the Phillies were still deciding if Rangel will start the game or enter after an opener. Either way, it will be his latest audition for what amounts to the Phillies’ fifth-starter spot.
It will mark Rangel’s second turn since replacing demoted righty Andrew Painter. The 28-year-old righty, released as a minor leaguer with the Angels in 2024, came in after opener Tim Mayza on Monday night in Washington and allowed one run in five walk-free innings.
“He’s got an interesting mix, honestly,” Mattingly said. “[Commanding the ball] up-down is a mix that you’ve seen work in the game with different guys. You don’t have to be throwing 100 to have success, and he’s got a mix that can work. He has stuff to get people out.”
Painter, meanwhile, is scheduled to start Sunday for triple-A Lehigh Valley. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Painter throw primarily fastballs. It’s essential for him to regain confidence in his heater after opponents batted .404 and slugged .660 against it in the majors.
Phillies shortstop Trea Turner has begun to heat up slightly. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Extra bases
Mattingly on struggling Trea Turner, who went 6-for-20 in four games in Washington to raise his average to .231 and OPS to .618: “I think Trea’s fine. I mean, when do we decide that he’s there? When he’s getting two hits a night for 10 straight days? He’s getting his hits.” … Rangel will be opposed at 4:10 p.m. Saturday by Mets righty Christian Scott (2-0, 3.10 ERA). Scott, the Mets’ fifth-round pick in 2021, and Painter were teammates at Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Ricky Bottalico spouts opinions each day on sports-talk radio and the Phillies’ television pre- and postgame show. But before all that, he had a solid career as a relief pitcher, even representing the Phillies in the 1996 All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium. With the baseball world set to descend on Philly again in a few weeks, Ricky Bo joined Phillies Extra to re-live his All-Star experience. Watch here.
With less than a week left to vote, it hardly qualifies as a surprise that three Phillies players are in the running to start Philadelphia’s first All-Star Game in 30 years.
Harper finished third among first basemen in the first phase of fan voting, MLB announced Thursday. If the Face of the Phillies gets selected to his ninth All-Star Game on July 14 at Citizens Bank Park, it will be through player balloting as a National League reserve.
But the Phillies may still be well-represented in the NL’s starting lineup. Brandon Marsh moved on to the second stage of fan voting by collecting the second-most votes among outfielders, while Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm did the same by finishing second at second base and third base, respectively.
Kyle Schwarber, who leads the majors with 29 homers, ran second among designated hitters. But Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani locked up a starting spot by getting the most votes of any NL player. Schwarber is a virtual lock to be chosen as a reserve.
Voting resumes at noon Monday on MLB.com and on the MLB app and concludes at noon next Thursday. Votes from the first phase of voting don’t carry over. MLB will announce the All-Star rosters, including starters, on July 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh is a candidate to start the All-Star Game for the National League.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Marsh ranked third in the NL in hitting — and second among all major league outfielders — with a .321 average through Wednesday. He had 14 doubles, 11 homers, and an .860 OPS that was third among Phillies players behind Schwarber and Harper.
Six NL outfielders advanced to the final round of voting, with the Dodgers’ Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernández, the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II, and the Mets’ Juan Soto joining Marsh. Hernández and Acuña are on the injured list with hamstring strains.
Bohm and Stott have recovered from awful starts to the season. Stott, in particular, was 19-for-58 (.328) with a .917 OPS in his last 16 games. He’s vying with Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies, and Bohm is pitted against Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy.
Harper (.877 OPS, 17 homers entering Thursday night’s game) finished behind the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman (.859, 13 homers) and the Braves’ Matt Olson (.870, 20 homers). The NL carried three third basemen last season (Freeman, Olson, and Pete Alonso).
All-Star reserves and pitchers are selected through the player balloting.
Cristopher Sánchez, second in the NL with a 1.80 ERA entering his start Thursday night in Washington, and closer Jhoan Duran (1.69 ERA, 19-for-20 in save opportunities) are strong candidates. Zack Wheeler (2.11 ERA in 11 starts) is also a possibility, though he missed the first month of the season.
Schwarber and Harper said they’ll decide on competing in the Home Run Derby after they know whether they’re selected as All-Stars.
Also Wednesday, Don Mattingly was named to the NL coaching staff, as expected, by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Phillies head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit, strength and conditioning coach Morgan Gregory, and clubhouse manager Phil Sheridan will be part of the NL staff. Kevin Steinhour will be the AL clubhouse manager.
When Preston Mattingly took a job with the Padres in 2017, his famous dad, Don, was managing the Marlins. After Preston joined the Phillies’ front office in 2022, Don began coaching the Blue Jays.
“You’re in the same industry,” Preston said, “but you’re light-years apart.”
Over the last few years, the Mattinglys figure they were together for a total of about 10 days. So, they need not be reminded, especially on Father’s Day weekend, of the uniqueness of their proximity as the first father-son manager-general manager combination in baseball history.
Last week, Preston Mattingly joined Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss working with his dad. In addition, he talked about Andrew Painter’s demotion to triple A, the state of the Phillies’ farm system, and preparing for the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Phillies Extra podcaston Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Q: The fastball was really Andrew Painter’s bread-and-butter pitch in the minors, especially before he had Tommy John elbow surgery in 2023. Major league hitters are hitting .404 and slugging .660 against it. Why do you think he struggled so much with it during his first experience in the big leagues?
A: Yeah, it’s a good question. I think a lot of different factors go into it, whether it’s his arm slot … I think it ultimately comes down to command. I think when you’re behind in counts, and when you throw balls in the middle of the plate, no matter how hard you’re throwing or who you are, you’re going to get hit. But there’s definitely some things we can clean up in his development plan that he’s going to be working on. But we’ve seen him in the past to where he can command the ball to all four quadrants, the shape on the fastball pre-injury was significantly different, so we’re working as an organization to get back to that.
Q: So, where do you guys go from here for a fifth starter?
A: I think, as an organization, we’ve done a pretty good job over the last few years of coming up with guys, either optionable guys or depth type of arms. I think all options are on the table right now. We feel really good about our pitching, in general, about our pitching depth in terms of our relievers. So, I think there’s different ways to get creative in how we do it. We’re still talking through it as a group, but I’m sure we’ll sit down and put the pieces together how they fall out.
The Phillies are hoping rookie outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr., can give them some production after losing Adolis García for the season to shoulder surgery.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Q: There have been two notable injuries within the last week in Adolis García and Brad Keller. How much do you feel like the depth of the 40-man roster is going to be tested here between those injuries and now Painter going to the minor leagues?
A: Yeah, I’ll touch on the pitching, the Keller side first. Obviously, we felt [his right forearm strain] was pretty minor, and something we, as an organization, we wanted to knock out, not let linger. So, don’t expect him to be out long term. We have some other guys coming back too, as well. Kyle Backhus shouldn’t be too far away here. So, in terms of relievers, we felt really good. I already touched on Andy, and how we’re going to get creative to do that. And then touching on the Adolis injury, obviously unfortunate. He was an elite defender in right field, showed a little bit of strides with the bat, and was getting to some power before the [strained lat muscle near his right shoulder]. But I think we, as an organization, believe in Gabriel Rincones. We’re excited to see him, a lot of good underlying skills that translate to major league success. He’s got to go out and do it. But we feel like he’s a guy that hits the ball really hard. In the minor leagues he put together really quality at-bats, controls the strike zone, and we think he’s got a chance to have some power.
Q: I think there are two factors that make this trade deadline on Aug. 3 fascinating. One is that, in the American League, you have only five teams that are over .500 right now, so a lot of teams that are ordinarily leaning toward the sell column are hanging in there. But really the one that I’m fascinated by is this looming labor fight that we have at the end of the season. Is there any sense yet for whether that’s going to change the market dynamics at all?
A: It’s not something we talk about internally. I think it kind of depends. The next six weeks will [determine] which way teams fall. Obviously, it’s pretty quiet right now. You’re still talking to teams and checking in, and more just having conversations to kind of lay some groundwork. But pretty quiet right now. You have the draft coming, too, so teams are having their focus in a lot of different areas. But I’m sure over the next two to three weeks to a month, things will start to pick up a little bit.
After the Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson (left) on April 28, bench coach Don Mattingly (right) was elevated to interim manager.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Q: What was that first conversation like with your dad after Dave Dombrowski made the decision to elevate him to interim manager after Rob Thomson was fired?
A: It was definitely a unique situation. I know Dave spoke to my dad and talked to him about stepping into the role. I followed him up with a call, and just kind of made sure he was comfortable. And I think the great thing is we’re both here for the same reason, which is to help the organization win a championship. He’s been around the game a really long time. He’s built a lot of relationships with the players in our clubhouse already, so it’s definitely been unique. But it’s been really gratifying, too. I think I’ve said this a couple times, but getting texts from people around the league, in the moment it may have been a little bit … awkward, is maybe the word. But I think after the first couple days it was kind of business as usual. A lot of people around the league said some great things. ‘Just enjoy the moment. It’s not every day you get to work with your dad. And you’ll look back five or 10 years, 20 years later, and remember how special that was.’ So, I definitely have taken that to heart. He’s been great to work with, along with the rest of our coaching staff. So, yeah, it’s been really fun.
Q: Your dad said something when he was hired as bench coach in January about the importance of establishing trust with the players in the clubhouse, that he wasn’t going to go upstairs and talk to you about what was being said there. How have you two gone about navigating that balance?
A: Yeah, it’s definitely a topic that came up. I think we just want to be prepared. Front offices are pretty involved downstairs. We’re around a lot more, probably, than years ago. Obviously, my dad’s a professional. Things that are between him and the players stay between him and the players. We’re not looking to gather information, and, like I said, we’re just looking to try and win, and so there’s none of that going on.
Preston Mattingly (right), with Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, has been general manager since 2024.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Q: What has it been like after all those years on opposite sides and different teams in different cities to actually be around each other almost every day?
A: When I was in San Diego, he was in Miami the entire time. I felt like I had two teams to follow. I’ve always followed his teams very closely, probably pretty opinionated on what they should do with their roster, who they should acquire. And then obviously he goes to Toronto and I come to Philly … you feel like you’re in the same industry, but you’re light-years apart. So it’s been great, just the daily conversations. I told somebody a couple weeks ago, over the last three years, just because what I’m doing, what he’s doing, I think I’ve seen him for maybe 10 days. Holidays, a couple days, a special day here, day there. So, it’s been great just to spend time together, have a daily conversation.
I’m sure for him, every off-day at home, he’s come over to my house and enjoyed my family a little bit, which he doesn’t get to see as much. So, just things like that. It’s just really cool to spend time together. Since I left the house at 17, we haven’t really spent much time together. So, it’s just been fun in that regard, and then just working on the same team. Sports are great competition. Working as a group is as good as it gets, so getting to do that with your dad is pretty special.
They gathered at the usual time (shortly before 3 p.m.), in the usual spot (around home plate) for early batting practice. Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm were there; J.T. Realmuto, too.
What else did you expect? Yes, the Face of the Phillies prefers the indoor cage for his pregame swings. But Harper felt like launching balls into the seats Saturday and wound up hitting for the cycle a few hours later.
So, there was Harper, hitting on the field again Sunday, and sticking with his 35-ounce “heavy” bat instead of the 31½-ounce model that he ditched the night before. And guess what? Yep, he got three more hits — a triple short of another cycle — in a 6-2 rubber-game victory over the Mets that was powered by another titanic Kyle Schwarber homer.
“I don’t know if that’s translating to the game,” Harper said of the early hitting, the heavier lumber, and seven hits in his last nine at-bats. “Obviously the last two days have been great.”
Surely, Harper wants to bottle this feeling.
But it isn’t only Harper. Or even Schwarber, who has blasted four homers in the last two games, leads the planet with 29, and is on pace to finish with 61, which would be a record for a franchise that has existed for 144 seasons.
The Phillies’ Bryce Harper celebrates after hitting a home run in the fifth inning on Sunday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
As the Phillies capped a winning homestand and caught a train to Washington to play four games this week, the bats are finally revving up. In going 4-2 against the Marlins and Mets, they produced a total of 44 runs on 60 hits, including 11 home runs, five of which came from Schwarber and two from Harper.
“It’s pretty, pretty special,” Zack Wheeler said after allowing two runs in 5⅔ innings. “I mean, it’s pretty cool to see, you know? They’re capable of doing that every day. It’s crazy.
“And we have the guys around them, too, getting on base. They aren’t just solo home runs and stuff. We’re putting good at-bats together and looking like a good, total offense.”
The pitching, notably co-aces Cristopher Sánchez and Wheeler and star closer Jhoan Duran, carried the Phillies from a 9-19 start back into wild-card position.
Now that they’re here, the offense is percolating, led by the Harper-Schwarber Show, just in time for summer.
“That’s kind of what we expect of ourselves as an offense, right?” Harper said. “When we get going and clicking like that, I think when me and Schwarbs have big swings or great at-bats, we’ve got a chance to win games.”
The Phillies won the finale against the Mets by taking advantage of mistakes early, scoring two first-inning runs without a hit out of the infield. Then came Schwarber’s three-run homer in the second inning and Harper’s solo in the fifth.
Harper also doubled in the second inning and singled in the seventh. Was he hoping for one more at-bat to take a shot at another triple for another cycle?
“Absolutely,” he said, laughing. “I’m not going to lie to you. I wanted that last go-around, yeah. No, it was definitely in my head.”
Take a moment to wrap your head around Schwarber’s latest power binge. After launching 456- and 457-foot missiles halfway up the second deck Saturday night, he returned to that territory against Mets lefty David Peterson.
Schwarber hit 46, 47, 38, and 56 homers in his first four seasons with the Phillies. His best power numbers through 77 games: 23 homers, .530 slugging, .909 OPS last year.
This season: 29 homers, .603 slugging, .972 OPS.
There’s no telling how many more Schwarbombs will drop before the All-Star break.
“It is June,” Wheeler said.
Exit velocities of the last five balls in play by Kyle Schwarber:
And everyone knows Schwarber has hit more homers in his career in June (74) than any other month.
Wheeler, meanwhile, kept rolling in his remarkable return from thoracic outlet syndrome. He sidestepped back-to-back singles to open the second inning and shrugged off Carson Benge’s leadoff homer in the third.
After Wheeler walked the bases loaded with one out in the sixth, and with his pitch count up to 101, interim manager Don Mattingly went to the mound.
“Do you have one more hitter?” Mattingly asked.
Wheeler nodded.
“I was a little tired, but I wasn’t too tired to just keep going,” said Wheeler, who has a 2.11 ERA through 11 starts. “I was honest with [former manager] Rob [Thomson], and I’ll be honest with him. I felt like I had more in me.”
Wheeler got a ground ball and a force at second base before Jonathan Bowlan struck out Marcus Semien to finish the inning.
But offense was the theme of the week. And Saturday night, as Harper (cycle) and Schwarber (three homers) put on dueling talent shows against the Mets, Wheeler stood in the dugout and caught himself marveling at all of it.
“It’s hard to kind of take a step back while you’re actually playing and in the moment as somebody watching,” Wheeler said. “You hear about all the greats before you, so to speak, and you watched them as a fan. But I’m actually here watching these guys do some magic and do something special.
“And it’s gone on a long time now. They’re putting together unbelievable careers, and it’s fun to be present and watch it happen live.”
The Harper-Schwarber show, featuring heavy bats and thunderous homers, went on all weekend. The Phillies are counting on an extended run.
It’s perfectly accurate to say that Bryce Harperhit for the cycle Saturday night.
But he also ran for it.
Never mind that the Phillies star tied a bow on his first career cycle by sprinting for a triple in the fifth inning. Two innings earlier, he stretched a single into a double with the overaggressive base running for which he’s often criticized.
Harper lashed a first-pitch fastball from Mets starter Freddy Peralta through the right side. He didn’t hesitate around first base, even though he had barely made the turn when right fielder Eric Wagaman cut off the ball and unleashed a throw.
A strong, accurate throw likely would’ve gotten Harper. But after backhanding the ball, Wagaman’s throw came up well short of second base. Harper’s risk, with nobody out in the third inning and the Phillies leading 4-0, paid off.
But even if it hadn’t, he wasn’t about to apologize for his daring run.
Chills.
How every hit from Bryce Harper's first career cycle sounded with Franzke and LA pic.twitter.com/hEUDpeEqlh
“I don’t really care what people think about my baserunning because that’s how I’ve always played,” he said. “I’ve done it since I was 7 years old. I don’t really play a different way when I know I can try to get to second base. I’ve made mistakes on the bases. I’m going to.
“Little kids are going to do the same thing. And I’ll preach to them that they just play the game hard. If they get thrown out at second or third, then so be it. If I don’t do that tonight, then I don’t have the opportunity to hit for a cycle.”
Harper has made three outs on the bases so far this season. He made six last year, including three at second base after trying to stretch a single.
In this case, given the situation in the game — and the fact that Wagaman, a utility player, was making only his second career start in right field — interim manager Don Mattingly agreed with Harper’s decision to take second.
“We want to take chances,” Mattingly said. “We want to take smart chances. That’s a good chance there because the guy’s got to backhand it. He’s not truly, truly the right fielder. It’s a guy that’s playing out there sparingly, but also a guy that has to go to his right, backhand the ball, and try to get something on it.
“So, it’s a good chance.”
Phillies right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr., at bat against New York Mets on Saturday, June 20, 2026 in Philadelphia.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Rating Rincones
It’s been only 19 plate appearances over six games, but right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. has mostly struggled in his initial exposure to the majors.
Rincones, who didn’t start Sunday night against a lefty (the Mets’ David Peterson), is 2-for-19 with five strikeouts. He hasn’t drawn a walk. Since his homer in his first Citizens Bank Park at-bat Monday night, he’s 1-for-15.
“Some good, some bad,” Mattingly said. “I just don’t want him to be passive. I want him to make sure he’s being aggressive in the zone. He’s a guy that’s got a good eye. He’s young and he is starting out, so you don’t want to put too much emphasis on one day to the next. For me, you want to see the aggressive swings.“
Mattingly was encouraged by Rincones’ swing on a fly ball to center field in his last at-bat Saturday night. But in his two previous at-bats, he chased a low-and-away fastball from lefty Cionel Pérez for a strikeout and got called out on a fastball over the plate from starter Freddy Peralta.
The Phillies plan to move forward with Rincones, a left-handed hitter, in right field against right-handed pitching. Brandon Marsh moves to right field, with righty-hitting Derek Hill in center, against lefties.
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Backhus throws during the ninth inning of opening day against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday, March 26, 2026 in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Phillies won 5 to 3.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Extra bases
With lefty Kyle Backhus poised to be reinstated from the injured list, the Phillies optioned reliever Max Lazar to triple A after Sunday night’s game. … Reliever Brad Keller (right forearm strain) began a throwing program, playing catch from 75 to 90 feet. … Reserve outfielder Johan Rojas, serving an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance, had surgery in which an internal brace was used to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The typical recovery is 6-8 months, according to the Phillies, who expect he’ll be ready to begin next season. … The Phillies will open a four-game series in Washington at 6:45 p.m. Monday night. They haven’t named a starter to fill demoted Andrew Painter’s spot in the rotation, but after designated Bryse Wilson for assignment Sunday night, Alan Rangel is a decent bet. Left-hander Foster Griffin (7-2, 3.32 ERA) will start for the Nationals.
