By Cory Nidoh

Today is the day. The first cracks of the bat. The first pops of the mitt. Spring Training begins in Clearwater, Florida with pitchers and catchers reporting for the Phillies. 

Each new year brings optimism and hope that the 162-game regular season marathon provides more wins and moments to celebrate than losses and forgettable stretches. 

For the 2026 Phillies, the goals remain the same. Win the NL East for a third-straight season and win a World Series. There are certainly reasons to believe the Phillies could potentially take a step back. However, there’s also factors that can indicate that the team will be in the mix once again to compete for a championship. 

Reasons for concern

1. Aging Core

Including Spring Training, the baseball season spans from February to October if a team makes the postseason, something the Phillies have done four straight seasons starting in 2022 after an 11-year drought. 

However, the Phillies core has turned another year older. The integral bats in the lineup are creeping into their mid-30s. Trea Turner will turn 33 at the end of June, Bryce Harper begins his age 33 season, Kyle Schwarber turns 33 in less than a month. Add in J.T Realmuto who turns 35 next month and that’s 44% of the lineup on the other side of 30. 

Add Aaron Nola, 32, who looks to bounce back from an injury-laden down year and Zack Wheeler who turns 36 in May but won’t be ready by Opening Day as he recovers from venous thoracic outlet syndrome and health becomes a major factor for the Phillies. 

Last season, the Phillies had the sixth-oldest roster but were inside the top 10 in multiple offensive categories including second in team batting average (.257), third in OPS (.761) and eighth in runs per game (4.78). 

Schwarber finished runner up for NL MVP after smashing 56 home runs and Turner won the batting title after reworking his approach at the plate. 

2. Back of Rotation Depth 

It has been confirmed that Wheeler will not be ready for Opening Day, which means the Phillies will have a new opening day starter on the mound for the first time in three years after Wheeler took the ball in 2024 and 2025. 

Presumably, Cristopher Sanchez will be the ace of the staff until Wheeler returns. After the southpaw, fellow lefty Jesus Luzardo slots in as the #2 starter while Wheeler is out. That’s not a bad duo to spearhead a rotation. 

When Wheeler returns and assuming he has no setbacks, the trio is as formidable of a front three in a rotation across major league baseball. However, after that, what can the Phillies expect?  

Nola posted a career-worst 6.01 ERA in 17 starts last year. He will look to rebound and return to the inning eating pitcher he has been. Top pitching prospect Andrew Painter doesn’t have a ton of competition for the fifth and final spot as the organization is hoping the 22-year-old can win the final rotation spot out of Spring Training after having a turbulent first season back from Tommy John Surgery spending most of his time in Triple-A. 

Taijuan Walker is in his final year of his four-year, $72 million deal with the Phillies and held his own pitching in multiple roles a season ago. With veteran free agent starters finding new landing spots, if Philadelphia doesn’t bring anyone else in to add to the competition, the fifth spot could be between Painter and Walker. 

3. The outfield 

This might be the biggest concern entering 2026. The Phillies are clearly taking some risks. 

Justin Crawford has forced his way into a starting role with the big league club after leading the International League with a .334 average and will be given every opportunity to take that spot this spring. 

Those flanking the rookie are also questions. The platoon in left field will feature Brandon Marsh who mashes right-handers and from May 1 until the end of the season, he posted an .836 OPS with a .303 batting average which actually forced Crawford to stay down in Triple-A. However, he struggled mightily against lefties hitting just .197 with a .577 OPS. 

The Phillies seem to be extremely high on the player Otto Kemp could be. The feel-good story of last season dealt with injuries in his rookie season including a dislocated knee cap he played through. 

The club is banking on the 25-year-old to take the next step this season after he slashed .234/.298/.411 with a .709 OPS in 62 games last season. Kemp will look to improve on his .786 OPS against lefties to be the opposite platoon to Marsh and continue to learn how to play left field. 

In right field, Adolis Garcia was brought on to replace Nick Castellanos who, at the time of writing, is surprisingly still on the roster. García is another roll of the dice. 

He is two years removed from his 2023 All-Star caliber season where he posted an .836 OPS with 39 home runs and 107 RBIs in 148 games with the Texas Rangers and had a historic postseason that year where he clubbed eight homers and had a 1.108 OPS in 15 games to help the Rangers beat Arizona in five games. 

Over the last two seasons, Garcia has combined for a .675 OPS with 312 strikeouts. The power numbers also have not been the same since that magical 2023 season, belting 25 home runs in 2024 and 19 last year, his lowest total in a full season played. 

Reasons for Optimism

1. Crawford can infuse youth and speed 

Fans like to take shots at the Phillies and say the team lets their top prospects wither away in the minors and don’t call said prospects up until it’s too late. 

They are not doing that with Crawford. 

The son of former big leaguer Carl Crawford, the 21-year-old was the fourth-youngest player in the International League and will be the youngest player on the Phillies Opening Day roster barring something unforeseen. 

The 17th overall pick in the 2022 draft can wreak havoc at the bottom of the lineup in an old-school manner which goes against the grain of today’s analytically driven game. Crawford has shown he has a strong ability to get on base, evidenced by his career .385 OBP in four seasons in the minors. Coupled with his 145 career stolen bases and career 82% stolen base percentage, he can serve as a double leadoff at the bottom of the lineup to get on base and let Turner, Harper and Schwarber drive him in. 

2. Back end of bullpen 

Dave Dombrowski swung a surprising trade at the deadline last season, acquiring Jhoan Duran. 2026 will mark the first full season with the Phillies for the flamethrower who went 16-for-19 in save opportunities with Philadelphia and finished with 32 saves, tied for fifth-most. 

This season, the Phillies will also have Brad Keller to help setup Duran in the later innings. Keller signed a two-year, $22 million deal after he excelled out of the ‘pen for the Chicago Cubs last season where he posted a 2.07 ERA in 69 ⅔ innings and had the fourth-best hard hit rate against him at just 30.6%. 

Jose Alvarado, who missed 80 games due to PED suspension, was exceptional in his first 20 appearances picking up seven saves pitching to a 2.70 ERA and a 1.89 FIP. Jonathan Bowlan, who comes over in the Matt Strahm deal has a heavy sinker that can give batters fits and could factor into being a bridge arm to get to Alvarado and Keller. 

Orion Kerkering, who pitched in a career-high 69 games and posted a respectable 3.30 ERA in 60 innings, will also look to continue to be a reliable arm out of the bullpen. 

3. Cristopher Sanchez might actually be the ace of the staff

Sanchez had a remarkable season in 2025. Finishing as the runner-up in the NL Cy Young Award falling only to Paul Skenes after posting an NL-best 8.0 WAR. His 2.50 ERA was good for fifth-best among qualified starters while his 212 strikeouts were the seventh-most in baseball. 

When Wheeler made his last start of the season on August 15th, Sanchez went on to help the Phillies go 6-2 in his final eight starts down the homestretch where he racked up 55 strikeouts and walked just eight batters and posted a 2.63 ERA in 51 ⅓ innings. 

Sanchez looks to continue to build off his stellar campaign and prove that last season wasn’t a fluke.Â