{"id":530443,"date":"2026-01-21T06:18:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/530443\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T06:18:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T06:18:20","slug":"rob-thomson-shares-thoughts-on-where-phillies-roster-stands-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/530443\/","title":{"rendered":"Rob Thomson Shares Thoughts on Where Phillies Roster Stands"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> roster will look largely similar to the past seasons after the front office\u2019s mostly lateral moves this winter.<\/p>\n

Some may claim that they\u2019re fresh off a 96-win season, so they should be in a good position to contend again in 2026, while there\u2019s also an argument that this core hasn\u2019t been able to get over the hump and could use a shakeup.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

No matter where fans fall, Phillies skipper Rob Thomson is clearly confident<\/a> about the group he has heading into 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel good about [the roster]. I really do,\u201d proclaimed the Phillies skipper during Wednesday\u2019s media availability, \u201cGot [Kyle] Schwarber, got J.T. [Realmuto] back. We\u2019re going to infuse some youth into this lineup with [Justin] Crawford, [Andrew] Painter, and Otto [Kemp]. We\u2019ve got more guys coming with [Adian] Miller and [Gabriel] Rincones. We\u2019ve added some really good bullpen pieces with [Brad] Keller, and [Jonathan] Bowlan, and [Chase] Shugart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sep<\/p>\n

Sep 20, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson (49) looks on against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the sixth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Plus, Thomson refuted the idea that the Phillies are simply running back the same roster as last year.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re gonna have three new relievers. We got a new right fielder. Crawford’s gonna get every chance to play. We probably got a rookie starting pitcher in Painter. We got Otto Kemp, who wasn’t here at the start of last year,\u201d said Thomson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we’re turning over 20 to 25 percent of our roster. If you think that’s turning it back, or running it back, whatever the saying is? Yeah, I can’t help you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, what many were hoping for to shake up the roster was the addition of another star.<\/p>\n

Say, someone like Bo Bichette, who has an All-Star background and fits Philadelphia\u2019s need for another right-handed bat. The Phillies tried to go in that direction, but their pursuit of Bichette ultimately failed, and Thomson believes it\u2019s time to move past that saga.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cAll you can control is what you do. We put a really good bid in on Bichette. He went some place else. So you gotta turn the page, and you gotta move forward,\u201d continued Philly\u2019s skipper.<\/p>\n

The Phillies objectively have a good roster.<\/p>\n

Is it great? Is Philadelphia a 2026 World Series contender?<\/p>\n

Those are questions the team must answer, but Thomson feels confident they are.<\/p>\n

Phillies Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We\u2019d love to have you join us to talk all things Phillies. Click the \u201cJoin\u201d button at the top of the page to join our community for free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Philadelphia Phillies roster will look largely similar to the past seasons after the front office\u2019s mostly lateral…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2397],"tags":[22,5,88,70309,4,5162,144,25,4216,40,4874],"class_list":{"0":"post-530443","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-phillies","8":"tag-arizona-diamondbacks","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-bo-bichette","11":"tag-bowlan","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-otto-kemp","14":"tag-philadelphia","15":"tag-philadelphia-phillies","16":"tag-philadelphiaphillies","17":"tag-phillies","18":"tag-rob-thomson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115931638540366296","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}