It’s always fun to look back at pre-season predictions and see who has a talent for divination and whose hot take was actually ice cold. TGP’s writers made some bold predictions for the 2025 season in March (which you can read here). Some of them are still on track to play out, and some... well, hindsight is 20/20, right?
Now that we have half a season under our belts, let’s try this again.
Zack Wheeler is an MVP finalist
It’s not uncommon for a pitcher to receive down-ballot votes in the MVP race, but rarely does one finish high
enough to actually contend for the title. Only 25 pitchers have won the award, and only 11 of those have been since the Cy Young Award was established in 1956. The most recent MVP pitcher was Clayton Kershaw in 2014. Despite tough competition for MLB’s seasonal awards, Zack Wheeler is going to continue to be not only one of the best pitchers in the NL, but one of the best players overall and will play himself into the MVP conversation. -Allie
Bryson Stott is sent down to Triple-A
In our pre-season predictions, I went with something on the positive side. So, in the interest of balance, I’ll go negative here. Stott has been one of the worst hitters in the Majors since the start of May, slashing just .204/.268/.284 across 58 games. He’s not someone that the Phillies look towards to provide a big share of their offense because of his elite glove and his position, but Stott has been an automatic out for the better part of three months. The bat options at the trade deadline this year will be sparse, so the Phillies may need to resort to some drastic measures to try and improve their offensive output. One of those measures will be to have Stott spend some time in Lehigh Valley to try and find a groove while Edmundo Sosa starts every day. -Joe Edinger
Phillies trade for Emmanuel Clase
According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, the Phillies seem more willing to trade bigger prospect chips for controllable big leaguers. It’s a different stance than they’ve had in the past.
Some of that could be patience running low with the roster getting older, and the impending free agencies of Ranger Suárez, Kyle Schwarber, and JT Realmuto.
But there is another reason for such a big push; it might be their best path to acquiring needed bullpen help. They have not seen leaps from many secondary prospects like in past seasons. There isn’t a Ben Brown or George Klassen-level pitching prospect in the system currently. Some teams might like Alex McFarlane but maybe not to the same degree.
Their best prospect in trades might be Mick Abel, who is certainly worth more than a rental late-inning reliever. They might be able to get better value shopping for the most expensive pieces that could be sold.
Which leads me to Emmanuel Clase, the Guardians are 46-49 and could take advantage of a sellers market. They already have Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis as potential late inning arms and a strong track record for pitching development. This feels like the right time for them to sell high.
Clase might also be a workload risk. From 2021 to 2024, Clase has pitched in 297 games with 289.1 innings pitched. The only reliever with more innings in that span is Tyler Rogers, who doesn’t throw a 97 mph cutter.
The Phillies might be the one team willing to sacrifice the prospect capital while also having the infrastructure to keep Clase healthy. In each of the Phillies’ three postseason appearances since 2022, Rob Thomson and the staff have managed to keep the bullpen healthy.
I’m not sure it’s a good idea for them to take that big of a swing. It probably isn’t if we are being honest but it feels like that’s where the Phillies are shopping. - Anthony Esbensen
Bryce Harper is Player of the Month for September
Bryce Harper’s days of being an MVP might be over. But as we saw last year, when he won back-to-back NL Player of the Month awards in May and June, he is still capable of putting up MVP-level performance for months at a time.
Perhaps because of the mysterious wrist ailment, Harper hasn’t gotten fully locked in this season. But I think he’s going to save his best for last and will hit double digit home runs in September to solidify the Phillies’ second straight NL East title. - Smarty
Edmundo Sosa assumes the second base position full time
Bryson Stott just isn’t an offensive threat much any longer and that’s an issue for the Phillies. They’re a team that hasn’t exactly shown a consistent presence each night, so scoring runs has been something of a chore for them. The top half of the lineup has been perfectly fine and will likely continue to be so, if they don’t take a step forward in the second half. However, teams will probably start to avoid them later on, preferring to face the bottom portion of a lineup that has been lackluster.
That puts the onus on Rob Thomson to put his best lineup forward most night, regardless of the pitcher on the mound, and right now that best lineup does not include Stott. It should include Sosa more often than not. The drop in defense won’t be that substantial from Stott to Sosa, but the gains at the plate will be significant. - Ethan Witte
More from thegoodphight.com:
- The latest odds on where Bryce Harper will land are out. Where are the Phillies?
- Hittin’ Season #219: Which Phillies will NOT be here in 2019?
- FanPost Friday: You can be the Phillies (assistant) GM in the SB Nation Offseason Simulation
- Phillies Stat Notes: Analyzing The Collapse
- Real World: A Phillies Postmortem
- One last mess at McFadden’s
- Are the Phillies trying to lower expectations on free agency?
