The Phillies will embark soon on a season that is under some rather intense scrutiny. It’s not just the fanbase that is expecting some results this year when it comes how and where the team ultimately finishes, it’s national media as well. Look around at different people talking about who is on the hot seat and who is not, you’ll probably find multiple outlets talking about the Phillies. It’s also the players themselves. Everyone kind of knows what is at stake here with the team. While we largely
preach patience here when it comes to the team, with the players that are impending free agents and the prospects that are nipping at their heels to take over that vacated spot, this does have a bit of a feel of the last hurrah for this form of the team.
Since 2022, we have come to see the team as it being led by a Bryce Harper-Kyle Schwarber-Zack Wheeler core, buffeted by other players like J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez. With the departure of Suarez this past offseason, we have started to see layers of that team that went to the World Series in 2022 started to fall away. No longer are Suarez and Nick Castellanos gracing the corridors of Citizens Bank Park; now, we will see Adolis Garcia and Andrew Painter. Much as people would like to spin it as the team running it back, a more considered take is that there has been a decent amount of turnover.
Yet the players that remain still have that feel of “we’ve been here before”. Bohm, despite some of the team’s best attempts to move from him, remains probably the best option to give whoever hits third the protection that is required. Realmuto and Schwarber were brought back as the best available free agent options at their positions while Harper, Bryson Stott and Trea Turner continue to provide value in the infield. The outfield does have a different mix of players with Garcia joining Brandon Marsh and (probably) Justin Crawford to form maybe not the most powerful trio of outfielders in the game, but certainly some of the better defensive options the team has had in many a moon.
The pitching staff even has a different vibe to it. This isn’t one led by Wheeler, though he still remains one of the better pitchers in the game. No, this one now has a different Ace in Cristopher Sanchez, backed (at least until Wheeler is ready to resume his duties) by a burgeoning frontline starter in his own right in Jesus Luzardo. The bullpen looks like one of the best overall units on paper now that they have finally decided to hand specific roles to specific pitchers, anchored by Jhoan Duran and Brad Keller at the end of games.
This is a good team, but what ultimately will define a successful season?
The “ring mentality” that has permeated fanbases around the game has warped what constitutes a successful season. We have been conditioned to think that a season is a failure if it is not draped in confetti on the final day the team is together. Many people are criticized for believing that a team has had a good season if they make it to the playoffs, shouted down by those that would like hardware to show for their troubles.
Make no mistake, the Phillies should and could contend for a World Series title this season. Should they join the overwhelming majority of other teams in the game and not hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy at the end of the season, there will be disappointment to go around for all, but that should not push their season to the dustbin of obscurity. They have a roster that should make the playoffs and should contend for the National League pennant and should put up a fight if it reaches the World Series.
It just has to.
But the question here is: what does the team have to do this year to make it successful? That’s what we ask of you.
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