Ideally, the Philadelphia Phillies would not be trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers 0-2 in the NLDS with the action about to shift to Dodger Stadium. Since the series is best of five, all the Dodgers need
to do is win one more game to advance to the next round of the playoffs.
That qualifies Wednesday night’s game as a must win, and in must win situations, sometimes, you have to take some unorthodox action. Well, unorthodox action is exactly what they’ve taken, at least when it comes to their choice of uniform.
I love the powder blue uniforms, so I’m in favor of this move both for the aesthetics and the “we’re desperate, so let’s try anything” vibe. After all, the Phillies are 6-1 in the powder blue, as opposed to just 41-40 in the standard road gray uniforms. That is mostly because the Phillies (at least until this week) have been far better at home than on the road, but like I said, they’re in desperation mode.
And since the Phillies’ star players are the ones pushing for the move, then that’s all the more reason to try out the blues. It’s not like they can do worse than they have been!
While a gut-wrenching loss on Wednesday night might change people’s opinions of the uniforms, for 2026, I hope that the Phillies utilize them on a day other than Thursday. Thursdays are often off days in the schedule, so we sometimes went over a month without seeing the Phillies wear the throwbacks. They should switch days with the (justifiably) far less popular City Connect jerseys.
It greatly amused me when I went to the fan shop at Citizens Bank Park and saw that all the City Connect merchandise had been stashed upstairs, presumably because people weren’t buying it. While I do like the hats, the jerseys are simply not good.
Heck, I’d be in favor of using the powder blue uniforms in favor of the cream day game uniforms, but for some reason, those are well liked by some people. (The cream is ugly and just has a cheap look about it.)
As for Wednesday’s outlook, I decided to look up how Aaron Nola – who for reasons that will be discussed in other articles, will be starting game three – has fared in the powder blues in recent years.
Here is a summary of his starts since 2023:
- His one 2025 powder blue start saw him give up four runs in six innings against the Braves. (It’s hard to completely judge his performance since that was the Kyle Schwarber four home run game and things got out of hand quickly.)
- On July 11, 2024, he started against the Dodgers (!) and gave up just one run in six innings in a 6-1 win.
- On June 22, 2023, Nola pitched six shutout innings against the Braves in a game the Phillies eventually lost in the tenth inning.
- On August 10, 2023, Nola allowed one run in five innings in a Phillies win over the Nationals.
I would have gone back further, but the exercise started to bore me. But the point has been made: In recent seasons, Nola has pitched very well in the powder blue uniforms. So maybe we’ll get the good version of Nola that we didn’t get very often in 2025, but he did show up every once in a while.
Chances are, regardless of what uniform they wear, the Phillies’ season is going to end in Los Angeles. But who knows? Maybe the powder blue will light a spark, and Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper will regain the ability to hit home runs. Maybe Nola will once again deal. And maybe the series will come back to Philadelphia knotted at two.
If that happens, would the Phillies go back to wearing their home whites, or would they try to ride the powder blue train as far as it will take them?
Hopefully, we get to find out.
