5 Things That Should And Shouldn't Change After Phillies Early Postseason Exit

PHILADELPHIA, PA — After two days of going blow for blow with the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies fell short on Thursday night and were sent to an early exit in the National League Wild Card Series. Dating back to the 2023 NLCS, it's the fourth consecutive postseason series they've lost.

But 2026 also marked their fifth consecutive playoff appearance, and plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future.

As in the wake of any Philadelphia sports loss, the pitchforks are out and the bloodlust for cosmetic changes is howling the airwaves from WIP to the New York Times. So desperate are some to see different faces in Philly pinstripes that they seem to have lost all interest in winning altogether.

The distinction between what fans think the Phillies should do and what they will actually do to get better comes down to two main points: the team as it exists is much better than most people realize, and the Phillies ownership is highly motivated to be a perennial playoff contender.

So while the Phillies will indeed look different in 2027, there will be no tear down and rebuild, there will be no mass exodus, and most of all, there is no window closing. Here's a glance at five key aspects of the future of the Phillies, and a verdict on whether or not next season will bring about change.

1. Manager

Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly will likely depart after just over five months at the helm, USA Today's Bob Nightingale reports.

Mattingly took over for Rob Thomson on April 28, and just as Thomson had in 2022, helped execute a radical turnaround in the franchise's direction. Despite sitting at 9-19 and last in the National League on April 28, the Phillies went 79-55 under Mattingly, a 96-win pace for the year. Only the Brewers and Rays were better for the last five months of the season. It's hard to imagine what more Mattingly could have possibly done.

But the manager is always the simplest scapegoat. The Phillies are widely expected to pursue former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who is close with Phillies president Dave Dombrowski. Dombrowski and Cora won a World Series together in Boston in 2018. Any other appointment to the position would be a shock.

Verdict: change.

2. Third base, second base, and right field

First and third baseman Alec Bohm and second baseman Luis Arraez, two everyday starters for the Phils down the stretch, are free agents. It's not impossible the Phillies could resign them, but it's doubtful either would be the first choice.

Arraez's hitting profile is a good match for the Phillies, but he struggled down the stretch, he's getting older, and he will be expensive. Bohm had a fantastic second half of the season and was a big reason why the Phillies won when they did, but his inconsistencies, including a massive slump to the start the year, have defined his career to this point.

Right field is the third every day slot that remains wide open. It was filled by Adolis Garcia to start the year. Garcia lost the season to injury early on, and the Phillies used a combination of players in what has become their biggest problem position since the late Nick Castellanos years. Garcia is a free agent and will likely not be back next year. Bryce Harper is almost certain to return to first base, rather than stick in right field, to protect him against injury as he gets older.

The Phillies could fill the infield hole internally. One of the best prospects in baseball, Aidan Miller, could take third base. But they will need to go to free agency or the trade market to fill out the rest of the roster. From that perspective, the 2027 Opening Day lineup will likely look more different than it has in years.

Verdict: change.

3. Long tenured superstars

This should not need to be spoken aloud, but the Phillies superstar sluggers are going nowhere. To begin with, Bryce Harper is signed through 2031 and Kyle Schwarber through 2030. Both have full no trade clauses. Both took less money to come to Philadelphia. Both are revered clubhouse leaders. Both continue to perform at elite levels. Neither are moving no matter what happens in the next few postseasons, no matter their age, no matter what rage bait is peddled around the Internet. If you're not convinced, look at how long it took for the Phillies to move on from Castellanos, a player who was not revered in the clubhouse nor performing at an elite level.

Schwarber led all of baseball in home runs in 2026. Harper had the 12th highest OPS in all of baseball. You won't find more seasoned veterans anywhere in the sport, and there is no better backbone for a team anywhere in the world with championship aspirations. The Phillies know this.

The same is true of Trea Turner. No one is taking Turner's contract, which runs through 2033, off their hands, even if the Phillies did want to move him. Turner had a nightmare start to 2026, but he recovered in the second half and he's still just a year removed from finishing 5th in the NL MVP voting in 2025.

Verdict: no change.

4. Starting rotation

The Phillies have the best starting rotation in baseball. Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, and Zack Wheeler are all Cy Young contenders. Andrew Painter, based on how he finished the year, could soon join them. Aaron Nola, despite his struggles Thursday night, had a brilliant second half of 2026. All are under long term contract save for Wheeler, who has hinted he wants to retire after 2027 but may change his mind.

The rotation is the number one reason that the Phillies will remain a World Series contender for years to come. Beyond just being good, the Phillies staff is unusually resilient. They rarely miss time due to injuries. Elite, healthy starting pitchers are the most sought after commodity in the sport, and the Phillies have it in droves.

Verdict: no change.

5. Brandon Marsh, Bryson Stott, and JT Realmuto

It would make no sense for the Phillies to sell low this offseason on All Star starter Brandon Marsh in his final year of control, as he will be a free agent after the 2027 season. Marsh's upside is proven high, but he cratered in the second half of 2026. He will likely continue to platoon with some combination of Derek Hill and Bryan De La Cruz next year.

Stott is one of the best fielding infielders in baseball. Given that he brings so much value with the glove and on the basepaths (he was a perfect 27 for 27 in stolen base attempts this year), his slightly above average bat is a bonus. He remains a vital, versatile piece of a contending roster.

Realmuto is aging, there are no doubts there. His offensive production has trickled down each year the past four years, and he is not quite the Gold Glove level defender he was in his prime. But he is still well above average behind the plate, and is among baseball's leaders in pop time to second base. He also won a far higher percentage of ABS challenges than any other catcher in baseball this year.

All that is secondary to the relationship he has built with the Phillies elite pitching staff. Their success is due in no small part to his game calling and exhaustive research of opposing hitters. Like Stott, his value is much more than his bat. And perhaps most relevantly to the "change" discussion, there is no clearly better alternative on the free agent market.

Verdict: no change

Long term contender

A popular storyline for what seems like five years now is that the Phillies "window is closing." That isn't any more true today than it was in 2022.

While Harper, Schwarber, and Turner are indeed aging, and may not win future MVP awards, the starting rotation alone makes the Phillies contenders. A glance at the inferior rosters around the league that remain in the postseason proves this.

Phillies ownership learned from the mistakes of the 2007-2011 period of dominance, which quickly fell off into rebuilding years of misery and anonymity when the team's core stars aged out. While some see parallels from Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins to Harper, Turner, and Schwarber, the latter group has already aged much more gently than the former. And the Phillies have the rotation and the financial will to keep the roster around them continuously competitive.

The truth is that the playoffs are a crapshoot every year, and the great franchises that win multiple titles or get to multiple World Series are teams that are good for decades in a row and give themselves countless chances, not just a year or two of a short "window." See the Dodgers, the Yankees, the Astros, even the Braves.

The Phillies as they are constructed will once again be competitive next year. And the year after that. They will make changes and add players, but those changes do not need to be drastic. And rumors of their offensive demise are much exaggerated: from April 28 onward, the Phillies scored 611 runs. That made them 8th best in baseball. For comparison, the New York Yankees were 17th and the Atlanta Braves were 21st.

To be sure, the Phillies will need to supplement their older veterans in order to win a World Series. They need young players like Justin Crawford and Aidan Miller to turn into stars, and they need one of their free agent purchases this winter to be a hit. Nothing is guaranteed. That's baseball.