The Phillies Show

The Phillies are enjoying the All-Star break, but they return to action on Friday night against the Angels. They’re a first-place team, but they’ve got issues. Then again, so do every team in baseball. We discuss our five key storylines for the Phillies in the second half. The Phillies need Bryce Harper and the offense to take a big step forward. The rotation has dominated in the first half. Can t...

The Phillies entered the All-Star break with a half-game lead over the Mets in the NL East. That’s good. They have an historically dominant starting rotation. That’s really good. But they also have an inconsistent offense and shaky bullpen that desperately needs help before the July 31 trade deadline. We look back at the good and bad from the Phillies’ first half. We name our first half MVP and Cy...

The Phillies open a three-game series on Friday night against the Padres, but that’s not what’s on everybody’s mind. It’s the July 31 trade deadline. We know the Phillies need help in the bullpen. We know they could use help offensively. But ask several of your questions about what might happen in the next couple weeks. Phillies fans, whether you're hustling on the field or having a catch with you...

San Francisco isn’t a great place for the Phillies. It has been a house of horrors for more than a decade. It continued this week at Oracle Park, where the Phillies lost the series opener on Monday (thanks to a Phil Cuzzi’s strike zone), and Tuesday, when they lost on a three-run, inside-the-park home run. We talk about everything that happened, including Wednesday’s series finale. Bryce Harper ha...

If you had a ticket to Sunday’s series finale between the Phillies and Reds, you were lucky. You got to watch Zack Wheeler pitch his first complete game since 2021, and come one Austin Hays homer from a perfect game. Wheeler showed again why he not only is one of the best pitchers in baseball, but why he should start for the NL in next weeks’ All-Star Game in Atlanta and why he could be headed to...

The Phillies can make a strong argument to have multiple starting pitchers make the NL All-Star team. Zack Wheeler and Ranger Suárez are candidates for NL Pitcher of the Month for June. Wheeler is a NL Cy Young candidate, too. Cristopher Sánchez has dazzled. Jesús Luzardo has bounced back from two terrible starts. But rookie Mick Abel’s recent struggles continued in Game 1 of Wednesday’s doublehea...

Bryce Harper rejoined the Phillies’ lineup on Monday. What should we expect from him the rest of the season? There’s less than a month before the July 31 trade deadline. Where do things stand with so much on the line? The Phillies Show is partnering with Shibe Vintage Sports to give away a different vintage Phillies hat each week! Simply visit  Shibesports.com/TPS  to enter for your chance to win!...

The Phillies salvaged a six-game road trip by winning two of three this weekend in Atlanta. They scored 13 runs on Friday, but only three runs the rest of the weekend. What can save this Phillies’ offense? It should help to get Bryce Harper back in the lineup. He could return as early as Monday night’s series opener against the Padres. But really this team is going to live and die with what they a...

This is the biggest fear for Phillies fans. It’s October and the Phillies’ rotation dominates its opponent in the NL Wild Card Series or NL Division Series. But the offense can’t string hits together and the Phils take another early October exit, forcing difficult decisions to be made in the offseason. It could happen again. It certainly happened this week in Houston. The Phillies allowed only fiv...

We asked you for your Phillies questions and you delivered once again. We got a TON of questions about the July 31 trade deadline, but we also got plenty about the Phillies’ impending free agents and more. Those questions included Ranger Suárez, who allowed one run in seven-plus innings in Tuesday night’s 1-0 loss in Houston. We start with Ranger, but we get into Dave Dombrowski’s wish list. Is a...

The Phillies open a three-game series on Tuesday night in Houston. We break down an awesome pitching matching between Ranger Suárez and Framber Valdez. Then we talk to Phillies assistant general manager of amateur scouting Brian Barber.  Barber joined the organization following the 2019 season, making this his sixth draft with the Phillies. His first-round picks include Mick Abel (2020), Andrew Pa...

A couple weeks ago, a lot of people thought the Phillies were dead. But they have won nine out of their last 11 games, including two of three this weekend against the Mets. It gave the Phils a one-game lead over New York in the NL East. We talk about the weekend series and what it means moving forward. Are you a believer? No? Plus, we dig into Mick Abel’s longball issues, Otto Kemp’s potential in...

Phillies manager Rob Thomson made a sound baseball decision on Monday night, when he replaced Nick Castellanos for defensive purposes in the eighth inning in Miami. Thomson wanted to improve his outfield defense with the Phillies holding a 3-1 lead. But Castellanos didn’t like it. In fact, he said something “inappropriate” to Thomson in the dugout. It was bad enough that Castellanos was benched on...

This past week should have reminded everybody that baseball is a long season. The Phillies followed a gruesome 1-9 stretch – a lot of people thought they were dead -- with a 5-1 homestand against the Cubs and Blue Jays. The offense came to life against two playoff-caliber teams. Brandon Marsh (1.167 OPS), Alec Bohm (1.128 OPS), Otto Kemp (.898 OPS), J.T. Realmuto (.980 OPS), Max Kepler (1.300 OPS)...

Never a doubt. Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo bounced back in a major way in Wednesday’s victory over the Cubs. His previous two starts? Nightmare fuel. But before he suffered serious struggles against the Brewers and Blue Jays, Luzardo looked to not only be a strong NL All-Star candidate, but a serious NL Cy Young candidate. We had a great conversation with Luzardo just before those two start...

The Phillies needed to do something to get their struggling offense going. So, Rob Thomson on Tuesday finally made a change to the lineup. He moved Trea Turner into the leadoff spot. He moved Bryson Stott into the five-hole. Why five? Well, because Bryce Harper is injured, and the rest of the lineup might be struggling even more than Stott. The Phillies need almost perfect pitching to win these da...

Every team has bad stretches over the course of a 162-game season, but it has been six years since the Phillies have struggled like this. They have lost 9 out of 10 following Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Pirates in Pittsburgh. It’s the first time they have lost 9 out of 10 since June 12-23, 2019. They have been swept in consecutive weekends. They have scored only one run in four of their last five gam...

Jesús Luzardo looked not only like an NL All-Star a week ago, but he looked like a NL Cy Young candidate. So, what’s happened since then? Well, Luzardo has allowed 20 runs in just 5 2/3 innings in his last two starts. Historically, the Phillies haven’t had a pitcher do that in consecutive starts in almost 100 years. What the heck is happening? Even he doesn’t know, but he knows he’s got to fix it...

Bryce Harper is back in the Phillies’ lineup, after getting hit by a pitch on his right elbow last week. He homered in his first at-bat in the Phils’ victory in Toronto. Trea Turner homered twice, too. He’s been one of baseball’s best hitters since mid-April. We answer your questions – everything from contract extensions for Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto to prospects the Phillies might trade be...

The Phillies had a chance to sweep the Braves last week before losing Game 2 of Thursday’s doubleheader. Still, the Phillies had momentum entering this weekend’s series against the Brewers. But Milwaukee pummeled the Phillies, sweeping them at Citizens Bank Park for the first time since 2014. Almost everything went wrong. Sure, the Phils were without Bryce Harper, who is recovering from a HBP on h...

The Phillies open a three-game series on Friday night against the Brewers, so we thought it’d be a great time to catch up with Rhys Hoskins. Hoskins talked about his resurgence at the plate this season with Milwaukee, playing for Phillies manager Rob Thomson and Brewers manager Pat Murphy and his most memorable moments with the Phillies, including the iconic bat spike in the 2022 NLDS, the Mets, h...

Braves right-hander Spencer Strider drilled Bryce Harper on the right elbow with a 95-mph fastball on Tuesday. Harper got lucky. X-rays were negative. He suffered only a bruise. But it’s the third time in the last four games that Harper has been hit by a pitch. Phillies fans want vengeance. But will they get it? Does it have to happen before Atlanta leaves town on Thursday? When’s the right time t...

The Phillies snapped a nine-game winning streak on Sunday, but they woke up on Memorial Day with the best record in baseball (34-19) and a two-game lead over the Mets in the National League East. Since they lost to the Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 25, they are an eye-popping 21-6 (.778).  Memorial Day is a traditional checkpoint of the 162-game season. You can no longer say it’s early. So, where...

The Phillies are hot. They just swept the lowly Rockies in a four-game series in Colorado. They have won seven in a row. They have a two-game lead over the Mets in the NL East. They have the best record in the National League. They will try to keep it going this weekend against the A’s in Sacramento. We talk about Bryce Harper, who’s on fire since he shaved his head on May 12; Taijuan Walker’s imp...

If you listened to Monday’s show, then you heard Jim say the Phillies would be in first place in the National League East before the end of the week. The Phils moved into first place on Monday night, following a win in Colorado. They extended their lead over the Mets with a win on Tuesday night. The Phillies have the best record in the National League, and the second-best record in baseball. We ta...