Addressing a big Phillies question at each position – NBC Sports Philadelphia

Breaking down a key question about every position on the Phillies’ roster…

Manager: Why was Rob Thomson extended?

The Phillies didn’t want to go into the season with Thomson as a lame-duck manager. His contract was previously designed to run after 2025, but now it ends after 2026.

“I don’t think it’s ever a good time to be a manager in your senior year if you can help it,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Tuesday. “In that respect he deserves the extension. I have been – sometimes voluntarily, sometimes involuntarily – in the situation where your manager is going into the last year of his contract and you lose three games in a row straight away and there is speculation about it. “His job status secures it, people know what we do feel for him. He deserves it, he did a great job for us.

Coach: Why no changes?

Because despite the disappointing finish, the Phillies won 95 games and the division and Thomson wanted his team to remain intact.

By retaining Thomson and all of his coaches, Dombrowski and John Middleton are essentially saying: OK, show us why this is the staff that can get the Phillies closer to a championship. Should this not be possible in 2025 or should the team struggle early on, it would not be surprising that a restructuring would occur.

“They are very efficient, they do their job well, we have a good manager. He would have liked to buy back all of his coaches. For me it’s pretty simple in that regard,” Dombrowski said.

Kevin Long is a respected hitting coach who has a long relationship with Harper and Trea Turner and is well-liked by his players. He’s also close with the top free agent on the market, Juan Soto, although that obviously won’t be the main factor in Soto’s choice.

The Phillies want many of their hitters to implement changes and believe Long can convey that message.

“If you go around baseball and talk to every baseball player and say, ‘Okay, tell me your top five hitting coaches,’ he’s on almost every list and would be number one on a lot of lists,” Thomson said. “It’s a game of chance. People are getting faster. You have to be able to slow them down, and even if they take the opposite approach, sometimes they will still go faster. We have to make sure we do that. Little things, pass the baton, trust your teammates, keep the line moving.

Catcher: How much will the Phillies reduce JT Realmuto’s workload?

Dombrowski and Thomson didn’t give much away at Tuesday’s press conference, but both specifically acknowledged that resting Realmuto longer could make him more effective over a long season and in October, when the Phillies need him most.

Realmuto turns 34 in March. The 2025 season will be his last under contract. He started 130 games behind the plate in 2022 and 2023. He made 99 starts last season and missed six weeks with a right meniscus injury that caused him problems early in the season and required surgery in mid-June.

He struggled mightily in the playoffs, going 0-for-11 with four strikeouts, making him one of many Phillies who couldn’t keep up with fastballs in the NLDS.

Rafael Marchan, whose career has so far been plagued by injuries, turns 26 in February and appears ready to take on a role as Realmuto’s replacement. He is a solid defender and has hit .279/.333/.477 in a small sample of 121 appearances in the major leagues, which is a better performance than in the minor leagues. The Phillies will still want to protect against a Marchan injury by adding more catching depth in the upper minors.

Thomson said Tuesday that he has not yet spoken to Realmuto about reducing his playing time and that he expects a backlash. A reduction from the 130 range to around 110-115 starts seems realistic.

First Base: How much will the offseason help Bryce Harper’s injuries?

Harper struggled with nagging wrist and elbow problems in 2024, but played through them and still delivered. He hit .285/.373/.525 with 42 doubles, 30 home runs and 87 RBI and played defense strong enough to qualify as a Gold Glove finalist.

Given the offseason rest, the Phillies expect Harper to be 100 percent in Clearwater in February. He was still very good in 2024, but not quite the MVP version of Bryce Harper.

Second base: Can Bryson Stott get back on track?

One of the Phillies’ biggest question marks, Stott hit .245 after hitting .280 in 2023. Both Dombrowski and Thomson said Tuesday that Stott shouldn’t be thinking about hitting 20 home runs but should focus on working out the bats and getting on base. He’s so much more valuable to the Phillies when he’s batting .275 with a .345 OBP than when he’s trying to sell out for power or cheat to get fastballs.

Stott hit just .200 this season with fastballs of 93 mph or more. The year before, he hit .319. It’s a worrying sign that he needs to remedy the situation as quickly as possible to avoid being exploited. He’ll be playing next season at age 27, so he’s not exactly a young man anymore when it comes to baseball.

Shortstop: Can Trea Turner make the necessary adjustments?

The other player Dombrowski and Thomson mentioned most often in terms of adjustments was Turner, who was incredibly streaky in both years as a Phillie and for some reason has moved into pull-side power hitter territory. When you think of his hottest spots in 2024, you probably remember a series of lofted home runs to left field. But no player can sustain that kind of power binge for two months, let alone six.

The Phillies need Turner to be a good hitter, not a power hitter. From 2019 to 2022, he hit .311 with an OBP of .361. As a Phillie, he hit .279 with an OBP of .328. This is just a much different hitter than they expected.

They want Turner to utilize the entire field and return to a more line-oriented approach. He also has to hunt less. He’s a naturally aggressive hitter, but as a Phillie he chased outside the zone 35% of the time, compared to 28% previously.

Third Base: Which Alec Bohm Will Show Up in 2025?

Bohm hit .313 with an OPS of .873 through June 24, then hit .242 with an OPS of .673 the rest of the way. He suffered a left hand strain in late August that cost him more than two weeks and likely affected his offensive performance upon his return.

Bohm sulked or visibly expressed frustration on the field as he collapsed more than the Phillies would have liked at the end of the season, and it all contributed to him being benched in Game 2 of the NLDS.

He is still an extremely important part of the Phillies’ future. For all the talk Tuesday about hitters needing to utilize all fields, it’s hard to ignore that Bohm does it better than any of his teammates. He makes a ton of contact and has hit over .300 every year with runners in scoring position. The Phillies need his offensive profile.

Outfield: Who returns?

Anything can happen in the Phillies outfield.

Johan Rojas has to compete for the midfield position.

Brandon Marsh hasn’t proven he can play every day. Like Stott, he hasn’t taken a step forward in 2024 and will be playing at age 27 next season.

Nick Castellanos has two years and $40 million left on his contract.

Dombrowski said Castellanos and Marsh will be in the Phillies’ outfield. However, don’t be surprised if one is purchased. If the Phillies bring back the entire team while just replacing Rojas and giving Marsh a new platoon partner, that certainly doesn’t seem like enough of an offensive change.

DH: Where will Kyle Schwarber end up?

It was very interesting to hear Thomson say on Tuesday that he would be taking another look at the leadership spot this offseason. Schwarber has emerged there as the greatest leadoff home run threat baseball has ever seen, and his .366 on-base percentage last season was exactly what you’d want at the top of the order.

But Schwarber’s power and protection may be more important elsewhere. He drove 104 runs away from the top spot two years in a row; How high might that number be in a more standard location?

Turner isn’t a good choice as leader because he doesn’t bring much. The 2023 version of Stott might have been, but not the 2024 version. It would be an ideal fit if one of the outfielders the Phillies sign this winter was a high OBP guy who can lead the way.

Starting Pitching: How Much Depth Do They Add?

The first four rotation spots are occupied by Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez. The Phillies are as good as any team in baseball with their top four.

The No. 5 spot was obviously a disaster over the final six weeks of the season, with none of Taijuan Walker, Tyler Phillips, Seth Johnson or Kolby Allard able to fill the role and Spencer Turnbull unable to return in time after suffering a lat strain.

Walker has to fight for the fifth spot, and top prospect Andrew Painter can’t be counted on to pitch a full season as the Phillies carefully manage his workload following Tommy John surgery. The Phillies will add several Turnbull-type fifth-starter candidates this offseason to better position themselves and avoid the September disaster they experienced at the bottom of the rotation.

Bullpen: How do they reconfigure the pen?

The Phillies are unlikely to re-sign both Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez, Dombrowski said Tuesday. Both are expected to have multi-year contracts worth $12 million. The loss of a right-handed reliever will push Orion Kerkering into an even more important spot on the relief depth chart.

The Phils need to add multiple backup players that they are comfortable using with high leverage. Not only will they lose one of their three key backup players, they also had to contend with the inconsistency of Jose Alvarado in 2024, who himself isn’t sure he’ll be a reliable back-end guy next season.