What Lies Ahead For The Phillies As Trade Deadline Approaches

We are back once again with the 97.3 ESPN Phillies Mailbag. Each week we take your questions and answer them on The Sports Bash with Mike Gill. Tune in each Tuesday afternoon to hear your questions answered on the air.

How patient can the Phillies afford to be with Alec Bohm?
~Kelly

The Phillies sat third baseman Alec Bohm for two straight days, giving Edmundo Sosa the start at the hot corner. Bohm responded in a big way in his return to the lineup, going 3 for 4 with two home runs and a double. Sunday, Bohm went 1 for 3 with an RBI and a walk.

I think that overall, the Phillies need consistency from Bohm and from the third base position in general.

On one hand, Bohm's numbers this season are regularly at the bottom of the National League offensive pack. But what is most important going forward is that Bohm can produce the rest of the way.

Has he turned a corner? Perhaps.

We know Bohm is dealing with a number of personal issues. He is a human being. But if he can get beyond those issues enough to contribute on the field, that would be ideal.

I think no matter what the Phillies will need to add a right-handed bat this trade deadline. Whether it is at third base, second base, or left field, that can be dependent upon what is available.

But I really believe that Bohm's .395 OPS in April will likely not be repeated again. With the Phillies performing incredibly poorly against left-handed pitching, I would like to see a right-handed bat or two added this deadline.

But if Bohm performs as we expect him to the rest of the way - I think April can be left behind.

Who is the next Phillies prospect that could help the major league team?
~Rob

The Phillies promoted two of them this Spring in Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford. But there is not too much on the immediate horizon in terms of players who could soon make an impact at the big league level.

Looking at MLB Pipeline's projections, five players are listed as having a debut in 2026. Here is a run through the names - and why none might be options.

Aidan Miller (1), Gabriel Rincones, Jr. (6), and Keaton Anthony (24)

All three players have been injured and yet to make a minor league debut in their expected levels. Aidan Miller's progress has been frustrating as he is not swinging a bat just yet. There is no known timetable about when he might get to do so.

Keaton Anthony fractured a toe in Spring Training and has yet to play since.

One bright spot: Gabriel Rincones, Jr. is rehabbing at Class-A Clearwater. He has 10 at bats so far and two hits - one of them is a home run. He has played three games in the last week, so we will see where that goes.

Alex McFarlane - McFarlane is 1-1 with a 0.73 ERA at Double-A Reading. He spent a day on the Major League roster mainly as insurance before returning to Reading. His performance could lead to a promotion to Triple-A and eventually Philadelphia if all goes well. McFarlane is on the 40-man roster which really helps his cause.

Jean Cabrera - Cabrera was demoted from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to Double-A Reading after disappointing results. Cabrera is 1-2 with a 9.82 earned run average. He was thought to be starting rotation depth for the Phillies this year. But he heads backward and he will have to regain his 2025 form, where he had 26 starts at a 3.82 ERA>

What should be the realistic expectations from this team for the rest of the year?
~Danny

I think that the expectations should be the same now as they were at the beginning: the Phillies should win.

Like the discussion on Alec Bohm, I think there is plenty of poor April performance to leave behind. I think the Phillies are closer to what we have seen in the last four series than the previous four series.

That's not to say that the roster issues do not remain.

Offense: The Phillies need to add right-handed bats who can hit left-handed pitching. Period.

The trade deadline will be critical to a team that failed to add right-handed bats this offseason other than Adolis Garcia. Even with the Garcia-for-Nick Castellanos swap, there were other holes from the right side.

Much of the story will be how the Phillies deal with the poor offense against left-handed pitching.

Defense: This is another example of the Phillies being better than the numbers are.

The Phillies were a -27 defensive runs saved at their worst and are currently at -24 DRS. Rafael Marchan, a part-time player, and Brandon Marsh, are tied for three defensive runs saved to lead the team. Six starters are in the negative, with Justin Crawford at -8 for the worst on the team.

The Phillies are at a 3.58 FIP. This metric shows what the team ERA would be if the defense behind the pitching performed to expectations.

The Phillies hat a 4.57 team ERA. This suggests the Phillies are giving up an entire run on average every single game. That must be improved.

The Atlanta Braves have the top team ERA and the top team batting average in 2026. That number suggests the Braves will not slow down.

I think that the Phillies still have the ability to be a playoff team. When the club was 10 games under the .500 mark that seemed really difficult. But they continue to climb their way back up.

To me this will come down to what the Phillies do at the trade deadline (or even sooner in trades) that makes the difference here.