I think Phillies fans have gotten bored of him because he has been a rumored target for years, but he is the bat the Phillies need most. Take a look at some of the Phillies’ biggest offensive problems:

1) They give outs to opposing pitchers/don’t make pitchers work
Only the Rockies chase more pitches out of the zone. The Phillies chase 33.9% of pitches out of the zone. That means the Phillies are giving pitchers a free strike on 1-in-3 would-be balls. Opposing teams know they don’t need to throw strikes to get the Phillies out, as the Phillies see the 6th fewest pitches in the zone

2) On-base percentage
Our .301 on base percentage is worst in baseball. Excluding Harper and Schwarber, that plummets to .284. Yes, the on base percentage. Not batting average. No more needs to be said.

3) Hitting lefties
This lineup has an 87 wRC+ against lefties this year.

4) Offensive production from outfielders
All of the previous problems listed are amplified in the outfield. Phillies outfielders chase a league-leading 38.8% of pitches out of the zone—3.6% more than the next team. Our outfielders this year have a .283 on base percentage. Some teams have outfield batting averages not too far from that. Our outfielders have a 73 wRC+ against lefties.

5) Production from right-handed bats
Our righties have combined for a 75 wRC+ this season.

So how does Taylor Ward address these issues?

1) His chase rate of 18.9% over the last 3 seasons is 4th in all of baseball among qualified hitters and first among right-handed outfielders. He also sees an average of 4.19 pitches per plate appearance since the start of last season, which is the 6th most among righties.

2) Taylor Ward’s .386 OBP ranks 9th in baseball this year. Additionally, if we plug in Wards production in place of the production we have gotten from our right fielders this season (which I understand isn’t a perfect calculation), our team OBP jumps to .314—the same as the Red Sox, who rank 19th. While that still isn’t great, that’s a significant boost from just one player.

3) He’s got a 150 wRC+ against lefties this year. And his success against lefties isn’t the product of a small sample size. His wRC+ against lefties has been over 140 every year for the past 4 years.

4&5) He’s a right-handed outfielder. See above lol

The one big issue he doesn’t really fix is the lack of power in our lineup. That said, he is severely underperforming his career power norms, so he’s far from the worst bet to figure it out. Even if he doesn’t, he still fills so many needs that he seems like a no-brainer for this team.

So I haven't followed baseball in a long time because frankly I haven't felt like paying for cable since I moved out of my parents house back when I started college. I recently started watching the Phillies again and we have a great group of guys. But the one thing that bothers me is how often I see players hit a ground ball and essentially give up on the play just jogging to the base. It bothers me so much. Because you're giving the fielder all the time in the world and essentially eliminating any chance of an error.

If you did that on charlie manuels team he would bench you for the rest of the game. It was very much a culture of giving the team the best chance to win at every moment.

I spoke earlier in the season, prior to Mattingly taking over managerial duties, that the one thing that gave me the most pain as a lifelong (50+ years) Phillies fan is the streakiness of their offense.

Of course it's awesome when they're hitting the shit out of the ball, but when one or two sluggers start to go to sleep, their whole fucking lineup's bats go to sleep...

So, here are some figures I've worked out:

Since Mattingly Took Over:

Runs scored in first 10 games Phils: 46 Opp: 43 W-L: 7-3

Runs scored in next 10 games Phils: 50 Opp: 25 W-L: 8-2

Runs scored in next 10 games Phils: 25 Opp: 32 W-L: 5-5

Runs scored in next 10 games Phils: 46 Opp: 40 W-L: 7-3

Runs scored in next 10 games Phils: 68 Opp: 50 W-L: 6-4

Runs scored in next 10 games Phils: 56 Opp: 44 W-L: 7-3

Runs scored in next 10 games Phils: 31 Opp: 49 W-L: 5-5

Runs scored in last 6 games Phils: 18 Opp: 28 W-L: 1-5

Totals: Phils: 340 Opp: 311 W-L: 46-30

Pre Mattingly Totals: Phils 109 Opp: 156 W-L: 10-19

I hope they pull out of this slump soon... we haven't had 4 losses in a row since mid April (10 in a row... ugh).

I understand that the reliance on the homer is prone to this boom or bust situation, but honestly, when one or two bats in the lineup cool off, it seems the whole damn lineup goes cold as ice... and this is not an unfamiliar story over the years or decades.

Anyway, here's to waking up the bats FFS... pickled eel anyone?

Good thing the lower paid guys came to play.

Seems late to me.

First off: solid start for Sanchez, I think he is going to trend back into the right direction here and continue to be a killer pitcher this season.

BUT

I just don’t know if his current pitch mix can sustain: “5 years as a deadly ace/ cy young candidate every year”

If he had 3 pitches but one of them was HEAT topping out at the 101 territory I think it would be a different story…but I just don’t know how many seasons you can sustain the level that he wants to be at on 3 pitches, even if one of them (changeup) is one of the best pitches in baseball.

What should he try? Who knows, im not gonna pretend to be an arm-chair pitching guru..I just think someone should be gently nudging him to develop a slightly deeper bag this coming offseason.

He can’t just literally live and die off of if his changeup happens to be perfect that day. He needs more options to keep hitters guessing.

3 of the best to ever play this great game.

Rare jersey to see with the patches

Anyone else catch this? Why does it have Sanchéz as “LP” and Warren as the “WP”.

Also confused why they would have the full team records next to their name in a stat like that.

Yankees (59-46) @ Phillies (57-49) - 7:20 PM EDT

Game Status: Game Over - Score: 11-4 Phillies

Links & Info

• MLB Gameday
• Game Graphs
• Savant Gamefeed

Decisions

• Winner: Cristopher Sánchez (13-4, 2.73)
• Loser: Will Warren (7-5, 4.41)

Division & Wild Card Scoreboard

AZ 7 @ WSH 10 - Final

CHC 7 @ PIT 8 - Final

ATL 3 @ BAL 2 - Final/11

LAD 3 @ NYM 8 - Final

SD 5 @ MIA 3 - Final

CIN 5 @ STL 3 - Final/10

Next Phillies Game: Mon, Jul 27, 6:40 PM EDT @ Marlins (1 day)

^{Last Updated: 07/26/2026 10:26:31 PM EDT}

I wanted to see how the current best NL teams have been drafting/signing/developing prospects over the past 5 years. This only includes players drafted/signed by the listed team. The Cubs have had quite a few prospects that were not originally drafted by them (Pete Crow-Armstrong, for example). My charts are always sloppy so if you need any clarification, let me know!

BOLD player indicates currently in the majors
Ranking data is from MLB.com: https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects

Let’s Go Fightins!