After the Philadelphia Phillies flamed out in the 2024 National League Division Series, team owner John Middleton didn't hide his disappointment.
“I don’t think you can forget the postseason,” he told The Athletic at the time. “I don’t think you can forget the last couple of months of marginal play.”
Now, the Phillies are back in the postseason and await the winner of the Cincinnati Reds vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Wild Card Series in the 2025 NLDS. Philadelphia won 96 games in the regular season after mostly running it back from their 2024 roster. It was their highest win total since 2011.
An early exit again, and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal believes you can expect some major changes.
“If the Phillies lost, it would be difficult to imagine Middleton remaining passive,” he wrote on Tuesday. “Could mean trouble for manager Rob Thomson. Could mean major changes to the roster.”
That's a lot of pressure considering there's a good chance the Phillies end up in a best-of-five series with the defending World Series champion Dodgers. But Philadelphia finished one game off from the best record in all of baseball and October is the time to prove it all means something.
The Phillies' offseason priority will be to re-sign their stars
Regardless of their postseason fate, the Phillies' core is likely to be back together in 2026.
“This isn’t a last stand,” Rosenthal wrote. “The Phillies are likely to re-sign their biggest potential free agent, designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, and perhaps catcher J.T. Realmuto, too.”
That's hardly a hot take considering Schwarber is coming off of a 56-home-run regular season with a 150 OPS+. He seems to fit perfectly in Philadelphia, where he has enjoyed a career renaissance. If the Phillies flame out, it will hardly be his fault.
As for Realmuto, he's not coming off his best year (89 OPS+) but has a long track record of success at catcher where he is one of the better at his position in throwing out runners. At 34 years old, a move to first base or DH might be in his future, which would make it all the more important for him to bounce back offensively next year.
