August 26, 2026
Joe Nicholson/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Bryce Harper and the Phillies course-corrected fast from a series loss to the Mariners.
The Philadelphia Phillies looked like they transformed into an entirely different baseball team through August.
They were hitting, efficiently – and in a welcome shift for everyone watching – a lot more intelligently. They weren't trying to crush the ball 1-9, and instead reset into getting on and moving runners.
Then suddenly, they were the top team in the National League in on-base percentage through the last 30 days at .348.
They were tied for the lead in walks (112 with the Cubs), third in hits (229) and doubles (46), second in runs batted in (132), and maybe as the biggest shocker, they had the fewest strikeouts in the NL in the past month at just 162.
Then suddenly, too, they had swept the Twins and the Marlins and the Cardinals to bring themselves to nine straight wins, ping-ponging the conversation from whether they were going to catch the Braves for the NL East lead before the All-Star break to were they even going to make the playoffs after it and back to the possibility of catching the Braves again.
But then they flew out to Seattle and stumbled, losing two of three to the Mariners from a concerning Zack Wheeler outing, and from Logan Gilbert and George Kirby carving through the order, until a 6-0 outburst led by homers from Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber salvaged Wednesday's finale.
Hey, it wasn't all going to be spotless the rest of the way.
Aaron Nola's second-half resurgence has been a timely boost to the Phillies' rotation.
The Phillies are 74-60. They've fallen to 4.0 games back from the Braves for the NL East lead, but they're pretty stable in the Wild Card race again with the second spot and a two-game cushion over the Padres with the third.
That's the good news for them.
Working for them, too, is that they have a bad Angels team over in Anaheim for the next three-game set, that their newfound hitting approach – first two of the Mariners series aside – has done pretty well for them (especially when it comes to Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, Luis Arráez, and a less power-focused Harper), that Schwarber remains a constant threat to crush a baseball, and that Andrew Painter and Aaron Nola have stepped up at the back of their starting rotation – Nola battled through six innings of two-run, three-hit ball in Tuesday night's loss – while Jesús Luzardo continues on as one of the most lethal No. 3 starters in baseball after pitching seven shutout innings in the win on Wednesday.
The concerns, though: Wheeler struggled badly in Monday night's 9-2 loss to continue a string of rough outings that neither he nor the Phillies have any real answer for yet, the bullpen stabilized a bit but still isn't a relief corps you can ever feel totally at ease with, and Trea Turner is right back to flailing again, both at the plate and at shortstop – going 2-for-26 through his last six games, including an 0-for-13 drought in Seattle, and with two misplays on ground balls Monday night that probably both should've been errors (only one was).
Trea Turner's fielding has to sharpen up.
And then there's the schedule ahead. September, in what's looking like a crucial home stretch to wrap, will consist of the Diamondbacks (fighting for their playoff lives), a key four-game series at home against the Braves that could decide the division, an Astros team that is a bizarre AL West leader at 66-66, the Braves again (in Atlanta), and then the MLB-best Brewers and a very good Rays team to close out (with the division rival Mets and Nationals squeezed in there looking to play spoiler).
A lot has been going right for the Phillies through August, almost as a complete inverse of the problems that had plagued this club for most of the summer, but they need everything to stay right, because if not, the road ahead can easily sink them quick.
They have to make sure that the series loss in Seattle becomes nothing more than a bump in the road, because as it stands, they might not be able to afford taking any more.
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