April 14, 2026
Kyle Ross/Imagn Images
Things at the Bank are less than ideal through 18 regular season games.
It's more of the same in South Philly, as the Phillies continue to show very brief glimmers of success before suffocating under the flaws that have killed them for the last few seasons.
They dropped two of three to the Cubs and neither of the two losses were even close. Their run differential is now minus-25.
There's an off day Thursday — they can certainly use it. Prior to a weekend set against the Braves, here's a look at some winners and losers from the Chicago trio of games:
Cris Sánchez
The Phillies' ace was, once again, an ace as he continued his impressive start to the year in the series opener, striking out eight over six innings. He did walk three, which is a bit uncharacteristic, but he limited any damage to two runs as the Phillies' offense did the rest. He's got a 2.01 ERA over his four starts this year. Philly's lone win of the series was the Sánchez-led 13-7 slugfest.
Kyle Schwarber
Hitting two homers in a game gets you on the winners list. Schwarber blasted his fifth and sixth home runs of the season against the Cubs Monday, which was the second most in the majors when he hit them. Of course, the good times don't last long these days as Schwarber struck out three times (0-for-4) two days later in Wednesday's finale, a brutal 11-2 loss.
Brandon Marsh
Heading into his second at bat Tuesday evening, Marsh was on a total tear, with hits in six of his preceding seven at bats. Marsh is quietly one of the best hitters on the team and has been for a little while. After the All-Star break in 2025, Marsh hit .302. He was hitting .304 before his bat got cold, he's down to .290, still the best on the squad. And with the Phillies struggling against lefty pitching anyway, there's really no excuse not to make him the team's everyday left fielder.
Adolis García
García's offense, mostly his home runs, is what most people talk about but he brings something to the outfield that has been missed in recent seasons. A giant arm. The slugger fired an absolute bullet from right field that had Nico Hoerner completely dead to rites Tuesday:
García later pic.twitter.com/RHrkKUr1a2
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 14, 2026
Seth Johnson
With Jonathan Bowlan headed to the injured list, the Phillies called up former first-rounder Johnson. Of course with the Phillies routing Chicago Monday, he was put in the game with Philly holding a big nine-run lead. No thanks, in part, to an error from Alec Bohm (his first of the year), Johnson relented five runs in 1.2 innings of mop up work and was subsequently sent to the minors the next day, with Chase Shugart taking his shortly held roster spot.
Griff McGarry
Another pitcher who you might not know much about is no longer a Phillie. In fact, McGarry is no longer part of the Phillies' organization. A former fifth-round pick who is now 26 years old, McGarry was frequently in lists of top-20 and even top-10 prospects for the Phils organization. But he never broke through, with a 4.21 ERA and 10-17 record over six years of minor league ball. McGarry was jettisoned Tuesday to the Dodgers for "a player to be named later or cash considerations." Talk about sell low, on a guy who probably could have netted the team a real MLB contributor on the trade market just a few seasons ago.
The bullpen arms still on the team
With a 3-3 deadlock after five innings and a solid, but not remarkable Nola performance in the books in the middle game of the series, Tim Mayza entered the game and got a leadoff ground out. Here's what happened next:
• walk
• hit batter
• fielder's choice
• single (two runs score)
• walk
Mayza was pulled for Brad Keller, and then:
• single (two runs score)
He eventually struck out two batters to stop the bleeding at four runs.
Pair this with Johnson's garbage time blowup Monday and the starting staff struggling and the outlook from the mound isn't great. The depth is getting tested early, as Zach Pop was added to the injured list and replaced by the previously demoted Kyle Backhus.
Jesús Luzardo
Speaking of that starting rotation, Luzardo has been mostly disappointing since signing a $135 million extension with the Phillies. He allowed three runs to start Wednesday's finale and the team's 14th error of the year (Trea Turner's fourth) didn't help things — now tied for the fourth most errors by any team in MLB.
The lefty had one good start this year sandwiched between six- and five-run outings on either side entering Wednesday. His worst was his latest, allowing nine runs, eight earned on 12 hits in the 12-2 loss. Luzardo now has a 7.94 ERA on the year
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