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Did Phillies owner hint at team's MLB trade deadline plans − and Kyle Schwarber future?
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- Did Phillies owner hint at team's MLB trade deadline plans − and Kyle Schwarber future?
PHILADELPHIA − Phillies managing partner John Middleton, still giddy over the big reveal for the 2026 All-Star game to be held at Citizens Bank Park next July 14, couldn't help but speculate at the spectacle that awaits next summer.
That giddiness also applies to the current state of his ballclub.
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That was before the Phillies lost 6-5 to the Los Angeles Angels on July 18 despite two home runs by Bryce Harper and another from Kyle Schwarber . The Phillies fell to 55-42, but are still hanging on to first place in the National League East, heading toward a fourth straight season in the playoffs.
Middleton, of course, has never been shy about spending money to build and sustain a perennial playoff roster. And with the MLB trade deadline coming up on July 31, Middleton could very well add to an already large payroll that is currently at $279 million, the fourth-highest in baseball.
We all know the Phillies' needs. They're the same needs that they have had at the deadline for the past two seasons − the bullpen, and perhaps a right-handed-hitting outfielder.
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Offensively, the needs were evident against the Angels when the Phillies' entire offense consisted of Harper and Schwarber. Combined, the two were 4-for-7 with four runs scored and five RBIs. Harper had three of those hits, including a double that was his hardest hit of the night with an exit velocity of 113.8 mph.
Harper picked up right where he left off at the break, a welcomed sign after missing nearly a full month with a wrist injury.
"This is the best I've felt in the last year, probably," Harper said. "I'm really happy where I am. Healthy, strong. Just trying to be the best player I can, and keep going out there and being No. 3, and doing my job, and being one of the best in the game."
As for the lineup as a whole, Harper said: "We gotta be better 1 through 9. We gotta keep plugging, keep going, can't play scared, gotta go out there and be the team we are. Obviously, (Phillies president Dave Dombrowski) is going to do his job, and get what he thinks is best for our team (by the trade deadline)."
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Dombrowski could be bold and trade for an established closer (think the Guardians' Emmanuel Clase or the Twins' Jhoan Duran), even if it costs them one of the Phillies' top prospects like pitcher Mick Abel .
And yet, Middleton, at least for now, seemed to put up a warning sign over expecting such a move.
"One of the things people have to realize is a bullpen in the regular season is an entirely different animal than a bullpen in the postseason," Middleton said.
This is where Middleton explained his thinking. The Phillies have the top starting rotation in baseball, with the lowest ERA (3.25), most innings pitched (545), strikeout rate (26.1%), among other metrics. The rotation goes five deep. Six when Aaron Nola returns from ankle/rib injuries in the coming weeks. Seven when phenom Andrew Painter makes his long-awaited MLB debut.
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At least one pitcher, besides Taijuan Walker , will have to go to the bullpen.
But it's more than that. Jose Alvarado returns next month from his 80-game MLB suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs. While Alvarado is ineligible for the postseason, he can at least help the Phillies get there.
And then there's the postseason.
Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts after hitting his third home run in the swing-off to decide the 2025 MLB All-Star Game at Truist Park on July 15, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.
"You think about it, we only need three (starting) pitchers, and we won't need our fourth pitcher until the fourth game of the (NLCS)," Middleton said. "So you need three pitchers, and everybody else goes to the bullpen.
"You're going to have people in the bullpen who are now starting pitchers for us."
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Could you see Ranger Suarez or Jesus Luzardo pitching in high-leverage playoff situations? Luzardo, for one, seems to be a likely candidate after the Phillies gave him a 4-1 lead that he couldn't keep. Luzardo left after 4⅔ innings, allowing four runs on seven hits.
Suarez, meanwhile, has playoff bullpen experience. He closed out the NLCS-clinching win over the Padres in 2022. That at least takes away the reliance on Jordan Romano , who has been up and mostly down this season.
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As if to double down on that thought, Middleton brought up the last Phillies' golden age, from 2007-11.
After winning the World Series in 2008, and getting back to there the next season, former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro traded for Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence and signed Cliff Lee as a free agent to go along with a star-studded lineup.
Middleton called them "A-plus moves."
And ...
"Every player (Ruben) brought in performed at a very high level," Middleton said. "And we still lost. Not only did we not win the World Series, but we exited every year one round earlier than the year before. So if you empty the cupboard, you can do everything right and you still don't win – it's a bad call, a bad break, a bad bounce of the ball, it's some guy who just gets ridiculously hot on the other team and beats you.
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"You have to weigh all that."
Sound familiar? Since 2022, the Phillies have won more games each year in the regular season, then bowed out a round earlier in the playoffs, going from losing Game 6 of the World Series in 2022 to losing in the NLDS last season.
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Still, if the Phillies don't make a major move at the deadline, it won't be from a lack of trying.
Middleton mentioned last year at the deadline, when the Phillies made a big push for then- White Sox ace Garrett Crochet .
"We made a spectacularly good offer," Middleton said. "So good that (Dombrowski) looked at me at one point and said, 'I don't know if we should be doing this.'"
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The White Sox turned Dombrowski down, then traded Crochet after the season to the Red Sox , where he has been dominant.
Does Middleton expect Dombrowski to be aggressive this year?
"He's always aggressive," Middleton said. "He doesn't have another gear besides aggressive."
But it takes two teams to make a deal.
Phillies: 'We want Kyle Schwarber'
Middleton was asked if Schwarber's performance in the All-Star game, when he homered on three straight swings in the "swing off" to give the NL a 7-6 win, gave him extra motivation to re-sign Schwarber after this season.
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On his first swing against the Angels, Schwarber hit his 31st homer of the season.
"It was pretty amazing," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "He does amazing things. After that All-Star game, then coming up and first swing, hits the ball out of the ballpark. Everyone was just kind of like, 'That's Schwarber.'"
Schwarber is eligible for free agency after the season. But Middleton made it clear that he wants Schwarber back.
"We need no motivation whatsoever when it comes to Kyle Schwarber," Middleton said. "He's great. ... He's a great person in the dugout. He's a great person in the clubhouse. We love him. We want to keep him. We don't need any motivation whatsoever."
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What's Andrew Painter's plan?
Well, it's "July-ish" as Dombrowski said before the season about a potential callup for Painter. Yet before the game, Thomson said Painter will make his next start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley on July 24.
In 12 starts at Lehigh Valley, Painter is 3-3 with a 5.01 ERA after missing two full seasons to have Tommy John surgery. Painter has pitched 55⅓ innings at Lehigh Valley with 59 strikeouts, but 20 walks.
"I think his command isn't quite where it normally is for him," Thomson said. "His stuff's good. He's healthy. ... You can't put a date on (a call-up). I've always said the whole time, he's gotta be healthy and he's gotta be performing, and there's gotta be a spot open.
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"So I think he's going to get to the point where he's Andrew Painter. I don't think he's quite there yet."
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Read his coverage of the Eagles' championship season in "Flying High," a new hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Phillies' John Middleton: Is big trade brewing? Kyle Schwarber future
