August 02, 2026
Gregory Fisher/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Bryan De La Cruz has certainly earned his playing time.
The Phillies continue to play mediocre, just good enough baseball and finished off the Orioles with a convincing 8-0 win to clinch their first series victory since the All-Star Break, with their final full set of games before the MLB's trade deadline.
The focus will be what happens off the field from now until the 6 p.m. cutoff, but the Phils fell displayed some all too familiar weaknesses — as well as strengths — in Baltimore this weekend.
After a long Sunday that featured a finale delayed one hour and 39 minutes by intermittent rain, we rounded up 10 awards (h/t to our own Jimmy Kempski) to help wrap up the Phils trip down I-95. They are heading home to host the Nationals and then Blue Jays this week and could feature some new Phillies once the deadline passes.
But first, 10 awards:
The best team in the majors — you know, the one going for a third straight World Series whilst also threatening the 2027 season due to its endless war chest of cash — got one of the best pitchers in baseball late Saturday night. For a package of players the Phillies likely could have matched or beaten easily, the Dodgers added the reigning two-time AL Cy Young Award winner from the Tigers.
Is there really any addition the Phillies can make to challenge this pitching staff?
The Dodgers' potential postseason starting rotation after trading for Tarik Skubal 😳 pic.twitter.com/Jzsv1x1YrS
— ESPN (@espn) August 2, 2026
Okay now to Baltimore. The Phillies had the worst record since the All-Star break entering their middle game against Baltimore, 3-10, and they had the exact hurler they needed on the mound Saturday. Sánchez dazzled in his six frames of work, allowing just two hits whilst allowing no runs. Why did he only go six innings? Well his control was a little shaky. He had 11 strikeouts but also issued five walks. But he was really solid out of the stretch, getting out of some jams throughout his 14th win of the season.
The Phillies still lost with their fifth starter on the mound Friday, but this one wasn't his fault. Freshly called back to the majors after a month and a half tuneup in Triple-A, former top prospect Painter was really solid, allowing just two early runs in six innings. He was even spotted a 4-2 lead before the bullpen (more on that in a second) snatched a deserved win form him. Were the Phillies giving him an audition as a trade chip? Or are they going to ride with him as the No. 5 starter and focus their trade assets elsewhere?
If that answer to that last question is "yes," it probably means the bullpen will be receiving some new blood soon. Even though the pen held onto Sánchez' lead Saturday, it doesn't seem to make up for what they did the night prior. On Friday, Orion Kerkering allowed four runs without finishing his half of the seventh inning, tagged with a loss. It was the 3rd blown save since the break. The pen has the seventh highest ERA in the majors and seventh worst batting average against.
On a day the Phillies probably really wanted a quality, bounce-back start from Wheeler — who gave up five runs in three innings his last time out — the rain got in the way. The righty was solid for two innings before too much rain for the infield at Oriole Park ended his day extremely prematurely. After he left Kyle Backhus took over and the pen did the rest, preserving a second straight shutout. If nothing else, Wheeler will certainly be well-rested before his next start.
His time in the starting line up might be fleeting — but Bryan De La Cruz, seemingly out of nowhere, has made a huge impact in the Phillies' murky outfield. He blasted a two-run homer just out of Camden Yards Sunday to break a scoreless deadlock, and now has hit safely in seven of his eight games since the team called him up from Lehigh Valley just over one week ago.
DE LA CRUZIN' ON HOME pic.twitter.com/ZFeRBzx4vv
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 2, 2026
He is hitting .4XXX with five RBI and is making his best argument to be a platoon outfielder with the fading Brandon Marsh. It's a little troubling that it took the team so long to give the 29-year-old veteran with a .253 career average over six seasons the opportunity.
The Phillies' rookie has become sort of an afterthought of late, but with a hit in every game this series, with three RBI — including a double Sunday and RBI single — Crawford's offense has been steady. It will be really interesting to see what happens to his playing time with so many part time outfielders on the roster and potential upgrades on the way at the deadline.
Few players in recent memory have combined elite raw talent with frustratingly consistent screw ups the way Turner has for the Phillies, particularly this season. A week and a half ago he committed three horrible fielding miscues but also drove in five runs. Against the Orioles, he was the same old Trea. On Friday he had three hits, and he added two more on Saturday. Then on Sunday, before an impending rain delay, Turner was picked off and it wasn't even close, as he attempted a steal (for some reason in the muddy infield) in the third inning. Kyle Schwarber walked after him, and the Phils missed out on a runner in scoring position. You have to take the good with the bad with this guy.
It's possible by the time you read this the Phillies will have made some kind of trade. Or two. They certainly need to. And with the Phillies slipping to the final Wild Card spot in the NL the priority right now is simply getting to October, and hoping from there. The roster needs upgrades. Rumors are swirling that the Phils might address the outfield by bringing in two platoon hitters, and they are also said to be active in the pitching market. President of Baseball Operations Dombrowski knows the stakes. Will he be able to make fans feel better about their chances?
Let's go back in time. On May 23, the Phillies were 10.5 games behind the Braves and frankly, it seemed like lunacy to think they could catch them. On July 18, after the All-Star break in Philly, the lead for the division had been slashed to just 2.0 games. But thanks to their brutally bad skid to open the second half, the Phils are back in Wild Card or bust territory, trailing Atlanta by 8.0 games now. They do still have two series remaining against them, both next month, but they'll need to inch a little closer to make the division a truly achievable goal.
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