The Philadelphia Phillies are desperate right now. Their recent losing ways have placed them firmly in a dogfight for the National League’s final Wild Card spot, and they can’t afford to take any chances down the stretch. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski brought in some help at the trade deadline, but more shakeups could be in the works. Let’s check out a few Phillies who were lucky enough to survive the trade deadline, but may not be here come October.
José Alvarado
What a disappointment José Alvarado has been. The once-dominant southpaw was supposed to be a late-inning weapon for the Phillies this season, but he’s posted a brutal 6.14 ERA over 51 appearances to this point. The 31-year-old still features a blazing sinker, but he’s been far too hittable and has issued more walks than usual. Add all that up and it makes a perfectly untrustworthy reliever.
Unfortunately, the Phillies don’t have many better options in their dumpsterfire of a bullpen, as journeyman Tim Mayza and deadline pickup Brooks Raley are the only other lefties of note. The team is certainly going to give Alvarado as much runway as possible, but if he continues lighting winnable games on fire they may be forced to pull the plug on him before he can blow any playoff saves.
The Phillies could stand to jettison a few of their underperforming players on the way to the postseason
Garrett Stubbs
Everybody loves Garrett Stubbs. The Phillies’ backup catcher is the embodiment of heart and hustle, and his locker room presence and clubhouse antics have earned him a spot in every fan’s heart. There’s just one problem: he’s not very good at baseball.
The 33-year-old has been the clear third man on the catching depth chart for the Phils, barely seeing any game action behind J.T. Realmuto and Rafael Marchán. Even with Marchán on the shelf for the past few weeks with a knee injury, Stubbs has mostly served as a pinch runner and emergency pitcher while getting the very occasional start behind the dish.
The former Houston Astro hasn’t done much with the playing time he has received, working to a horrifying .318 OPS over 46 plate appearances. Sooner or later Marchán will return, and that should mark the end of Stubby’s time on the major league roster.
Alec Bohm
First and foremost, this is almost certainly not going to happen. The Phillies have been wedded to Alec Bohm for seven years at this point, and despite his career-worst showing this year it seems nothing is going to change that. Still, wouldn’t it be great?
The 2018 third-overall draft pick is headed for free agency this coming winter, and everyone and their mother knows the Phillies have no intention of re-signing him. Fans will certainly be glad to be rid of him, as Bohm’s mediocre body of work has come up far short of justifying his penchant for doubleplays, atrocious defense and frequent temper tantrums.
While the 30-year-old has been a decent, if unspectacular, player at times in the past, 2026 has been a complete waste as he’s put up a miserable .684 OPS. A deadline trade for Luis Arraez should have spelled the end of Bohm as an everyday player, but Dombrowski inexplicably decided to rearrange the entire infield just to keep his feeble bat in the lineup.
In fairness to Bohm, he caught a heater this weekend against the Minnesota Twins, but it’s certainly too little, too late in the eyes of Phillies fans. He’ll most likely ride out the rest of the season getting semi-regular reps at first base, but what if just once the front office gave the fans their pound of flesh by cutting him loose?
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