Baseball has long been built on statistics, which are an engaging way for fans to follow their favorite players and teams. You know the big numbers for career achievements, like 500 home runs and 300 wins, but those lofty numbers aren’t achieved without building them season by season. With that in mind, it’s time to polish the crystal ball and make some forecasts about what certain Phillies players will or won’t be able to achieve by the time the regular season comes to an end on September 27.
Predicting the end of the regular season in our Phillies Crystal Ball
Will Kyle Schwarber become the first Phillies player to ever record two 50-homer seasons?
After launching 56 home runs last season to lead the major leagues and fall just short of Ryan Howard’s franchise record of 58 homers, Kyle Schwarber was hard-pressed to follow that up in 2026. Things were actually looking pretty good for a while, but his near-miss in the Home Run Derby seemed to be a turning point, as Schwarber hit just a single home run in his first 19 games after the All-Star break.
That put any hopes of breaking Howard’s record to bed, and it seemingly ended his pursuit of 50, but a surge over the last month that included some iconic moments (like we saw at the Field of Dreams in Iowa) has him eyeing 50 once again. As a result, Schwarber has been able to hold off challengers like Pete Crow-Armstrong and Junior Caminero, and he should once again pace the majors. It would be his third career home run crown.
KYLE SCHWARBER AGAIN!
— MLB (@MLB) August 14, 2026
He has TWO homers in the MLB at Field Of Dreams Game! pic.twitter.com/OXjnfdSIED
Crystal ball says: Yes. Schwarber will end in the 50-52 home run range to pull off the feat. He’ll also pass 100 RBI for the fourth time in five seasons as a Phil. And he’ll set the all-time MLB record for strikeouts in a season, too. He’ll crack 400 career home runs early next season, whenever that may be.
Will Luis Arraez hang on for the batting title?
If we’re being honest, Arraez’s 34 games with the Phillies have been a mild disappointment, given that he was hitting .324 when they acquired him and he is a shade under .300 since. Still, it’s nothing to sneeze at, and the team is banking on his stick to help them in October more than anything. He still has a sizable lead over the rest of the NL, with Pittsburgh’s Nick Gonzales sitting at .305 to Arraez’s .318. This seems pretty solid.
Crystal ball says: Yes. This shouldn’t be especially close, since Arraez has built his average on hundreds of at-bats without many walks getting in the way. The better question is whether he’ll lead all of baseball, and he currently has the edge there over Yordan Álvarez and a few other players. This will be his fourth career batting title with four different teams, and it remains to be seen how much interest the Phillies have in retaining him.
Will Cristopher Sánchez get to 20 wins?
Sánchez has already had a fantastic year, and that can’t be taken away from him, even if he doesn’t win another game. Among NL pitchers to this point, he sits second in innings pitched, third in strikeouts, and sixth in ERA. But it’s his wins that stick out, as 17 wins pace the Senior Circuit and are tied with Sonny Gray for most in baseball. Wins aren’t the best indicator of the quality of a pitcher’s season, but reaching 20 wins sure is a nice feather in the cap of any hurler. That being said, time is short, and Sánchez may only have three more chances to get the three wins necessary to hit the mark.
Crystal ball says: No. Sorry, but it’s just not going to happen. Sánchez will finish with 18 or 19 wins to lead the NL, and it will have been a tremendous campaign for him. If you’re looking to pass around blame, check out these games he pitched but didn’t get a win because the Phillies didn’t do enough on offense to support him:
- 8/29 vs. Angels: 7 scoreless innings
- 8/11 vs. Cardinals: 6 scoreless innings
- 5/22 vs. Guardians: 8 scoreless innings
- 4/30 vs. Giants: 2 ER in 6.2 IP
The team bailed Sánchez out in his most recent start to get him a win, and it was a nice change of pace. But there have been too many missed opportunities outside his control for him to get to 20 victories this year.
Will Justin Crawford be able to get to 20 steals as a rookie?
Fans who have followed Crawford since he was drafted know that his speed is his calling card, with his wheels translating to great range in the field and swipes on the basepaths. But it’s been a learning curve for him as a rookie, and the Phillies have effectively kept the horse in the barn and prevented him from running wild. Maybe that’s good for the long term, but it’s been a bit surprising to see him steal just 16 bases so far on only 20 attempts. It could also largely be a product of hitting at the bottom of the order, right before the Phillies’ boppers at the top of the lineup. Move him up a spot, and maybe he runs more. At any rate, he’ll need four more steals in the season’s final weeks to get to 20. Can he pull it off?
Crystal ball says: No. The Phillies’ approach to games down the stretch isn’t really going to change, so don’t expect to see Crawford given more green lights. It’s also not worth the risk just to get him to a round number. He’ll have a long way to go to catch his dad Carl, who put up 55 steals in his first full big league season and ultimately piled up 480 of them.
Can either Zack Wheeler or Aaron Nola get to 200 strikeouts?
This is kind of a “been there, done that” stat for both pitchers, as Wheeler has hit the mark three times already, and just missed a fourth last year when he was felled by injury. Meanwhile, Nola has pulled off the feat five times, though not since 2022. Aside from looking good on a plaque at some point, one of Wheeler or Nola hitting this nice round number of Ks in a year would also put the Phillies’ rotation in elite company, as Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo are both north of 200 strikeouts already. Only one NL team in over 50 years has featured a trio of hurlers with 200+ strikeouts — the 2019 Nationals (Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin). Can the Phillies join them?
Crystal ball says: Yes. Whether it ends up being Wheeler or Nola, one of them will be able to pile up just enough punchouts to punctuate another excellent season for the Phillies’ rotation.
Whether the crystal ball is telling us the truth about these regular season accomplishments, all of these feats will of course melt away once the postseason arrives. Only then will the team’s performance determine if this regular season was a prelude to greatness or merely the latest collection of footnotes in a long history of unfulfilling resolutions to a season of Phillies baseball.
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