Philadelphia Phillies fans don't want to see the front office "run it back" in 2026. As the new year is now upon us, it's clear that the Phillies have completed most, if not all, of their heavy lifting for the offseason. They still have some key moves to make, but as it stands now, the roster is (almost) set.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has said that the Phillies aren't going to run it back in 2026. Technically, they're not running it back, although according to many fans it certainly looks that way thus far. Winning back-to-back division titles makes it difficult to make a big shake-up.
They've brought back the biggest piece of their offseason by re-signing Kyle Schwarber, but they still need to sort out J.T. Realmuto, or whoever will be doing the catching. They added Adolis García to right field, but still have to officially remove Nick Castellanos from the equation.
Will the moves they have made thus far be good enough to repeat as NL East champs in 2026? They should be a World Series contender again, although it really will depend on if they can get over the hump of the NLDS that has tripped them up the past two postseasons.
Bleacher Report recently put out their projections for Opening Day lineups and the Phillies' lineup looks very familiar, albeit with a few tweaks differing from 2025.
Bleacher Report thinks Phillies' 2026 lineup will look very similar to 2025
How manager Rob Thomson chooses to deploy the top three in the order remains to be seen, but we can all agree that Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper will take up residence there, with Harper in the No. 3 spot.
Here's how Bleacher Report's starting nine for the Phillies looks:
- DH Kyle Schwarber (L)
- SS Trea Turner (R)
- 1B Bryce Harper (L)
- 3B Alec Bohm (R)
- LF Brandon Marsh (L)
- RF Adolis García (R)
- 2B Bryson Stott (L)
- C J.T. Realmuto (R)
- CF Justin Crawford (L)
One thing this lineup does do is provide a good lefty-righty balance. Again, this is eerily, and disappointingly, similar to this past season, however. The only additions are García in right and top prospect Justin Crawford in center field. Other than that, it's the same cast of characters who won 96 games in 2025, but tripped over themselves in the NLDS for a second straight season.
The Phillies are really buying into Alec Bohm producing, and apparently protecting Harper in the cleanup spot, if he's able to stay healthy. While Bohm drove in 97 runs in both 2023 and 2024, fans will have a hard time seeing him as Harper's protection heading into 2026.
This is also assuming the Phillies can re-sign Realmuto, whose diminished bat will likely remain in the bottom three of the order unless he shows a resurgence. In the case that they don't reunite with Realmuto, their best internal option will be Rafael Marchán, who sounds ready for the challenge.
There's still time in the offseason for things to change, but Bleacher Report seems to have hit the nail on the head as far as the personnel that the Phillies will likely take into their Opening Day matchup against the Texas Rangers on March 26.