It's Time To Blow Up The Phillies: This Week In Philly Sports

PHILADELPHIA, PA — When Orion Kerkering threw the ball wide to home plate instead of to first base on Thursday night, the playoff run once again ended early for the Philadelphia Phillies.

This era of Phillies baseball should end too.

There are no excuses to post great records season after season and then crumble in the playoffs where bats go cold and managers make bad decisions.

The performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers follows playoff failures against the New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Houston Astros.

Owner John Middleton wants a World Series trophy, something the team hasn't delivered since 2008. Do the math: That's 17 years and counting now.

Phillies Manager Rob Thomson has done a great job navigating this team over the years through slumps, egos, injuries, and everything else to finish with some of the best records in baseball during the regular season. But he can't seem to get over the hump in the playoffs, and really made some terrible decisions during this Dodgers series.

But Rob needs to go now. And so should some of his coaches, like Hitting Coach Kevin Long, who couldn't coax many hits out of this lineup, especially the Top Three of Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper.

Let Thomson retire and go out gracefully. We owe him that for his mostly-successful tenure with the team.

This team is old. This team lacks discipline. This team has no depth. This team doesn't have the drive. It felt like Joel Embiid, Carson Wentz, and Ben Simmons had been playing in a Phillies uniform for the past few years. There's no grit. There's no urgency. This team has no pride.

This team has failed the fans of Philadelphia.

With an all-time blunder by Kerkering, this Phillies team will go down as dropping the ball.

Now should come the accountability. This isn't an emotional reaction to a heartbreaking loss. This is just the end of an era.

First off, Harper, Turner, and pitcher Aaron Nola and Zach Wheeler (if he returns from injury) will be back due to their lengthy contracts and no-trade clauses.

Nola and Wheeler will be joined by Christopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, and rookie Andrew Painter, making for a strong starting rotation, and one of the best in baseball if healthy.

The rotation leaves out stud Ranger Suarez, who is a free agent and will probably demand lots of dough.

The bullpen once again — as it does every year — needs a complete makeover.

Flamethrower Jhoan Duran is a lock as the closer for the next few years. Reliever Matt Strahm should also return unless he is traded. Kerkering, while young with lots of potential, just might never be able to pitch again in Philly. He's our new Mitch Williams. Lefty Tanner Banks proved that he's capable.

Jose Alvarado's suspension pretty much ruined the bullpen. He should not be a part of the 2026 roster. Everyone else should be gone too from the bullpen.

Now comes the lineup. This lineup needs a shot of life and youth.

Schwarber is going to take the money and run. As she should. He earned it with the year he had, and we will be grateful for his contributions over the past few years. The Phillies can grab Pete Alonso to replace him. The hated Mets player could be a DH or go to first base, allowing Harper to go to DH full-time or back into the outfield.

It's time to call up prospects Justin Crawford and Aiden Miller and insert them into the lineup. Harrison Bader, for his short time, provided such a spark. Get him back and make him the leadoff hitter. Brad Marsh can stick around as a fourth outfielder.

Say goodbye to Max Kepler and Nick Castellanos, who even though had a few key hits played his way off the team for his comments. Think of him like A.J. Brown without the talent. Find a way to trade Alec Bohm, who will be in the last year of his contract. And we need a young catcher to lead the pitching staff, but it might be worth it to sign JT Realmuto to a two-year contract to anchor the starting pitching staff. Bryson Stott can stay too.

We will end this on optimism. The Phillies can still be good.

They can find a new manager to lead them. The starting pitching will be strong. The lineup could be bolstered. The bullpen can be rebuilt.

Think of a lineup that has an infield of Alonso, Stott, Turner, and Miller. JT can return with Rafael Marshon as catchers. The outfield can feature Crawford, Bader, and Harper with Marsh as the fourth. Or maybe sign a strong corner outfielder to put Harper at DH. Another strong bat is definitely needed to replace Schwarbs and Casty. We need a thumper.

It was a really nice run. But now it's time for changes. This team cannot go on as is.