3 Keys for the Phillies to win the World Series this season

Let's get things one thing out of the way here first.

No, the Dodgers, or the Brewers, or the Cubs that are the Phillies biggest obstacle to achieve the organization's first World Series title in over a decade. It is and always has been themselves. Baseball is a sport where the best team ON PAPER does not always win. Just a few years ago, for example the Braves finished the year with 104 wins. They had an historic offensive output, scoring 947 runs, hit 307 homers, and had a team record .501 slugging percentage.

In the end, it did not matter. The Phillies came blazing hot, beating them in the division series after smoking the Marlins in the wild card. Another wild card team in the 84 Diamondbacks stormed their way to the World Series that year over the Phillies. The point baseball is a sport where you truly control what is in front of you, and if you do that, usually good things happen. Here is what Philadelphia needs to do to make GREAT things happen.

1. STOP CHASING!

The Phils have been consistently one of the highest chasing teams in all of baseball. Combine that when you DO chase pitches out of the zone, and shocker, you don't make contact, that's usually not a great sign.

At one point in July this year, Philadelphia was doing a lot better in that department, chasing at just a 29.4 percent clip. It jumped to 30.1 in august and three weeks into September with the team fighting for their playoff lives, it currently sits at 30.4 percent. The Phillies in the playoffs the last few years have had the same sort of fate. In 2025. the Phillies actually had similar chase rates to LA with Philly at 30.7 percent and LA at 30.6. That was about the middle of the pack of all the teams in the playoffs. The issue? The Dodgers made contact with pitches outside the zone 55.8 percent of the time in the NLDS. The Phillies sat at 49.5 percent, meaning they whiffed at pitches outside the zone when they swung more than making contact. Sure enough, the Phils’ chase rate ended up being almost identical as it was in 2024. It jumped from 30.3% to 30.4%. The out-of-zone contact, and whiff rates were pretty much exactly the same as well. They went from 54.3% contact rate in 2024 to 54.1% in 2025, so there was almost no change.

You would think things will change in 2026 though. With Bryson Stott nearing the 80th percentile in whiff rate according to baseball savant and a guy that always is in contention for the batting title in Luis Arraez, the Phillies bats SHOULD be in better hands this time around

2. STARTING PITCHING TO LEAD THE WAY

While the Phillies big three in Christopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler, and Jesus Luzardo need no introduction, Aaron Nola and Andrew Painter have flown a little under the radar as of late. Let's start with Aaron, who up until August couldnt buy an out.

In August his ERA dropped all the way to 2.65, and so far, this month has an amazing 1.29 ERA. Much the same for Painter, as since his return from the minors on July 31st, the righty has a 3.58 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP. I think Wheels and Sanchez can be trusted. Zack, even after getting nerve surgery during the offseason is doing incredible again after a little rough patch a few weeks ago. Sanchez is doing great again. The biggest concern is Luzardo's health. He was recently scratched due to shoulder inflammation. The lack of structural damage after his MRI is a good thing, but not good if he were to miss any sort of time as we head into October.

3. BRIDGE THE GAP!!

The Phillies head into the final weeks of the season with a mid tier bullpen, sporting a 4.16 ERA this year. That high of an ERA with one of the best closers in baseball in baseball in Jhoan Duran (2-6, 1.82) (HOW DOES HE ONLY HAVE 2 WINS??) is mind numbing. The Phillies have not been able to find guy to bridge the gap conisistantly to get to Duran all year, Bowlan was the guy for a while, but now has been overused by itern manager Don Mattingly and has an ERA over 6 in his last 7 games. Jose Alavardo has locked awful since coming back after getting busted of PED use, spiralling wth a 5.30 ERA (Although he's got a 1.42 ERA in his last 7 games.) Do you trust the new kid in Alex McFarlane? He has been great with a 2.45 ERA since he was called up but do you really trust a 25 year old kid that was just pitching in Double A? Honestly, from what I have seen? Yes. You do have to pray though that the starting pitchers always go 7, which, this late in the year could be a tough ask. But if there was any group that could do such a thing it would be the 2026 Phillies starting pitching.

Regardless... I think the Phillies still, if they put it all together, can win it all. The team just needs to stick together, and they can do incredible things.

PHOTO CREDIT: Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images