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Rob Thomson Disputes the Thought that Phillies are “Running it Back”
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Topper spoke at CBP on Tuesday afternoon:
“We got 3 new relievers, a new right fielder, (Justin) Crawford’s gonna have every chance to play, a rookie starting pitcher, Otto Kemp who wasn’t here at the start of last year. That’s 20-25% of the roster. If you think that’s running it back, or whatever the saying is, I don’t know what to tell ya.”
Alright, but it’s not about roster percentage, it’s about how many innings those guys are out there, and what they do. Three new relievers will pitch a handful of innings every week and they don’t pick up a baseball bat and go up to the plate. Bo Bichette would have been an everyday starter who fields and hits. So it’s kind of a strange thing for Topper to say, as if all roster spots are weighted equally. This would be like Howie Roseman hypothetically telling reporters that he added a new kick returner and 10 new guys on special teams. Yet the entire offense and defense is exactly the same while playing 5x the amount of snaps per game.
When we say the Phillies are “running it back” we mean they’re returning the same core that hasn’t been able to get the postseason job done. They’re back with J.T. Realmuto, Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, Trea Turner, and Kyle Schwarber. They’re back with Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Taijuan Walker, and second-year Jesus Luzardo. The new center fielder has never played a Major League game and Adolis Garcia is a total question mark. He may not even be better than Nick Castellanos, depending on what version of Garcia shows up. On paper, it’s hard to argue that they improved at a single position this offseason outside of right-handed setup man, or maybe the bullpen was addition by the subtraction of Jordan Romano.
Of course, the core was good enough to win 96 games in 2025, it’s just a question of whether or not they can hit the baseball in the NLDS.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com