At spring training, the Philadelphia Phillies are starting a new season with high hopes. On Saturday, the team will play their first exhibition game against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Phillies’ key players are aware that their window for a championship keeps becoming smaller every year. In recent remarks, Kyle Schwarber made it apparent what the team expects from the 2026 campaign.
Veterans make up the majority of the Phillies’ talented roster. One distinction from prior seasons, though, is that some of their best prospects are anticipated to individually make their Major League Baseball debuts in 2026. The objective, however, is still to win the World Series in spite of their roster adjustments and worries.
Kyle Schwarber makes Phillies’ expectations clear for a World Series in 2026
According to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, Schwarber made it plain what was expected of him at a media appearance earlier this week regarding the World Series.According to Zolecki, Schwarber stated, “We just have to do it at the end of the day.” “That’s the main thing, in my opinion; there are no justifications. It makes no difference what year it is. The pain of 2022 is equal to that of 2023, which is equal to that of 2024, and so on. Every year we go into Spring Training with the assumption that that’s where we want to be, and we have expectations of ourselves as well.”
Over the past four seasons, the Phillies have failed to win a championship. Despite having higher expectations, they have failed to return in the last three years after unexpectedly qualifying for the Fall Classic in 2022.
Since the Phillies won the NL East division the previous two years, expectations have been higher. They lost in the NLDS every year, though, and declined in the playoffs from prior seasons. One can wonder if the club’s window for a championship has closed. At the very least, it is closing slowly every year because of a core that is getting older overall.
According to FanGraphs, Philadelphia will complete the 2026 season with an 86-76 record, third in the NL East behind the New York Mets (88-74) and Atlanta Braves (89-73). Given that all three teams have the potential to win the NL East and qualify for the playoffs, the division is anticipated to be more competitive.
The NL East will be close at the top of the division the whole season, according to the projected win totals for all three teams. The Phillies will have their work cut out for them if the Braves stay healthy and the new-look Mets live up to expectations.
As spring training gets begun, Philadelphia is worried about its squad.
Especially at the beginning of the regular season, how will their rotation perform? Zack Wheeler is projected to miss at least the opening few weeks of the season due to recuperation after surgery for venous thoracic outlet syndrome, while Ranger Suárez has joined the Boston Red Sox. How will prospect Andrew Painter, Taijuan Walker, and starter Aaron Nola perform? At the start of the regular season, some inconsistencies are expected from the three players.
Once more, the Phillies’ outfield is a source of concern. The position is lacking in depth. Even though Justin Crawford has never played in a major league game, he is expected to become their center fielder.
In right field, Adolis GarcÃa is expected to be a defensive improvement over Nick Castellanos. But with his high strikeout totals and his decline in the previous two seasons after a 2023 campaign in which he achieved career highs and won the ALCS MVP award with the Texas Rangers, how will the new addition perform offensively?
With Brandon Marsh and Otto Kemp anticipated to start the regular season, the Phillies’ depth in left field is a worry. Kemp is a utility player starting just his second MLB season, and Marsh isn’t the most dependable guy in a full-time job.
There is little doubt that Philadelphia can have another good regular season and qualify for the postseason. But would this core bunch be sufficient to win a World Series if they advance to the playoffs? Given that they haven’t been successful in achieving their ultimate goal over the past few years, doubts have grown.
