Phillies news: Changes coming; Kyle Schwarber among upcoming free agents; Rob Thomson's future

The Phillies did it again.

A 96-win season ended with a wild throw to the wrong base. Diehard fans will again have to spend hours on hold as they ask to get their National League Championship Series and World Series tickets refunded.

Again, the bats went cold when it mattered most.

After the Phillies’ postseason run ended early — again — a main talking point has been how much of their core roster will remain intact. A few of the team’s notable free agents are Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, and Ranger Suárez.

When former Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins was asked if this is the end of this era of Phillies baseball, he responded: “With this group, yes.”

“I think the era can keep going on, meaning they can keep winning,” Rollins said on the TBS postgame show. “They can find ways to get back to the playoffs because they’re good enough to do that. They’ve proven it. But with this specific group, yes. I would say two of those three guys probably won’t be here. I’m not sure what the combination looks like.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker was optimistic about the Philadelphia Phillies Friday following the team’s season-ending playoff loss, vowing to her downtrodden city: “We’ll be back, baby.”

During a brief interview in City Hall, she said her message to the team is: “Don’t forget who you are.”

“We will never forget the grit, the resilience, the stick-to-it-ness that defines who we are,” Parker said.

Thursday night ended in heartbreak for Philly sports fans.

The Eagles lost to the New York Giants for their second consecutive loss of the season, and the Phillies postseason ended early after a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League division series.

Across the busy streets of Center City, fans are still feeling the misery from both losses into the following morning, including 32-year-old Hoover Bennett, who works security for the Eagles.

Marcus Hayes: After three straight playoff disappointments, will the Phillies — specifically, owner John Middleton — bring back manger Rob Thomson? Remember, neither Middleton or president Dave Dombrowski hired Thomson. He was an interim solution in 2022 who made it to the World Series.

He’s popular in the clubhouse, and he worked miracles in the 2025 regular season — do his bosses think he’s the problem?

Scott Lauber: In pro sports, the definition of insanity is bringing back the same players year after year and expecting different results. The core of the Phillies’ roster has remained together for four years, and they aren’t any closer to returning to the World Series.

It won’t happen because all indications are that he wants to stay in Los Angeles with his family, but John Middleton at least has to ask Chase Utley to be his next manager.

Again, it won’t happen, but that didn’t stop Middleton five years ago from continuing to pursue Dombrowski despite him turning down the job numerous times. Treat Utley the same way. Make him say no.

If the Phillies need a new manager, Utley should be the top choice. He’s a brilliant baseball mind who can make in-game decisions with the best of them and would lead a clubhouse the same way he did as a player.

Even though the Phillies won more regular-season games in each of the last four seasons — from 87 in 2022, to 90, to 95, to 96 this year — they backslid in each postseason — from Game 6 of the World Series in 2022, to Game 7 of the NL Championship Series, and back-to-back division series ousters — all with a core that has remained intact.

And even if that wasn’t the case, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, and Ranger Suárez — three key members of that core — are about to become free agents.

Chances are, the Phanatic will be waving goodbye to one or more of them.

Now what?

There are only so many changes the Phillies can make to their roster and it’s not exactly a smart idea to “break up” a team that won 96 games and lost in October to the defending champs. But I’d be stunned if the Phils decided to “run it back” like they did after last year’s postseason flop.

The Phillies need to be reshaped, and Thursday night’s 2-1 loss certainly felt like an end of era.

With the score tied at 1 after nine innings, Game 4 made its way to extra innings. And fans didn’t have to worry about the broadcast crew getting tired. Anderson and Francoeur had experience working long nights.

“You’ve come to the right spot for your extra innings announcers,” Anderson said. “[We] covered an 18-inning extra inning game a few years ago in Seattle. I will tell you the theme in that game, and it continues on, there are a lot of hitters trying to hit the long ball.”

Thursday’s game didn’t go to 18 innings. In the 11th, Andy Pages hit the ball toward Orion Kerkering, who made a costly error — throwing the ball wide of home plate, allowing Hyeseong Kim to score and giving the Dodgers a 2-1 victory.

We criticized Rob Thomson for bunting in Game 2, so let’s tip our hat to the manager for Game 4.

The decision to bring in Jhoan Duran in the seventh was aggressive and spot-on. So was walking Shohei Ohtani to load the bases with two outs for Mookie Betts. Duran walked one batter in 23 regular-season appearances since joining the Phillies. It was OK to trust him with the bases loaded, even though Betts walked in the tying run.

Going to Jesús Luzardo in the 10th inning on three days rest was just as aggressive as bringing in Duran. The Phillies were going down with their best arms. Luzardo gave them 30 pitches before he left after putting two on with two outs in the 11th.