And after watching these 2025 Phillies play nearly 80 games now, Dombrowski thinks he knows that answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel like we have a legitimate chance to win,\u201d he said, with no\u00a0ifs\u00a0or\u00a0buts\u00a0anywhere to be found.<\/p>\n
So when the president of baseball ops decides that his team has a chance to win, Dombrowski told me and my Starkville co-host, Doug Glanville, \u201cthen the answer, to me, is, you may give up a little bit more than you would want to in other circumstances. But that opportunity (to win it all) doesn\u2019t always come. And I always tell people: Don\u2019t take it for granted when you\u2019re in a position where you\u2019re in it, year in and year out.\u201d<\/p>\n
So in a fascinating 30-minute conversation, Dombrowski laid out what he thinks is at stake for his surging Phillies team \u2014 and how his front office will attack its most obvious need: Finding a difference-making bullpen arm (or arms) for the most pressure-packed innings of the season \u2026 and postseason.<\/p>\n
But you should also know this: The July 31 deadline might not go like a lot of Phillies fans think it will go.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because Dombrowski didn\u2019t sound like a man shopping for multiple high-leverage relievers, at least not at the moment. Instead, he told a story that felt both instructive and foreshadowing.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t a story of anything that has happened since he arrived in Philadelphia, either. It was a story about his 2018 Red Sox.<\/p>\n
That team did employ a famous closer: a fellow named Craig Kimbrel. But he was not\u00a0the centerpiece of the October bullpen that won the World Series. Instead, the most important bullpen innings of that postseason were often pitched by men with a whole different job description \u2014 a job commonly described as \u2026<\/p>\n
The\u00a0starting\u00a0pitchers.<\/p>\n
David Price pitched out of that team\u2019s bullpen. Nathan Eovaldi was a monster stomping out of that team\u2019s October \u2019pen. And the final outs were collected not by Kimbrel, but by a dude named Chris Sale. It was all by design. And you might see that same design in Philadelphia this fall if the Phillies are still playing, Dombrowski indicated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe postseason bullpen is a lot different than the regular-season bullpen,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause in the National League this year, if you advance past the wild-card round \u2026 you play five games (in the next round, the NLDS). Well, the way the schedule is (with an extra off day), you only need three starting pitchers during that time period. So if you have five (starters), two of them can go into the bullpen as it is there. Plus, if you have additional (surplus starters), they can go into the bullpen there.<\/p>\n
\u201cA good example,\u201d Dombrowski went on, \u201cwas in \u201918, when I was in Boston. Alex Cora was our manager, and he did a masterful job of working our starters into our bullpen and using some of them at times in the \u2019pen. I mean, we ended up using Sale in the \u2019pen. We ended up using Eovaldi in the \u2019pen, and they did very well for us. And we\u2019d give somebody an extra day\u2019s rest because we knew we could fill in with somebody else.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The Red Sox swarm Chris Sale after he finished off Game 5 to win the 2018 World Series. (Harry How \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It was clear Dombrowski didn\u2019t tell that story just because he felt like reminiscing. He was laying out his team\u2019s most likely approach to this deadline \u2014 and this Octoberfest.<\/p>\n
Over the next few weeks, the Phillies will lean on the accelerator, trying to acquire a reliever with the talent to get huge outs in October and the temperament to handle getting those outs in a place like Philadelphia. But do they need more than one arm like that? Dombrowski talked like someone who thinks he can use his starting-pitching depth to solve his bullpen issues. And it\u2019s not hard to understand why.<\/p>\n
Just peruse the names of all the Phillies\u2019 starters if everyone is healthy:<\/p>\n
Zack Wheeler Plus \u2026<\/p>\n \u2022 Former first-round pick Mick Abel, currently rocking a 3.47 ERA in five big-league starts.<\/p>\n \u2022 One of the most buzzed about pitching prospects in baseball, Andrew Painter, currently at Triple A, who is nearly through working his way back from Tommy John surgery.<\/p>\n \u2022 Not to mention Taijuan Walker, who has already been moved to the bullpen.<\/p>\n So I asked Dombrowski who in that group was a candidate to transition to high-leverage relief at some point.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I won\u2019t speculate on names,\u201d he replied, \u201cbecause that always creates a little bit of consternation. But I would say I don\u2019t think Zack Wheeler is that guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Top prospect Andrew Painter is expected to join the Phillies later this summer. (Mike Janes \/ Four Seam Images via Associated Press)<\/p>\n In some ways, he suggested, it makes sense to start that transition in August or September \u2014 \u201cbut you still have to make the postseason,\u201d he said. \u201cSo you can\u2019t start planning for the postseason unless you know you\u2019re going to make it. And so those are the type questions you ask \u2014 and who do you think could fit there and do that?<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have those answers yet at this point,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re things that we\u2019ve thought about. We really haven\u2019t discussed them at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n When I asked specifically if the Phillies could move a starter to the \u2019pen as early as August, Dombrowski reminded us he already has a high-octane option to add to his August mix.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t rule anything out, but likely later,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t forget \u2026 on Aug. 19, we do get Jos\u00e9 Alvarado (who is serving an 80-game PED suspension<\/a>) back for the rest of the regular season, too. So he can help us win during the regular season, even though he won\u2019t be available in the postseason.\u201d<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Alvarado can return from his PED suspension on Aug. 19., but he is ineligible for the postseason. (Emilee Chinn \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n Could there be more items on the Phillies\u2019 to-do list?<\/p>\n Dombrowski is always shopping, but he downplayed that idea. His rotation is very good. And he\u2019s not looking to address his lineup, he said, because \u201cwe like where we are right now.\u201d He also hinted he could find position-player depth in the farm system (possibly from someone like top-100 outfield prospect Justin Crawford).<\/p>\n \u201cSo that really leaves the back end of the bullpen. really much more so than anything else,\u201d he said. \u201cNow again, you analyze what\u2019s going on all the time, and you see what\u2019s taking place. But I would say, first and foremost, that would be our main focus.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, Bryce has said that,\u201d Dombrowski said. \u201cBryce will be willing to do whatever needs to be done. And that\u2019s one of the many things that are great about him. (But) I would really prefer not to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aaron Nola (currently on the injured list)
Christopher S\u00e1nchez
Ranger Su\u00e1rez<\/a>
Jes\u00fas Luzardo<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AP25101847297119-scaled.jpg\")
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