Thomson cites need for RH hitters, but where are they coming from?

A postmortem like the Phillies held Thursday morning at Citizens Bank Park does not yield many direct answers because the men leading the organization have little to gain by tipping their hand before the offseason begins.

One comment from manager Rob Thomson did stick out, though, in response to a question about what he thinks the 2026 Phillies offense needs.

“We’re awfully left-handed, I can say that. Where that comes from, right-handed bat, I don’t know,” Thomson said. “Is it out there? I don’t know. But we’re awfully left-handed, this year anyway.”

Based on how the second half of the season went, it seems rather obvious that one of the Phillies’ right-handed bats, Nick Castellanos, will not be back. He lost his everyday role late in the season, feuded briefly with the manager, and on Thursday, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski offered little more than, “We’ll see what happens,” when asked about Castellanos returning for the final year of his $100 million contract. Given the facts that the Phillies shopped him last winter and he has only one year and $20M remaining on his contract, a trade seems almost like a formality at this point.

Plus, you’ve got to upgrade somewhere in the lineup. There’s no more running it back with one middling addition like Max Kepler, whose left-handed bat never made a ton of sense for this roster to begin with.

If lefty-hitting Justin Crawford claims an everyday outfield spot out of spring training, which the Phillies would like, then the only areas to upgrade offensively would be the outfield corners and third base, where Alec Bohm remains just OK.

One of those outfield corners, when the Phillies face a right-handed starting pitcher, will likely be manned by Brandon Marsh. But the Phils will need a strong right-handed option in the other outfield corner, along with a right-handed platoon partner for Marsh. The platoon partner for Marsh could be someone like Otto Kemp. But the other spot, the starting spot, must be filled in a meaningful way, not with a right-handed hitter you cross your fingers with.

This all, by the way, assumes that the Phillies find a way to re-sign both Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto. If they can’t, then the already present need for offense will rise substantially. You’re not finding other guys with 56-home run potential or catchers with as many above-average qualities as Realmuto in this year’s free-agent class.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, this free-agent class also lacks the right-handed-hitting outfielder they need. Harrison Bader might be the best one. Aside from him, you’re looking at complementary, end-of-roster players like Mark Canha, Tommy Pham, Starling Marte and Randal Grichuk. Ramon Laureano is more interesting than that group and coming off a career year, but he also hit .225/.309/.392 from 2020-23, so who knows what his next club is getting? The Padres could pick up his $6.5 million team option for 2026.

Free agent Pete Alonso has a difference-making right-handed bat but can’t fit onto the Phillies’ roster unless Schwarber signs elsewhere or Bryce Harper moves back to the outfield. Harper indicated last summer that he would move back to the outfield temporarily if it enabled the Phillies to add the right hitter, which Dombrowski acknowledged on Thursday before reiterating that the Phillies view Harper as their first baseman long term.

So, barring the extremely unlikely situation where the Phillies re-sign both Schwarber and Realmuto, move Harper back to the outfield and sign Alonso, where is this meaningful right-handed help coming in free agency? The answer is it’s probably not. It will probably require a trade.

And, again, there just aren’t a ton of quality, obtainable right-handed-hitting outfielders to trade for.

Maybe Brent Rooker if you can live with the defense, but the Athletics also just committed five years and $60M to him.

Do you kick the tires on Randy Arozarena, who has one more arbitration year with the Mariners?

Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs is entering the final year of his contract, so perhaps theoretically the Cubs could think about a deal, but he’s another player who struggles in the field.

Taylor Ward of the Angels might be the most realistic trade candidate of the bunch. He hit .228 last season with 36 homers, 103 RBI and a .792 OPS. He’s streaky and he’s never been an All-Star-caliber player but he’d be an upgrade over Castellanos offensively (.732 OPS as a Phillie) and defensively. The upcoming season is Ward’s final year of arbitration eligibility.

True free agency begins five days after the World Series ends, with those first five days serving as a period for teams to negotiate with their own free agents. We’ll be exploring potential Phillies targets and trade candidates in depth in the weeks to come.

The offseason could go in a number of ways. There could be enormous change if Schwarber and/or Realmuto depart. Or the Phillies could bring both back and follow a more traditional path of finding one more good outfielder. There could also be a big trade that few see coming.

The days of running it back are over, though. This particular roster ran its course. It was talented enough to win a World Series if everything broke right in 2022, 2023, 2024 or 2025, but that didn’t happen, leaving these Phillies as one of the many teams in baseball history with a mid-90s win total and no trophy to show for it.