Read – Phillies news and rumors 5/22: Dave Dombrowski 'would never have predicted' such a strong start – and more Phillies news and rumors at PhilliesNation.com
On Tuesday, Phillies president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, appeared on “The Show”, a New York Post podcast hosted by Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman. Dombrowski touched on a few subjects, including the Phillies’ current roster, the efforts made to get off to a better start this year and the possibility of improving an already talented roster.
One of the first topics Dombrowski talked about was the production and contributions the Phillies have gotten from some of their younger players. Alec Bohm has seemingly taken the next step forward in his development. Bryson Stott is continuing to grow and enjoying a lot of offensive success right now. Brandon Marsh has helped win games with his bat, glove and legs. Ranger Suárez is one of the best pitchers on the planet right now.
Dombrowski knew those guys would have to be better than years past if the Phillies were going to get to where they wanted to go this season. He said, “Going into the season, when we were talking about the planning of our team, if we wanted to take the next step to be really, really good — to be a 90-plus, trying to win 100 games — those young players needed to take that next step.”
When discussing those guys, Dombrowski made sure to mention their pedigrees. Bohm and Stott were both first-round draft picks. Marsh, according to Dombrowski, had first-round talent, but was picked in the second round because he didn’t play as much baseball in high school as a multi-sport athlete. And, as for Suárez, he’s “been a talented pitcher for a long time”. In other words, it’s no surprise these guys have played as well as they have.
While those young guys are important, they aren’t the Phillies’ top stars. That responsibility falls on Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, Zack Wheeler and a few others. Most of those top stars weren’t developed by the Phillies. Instead, they were acquired via free agency — a market a lot of clubs don’t dip into for a variety of reasons. Sometimes teams get burned when spending big on one or more free agents because they don’t perform like they had in the past. That hasn’t really happened in Philadelphia. Why is that?
“All those players are really good players. Sometimes you have to differentiate between who’s really that extra level versus who’s not… And sometimes you’re just fortunate,” Dombrowski said about his club’s top players, adding, “None of them are content just with their contracts. They all want to excel, win championships, [and] be out there every single day.”
With the way their younger players have performed, combined with their top stars playing to expectations, the Phillies are the best team in baseball at 35-14. They wanted to get off to a better start in 2024 and have. Were there certain areas the organization looked at when trying to figure out how to get off to a strong start?
“Making sure our starting pitchers were more prepared to go deeper into the game than they were maybe the past year,” Dombrowski noted.
That plan has worked. Entering Tuesday, the Phillies’ starting rotation led Major League Baseball in innings pitched at 288.
Philadelphia’s top baseball executive also mentioned needing to be healthy, something the Phillies have been, for the most part, so far. He also pointed out there was an emphasis on getting players more at-bats during spring training games. Everyone also talked about how important it would be to play better to start the season than they had in 2022 and 2023.
With that hot start and talented roster, it’s hard to find any holes on this current Phillies team. But they are a contender and contenders usually add at the trade deadline, which falls on July 30 this year. Dombrowski was asked how the Phillies could navigate this season’s trade market. Will they wait until the middle of summer, or could they make a trade right now?
“We have a contending club, there’s no question about it,” Dombrowski said, “And I think if we stay relatively healthy, we have a chance to be in the battle with anybody when it comes to the end. So you’re always looking to get better, so when an opportunity exists, you’ll engage in it.”
Dombrowski added, “If you engage now, it really has to be the right acquisition for you because the closer you get to the [trade] deadline, who knows what your biggest need may be at that point due to health… If you told me we were going to stay perfectly healthy from now until July 30, well that would be one thing. But when you’ve been around enough you don’t know how that will change, so if the right opportunity came up, you do it at any time. But you also have to be careful because you only have so many bullets you can play and the chemistry of our club is extremely important, too.”
Whatever happens, the Phillies are in a good spot right now. Their young guys are taking the next step. Their stars are shining. Their hot start has already put them on the buyer’s list for the trade deadline.
And while he knew they’d be good, Dombrowski couldn’t have imagined the Phillies starting the season as strong as they have, “I would never have predicted — I don’t think anybody predicts being on May 20 that you’re 20 games above .500. I think that would be a little crazy in anybody’s respect.”
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