{"id":214211,"date":"2025-10-10T12:04:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T12:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/214211\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T12:04:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T12:04:09","slug":"what-comes-next-for-phillies-core-after-3-years-of-postseason-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/214211\/","title":{"rendered":"What comes next for Phillies\u2019 core after 3 years of postseason pain?"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 After the fireworks exploded, after Orion Kerkering bent to his knees in despair, after the Los Angeles Dodgers mobbed the field and claimed the National League Division Series with a 2-1 walk-off win<\/a> in Game 4, the Phillies processed it all in the Dodger Stadium visitors clubhouse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Phillies lined the room, sitting at their lockers and nursing beers. Some chatted softly. Others stared straight ahead.\u00a0And there, navigating among bags overflowing with gear and laundry carts and the crushing silence, was Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. He greeted Kyle Schwarber and chatted with him. Then he crossed the room and patted J.T. Realmuto on the shoulder. <\/p>\n

Realmuto, the first person to embrace Kerkering after the reliever\u2019s season-ending error<\/a>, was emotional as he spoke to Dombrowski. The season, and potentially Realmuto\u2019s and Schwarber\u2019s time with the Phillies, was over.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like our group, even though we were down two games (before a win in Game 3), we\u2019ve shown that we\u2019ve been able to overcome a lot of different things,\u201d Schwarber said. \u201cDeep down in my heart, I thought this was the team that was going to do it and overcome that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The weight of it all ending on a walk-off error after 11 innings of little offense was overwhelming. So was the enormity of all that was lost, an era that has ended. Winter has come early for this group that boasts a two-time MVP, a two-time NL batting champion, the 2025 NL home run leader and one of the sport\u2019s best rotations. <\/p>\n

The group has one goal \u2014 hoisting a World Series trophy \u2014 and it has been unattainable. Roster and coaching shakeups could soon be underway, as the Phillies must reckon with all that has gone wrong after exiting in the NLDS two years in a row. <\/p>\n

The Phillies\u2019 core, largely together since its 2022 World Series run, will likely be different. Realmuto and Schwarber will be free agents, though they could return to Philadelphia. Ranger Su\u00e1rez, who signed with the club as a 16-year-old in 2012, also will be a free agent. The club could make other roster changes, seeking a new look for its aging core and the surrounding pieces after years of postseason futility.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those conversations will take place in the weeks to come. Thursday evening, for the Phillies, was simply about being present after a gut-wrenching loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re never going to have the same group of guys again,\u201d Jes\u00fas Luzardo said. \u201cThat\u2019s the tough part.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, Bryson Stott, Garrett Stubbs and Trea Turner were among those nursing beers together, for what could be the last time, about an hour after the Dodgers\u2019 on-field celebration. They have seen a lot; the glow of a World Series run in 2022 (minus Turner), a haunting loss in the 2023 NL Championship Series, offensive droughts in the NLDS two years straight. Still, Turner feels this group can turn the corner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got it all,\u201d said Turner, who won a World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019. \u201cIt\u2019s not always the roster or the talent or all that. It\u2019s who plays the best this time of year. We just haven\u2019t gotten it done. Are we capable of it? A hundred percent. We\u2019ve beaten really good teams and we\u2019ve lost to some teams that we probably should beat on paper, but that\u2019s on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, what comes next?\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The Phillies will extend the qualifying offer to Realmuto, Schwarber and Su\u00e1rez, and all will likely decline. The Phillies have made clear they want to re-sign Schwarber, one of the sport\u2019s best hitters<\/a> and a key leader in the clubhouse. Realmuto, still one of the top catchers in the game at 34, would be valuable to re-sign \u2014 especially with a lack of organizational catching depth. Su\u00e1rez\u2019s price might be more than the Phillies would like to pay, especially with their other front-line starters under contract and top prospect Andrew Painter further removed from the ups and downs<\/a> following Tommy John surgery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Teammates all agreed after Thursday\u2019s brutal loss: They would love to retain the club\u2019s soon-to-be free agents if possible. But the Phillies\u2019 clubhouse, filled with veterans, is well aware that business decisions fuel everything. Players will look out for their interests, and so will the organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want everyone back,\u201d Turner said. \u201cWe have a great group. We talk about it all the time, but it\u2019s not fake. We love hanging out with each other. We built great clubhouse chemistry<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to have Ranger back,\u201d Game 4 starter Cristopher S\u00e1nchez said. \u201cI mean, he\u2019s one of my brothers here. Kyle, too. J.T., too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Ranger Su\u00e1rez, 30, has been with the Phillies organization since signing with the club at 16 years old. (Ronald Martinez \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

As for the free agents themselves? Su\u00e1rez said he\u2019d like to stay with the club, but it will come down to his agent, Scott Boras, and the team. Realmuto did not want to talk about his contract. \u201cI\u2019m thinking about losing a baseball game,\u201d the veteran catcher said. \u201cThat\u2019s what it feels like right now. The last thing I\u2019m thinking about is next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schwarber, throughout the season, said he preferred to leave contract negotiations until the offseason. He is one for staying in the moment, saying he\u2019d reflect on his historic, 56-home run season when all was said and done. When it all came to a halt on Thursday, he changed his tune. He looked back.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey become family,\u201d Schwarber, 32, said of his teammates. \u201cThese guys all know how I feel about them. I\u2019ve got a lot of respect for the guys in here, in our organization, the coaches \u2014 everyone top to bottom. This is a premier organization. And a lot of people should feel very lucky that you\u2019re playing for a team that is trying to win every single year, and you have a fan base that cares and ownership that cares and coaches that care. You have everyone in the room that cares. We\u2019re all about winning, and it\u2019s a great thing. That\u2019s why it hurts as much as any other year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Kyle Schwarber, a key team leader, has hit 187 homers for the Phillies since joining the club in 2022. (Norm Hall \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

It is the pursuit of winning and just how good the Phillies are at accomplishing the task during the regular season that makes their situation all the more puzzling, and all the more pressing to fix. They have regressed or treaded water in the postseason for three years. And, from 2024 to 2025, much of the roster remained the same. The group earned the NL\u2019s second-best record this season and won 96 games. But again, the Phillies failed in October.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The front office will make decisions about who to keep, who to sign, who to trade. The players who remain will use this failure to drive them through offseason work into spring training, through the regular season, to next October.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The sting of October futility is why Su\u00e1rez, who pitched an excellent five innings<\/a> in Wednesday\u2019s win, was the last man on the dugout bench Thursday after the Dodgers walked it off. He watched the mob, the fireworks, the players experiencing the joy of advancing that he felt with the Phillies in postseasons past.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It all feels distant now. All the Phillies players are left with is the memory of watching the Dodgers\u2019 celebration before sipping beers as the sadness settled. And with the stark reality, given their shortcomings: The Opening Day clubhouse may look very different from the group that left for Los Angeles earlier this week. <\/p>\n

The newness of Opening Day, the shine of postseasons past, are far away. There is only the sense of crushing defeat, the stillness of a clubhouse that just a month ago hosted a raucous party after clinching the NL East, the questions of roster building to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 After the fireworks exploded, after Orion Kerkering bent to his knees in despair, after the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214212,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,480,99],"class_list":["post-214211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}