Ah yes, opening day for the Phillies has arrived! I am so happy! It's been a solid couple of years for the Phillies. Over the past four seasons they've averaged 92 wins, last season they had 96. They've reached the playoffs four years straight. They've increased their win totals each season starting in 2021 when they had 82. If you discount the shortened 2020 season, this goes back to 2018.

Phillies records since 2018:

2018: 80-82
2019: 81-81
shortened 2020 season: 28-32
2021: 82-80
2022: 87-75
2023: 90-72
2024: 95-67
2025: 96-66

Hopefully they can reach 100 wins in 2026, but most importantly hopefully this season ends with a World Series Championship this autumn!

It's such a comforting feeling knowing that there's seven months straight of baseball, spring to summer, summer to fall. I love the 162 game season, I think it's perfect and should never be lessened. There's real beauty in a marathon of a season like this. It's one of a kind. Everyone's attention spans are short enough as it is these days, I don't see the need to keep that trend going in society with baseball. They already added a pitch clock and altered extra innings rules to shorten games. That's good enough to me! The Olympics and World Baseball Classic is enough for people who want short, quick baseball.

With Zack Wheeler recovering from injury, Cristopher Sánchez gets the honor of being the Phillies opening day pitcher! I'm happy for Sánchez! He's been steady and reliable for the Phillies in recent seasons, and if he keeps it up a Cy Young is certainly not out of the question!

The lineup and pitching staff is going to be fairly similar as the past few seasons for the Phillies. There are a few additions that are pretty notable that we'll likely be seeing plenty of this season. Rookie Justin Crawford will get the chance to have a strong start to his career and start in center field! While veteran Adolis García will be the starting right fielder for the Phillies! García is signed to a one year, $10 million deal. He's only 33 and is a former 2x All-Star, Gold Glove winner, as well as the 2023 ALCS MVP! Hopefully he can be a clutch signing! The Phillies are also inserting top rookie prospect Andrew Painter into the rotation. The Phillies typically have a good eye for starting pitching, the hope is Painter can be the next great Phillies pitcher. With a last name like Painter, hopefully it's destiny he'll be a legend and paint corners for years to come!

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Here's some random milestones that Phillies players could snag in 2026!

Kyle Schwarber needs 10 homers to reach 350 for his career and 60 to reach 400! He needs 25 doubles to reach 200.
Bryce Harper needs 37 homers to reach 400 for his career!
Trea Turner needs 14 homers to reach 200 career homers, 18 doubles to reach 300, 59 RBI to reach 700, 2 triples to reach 50.
Starting pitcher Zack Wheeler needs 180 strikeouts to reach 2,000 and to start 17 games to reach 300 starts.
Starting pitcher Aaron Nola needs 124 strikeouts to reach 2,000 and to make 15 starts to reach 300.
Starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez needs 191 strikeouts to reach 700.
Closer Jhoan Durán needs 10 saves to reach 100.
Starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo needs 9 wins to reach 50 and 225 strikeouts to reach 1,000.
J.T. Realmuto needs 20 homers to reach 200, 21 doubles to reach 300, 134 hits to reach 1,500, 23 RBI to reach 700.
Alec Bohm needs 30 homers to reach 100 career homers! He needs 7 doubles to reach 150.
Bryson Stott needs 1 stolen base to reach 100 for his career, 1 homer to reach 50, 8 doubles to reach 100, 66 RBI to reach 300, and 18 walks to reach 200.
Brandon Marsh needs 14 hits to reach 500, 3 doubles to reach 100.
Adolis García needs 9 homers to reach 150.
Edmundo Sosa needs 79 hits to reach 400.

I am SOOOOO ready!!!!

#GOPHILLIES

I just want to mention, for the record, I hope the Athletics do well too! They've struggled for awhile and the franchise has been in a rut but they are firmly my #2 team. I'll always support the Phillies first by far though, and if in some wild universe the Phillies played the A's in the World Series, I'll root for the Phillies but ultimately that would kinda be a win-win for me. It is a bit odd to have two teams but I feel weird truly abandoning the A's fully. The Phillies are always number one, I'm from the area and they are just a part of me. But life's too short, who cares if I have a second favorite LOL. I don't really follow A's closely but I always support them from afar. Baseball is the only sport where I have a second team I care about. There's a good likelihood that I won't post about the A's on my blog this season, it just feels good and important to me to show them some love a bit. I suppose if the A's were good or had some superstar I may post about them more often here and there, while I'll always post about the Phillies, even if they were to go 0-162.

Strange, but life is strange! Maybe one day I'll wake up and have the desire to post about both teams!

In fact that could be fun. Something to think about! We'll see. I might just exercise free will and write about both teams. Be the first Phillies/A's blogger to exist! I know, groundbreaking stuff!

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