The Philadelphia Phillies have regressed since their World Series appearance in 2022.
In 2023, the Phillies held leads of 2-0 and 3-2 in the NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks, only to lose the final two games at home in excruciating fashion.
In 2024, the Phillies captured their first National League East title since 2011 and earned a first-round bye, only to be upset by the rival New York Mets in the NLDS.
The biggest culprit in these playoff exits? A sputtering offense. In Games 6 and 7 of the NLCS against Arizona, the Phillies managed just three runs on 11 hits at Citizens Bank Park. The following year proved even worse, as the team scored only 12 runs — including seven in one game — while hitting a putrid .186 with a .597 OPS and striking out 38 times.
While fans have criticized the offense’s tendency to disappear in critical moments, Phillies owner John Middleton offered a surprising take on why the team hasn’t won a championship in the last two seasons.
John Middleton believes Philadelphia Phillies would’ve won World Series if this player never got hurt
In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber, Middleton claimed the Phillies would have won if top pitching prospect Andrew Painter hadn’t suffered an elbow injury requiring Tommy John surgery in 2023.
Painter was favored to become the No. 5 starter entering the 2023 season when he was only 19 but was shut down after just one spring training start. The subsequent Tommy John surgery cost him the remainder of 2023 and all of 2024.
“If Andrew Painter had been pitching for us for those two seasons before he hurt his arm, we might have won the World Series and won it more than once,” Middleton said. “Having Andrew Painter even coming out of the bullpen in ’23 or ’24 would have changed games, frankly.”
Given the Phillies’ offensive struggles, it’s difficult to imagine how much difference Painter could have made with the team scuffling to score runs.
Phillies fans won’t have to wait much longer to see Painter in action. The now 21-year-old is expected to make his major league debut in July, with the team carefully monitoring his workload in hopes of having him available for October baseball.
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