READING, Pa. — The ball clanged off a light pole in right-center field, sending the announced crowd of 7,010 into a frenzy. It had been 31 years since the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils had won an outright Eastern League title, and the fans in attendance could sense that another one was coming after the clutch swing.

Locked in a tie with Erie in the bottom of the sixth in Game 2 of the best-of-three championship series, Fightins catcher Caleb Ricketts stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. He battled against right-hander Colin Fields, then clobbered a full-count cutter over the middle of the plate. He delivered the go-ahead grand slam that lifted Reading to an eventual 13-4 victory and an Eastern League crown on Tuesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.

“That feeling was pretty unbelievable,” Ricketts said. “I’m glad I got to do my part and help us win, and we had a great team effort the whole time. I’m just fired up that we were able to win the whole thing.”

Ricketts has been part of Philadelphia’s organization since 2022, when he was drafted in the seventh round out of the University of San Diego. He reached Double-A Reading in 2024, repeated the level last year and split this season between Triple-A Lehigh Valley and the Fightins.

Last fall, the Phillies had Ricketts participate in their “stay-ready” camp at Lehigh Valley during the postseason, keeping in baseball shape in case the big-league team needed an emergency replacement. He played first base with the Phillies in an intrasquad scrimmage at Citizens Bank Park before the 2025 National League Division Series. Earlier this season, he had a 4-for-4 performance for the IronPigs with two doubles and two home runs, including a walk-off shot.

But no moment in the 26-year-old’s professional career could compare to what happened on Tuesday.

“That’s the one guy we’re (most) happy for,” Fightins manager Al Pedrique said, “because he got sent down. He was a little disappointed. But then he talked to the hitting coach. He made some adjustments with his swing. His makeup was outstanding since he came back, and I’m happy that he was the one that came through on the big hit for the team.”

Ricketts began the year with the IronPigs, then returned to the Fightins in June with a .173 batting average at Triple-A. Overall, he hit .216 with 15 home runs and a .658 OPS in 97 games between Reading and Lehigh Valley. He ultimately finished at a lower level than he started, but he stayed healthy this season after spending three stints on the injured list in 2024 and breaking his hand in 2025.

The left-handed hitter had a .773 OPS in 54 games for the Fightins and helped the club earn its first Eastern League postseason berth since 2019 with a 40-28 record in the second half. After Reading defeated Hartford in the first round of the playoffs, Ricketts drove in the sole run in a 1-0 Fightins win in Game 1 on Sunday. Two days later, he recorded the biggest hit of Reading’s season.

The Fightins trailed 3-2 in the sixth inning when they put their first three runners on base. Designated hitter Carson DeMartini drew a walk to bring in a run and even the score. That set the table for Ricketts, who came up an out later and didn’t miss his pitch to hit.

“I blacked out,” infielder and top hitting prospect Aidan Miller said. “I was on third base. I knew it was gone, and me and (bench coach) Marty (Malloy) were yelling at each other. It was just so cool.”

Reading kept piling on, and DeMartini fully broke Game 2 open with a grand slam of his own in the eighth. The Fightins celebrated. They popped bottles, drank beers and hopped in the swimming pool in right field after clinching. They continued the party that Ricketts started and took it deep into the night.

“I don’t have too many words,” Ricketts said. “It’s just excitement that I was able to help us have all this and celebrate as a group, because we did such a great job as a team the whole season.”

READING, Pa. — Aidan Miller was still wearing his uniform pants and a red sleeve on his right arm when he hopped shirtless into the pool just beyond the fence in right field at FirstEnergy Stadium. The infielder cheered. He yelled at outfielder Dante Nori to get back in the water. He splashed teammates, coaches, employees and reporters. At the end of a tough season, Miller had a wide smile as Reading Fightin Phils players enjoyed their bubbly celebration.

After missing the first five months of the year with a back injury, Miller returned to action in September. He played one game for Single-A Clearwater, then joined Double-A Reading for the stretch run and postseason. On Tuesday night, with the help of some key contributions from Miller, the Fightins defeated the Erie SeaWolves 13-4 to win Game 2 of a best-of-three championship series to clinch their first outright Eastern League title since 1995.

With the way it all played out, the victory seemed like it had a bit of extra significance for Miller.

“When the season starts, it’s all our goals,” Miller said of winning a championship. “So being in rehab all year and then getting to be a part of this at the end just makes it so much sweeter.”

Miller, a first-round draft pick in 2023 and Philadelphia’s top hitting prospect, spent most of the 2025 season with the Fightins before reaching Triple-A Lehigh Valley to close out the campaign. He likely would have begun this year with the IronPigs, but he was shut down before even appearing in a spring training game. On June 3, the Phillies announced that Miller would undergo radiofrequency ablation of the facet joints, a nonsurgical procedure that was supposed to keep him out for six to eight weeks.

Thirteen weeks later, on Sept. 5, Miller was reinstated from the injured list and sent to Clearwater to make his season debut. He was bumped up to Reading after one game. He played three games during the final series of the regular season, and the Fightins earned a postseason berth with a 40-28 second-half record. Miller appeared in all four playoff games for Reading, and he felt healthy doing so.

“I feel great,” Miller said Tuesday afternoon. “The body feels amazing. It’s in a really, really good spot. I’m knocking the rust off playing, getting back and getting my feet wet again out there. It’s been good. I’m starting to really get back into the groove of baseball, and I think playing for a championship helps that.”

The 22-year-old went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and three runs scored in Reading’s blowout Game 2 win. With the team trailing by two early, he drove in Nori with a double down the line and later scored on a wild pitch. He made an error that allowed a run in the next inning, but he made up for it with another hit in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The right-handed hitter was on base when catcher Caleb Ricketts hit the go-ahead grand slam before Reading ran away with it. Miller was on the field as the Fightins closed out the series and season.

“We’re very happy for him,” Reading manager Al Pedrique said, “and he showed the makeup, what he’s made of. He wasn’t with the team. He was almost out a year without playing, and finally he got back. He got healthy. Once he stepped in the clubhouse, the whole team was excited about him, because we knew what he went through. I managed him last year. He’s a great kid, and we’re very happy that he had the opportunity to be part of this championship.”

Miller said he knew during his recovery that he’d be able to play at some point before the season was over, and he “fought” to be ready to rejoin the Fightins for the playoffs. He went 4-for-13 in the Eastern League postseason as Reading swept the competition.

“It’s amazing, man,” Miller said. “These guys battled all year, and I was only here for a short time. But just to be a part of it, be a part of a championship that hasn’t been done here in so long, is awesome, and I’m so happy for this team.”

This was definitely not the season Miller would have drawn up. His back issues cost him a lot of at-bats in a developmental year and perhaps a chance to crack the Phillies’ big-league roster if all had gone right. Still, he managed to finish on a high note and take the three-foot plunge in the heated pool.

“It’s just staying resilient, man,” Miller said. “No matter how the year started, the fact that I’m back here, I’m back healthy and got the ultimate goal, which is the championship, means the world to me.”

PHILADELPHIA — Three batters in, Zack Wheeler reached a big career strikeout milestone. A little over an inning later, he broke the Phillies franchise record for the most consecutive strikeouts to begin a game with seven.

Wheeler’s first inning strikeout of Brice Turang was the 2,000th of his 12-year MLB career. He is the 96th pitcher in MLB history to strike out 2,000 batters. The last Phillies pitcher to reach 2,000 strikeouts was Aaron Nola on Aug. 8.

He said after the game that he knew going in to his start that he was three away from 2,000. It was a proud moment for him because he knew where he came from.

Once a young pitcher who struggled to throw strikes and stay healthy, Wheeler, at age 36 and a year removed from a major injury, is still at the top of his game.

“It’s really cool,” Wheeler said. “Special. Some of the guys asked me in here, ‘Would you ever have thought?’ The answer is no. Getting to the league, just trying to get your feet under you. Trying to last. Game to game early on, just trying to stay up in the big leagues. Trying to figure out how to throw strikes, that was hard for me. And just being where I’m at now, it’s pretty special.

“Huge thank you to all the catchers that I’ve had along the way to help me get here. Coaches and the guys that play behind me, it means a lot to me and I really appreciate everybody’s effort around me.”

The strikeouts kept coming. He struck out the side again in the second and came back out in the third to strike out Luis Lara swinging. That strikeout broke Brandon Duckworth’s Aug. 5, 2002 Phillies record of six straight strikeouts to begin a game.

The Brewers finally put a ball in play eight batters in, when Cooper Pratt grounded out to the third baseman Bryson Stott. Wheeler finished the game with 11 strikeouts.

Milwaukee recorded their first hit of the game in the fourth inning on a short fly ball behind third base from Garrett Mitchell that hit Stott’s glove. Mitchell later came around to score on a sacrifice fly from William Contreras.

The Phillies won the game over the Brewers 6-4, but Wheeler came out of it with a no-decision. He allowed a two-run single to Contreras that tied the game in the fifth. He was later lifted in the inning for Tim Mayza, who got the last out on a one-pitch groundout.

Wheeler said that the pitch he threw to Contreras that scored two, a low sinker in and off the plate, bothered him. He wanted that pitch inside, but higher.

“That’s probably what I was most upset about tonight,” Wheeler said. “Probably the pitch I hate the most so far this season.”

With the game tied 3-3 in the eighth, the Phillies scored three with two outs. A second run scored on a clutch Stott single when a throw from center field kicked off the foot of Alec Bohm, who rounded third and scored on the play.

Brandon Marsh drove home the third run of the inning on a double off the right field wall. Tuesday was the first multi-hit game for Marsh since Aug. 21.

“It’s been a rough go over the second half,” Marsh said. “But it’s just baseball. Everyone goes through it. Tonight was a lot of fun. We’ve got to carry this momentum into tomorrow.”

The Phillies’ magic number to make the postseason is down to two. They can clinch as early as tomorrow with a win on Wednesday night and another Arizona Diamondbacks loss, either tonight or on Wednesday. Aaron Nola will on the mound for Philadelphia. Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson gets the ball for Milwaukee.

PHILADELPHIA — A week from the start of the postseason and the Philadelphia Phillies are still fighting to get in. They’re also fighting to get two of their pitchers back on the mound.

Jesús Luzardo and Jonathan Bowlan are both progressing from their respective injuries. Luzardo is on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation. Bowlan is not on the injured list, but the Phillies are staying away from him as he battles a groin injury.

“(Luzardo’s) continuing to throw and continuing to feel good, so it’s still trending in the right direction for us,” interim manager Don Mattingly said.

The left-hander started throwing over the weekend in New York and played catch Monday and Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies are still unsure when Luzardo will throw off a mound. But the signs are good.

“He feels good every day,” Mattingly said. “He hasn’t come back with any kind of inflammation or lack of range or anything like that, so it’s been good.”

Bowlan’s in similar territory.

“He’s been throwing,” Mattingly said about the big right-hander. “I don’t know about in a game yet, but he’s been throwing and doing better every day.

Thursday’s starting pitching plan

Zack Wheeler will get the start Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers. Aaron Nola is slated to start Wednesday. The Phillies have yet to officially schedule a starter for the series finale.

“We’ve kind of talked about it,” Mattingly said. “I don’t know. It’s still TBD at this moment, but we’re talking about it.”

Staying in rotation would make Thursday’s game a bullpen game for Philadelphia. After Monday’s off day, they could move Andrew Painter up a day so he pitches on regular rest. Or they could look for someone like José Urquidy to take down multiple innings like he did last Friday.

The Phillies’ magic number to secure a postseason spot is three. They could clinch a spot as soon as Wednesday. Doing so would help. They could look to try some things at that point, like getting Painter relief experience ahead of a potential best-of-three wild-card series where he likely wouldn’t start a game. But for now, they have to focus on getting in.

“I’d like to win a game tonight and then go on from there,” Mattingly said. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s any time to be experimenting. It’s really more about: let’s win a game.”

In their last two series of the regular season, the Phillies will host the top team from both the National and American League. This final homestand gets underway Tuesday, as a three-game series begins against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The magic number for the Phillies (86-70) to clinch a postseason berth is 3, with six games left to play. While three combined Phillies wins and/or Diamondbacks losses in the next week feels like a near certainty, it is nevertheless crucial that Philadelphia officially clinches a spot as soon as possible. 

If they claim a fifth consecutive playoff berth this week against the Brewers, the upcoming weekend series against Tampa Bay could be used to give Phillies pitchers some final tune-up outings, while also allowing Zack Wheeler to be held back for a wild card series. Wheeler is currently lined up to pitch Tuesday night, as well as in Game 162 on Sunday if necessary.

In terms of seeding, the Phillies sit in the third NL wild card spot, which would send them to Atlanta for a wild card series against the Braves if the season ended today. But they are just one game back of the Cubs and Padres, who are also battling for seeding in the wild card standings.

The top spot is of particular importance, as it would give that team home field advantage in a wild card series, something that all three teams with their passionate fanbases would benefit from. The Phillies possess tiebreaker privileges over the Padres, while the Cubs hold tiebreakers over both Philadelphia and San Diego.

The Brewers (98-58), meanwhile, have much less to play for. Having clinched the NL Central a week ago and already set a new franchise record for wins in a season, the only remaining stake for Milwaukee is to clinch the top seed in the NL over the Dodgers. Currently, the Brewers sit two games up on Los Angeles and hold the tiebreaker.

Jacob Misiorowski, this year’s likely NL Cy Young Award winner, started for Milwaukee on Sunday, meaning the Phillies will miss him. At home this week, against an opponent that has already clinched, the Phillies will have a golden opportunity to take a series from a possible playoff opponent.

The two teams last met in June at American Family Field, with Milwaukee taking two games out of three that weekend. This week, the Phillies and Brewers will play a trio of night games at Citizens Bank Park, where the weather has started to feel like fall.  

All three games will be broadcast locally. Tom McCarthy is back in the booth for the entirety of this series. This will be John Kruk’s final series in the television broadcast booth this year. Here’s when and where you can watch the series on TV:

• Tuesday, September 22, at 6:40 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Wednesday, September 23, at 6:40 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Thursday, September 24, at 6:05 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia

READING, Pa. — Double-A Reading’s pursuit of an Eastern League title will have to come without the Phillies’ top pitching prospect for the final series of the season.

Right-hander Gage Wood, a first-round pick in last year’s draft, will not appear in the team’s best-of-three championship series, Fightins manager Al Pedrique said before Tuesday’s Game 2 against Erie at FirstEnergy Stadium. After beating the SeaWolves on the road to take a 1-0 series lead on Sunday, Reading will send former Penn Quakers righty Ryan Dromboski to the mound on Tuesday night with a chance to clinch. Right-hander Cody Bowker is listed as the club’s probable starter for a potential Game 3.

“That’s something that we’re going to handle internally,” Pedrique said of Wood not participating in the championship series. “That’s something that the organization thought was best for Wood, not to pitch right now. We’re happy. We respect the decision. We just got to move forward, and that’s what it takes.”

Wood, the No. 1 Phillies prospect in Phillies Nation‘s latest rankings, started for the Fightins in their playoff opener last Tuesday, allowing three runs over four innings in a 21-4 Reading blowout victory. He was then transferred to the development list on Sunday in a move that took him off the team’s active roster. Pedrique said that Wood feels “fine.”

The 22-year-old Wood began his first full season as a professional with Single-A Clearwater, then made the jump straight to Reading in May while skipping over High-A. He had a 3.42 ERA in eight starts for the Threshers. While still displaying his electric arsenal, he was not as productive at Double-A. He posted a 4.72 ERA in 17 regular-season outings for the Fightins.

In college at Arkansas last year, Wood threw just 37 2/3 innings as he was limited due to a shoulder injury. He pitched an additional two innings in the minor leagues after he was drafted. In 2026, Wood has thrown 99 innings between the regular season and playoffs. The 6-foot starter with a power fastball has not thrown more than five innings in a start this season.

Asked if Wood’s exclusion from the plans for the championship series was due to an injury or innings limit, Pedrique declined to provide further detail while maintaining that the young pitcher is “fine.”

“I’d rather just keep it internally,” Pedrique said. “I’d rather not make any comments about it. He’s fine. Like I said, there was a decision made from the top, and we’ll respect that. And we got plenty of guys on the team that can help us contribute and go from there.”

The Fightins, who finished with the best second-half record in their division at 40-28, bounced back from a 30-39 first half to earn their first playoff appearance since 2019. Reading has not won an outright Eastern League championship since 1995, and its last title came in 2001, when the franchise was declared a co-champion following the cancellation of the finals.

While they won’t have Wood on the field, the Fightins are in an excellent position to claim the Eastern League over Erie, with two tries to get one win at home.

“I’m very proud of this team,” Pedrique said, “the whole coaching staff, medical people, conditioning, players. I would say: great year, great second half. And now to put ourselves in this situation: winning tonight, we clinch and win the championship, that’s outstanding.”

The Phillies honored a breakout, power-hitting shortstop prospect and a rookie reliever who worked his way up to the big-league bullpen as their minor-league player and pitcher of the year, respectively.

Infielder Bryan Rincon and right-hander Alex McFarlane were named the winners of the Paul Owens Award for the 2026 season, the club announced Monday morning. The two players will receive their awards before Philadelphia’s game against the Brewers on Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park.

Rincon, 22, hit .267 with 26 home runs and a .927 OPS, all career highs, in 118 games for Double-A Reading. Regarded for his glove heading into the season, he impressed with his pop and overall offensive production. The switch-hitting former 14th-round draft pick led the minor leagues with 10 leadoff home runs and helped get the Fightins to their first playoff appearance since 2019. Reading has taken a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Eastern League championship series, which will resume on Tuesday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.

“Bryan Rincon is a rare combination of shortstop defense, on-base ability and slug,” Phillies assistant general manager and former farm director Luke Murton said in a release. “He has always been a steady defender, and this year we really saw him break out on the offensive side of the ball. There are very few players 22 or younger at the double-A level who have produced offensively the way Bryan has while also having the ability to defend shortstop at a high level. We’re extremely proud of the year he’s had, and we look forward to Phillies fans getting a taste of what we’ve been fortunate enough to see from Bryan as his career continues to unfold.”

The 25-year-old McFarlane spent much of the season in Reading as well, posting a 2.06 ERA in 32 outings with 12 saves for the Fightins. He made his major-league debut in July with a scoreless inning against the Dodgers, then tossed four shutout appearances for Triple-A Lehigh Valley after that. McFarlane returned to the big leagues last month and has established himself as one of the few trusted arms in Philadelphia’s bullpen.

The rookie has a 2.35 ERA in 16 games for the Phillies. He figures to be a critical arm on the bridge to All-Star closer Jhoan Duran in the final week of the regular season and into the postseason, should the club qualify.

“Alex McFarlane is one of the hardest-working pitchers in our organization,” Murton said. “When you combine an arm like his with that type of work ethic, it was only a matter of time before he broke out. Alex has done a tremendous job improving the quality of both his fastball and slider while also throwing more strikes. His commitment to continuing to develop has quickly translated into success, which a lot of Philadelphia has already had the opportunity to appreciate.”

The Phillies also announced that Greg Brodzinski, coordinator of their minor-league complex in Florida, will receive the 2026 John Vukovich Award as the top instructor in their player-development system, and Carlos Salas, coordinator of scouting in Latin America, will receive the Dallas Green Award as the top scout in the organization.

Cristopher Sánchez turned his back as Don Mattingly walked to the mound. Sánchez, with his pitch count at 98 in the seventh inning, had a runner on first and one out. But Mattingly wanted to go to rookie Alex McFarlane, his most trusted high leverage arm outside of Jhoan Duran.

Sánchez stared into center field. He eventually looked over his shoulder and gave the ball to Mattingly. He screamed as he walked back to the dugout and shook his head as he watched the remainder of the inning from the dugout.

McFarlane, with two outs and two runners on, blew three fastballs right by Juan Soto for the final out of the inning. He may have gone back out for the eighth, but the Phillies scored three runs in the top half of the inning. Mattingly instead went to Chase Shugart in the eighth and José Alvarado in the ninth. Both relievers threw scoreless innings. All three helped preserve Sánchez’s league-leading 18th win of the season and a 7-2 Phillies win over the New York Mets on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.

Sánchez may have been perturbed by what he perceived to be an early pull, but he pitched well when he was in the game. That’s all that really matters for the Phillies, who desperately need the best version of Sánchez to show up next week in the wild card round.

After allowing 18 hits in his last two starts, Sánchez bounced back. After doing a deep dive on his recent mechanical issues, Sánchez limited traffic on the bases and had his signature changeup going.

His next scheduled start is Saturday at home against the Tampa Bay Rays. He’ll have to pitch if the Phillies haven’t clinched yet. With the win, the Phillies’ magic number to make the postseason is 3. Seeding, and an opportunity to host the wild card series, could be on the line.

If they do clinch in the next few days, the Phillies could opt to rest him and get him ready for the postseason. The Phillies could also move his start up a day to Friday with the off day on Monday and have him pitch on regular rest for Game 2 of a potential wild card series. How the Phillies manage their rotation over the last weekend will be interesting. Both Sánchez and Zack Wheeler are lined up to pitch the final two games of the year. They will have to find someone who can eat innings.

The Phillies broke the game wide open in the eighth on a bases-clearing triple by Justin Crawford. Prior to Crawford’s big hit, all of the Phillies offense came in the first three innings. They scored twice in the first on a Luis Arraez sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Alec Bohm. The two runs in the third broke an odd streak of five consecutive games in which the Phillies scored exactly three runs.

The Phillies will head back to Philadelphia for the start of the final homestand of the regular season on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers. Pending the results of the Diamondbacks vs. Yankees game, the Phillies could clinch at home as early as Tuesday night. Wheeler will get the start for the Phillies in the opening game.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Tristan Garnett had his number called in a less than ideal spot when he came out for the sixth inning for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in a lopsided 8-0 contest against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sept. 1. By the time the inning was over, the RailRiders had doubled their lead over the IronPigs.

Garnett retired the frame’s first two hitters, but walked three and surrendered three consecutive base hits before being pulled for position player Steward Berroa. After Berroa allowed a grand slam that scored the remainder of the baserunners charged to Garnett, the left-handed pitcher finished with a line of six earned runs surrendered on 34 pitches and just 15 for strikes.

After previously tossing 1 2/3 innings with no earned runs in his first two IronPig appearances of 2026, Garnett said he came back from the rough outing knowing just how to flush it out.

“Even the really really bad ones, I think everybody’s due for one of those once or twice in their career,” Garnett said. “Especially in moments with that much adversity, the most important thing to do is to just get back on the horse the next day and go about your business like you did the previous day.”

Garnett, 28, has not allowed a run in his three appearances out of the bullpen since. His Triple-A ERA sits at 11.57 on the year, but having pitched four out of 4 2/3 of his innings without an earned run, his Sept. 1 has been somewhat of an outlier.

He’s exclusively entered games in low-leverage relief situations, but he’s served as yet another consistent option for manager Chris Adamson to turn to out of the bullpen.

The 6-foot-6 left-hander said his greatest strength on the mound is his “unique arm angle.”

“I like to throw my changeup a lot, but my mentality is to just go after guys and attack them,” Garnett said.

This marks Garnett’s third and longest stint with the IronPigs, having joined the team on Aug. 20 after posting a 5.17 ERA in 32 games for Double-A Reading. He pitched a game each for Lehigh Valley in 2024 and 2025 — both after stints on the 60-day injured list after starting the season for the Fightins.

After an oblique injury sustained during spring training sidelined him for the first three months of the 2025 season, Garnett pitched all of 2026 without any stints on the IL; he noted that making it through the year healthy was an important box for him to check.

“Anybody who’s had an oblique injury knows that they are very difficult and come with a lot of nuances, and you don’t realize how involved obliques are in every single human action until you tear one,” he said. “I grew a lot stronger from it, and it gave me a lot of insight on how to protect my body going forward.”

Garnett’s no stranger to working on the back end. He made the most of his sole year of varsity baseball for Westview High School in Portland, Oregon, finishing the year ranked as the No. 2 left-handed pitcher in the state.

In two years primarily as a starting pitcher for Division II California State University Dominguez Hills, Garnett posted a 7-7 record with a 4.56 ERA, and subsequently signed with the Phillies organization after going undrafted in 2021.

The 6-foot-6 left-hander progressed through Single-A ball in 2022, finding his groove in the bullpen with a 1.80 ERA across Low-A Clearwater and High-A Jersey Shore, before reaching Double-A in 2023. 

“There are lessons you learn at every single level when you’re in the minor leagues, and I think even in moments where you feel like the world’s coming down on you, it’s important to remind yourself that you’re there to learn and grow,” Garnett said. “As long as you do both out of those, then it’s a small notch in the grand scheme of things.”

Along the way, he made stops at the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League in 2024 and Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Puerto Rican Winter League in 2025. Garnett cited both stints as key to his development, noting he got to compete against other younger minor league talent, some of which have gone on to the big leagues since.

“Getting that nod was a very important aspect for me to just understand that I’m capable of pitching at the highest level,” he said. “It was a depth of knowledge that I’ve been able to carry with me since then in my career.”

While only time will tell whether or not Garnett carved out a role for himself at Triple-A going forward, he’ll leave the 2026 season having shown he’s healthy and ready wherever the Phillies organization needs him.

NEW YORK — The Phillies are sounding the alarm on Orion Kerkering.

Kerkering, pitching on back-to-back days, allowed four runs in the eighth inning in a lopsided 10-3 loss to the New York Mets on Saturday. Kerkering is far from the Phillies’ lone pitching problem, but the recent results are hard to ignore.

The Phillies agree. They optioned Kerkering to Triple-A following the game, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. Kerkering was tapped on the shoulder by a Phillies coach in the visiting clubhouse at Citi Field postgame. He met with interim manager Don Mattingly for a few minutes, who delivered the news.

It’s the first time in his career he has been optioned to the minor leagues. It’s a testament to Kerkering’s consistency over his four seasons with the club and the Phillies’ belief in the 25-year-old reliever. But now is the time for a reset.

Mattingly went to Kerkering with the Phillies down by three runs in the eighth. He did not want to use Alex McFarlane or Jhoan Duran with the Phillies trailing by multiple runs. The only other available reliever in the bullpen, Tim Mayza, pitched on back-to-back days. He was warming up by the end of the inning.

Kerkering began the inning allowing a single to Marcus Semien and a walk to Brett Baty. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. The No. 9 batter, Ronny Mauricio, was hit by a pitch to load the bases for the top of the order. He walked Francisco Lindor on four pitches, and the Mets kept the line moving with three straight singles. Kerkering caught a bad break on the last hit, as Carson Benge reached on a swinging bunt up the third-base line. Bryson Stott waited for it to go foul.

Nothing was going Kerkering’s way. What’s Mattingly’s level of concern?

“Pretty high degree of worry about him,” Mattingly said.

A typically laid back Mattingly voiced some frustration after the game.

“You have to be able to use him there,” Mattingly said. “In a game like that. Not going to try to chase a three-run deficit in that inning. Yeah, it’s hard to find places to use him.”

Kerkering, who says his recent bout with turf toe is not to blame for his struggles, is far from the Phillies’ only problem on the pitching side.

The biggest concern is the health of Jesús Luzardo. The Phillies will know more about his status for the postseason in the coming days. He has not yet resumed throwing. Mattingly and Luzardo are both projecting optimism.

“(Luzardo is) smiling a little bit more, so that tells you he is feeling better,” Mattingly said.

The pitching depth with the postseason a little over a week away is dangerously thin. A day after a planned bullpen day, the Phillies essentially had to run another one with Andrew Painter going only 5 1/3 innings.

Brooks Raley, the Phillies’ lone healthy pitching acquisition at the trade deadline, has been a disaster. The seldomly used left-hander gave up two runs in relief of Painter against his former team. He has an 8.71 ERA in just 10 1/3 innings pitched.

Outside of McFarlane, the Phillies don’t have a trusted arm to come out of the bullpen with runners on. With José Alvarado having much better numbers against righties than lefties this year, they also don’t have a true left-hander to match up against the opposing team’s best left-handed hitter late in games.

Jonathan Bowlan, after suffering a “mild” groin strain in the series opener against New York, will presumably be unavailable out of the bullpen for at least a few days. The Phillies are holding off placing him on the injured list for now. Putting him on the IL would rule him out for the wild card series.

Kerkering’s struggles, the need for a fresh arm to get through Sunday (presuming the game is played due to rain), and his status as a pitcher with minor league options, necessitated the need to make a call. A corresponding move has not yet been announced. The IronPigs’ season ends on Sunday.

Nestor Cortes is presumably not an option to be added to the roster right away. He pitched three innings for Lehigh Valley on Saturday. Kyle Backhus and Grant Holman, two other pitchers on the 40-man roster, also pitched Saturday and are not yet eligible to be recalled. Max Lazar is the most likely candidate to be added to the big league roster.

NEW YORK — Don Mattingly isn’t quite ready to give Edmundo Sosa more at-bats, but he’s making a case to be in the lineup a little more often. The Phillies utility man went 3-for-3 with a home run and was a triple short of the cycle in a 6-3 loss on Friday night against the New York Mets.

He did not get the chance to go for a cycle. With the right-hander Dedniel Nuñez on the mound, Sosa was replaced by pinch hitter Brandon Marsh. Marsh, who has the worst OPS in baseball since July 1, flew out to left field for the first out of the ninth inning.

Why did Mattingly take out the hot hand? His answer gives some insight on how he’ll approach other lineup decisions as the postseason nears.

“I thought about (keeping Sosa in), but I like the consistency of staying with what we do,” Mattingly said. “We’ve been doing this all year long. We’re down to however many games we have left. I think changing a lot of stuff around and getting away from what you do sends the panic message, and then we’re in a mess.

“We got to be able to have our guys do what they do. And also with (Sosa), you want to match up. It depends on what kind of pitcher it is. Some of the choices you make with him is based on style, how they attack and things like that. Again, we thought that was a better spot for Marsh out there.”

Sosa’s OPS was just .587 entering August. It’s now at .708. It’s the first time he’s had an OPS above .700 since early May.

He has been without a set role since the trade deadline. Bryce Harper’s move to right field shifted Bryan De La Cruz to Sosa’s previous role as Marsh’s platoon partner in left field. Now that Bryson Stott is an everyday infielder, at-bats have been hard to come by for Sosa. Stott, who has three hits in the series, has looked better recently, but he has slowed down offensively in the month of September.

Mattingly was asked before the game Friday if he had considered turning third base into a platoon between Stott and Sosa. Stott, for now, will remain the everyday third baseman.

“I’m not there at all,” Mattingly said. “(Stott), he walks twice (on Wednesday). He’s getting back on track. So I’m comfortable with him at this point. I don’t like taking him out of the lineup.”

On days where the Phillies are facing a left-handed starter, Mattingly likes having a right-handed hitter on his bench. That way if the Phillies use Marsh or Justin Crawford as pinch-hitters against right-handed relievers, Mattingly can counter with another right-handed hitter later in the game, either Sosa, De La Cruz or Derek Hill, if the opposing team puts in a left-handed reliever.

“I like having the back and forth with our righty, with having one righty sitting there,” Mattingly said. “(They) go lefty, we can go back righty. It helps in that regard.”

Much of the offense on Friday night came from Sosa, who led the team with three hits. Hill homered to left field in the seventh inning and Stott drove in Sosa on an RBI double in the second.

Recent waiver claim José Urquidy impressed in bulk relief, allowing only five hits and striking out six in 4 2/3 innings. He could start for the Phillies on Thursday, the next time the Phillies would need to run a bullpen game. He’s at least earned another day on the roster.

“Obviously, I don’t make that decision today without talking to everybody and Dave (Dombrowski) and the pitching guys,” Mattingly said. “It’s hard to see anything today that you didn’t like.”

Orion Kerkering gave up the big hit, a three-run home run to Juan Soto in the sixth to extend the Mets’ lead to four.

NEW YORK — The Phillies, at least for the next few days, will operate a man short in the bullpen. Jonathan Bowlan, who left Thursday’s game in the eighth inning with right groin tightness, is not going on the 15-day injured list. Instead, the Phillies will keep him on the roster to avoid losing him for a potential NL wild card series.

Interim manager Don Mattingly characterized Bowlan’s injury as a “mild strain.” If it was earlier in the year and the Phillies could carry only 13 pitchers instead of 14, Bowlan likely would have gone on the IL.

“Felt the news was pretty good,” Mattingly said. “Strain. Something that we’re going to try to work through. Obviously keep evaluating, kind of daily. Thought the news was pretty good today.”

Bowlan is not the only reliever currently in the bullpen battling an ailment. Orion Kerkering has pitched only once since Sept. 5. He is dealing with turf toe, but Mattingly thinks Kerkering is “ready to go.”

“Even though he hasn’t been used, it’s just because the game wasn’t in his spot,” Mattingly said. “So I think he’s ready go. I haven’t heard anything medically of any significance with the foot anymore.”

Bowlan did not seem too concerned about his groin after Thursday night’s game. He felt groin tightness on the second to last pitch he threw in his outing.

“It’s regular tightness,” Bowlan said. “Reevaluate tomorrow.”

Left-hander Tim Mayza, who pitched in Thursday’s 3-0 win, will serve as the opener in Friday night’s bullpen game. José Urquidy, who was claimed off waivers from the Chicago White Sox, will likely provide bulk innings. Since Urquidy was not in the Phillies organization by Sept. 1, he is ineligible to pitch in the postseason.

“Hired gun,” Mattingly said. “I mean, I’ve seen it before. I’ve seen it multiple times over the years. You know a guy can’t pitch in the playoffs, but you also know that you have a chance to help you get there.”

To get Urquidy on the active roster, the Phillies optioned left-handed pitcher Kyle Backhus to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Jesús Luzardo Update

Jesús Luzardo (left shoulder inflammation) is still not throwing, but Mattingly feels good about how Luzardo is feeling. There is still no schedule for Luzardo to resume throwing.

“What we thought was going to happen is happening,” Mattingly said. “What that means moving forward, I don’t know that yet. He hasn’t played catch yet, hasn’t been able to throw a bullpen yet. How is he going to recover from all of that? Just the fact that how he’s feeling, is, for me, feels good.”

NEW YORK — The Phillies got a fantastic Aaron Nola start at the right time.

With a bullpen game on Friday, Nola was incredibly efficient in a 3-0 shutout victory over the New York Mets on Thursday night at Citi Field. It’s the 12th shutout victory on the road for the Phillies this year and 19th overall. It’s the most shutouts they’ve had in a season since they shut out opponents 21 times in 2011.

The Phillies’ magic number to make the postseason for a fifth-consecutive season is 5.

In six of his seven innings, Nola needed 11 pitches or fewer to record three outs. His only long inning came in the sixth, when Brett Baty worked out a ten-pitch walk. The next batter Nick Morabito snapped Nola’s no-hit bid with a base hit. Through five innings, Nola faced the minimum and threw only 47 pitches.

“He just kind of had them off balance all night long,” interim manager Don Mattingly said postgame. “Pretty much easy innings, got a couple double plays in there.”

Nola was pulled after seven innings and just 81 pitches. Mattingly explained his reasoning for not bringing him back out to pitch in the eighth inning for the first time all season.

“I would have sent him back out, but just checking with him, he seemed hesitant to me,” Mattingly said. “He felt like he didn’t have the same fastball. He was kind of running out of gas. So more than anything, it was reading him.”

Nola is in the middle of one of his best stretches in a long time. Through his last eight starts, Nola has allowed only 10 earned runs in 48 1/3 innings. He has allowed three runs or fewer in each of his last 10 starts. It’s his longest such streak since the summer of 2018, when he went 12 straight without allowing more than three runs.

After a year removed from an ankle and rib injury that cost him three months in 2025, Nola credits better health for his recent stretch of solid outings.

“Last year, I had the ankle injury, of course, and just trying to battle through that,” Nola said. “A lot longer than I thought it was going to be. Didn’t realized how much I used my ankle until I really hurt it. Just trying to keep that thing maintained and keep everything else on my body healthy and sharp.”

Since the All-Star break, Nola has a 3.08 ERA. Jesús Luzardo is the only Phillies starting pitcher with a lower second-half ERA.

With Luzardo’s status up in the air, a resurgent Nola could be key in the postseason.

“We really hope he can come back healthy and quick,” Nola said. “We really need him, but all the starters here, we’re just trying to take it game by game.”

Nola also recorded his second pickoff of the season. He caught Juan Soto too far off the bag and the first baseman Alec Bohm was able to tag him out with ease.

Before the league limited pickoff moves to two per at-bat in 2023, Nola loved to control the run game through frequent throw overs to first. Most were unsuccessful, but it was his way of making the sure the game was played at his pace. He has since had to make numerous adjustments to the speed of the game in the pitch-clock era, but he sure misses the time when he could slow things down.

“I didn’t really have a slide step,” Nola said. “My main focus was to keep the runner as close as possible and hold the ball and pick off. Not hold the ball and pitch and give the catcher a chance to throw a guy out. I feel like I did that for years decently. That was a big change for me, when they put that rule in.”

With runs hard to come by, the Phillies sacrificed their way onto the scoreboard. They had three sacrifice bunts and two sacrifice flies. Per the Fox broadcast, it was the first time the Phillies had five sacrifices in a single game since Aug. 23, 2012.

Trea Turner also made things happen on the bases after walking twice. His slid into second on a close ground ball off the bat of Bryce Harper, which led to a Phillies 1-0 lead as the runner on third Brandon Marsh came around to score. On his second walk, Turner went first to third on a back pick gone wrong and scored on the second Phillies sacrifice fly of the game.

In a terrifying moment in the sixth inning, Mets first baseman Jared Young was carted off the field after colliding with pitcher Nolan McLean’s knee on a ground ball between the mound and first base. He was taken to the hospital and the Mets said Young has feeling in all of his extremities.

Mets interim manager Andy Green told reporters postgame that a CT scan on Young came back negative. Young is dealing with concussion symptoms. “We avoided the scariest outcomes,” Green said.

Reliever Jonathan Bowlan was removed from the game in the eighth inning due to right groin tightness.

The Phillies (85-68) will play the second of four against the Mets (69-84) at Citi Field on Friday night. They have not yet decided on an opener, but it will be a bullpen game. The Phillies will face left-hander Zac Thornton.

NEW YORK — Jonathan Bowlan threw a 1-2 fastball, winced and grabbed his side. The right-handed reliever, pitching with a three-run lead in the eighth, was hurt.

Phillies infielders and catcher Garrett Stubbs started walking to the mound before assistant athletic trainer Christian Bermudez and interim manager Don Mattingly popped out of the dugout. After a quick deliberation, Bowlan was removed from the game.

Bowlan, a key reliever who has struggled down the stretch, left the game with right groin tightness, the Phillies announced.

He said after the game that he felt his discomfort in his groin in his second to last pitch. He felt it “more” on his last pitch. He classified it as “regular tightness.” The Phillies will reevaluate him on Friday.

“No pop. Nothing like that,” Bowlan said. “It’s positive. We just have to see what tomorrow brings.”

Bowlan missed 15 days in April with a right groin strain.

“It’s not that extreme, so we’ll see,” Bowlan said of the groin issue he is dealing with now. If he has to go on the IL, he will miss at least the NL wild card series.

The pitcher affectionately known as “Big Bad Jon” was a bright spot for the Phillies in the early part of the year. Through his first 39 appearances, Bowlan had a 2.70 ERA.

Since then, he has a 4.74 ERA and has allowed five home runs. He has struggled in back-to-back outings, allowing four runs in his second of two straight outings since the All-Star break. His 56 1/3 innings in the majors this year is a new career high, exceeding last year’s total by more than 10 innings.

The Phillies cannot afford any more pitching injuries. Jesús Luzardo, one of the best pitchers in baseball since May, is on the 15-day IL. Caleb Kilian‘s season was effectively ended earlier on Thursday when he was placed on the 60-day IL. Orion Kerkering is pitching with turf toe. With the bridge to closer Jhoan Duran as thin as it is, the Phillies cannot afford to lose Bowlan.

The four pitchers, starter Aaron Nola, Bowlan, Tim Mayza and Duran combined to shut out the Mets 3-0. The win was a big one, but the Phillies are hoping for better news on Bowlan tomrrow.

“At this point, I kind of (don’t want to) be cold-hearted, but you have to move on and you have to find a way to fill that spot,” Mattingly said. “It’s not necessarily easy to do, but that means other guys got to step up. That’s all.”

NEW YORK — The Phillies on Thursday claimed right-handed pitcher José Urquidy off waivers from the Chicago White Sox.

Urquidy will travel to New York tonight and be activated on Friday. He will factor into the Phillies’ bullpen game, which is officially slated for Friday. Andrew Painter will start on Saturday and Cristopher Sánchez will go again on Sunday.

Urquidy, who has a 5.28 ERA this season, has not thrown in a big league game since Sept. 9. Interim manager Don Mattingly said Urquidy is built up to around 60 pitches. Lefties Tanner Banks and Tim Mayza are also candidates to pitch multiple innings on Friday.

Since Urquidy was not in the organization by Sept. 1, he is ineligible to be on the roster for the postseason. With Jesús Luzardo likely out for the remainder of the regular season, the Phillies need innings now. Mattingly feels like the Phillies are in better shape to throw a bullpen game now compared to when they had to do one over the weekend in Atlanta on short notice.

“We’re built a little better for this,” Mattingly said. “We’re more prepared, I should say, for this game than the one in Atlanta because it happened so late.”

Update on Jesús Luzardo

Luzardo (left shoulder inflammation) had a locker in his usual corner in the visiting clubhouse at Citi Field. The Phillies lefty did some lower half agility excercises in the outfield under the watchful eye of Phillies director of strength and conditioning Morgan Gregory and Zack Wheeler.

For now, the plan is for Luzardo to stay with the team. There is no plan for now to send him to Clearwater to rehab down south.

“Nothing has really changed from what I have to offer you guys,” Mattingly said. “Until he’s kind of pain free, he’s going to be a no throw.”

Luzardo is eligible to come off the 15-day IL on the final day of the regular season. With the magic number at six, the Phillies should make it the postseason comfortably without him. They are still only a half game behind the Chicago Cubs with a game in hand for the first wild card berth and home-field advantage in the wild card round.

Not having Luzardo make his last three starts could be the difference between playing the first playoff series at Citizens Bank Park and traveling for a three-game wild card series. But at this point, the Phillies are just hoping that Luzardo is ready to pitch and looks like himself in time for the start of the postseason. It would be a massive boost to the club’s World Series hopes.

Update on Caleb Kilian

To make room for Urquidy on the 40-man roster, the Phillies transferred right-handed reliever Caleb Kilian (left oblique strain) to the 60-day injured list. He is not eligible to come off the IL until Oct. 10, meaning he won’t be eligible to pitch until the National League Championship Series, if the Phillies make it that far.

At this point, the club is focused on getting him ready for next season. They are not totally shutting him down. He will continue to throw.

“I don’t think we had really high hopes for him being able to get back,” Mattingly said. “He’s doing good. I think (the medical staff) want to continue working on some things for next year. Like, medically, how he trains, how he does certain things. I think talking with (head athletic trainer) Paul (Buchheit), feels like there could be advantages to him being here, working through this.”

Kilian, who was acquired in the Luis Arraez trade with the San Francisco Giants at the deadline, pitched in four games with the Phillies before going down with an oblique strain.

The only other Phillies trade deadline acquisition on the pitching side, Brooks Raley, has allowed five earned runs in his last three outings. In 14 appearances with the Phillies, Raley has a 6.97 ERA. Prior to the trade, Raley had a 1.96 ERA in 45 appearances with the Mets.