Saturday, September 06

Welcome to the latest edition of the Phillies Beat Newsletter. This version was written by Paul Casella, who has been based in Philadelphia since 2019 and covers the team alongside Todd Zolecki.

MILWAUKEE -- The Phillies have injected no shortage of "energy" into the club over the past month.

Of course, there's new closer Jhoan Duran's electric entrance that has taken Citizens Bank Park by storm. There's also the recent return of clubhouse favorite Garrett Stubbs, who was called up for the first time this season when rosters expanded on Monday.

And then, there's Harrison Bader.

The Phillies' newest outfielder has wasted no time endearing himself to teammates and fans alike. It's not just the Gold Glove-caliber defense or the multiple clutch hits within the past week, but it's the way Bader has carried himself from the moment he arrived.

"I could say a lot of things," said outfielder Brandon Marsh when asked what Bader has brought to the team. "Energy. A heck of an at-bat every single time. Gold Glove defense. Good teammate on and off the field."

Added teammate Taijuan Walker: "He knows how to win. His character. His excitement."

Manager Rob Thomson put it simplest.

"I love him. I love him," Thomson repeated. " ... He's a very confident person, but he's a good person -- it's not phony or fake or anything like that."

Bader isn’t just bringing an energy boost, though. He’s had just as big an impact on the field as off it.

Through his first 27 games as a Phillie, Bader is hitting .310 with an .855 OPS. Over his past 13 games, he's hitting .442 (19-for-43) with seven extra-base hits and a 1.164 OPS.

Bader has four three-hit games since Aug. 23. That's the most by any player in the Majors during that span -- and the same number as the rest of his Phillies teammates combined.

"He’s been huge for this club," Marsh said. "And he’s going to continue to be big for us."

Perhaps most impressive is the fact that Bader has done all of this in his first month with not just a new team, but one with World Series aspirations. He's had to adjust to a new city, new teammates, a new role, and so on.

Any player who has switched teams will tell you that’s not an easy task, though maybe there's a benefit to hitting the ground running in the middle of a postseason push as opposed to an offseason move that can come with months of uncertainty before finally joining your new teammates.

"There’s a lot of variables involved with getting traded to a club, so I think you just think about what you have to do every day to help that team win,” Bader said. “It eliminates all the things that might be distracting. Just go out there and good things happen when you’re focused on the plan.

"So, I’m just running with that feeling and trying to put up for my new club."

That said, it took a few weeks for Bader to get acclimated. He hit just .171 (7-for-41) with a .539 OPS in his first 14 games with the Phillies.

But you never would have guessed it by Bader’s demeanor -- and that’s something he prides himself on.

“I’m human,” Bader said, “but I definitely try to wake up every day regardless of whatever happened the day before and understand the game will have whatever it might have in store for me, so I just have to embrace it and prepare and go out there and just put my best foot forward.”

Given that Marsh has held down that high-energy role in recent years, perhaps it should come as little surprise that Bader and Marsh have seemed to feed off one another of late.

Take, for example, Monday’s wild 10-8 win over the Brewers in which Marsh and Bader teamed up for back-to-back hits three times. They keyed a game-tying rally in the sixth, then ignited go-ahead rallies in both the eighth and ninth innings.

“I think the energy aspect is really important,” Bader said. “Just bring it every day, regardless of where you’re at, because stuff’s going to get hairy down the line. So, just being really good at training yourself to be high energy and high support for your teammates every single day is a good practice.”

Marsh expressed a similar sentiment almost verbatim back in June when he was asked about how he stayed so upbeat during a disastrous start to the season.

Whether it’s Marsh or Bader, those types of things don’t go unnoticed.

“You need those energy guys,” shortstop Trea Turner said earlier this year. “Championship teams need all different types of players, so guys who can kind of just be the same every day and bring that energy -- guys like that are super important.”

Well, the Phillies now have a couple of them.

In honor of the Philadelphia Eagles opening their season and raising their Super Bowl champions banner tonight against the rival Dallas Cowboys … against which division foe did the Phillies open the 2009 season when they unveiled their ’08 World Series champions flag?

A. Braves

B. Mets

C. Marlins

D. Nationals

“I love these guys. So it’s just awesome to be able to see their faces again. It’s already been great, just even on the bus ride over, going and grabbing food, just in the first 30 minutes of being here. It’s fun to be back around the group of guys that have been here basically since 2022, ’23, so I’m excited to get that going again and just have some fun and win baseball games.”

-- Stubbs on joining the Phillies in Milwaukee after spending the season in Triple-A

• Kyle Schwarber’s four-homer game earned him NL Player of the Week honors … but the most memorable moment from that historic night came after the game.

• The Phillies signed Walker Buehler -- a two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion -- to a Minor League deal. What’s the plan for him?

• Trea Turner is making a push for the Phillies’ first 200-hit season since Jimmy Rollins in 2007 -- but the most impressive part of his 2025 season just might be Turner's defensive turnaround.

A. Braves

The reigning champion Phillies opened the 2009 season with a 4-1 loss against the Braves on April 5, 2009, at Citizens Bank Park.

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