The Phillies made their choice. It likely wasn’t the one you or I would have made, but it is one in which the fate of the Phils offense will likely rest.
Adolis Garcia will be the everyday right fielder in 2026. Nick Castellanos, although still technically a member of the Philadelphia Phillies as of this writing, will soon be gone. For a team that entered the off-season with major question marks in the outfield, Dave Dombrowski and the front office decided to go with Brandon Marsh and Otto Kemp in left field, rookie Justin Crawford in center and Garcia in right.
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It was not inspired.
For a team in desperate need of some right-handed power, it is hoped Garcia will be able to do what Castellanos has not during his time in Philly — bring consistent pop in the middle of the lineup.
Oh sure, Nick had his moments. For a little while there, the 2023 playoffs were his plaything.
For all his warts, Castellanos could do damage when he was hot. Unfortunately, that wasn’t all that often.
Enter Adolis Garcia, who is the most important player in the Phillies’ 2026 lineup.
Why Garcia? We know Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are the heartbeats, and we know what they’re going to be. All three have consistently produced to the backs of their baseball cards (and then some) over the last two seasons, but the lineup tumbles off a cliff once the No. 4 spot shows up. The Phils have simply not received enough production from the middle of the order the last two seasons, and the hope is Garcia will fix that particular issue.
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Over the last two seasons, the No. 4 spot in the lineup has produced 42 home runs, 23rd in MLB. Their .411 slugging percentage ranks 18th. Their .726 OPS is 19th. Alec Bohm has accumulated the most at-bats in the cleanup spot over the last two years, leading the team with 12 dingers in 550 plate appearances. Schwarber has 157 PAs batting cleanup and has 10 homers. Castellanos had the 2nd-most plate appearances hitting fourth, he hit 9 bombs, followed by J.T. Realmuto’s 8 home runs in 259 PAs. Outside of Schwarber, Bohm is the only Phillies player with a wRC+ that is at least league average (wRC+ 100) batting cleanup.
Marsh has just 46 PAs hitting cleanup, most of them coming after entering games as a pinch hitter against a left-handed pitcher, hence his 146 wRC+ and .526 slugging percentage in those instances.
Fans have been crying for the Phils to add a legitimate right-handed bat with pop all off-season. Heck, the last two seasons, and they rightfully doubt Garcia is the answer. Given their failed pursuit of Bo Bichette last month, Dombrowski and the front office indicated he thought there was room for improvement as well.
And yet, the Phillies chose not to pursue 3B Eugenio Suarez, who hit 49 home runs a season ago and signed a one-year, $15 million contract with the Reds, $5 million more than Bohm will earn in 2026. Here is how those two players performed last year:
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Suarez: 125 wRC+, 49 HRs, 118 RBIs, 3.8 fWAR
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Bohm: 105 wRC+, 11 HRs, 59 RBIs, 1.7 fWAR
Bohm is the de facto choice to hit cleanup for the Phillies as spring training gets underway due to his ability to hit for average and get on base. Comparing Garcia and Bohm over the last two years, Bohm has been the superior player.
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Bohm: 4.4 bWAR, 1,110 PAs, 288 hits, 26 HRs, 156 RBIs, 7 SB, .283/.332/.430, .762 OPS, 109 OPS+
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Garcia: 3.1 bWAR, 1,184 PAs, 245 hits, 44 HRs, 160 RBIs, 24 SB, .225/.278/.397, .675 OPS, 96 OPS+
Of course, for a cleanup hitter, home runs are a pretty big deal, and Garcia has far outpaced him in that category. Garcia also has a higher ceiling than Bohm, as evidenced by his 2021-23 campaigns.
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Garcia 2021: 3.9 bWAR, 31 HRs, 90 RBIs, .741 OPS, 100 OPS+
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Garcia 2022: 3.7 bWAR, 27 HRs, 101 RBIs, .756 OPS, 108 OPS+
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Garcia 2023: 4.5 bWAR, 39 HRs, 107 RBIs, .836 OPS, 127 OPS+
Dombrowski knows how badly the team needed right-handed power in the middle of the lineup, and yet his ultimate decision was to sign Garcia to a one-year deal early on in free agency. They hope Garcia will resemble something similar to what he was during his three years of glory in Texas.
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That ceiling is what makes Garcia the most important part of the Phillies lineup in 2026.
We know what Bohm can and cannot do. We know what Realmuto is at this stage of his career. We know Otto Kemp is not the answer. We know Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott are decent, if unspectacular offensive performers. And we know that Castellanos didn’t have anything left in the tank, either.
For this offense to work, Garcia will need to hit a bunch of bombs and not be a disaster in terms of getting on base. Most projection models don’t see a return to the type of glory he experienced during his elite three-year run as one of the game’s biggest power threats (stats via Fangraphs).
Even these numbers likely puts Garcia second or third on the team in home runs, although they still show him as a relative average-to-below average offensive players for his position. But, optimistically, if Garcia can perform a bit better than these numbers and provide 30-35 home runs hitting behind Turner, Schwarber and Harper, it could make all the difference.
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Suddenly, there would be a real power threat in the middle of the lineup, allowing Bohm, Realmuto, Marsh and Stott to slide into more comfortable positions. It would also relieve pressure on Justin Crawford to produce right away.
For the Phillies offense to hum in 2026, Garcia must be better in 2026 than he has been the last two years. It could make all the difference as the Phils try to win a third-straight division title.
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