Duran, Schwarber, Sánchez and Wheeler earn All-MLB Honors after dominant performances for the Phillies in 2025
The Phillies entered last summer knowing their bullpen had a problem. They needed a closer. Not a committee, not a matchup experiment, not a nightly adventure in cardiac survival. A real, ninth-inning finisher.
They found him on July 30 when they traded for Jhoan Duran. It did not fix the way the postseason ended, but it did everything it was supposed to do in the regular season. Duran posted a 2.18 ERA and 16 saves in 23 appearances, overwhelming hitters with 27 strikeouts and just one walk in 20 and two-thirds innings.
He arrived, he dominated, and last Thursday he was named First-Team All-MLB, which feels like the bare minimum recognition for how good he was.
He was not alone. The Phillies placed Kyle Schwarber, Cristopher Sánchez, and Zack Wheeler on the Second-Team All-MLB roster, reminding the league that despite how the playoffs ended, Philadelphia had as much high-end talent as any team in baseball.
Four Phillies Receive All-MLB Honors:
Kyle Schwarber’s season was outrageous even by his standards. He hit .240 with 56 home runs and 132 RBIs, leading the National League in homers and all of Major League Baseball in runs driven in.
His .928 OPS and 150 OPS+ put him behind only Ohtani and Soto among qualified NL hitters. The Phillies want him back, and by all indications they will try, because front offices do not simply replace that level of left-handed power.
Cristopher Sánchez might be the biggest organizational victory of them all. Once viewed as back-end depth, he turned into one of baseball’s best starters, going 13–5 with a 2.50 ERA and striking out 212 batters in 202 innings.
He did it efficiently, too, walking only 44 hitters and leading all MLB pitchers with 8.0 bWAR. For years, the Phillies needed a durable, homegrown top-of-the-rotation arm. In 2025, they finally had one.
Zack Wheeler, meanwhile, lost his final weeks of the season to a blood clot near his right shoulder that required surgery, yet still pitched well enough to be recognized. He finished 10–5 with a 2.71 ERA and 5.0 bWAR and was firmly in the Cy Young conversation before the health scare.
His track record speaks for itself. If Wheeler returns healthy, Philadelphia enters next season with a frontline pairing that no postseason opponent will be excited to see.
The All-MLB honors do not erase disappointment. Everyone in the city expected a deeper run. from the Phillies in 2025. The awards reinforce a truth that should matter as they move into a critical offseason: the talent was championship caliber.
The front office’s priority now is keeping it intact, especially when it comes to Schwarber, who will be one of the most sought-after free agents in baseball.
If Duran picks up where he left off, if Sánchez is truly the pitcher he just proved he can be, and if Wheeler returns to full strength, then Philadelphia still has a roster capable of contending for a World Series.
They did not get the ending they wanted, but the core that made it possible is still very real. The Phillies just need to hold it together.
Join The Chase
Read More
Zack Wheeler returns, Phillies get back in the win column with 8-4 victory over the Braves
Ten games. Ten straight losses. The Phillies were riding their…
The Phillies have now lost 10-straight games for the first time since 1999
The Phillies are 8-18 and this is the worst start…
Desperate Times: The Phillies subreddit is now Wawa-themed until further notice
The Phillies are terrible, and this awful season has broken…
Comments (0)