Phillies Coach Details What Needs To Be Done To Improve Defense

The Philadelphia Phillies have been playing poor defense, and Bobby Dickerson detailed some things that need to be fixed.

Jul 26, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper (3) plays defense at first base against the Baltimore Orioles at Citizens Bank Park. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

A lot has gone right for the Philadelphia Phillies over the last few weeks to help turn their season around.

After getting off to a brutal 9-19 start, the team fired manager Rob Thomson. He was replaced by interim manager Don Mattingly, who has overseen a historic turnaround by the team, which is now 47-37.

The Phillies are the first team in MLB history to be at least 10 games under .500 in April and reach 10 games over the .500 mark before the end of June. The guys are playing at an incredibly high level, but there is one concerning part of their play that has to get sorted out: their defense.

Philadelphia is arguably the worst all-around defensive team in the MLB thus far this season. Their -27 Total Defensive Runs Saved is the second-worst mark, ahead of only the Minnesota Twins, who are at -32.

Phillies defense has not been good this season

Jun 21, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies infielder Alec Bohm (28) throws to first against the New York Mets in the third inning at Citizens Bank Park. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

How can the team get on track with their gloves? Infield coach Bobby Dickerson detailed some of what has gone wrong, adding, via Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic (subscription required), that his team has “underachieved up to this point.”

“As far as I’m concerned, we just have to have better ball security as a group,” Dickerson said. “Our anticipation of contact has to be better as a group. We’ve won a lot of ball games in the last two months, and I know we still have a bit better defense that we’re capable of playing.”

While metrics like that remain an imperfect science, it is clear that defense isn’t a strength of this team, especially on the infield. Shortstop Trea Turner and first baseman Bryce Harper have not made much of an impact with the glove.

Turner has committed 10 errors, crashing back to Earth after a strong defensive campaign in 2025. He has a -7 DRS and -5 Fielding Run Value, which is in the 7th percentile.

Phillies have very few impact defenders

Jun 15, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies infielder Bryson Stott (5) turns a double play against the Miami Marlins in the seventh inning at Citizens Bank Park. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Harper has a 0 DRS, but is arguably the least impactful defensive first baseman in baseball with a -8 Fielding Run Value, which is in the 1st percentile.

After a hot start defensively, Alec Bohm has slowed down at the hot corner. That leaves second baseman Bryson Stott as the only infielder who makes a positive impact with his glove amongst the starters.

Things could get even worse in the outfield without Adolis Garcia, who was a stellar defender in right field, but is out for the season with a torn lat and has been replaced by Gabriel Rincones Jr.

Hopefully, that can be somewhat offset by Justin Crawford beginning to find his way defensively as he learns how to play center field. Also, J.T. Realmuto remains elite defensively behind the plate, which in turn helps improve the performance of the pitching staff, somewhat mitigating the underwhelming performance of the fielders behind them.

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