To say the 2026 season started off poorly for the Philadelphia Phillies would be quite the understatement. After entering the year on the shortlist of World Series favorites, the Phillies suffered a 10-game losing streak and lost 12 of 14 in April, resulting in a 9-19 record and manager Rob Thomson losing his job. Former Dodgers and Marlins skipper Don Mattingly was named interim manager on April 28.
The hope with the Phillies was that moving on from Thomson would provide a spark for the Phillies to make a run. That certainly makes sense given the Phillies fired Joe Girardi in 2022 and went 65-46 under Thomson, making it all the way to the World Series.
So far, so good – and that’s putting it lightly. The Phillies are 8-1 under Mattingly and are now 17-20, well within arm’s reach of the National League’s three Wild Card slots.
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Pitching was a major issue early on for Philly, but the team now ranks 20th in team ERA after nearly bottoming out amid its losing streak. The return of all-world ace Zack Wheeler sure helps, and he has a 3.12 ERA and sub-1 WHIP in his three starts this year. Cristopher Sanchez also owns a 2.42 ERA after finishing as the runner-up in Cy Young Award voting in 2025.
The lineup has been a work in progress, and the Phillies are in the bottom five in runs scored, but it’s hard to count out this offense. They’ve scored six or more runs in six of their nine games since Mattingly took over, and the duo of Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are more than doing their part, with Harper owning a .922 OPS and Schwarber having launched a team-leading 11 home runs. Brandon Marsh has also been excellent with a 1.3 bWAR and .875 OPS. The team needs more from Trea Turner (.663 OPS), Bryson Stott (.628 OPS), J.T. Realmuto (.682 OPS) and Alec Bohm (.433 OPS).
For interested MLB bettors, it sure feels like now is the time to strike with the Phillies when it comes to MLB futures bets. This is a veteran roster with no shortage of postseason experience, and there’s a reason they were viewed as one of the top contenders for the World Series before the 2026 season began.
The Phillies are +2500 to win the World Series, per BetMGM odds, as of Thursday, May 7. For context, they were +1600 before Opening Day. That +2500 number is not quite as long as the +3000 odds the team had on May 1, but the Phils had played only three games under Mattingly and were seven games under .500 when the month began.
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World Series futures are hardly the only MLB futures bets you should look at with the Phillies right now. They’re currently +1300 to win the National League at BetMGM after opening the year at +800. They’re also +350 to win the NL East after being a +180 preseason favorite, though they’re a whopping 8.5 games behind first-place Atlanta, which has the best record in baseball.
Heck, even a -130 price point for the Phillies to make the playoffs feels like a major discount considering they made the playoffs each of the last four years. Plus, there’s just no way all five of the NL Central’s teams continue to play this well. All five franchises are over .500 and three of those teams currently hold playoff spots.
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With how well the Phillies have played of late, it looks like we’re not going to come close to the peak value we saw at sportsbooks when Thomson was fired in late April. But there’s still a ton of MLB betting value to be had with Philly right now, especially as the team looks rejuvenated under Mattingly. This roster knows how to win, and they have their best starting pitcher back in the fold, which is always a good thing.
It feels like the Phillies have finally found their footing, and while winning eight of nine on a consistent basis is hardly a realistic expectation, it shows that this team is not just going through the motions under an interim manager like we often see across baseball and other spots. There’s a chance we don’t see Phillies futures odds this long across the board the rest of the year. If you liked the Phillies before the year began but thought there wasn’t enough meat on the bone, these current odds should intrigue you.
