Five Phillies.
One Snub.

Citizens Bank Park is going to be the center of the baseball world on July 14, and for once South Jersey doesn’t have to drive anywhere to see it. Five Phillies were named to the 2026 All-Star Game this week — Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh, Cristopher Sánchez, and Jhoan Duran — and Marsh is doing it as a starting outfielder in his first-ever All-Star nod. That’s a big deal for a guy who’s spent years being the glue in that clubhouse rather than the headline, and I’ll tell you, it’s about time the rest of the country noticed what we’ve known watching him from the cheap seats and the bar stools for a while now.

Schwarber’s presence on that list isn’t a surprise to anybody who’s been paying attention — he’s leading all of baseball in home runs with 30 going into the weekend, which is the kind of thing that used to be a full-season number for a lot of guys and he’s doing it before the break. Sánchez and Duran give the Phillies two arms in the mix, and having your own manager, Don Mattingly, on Dave Roberts’ National League coaching staff means there won’t be a single unfamiliar face running this team when the lights come on at the Bank.

But here’s where I have to be honest with you, because that’s the job: Zack Wheeler isn’t on that roster, and if you watched what he’s done this year, that stings. This is a guy who fought his way back from thoracic outlet syndrome — a surgery that ends careers, not just seasons — and turned in the kind of comeback that should be a lock for recognition on name alone. Instead, he’s not just missing the All-Star team, he’s still fuming over getting pulled one out short of a possible ninth win against Pittsburgh by Mattingly, his own interim manager who’ll be coaching in Philadelphia in a week and a half without him.

I’ve covered enough clubhouses to know that frustration like that doesn’t just evaporate. Wheeler’s not a guy who throws tantrums for attention — when he’s visibly upset, it’s because something real is bothering him, and getting lifted early in a game he could’ve won is the kind of decision a competitor like him doesn’t let go easily. Add the All-Star snub on top of it, and you’ve got a pitcher with every reason to come out of the break with a chip on his shoulder. For a Phillies team that’s going to need him locked in down the stretch, that edge might end up being exactly what they need.

For South Jersey fans, here’s the practical part: the Midsummer Classic is in our backyard this year. If you can get to Citizens Bank Park on the 14th, watching Marsh take an All-Star at-bat in the ballpark he’s played every home game of his career in is a moment worth catching live. And if you can’t, keep an eye on Wheeler in the weeks after. A pitcher with something to prove and a home crowd behind him is one of the best storylines this game has to offer, All-Star roster or not.

Based on reporting from The Philadelphia Inquirer, NBC Sports Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Baseball Review. The Neighborhood Gazette covers South Jersey at neighborhoodgazette.town.