Patience is an inexact science. John Middleton knows the feeling all too well.

The Phillies had the best record in the National League last July, having a commanding division lead and sitting 22 games over .500. They were postseason bound and had bigger ambitions ahead of them.

Coming off a World Series appearance in 2022 and an NLCS appearance in 2023, Middleton was thinking big for his club. He was ready to swing for a World Series title.

The Phillies were talking to the Chicago White Sox about starting pitcher Garrett Crochet. They were close to pulling the trigger, which would have cost them their top prospects — a combination of Andrew Painter, Aiden Miller, Justin Crawford, or Eduardo Tait to start.

The price for Crochet was high, and the Phillies appeared willing to do it — at least Middleton appeared so.

"We made a spectacularly good offer," Middleton said Friday at Citizens Bank Park. "So good that Dave [Phillies general manager Dave Dombrowski] looked at me at one point and said, 'I don't know if we should be doing this.'"

At the end of the day, the Phillies kept their prized prospects and made minor changes to their roster — adding right-handed bat Austin Hays, middle reliever Tanner Banks, and late-inning reliever Carlos Estevez at last year's deadline. The Phillies went 30-24 the rest of the way and lost to the New York Mets in the National League Division Series.

Perhaps the Phillies would have gone further in the postseason if they had traded for Crochet. Maybe they end up in the same position as Crochet, without their top trade chips to take a big swing in 2025.

This is where the Phillies lie now. They enter the second half of the season with a 55-41 record, a 0.5 game ahead of the Mets in the National League East. Philadelphia has the fourth-best record in the National League and the sixth-best record in baseball with the same holes as last season.

A late-inning reliever, right-handed bat, and middle reliever are the targets at this year's trade deadline. They still have Painter, Miller, Crawford, and Tait to go after the top trade targets as well.

Painter is essentially untouchable, as he is on the verge of joining the rotation. Even with his struggles with command, Middleton isn't prepared to let a talent like him walk for a World Series run. He wants him to be part of it.

"I'll be excited when he's shutting people down, which he will," Middleton said. "It's hard. I remember years ago, talking to trainers...velocity comes back pretty quickly, but command can take a while. I think he's just experiencing, because he's gotten up into the higher ranks now, it's testing his command.

"It's good. He'll learn. He's a smart guy. He's a determined guy. He'll get it right, and he'll get it when he gets it. Hopefully, he'll get it sooner rather than later for us."

Crawford is also very close to taking over either center field or left field for the Phillies. The organization is still high on Miller and Tait, but neither may not be untouchable as they were a year ago.

That's the price a franchise pays for being a World Series contender, especially with a core of Bryce Harper [32], Kyle Schwarber [32], Trea Turner [32], J.T. Realmuto [34], Nick Castellanos [33], Zack Wheeler [35], and Aaron Nola [32].

The time to win is now, or is it?

"Some of these players are in the back half of their careers for that window," Middleton said. "But there are other players who are in the beginning of their window...So if you empty the cupboard, you can do everything right and you still don't win — it's a bad call, a bad break, a bad bounce of the ball, it's some guy who just gets ridiculously hot on the other team and beats you. You have to weigh all that."

The Phillies took that chance last season of not putting all their poker chips at the table, and still lost. They have a reason for 2025 to be different, and are itching that way with an inconsistent offense and a bullpen that needs help in the late innings.

Help can always come internally with Painter [starting rotation] and Crawford [center and/or left field]. The Phillies entered the second half with the best starting pitching ERA in baseball [3.25], but not all their starters will be starting come the postseason.

"We only need three pitchers, and we won't need our fourth pitcher until the fourth game of the division series," Middleton said. "So you need three pitchers and everybody else goes to the bullpen. You're going to have people in the bullpen who are now starting pitchers for us.

"I can see [Mick] Abel coming back up if he's not up before that...Painter could be the same way, so you never know."

Reinforcements are coming, internally and outside the organization. How big of a swing the Phillies take is anyone's guess, but they have the chips to go all in.

Middleton isn't holding Dombrowski back either. Patience can't be measured.

"He's always aggressive," Middleton said. "He doesn't have another gear besides aggressive."