The Phillies Are Built To Win In The Playoffs
The Phillies did something they haven’t done since 2011. They won the NL East. It has been pretty much a foregone conclusion for a month now, even if many fans continued to panic about a Mets Comeback. But they made it official with a win over the Cubs, and they could clinch a 1st round bye if they win and the Brewers lose tonight.
Still, despite the seeding, and despite winning the division, there are still many fans carrying scars from last season. What if they blow it again? What if they don’t win it all? I can’t make any guarantee they will win anything. The post-season is too much of a crapshoot. They could play great but still lose because the Dodgers or Yankees play better.
All we can do is look at the facts. And the facts show you that this team is built to win in October. Let’s go through the reasons why.
Phillies Starting Pitching
We saw the last 2 years the difference good starting pitching makes in the playoffs. While the Phillies had 3 quality starters, most of the teams they played did not go that deep. It is the real reason we saw both the Braves and the Dodgers fall apart the last 2 years.
The Phillies might go even deeper this year. Zack Wheeler is one of the best pitchers in the league. Nola is a lock to go at least 6 innings most nights. Christopher Sanchez has emerged as a dominant starter. The only wild card is Ranger Suarez.
Statistically, he is one of the best playoff pitchers ever. He has been scuffling a bit in the second half though. A back injury slowed him down, and his velocity dipped. But he showed promise his last time out. The results were not great, but he looked more like himself. He gets 1 more start to continue to build up strength. But if he regains his form, teams have to go through 4 tough pitchers, when most of them will struggle to field 3.
Jayson Stark joined The Best Show Ever last week and talked about how good this team is when one of these 4 starters pitch, vs when any of the many guys they tried out as the 5th pitcher do. It swings them from a 110-loss team to a 102-win team.
Who else can compete with that rotation? The Dodgers? Tyler Glasnow is hurt, and Walker Buehler has struggled. They have Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Gavin Stone, but the 3rd guy might be a crapshoot.
The Brewers don’t have any top-end pitchers. Freddy Peralta is their best pitcher, and he is decent at best. The Padres do have a trio of quality starters but lack that 4th guy. The Diamondbacks only have 2 guys with a sub-4.0 ERA. The Mets have 4 ok guys but lack a top-end guy like Wheeler.
The Phillies Bullpen
Bullpens can win you rings. We saw that with the Astors bullpen shutting down the Phillies. Well, this Phillies team has the best bullpen in baseball. The 7 guys they will likely use in the playoffs, Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm, Jose Alvarado, Carlos Estevez, Orion Kerkering, Jose Ruiz, and Tanner Banks, have a combined 2.58 ERA with the Phillies.
The Phillies have 5, maybe 6, lockdown guys you can trust in a big moment. A far cry from 2022, where they had 2, and last year, where they had 3. There is no Craig Kimbrel in this pen. They are all going into the playoffs pitching well. 5 of the 7 have a sub-3.0 ERA in September. Alvarado is one of the 2 who don’t, but most of that comes from one bad outing. He gave up 0 runs in 8 of his last 10 outings.
So you go from a great rotation, into a great bullpen. Runs will be hard to come by for any other team. That is what the playoffs are all about. We didn’t even mention the fact they are 4th in runs and 4th in batting average.
We didn’t even talk about the lineup which despite fans complaints is one of the best in baseball. They will score runs, but with a pitching staff this good, they don’t even need to be great, they just need to be good. Score 4 runs and you should be safe most nights.
Again, the postseason is weird. Having this great staff does not mean you will win. The pitchers can throw a perfect pitch, and the ball just happens to sneak through the infield, or falls into the outfield. There have been great pitches that get hit 450 feet.
The point is they have as good of a chance as anyone to win. This pitching staff is elite, and an elite pitching staff can be the difference in October.
Listen To Or Watch ‘The Best Show Ever?’ Live On The 97.5 The Fanatic And On NBC Sports Philly From 2 To 6 p.m. every Weekday
