The Phillies’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is six. In theory, four games against a last place Mets team is a great opportunity to lower that number even further. But considering the Phillies’ history – and especially their recent history at Citi Field – does anyone think that this weekend is going to be easy for the Phillies?
The Mets come into the game having lost four in a row, but with no postseason ahead for them, they’ll probably treat this series as their personal playoffs, welcoming
a chance to put a damper on the Phillies’ postseason hopes. As poorly as the season has gone for the Mets, they’re schedule to throw viable starters this weekend, and they still have some hitters in their lineup who can make life difficult for Phillies’ pitching.
At least the Phillies won their previous series at Citi Field this season. It’s bad enough going there needing to win a few games, but it would be horrible if they still had that lengthy losing streak at the stadium hanging over their heads.
Opposition research: Kodai Senga
Kodai Senga’s tenure with the Mets hasn’t gone the way they envisioned. He was terrific in his first season after coming over from Japan, going 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 2023. Since then, he’s been frequently injured and inconsistent when he has been able to pitch.
He got off to an awful start to 2026, with a 9.00 ERA after five starts, prompting a trip to the Injured List. He wasn’t any better upon returning, giving up eleven runs over his next two starts.
The Mets moved him to the bullpen, and early returns on that move weren’t any better. Finally, in August, with closer Devin Williams going to the Injured List, and Brooks Raley sent to the Phillies (they can have him back), the Mets decided to try Senga as their closer.
Somehow, it seems to have worked. Reducing his pitch arsenal, Senga has been far more effective. He’s racked up the strikeouts and secured his first seven save opportunities.
That streak ended when he blew one against Pete Alonso and the Orioles. (It’s telling that perhaps the happiest the Citi Field crowd has been all season was when one of their opponents hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning.)
Senga has expressed a desire to move back to the rotation, which may cause tension between him and the Mets this offseason. But for now, the Mets appear to have an actual go-to guy if they’re leading in the ninth inning.
Hating on the Mets
It will be interesting to see if the Mets try to spend their way out of this mess during the offseason. Then again, it’s partly due to the Mets’ high spending ways that we’re likely headed to a lockout next year. It’s one thing to allow your horrible moves to hurt your own team (because Mets fans deserve to suffer), but they’re also hurting the sport itself.
On the other hand, if the Mets want to keep saving the Phillies from making Bo Bichette-level mistakes, I say let them have at it!
Trivia
Last week’s answer: Trea Turner is the only Phillie to have multiple multi-home run games at Truist Field. He hit two in one game on July 5, 2024 and again on June 27, 2025. Nobody came up with the correct answer.
This week’s question: Since Citi Field opened in 2009, two different Phillies players have recorded six RBI in a single game there. Name either of them.
Additional thought about the series
It seems certain that the Phillies will start Aaron Nola, Andrew Painter, and Cristopher Sanchez in three of the games this series. As for the fourth? Your guess is as good as mine.
They might go with a straight bullpen game (didn’t work out so well when they tried that in Atlanta), or call up Nestor Cortes, although he isn’t exactly stretched out and probably can’t be counted on for more than three innings.
As for other options from the minors, they could try giving Alan Rangel or Brian Keller another try (both have been dreadful since being demoted) or maybe see what Chuck King can do. He was the IronPigs’ pitcher of the year, but that isn’t saying much since he’s a 28-year-old career minor leaguer who had a 3.97 ERA in AAA.
In other words, there are no good choices here! It would be great if the Phillies’ offense could pick up the pitching in that game, but the offense has had plenty of struggles of their own lately.
That bullpen game might be a scheduled loss, but the Phillies hope that Sanchez’s start on Sunday isn’t. They really need their lefthanded ace to move past whatever has ailed him in recent outings and get back to striking everybody out with his changeup.
