Hey, a 3-3 road trip on the West coast is nothing to sneeze at. They’re still fine for the first round bye. They still clinched the division while there.
It just felt like they left a little meat on the bones
of Arizona and Los Angeles. Outside of Sunday’s game, the other two they lost felt like they were still in them. Oh well, on to better endings at home.
Three up
Alec Bohm
I guess it was the shoulder after all. Coming off the injured list on Friday in Arizona, his shoulder no longer barking, Bohm proceeded to get a hit in eight of his fourteen plate appearances, including two doubles and a home run. His power output has been nonexistent this season, a disappointing outcome when looking at his year as a whole, but if he can provide at least doubles power in the postseason, it’ll be to the team’s benefit. Rob Thomson has already talked about his moving back to the cleanup spot in the order, so if the hitters in front of him are going to get on base, Bohm has to drive them in with regularity.
Walker Buehler
The Phillies need right handed bullpen help. They have Jhoan Duran in the back end, sure, but Orion Kerkering has lacked consistency of late, David Robertson probably can’t pitch on back to back days, so the team could use another bullpen arm.
Enter Buehler.
His role as a reliever will probably be something along the lines of multi inning reliever in case they think he can start a game later on in October. They’ll want to keep him somewhat stretched out if that is a potential plan. Yet as he showed on Friday, that might be a role he can thrive in if he knows what he is doing.
Bryce Harper
The offense took a bit of a snooze this week, but Harper finally got some clutch hits for the team when they were needed. It’s been a bugaboo for him since his return from injury, so getting him going in that department will be big for the postseason.
Three down
Ranger Suarez
Yesterday was a bit of a stinker, wasn’t it? He’s been on such a run that it’s mostly just a blip, the pitcher and team probably having one foot on the bus to airport when they got the field Sunday. Long term, not that big an issue.
Otto Kemp
If Kemp wants a postseason roster spot, getting it over Weston Wilson, he isn’t really putting himself at the forefront of the conversation. Two for nineteen is going to do that to a guy with the direct competition for that spot hitting a big home run against the Dodgers. He might yet make the final postseason roster, but he isn’t helping himself right now. With Alec Bohm returned from injury and the pending return of Edmundo Sosa, pushing Bryson Stott back to his second base position, the chances for Kemp to get hot are likely dried up.
Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto
They’re cold again.
Worried? You shouldn’t be. Maybe give them a few days off this week.
